Monday Morning Wake Up Call

This is E-mail that I am passing on, because I am a blogger far more than a Facebooker.

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) may be the most powerful organization you’ve never heard of. Their mission is simple: ALEC helps corporations write laws for state legislatures to pass verbatim.
ALEC is behind everything from “Stand Your Ground”/”shoot first” laws -- which George Zimmerman is using as his defense for shooting unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin -- to Arizona's "show me your papers" immigration law, written by for-profit prison companies to make even more money by putting more people behind bars.
And who funds ALEC? It’s not just who you’d expect -- Koch Industries, Exxon-Mobil, and the NRA. It’s also Johnson & Johnson and dozens of other “family-friendly” brands. Tell Johnson & Johnson and the rest of ALEC’s funders to stop supporting attacks on their own consumers.
http://sumofus.org/campaigns/alec/?sub=taf
ALEC can no longer hide out in anonymity. In the last few months, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and NPR have all chronicled ALEC’s outsized influence. Boasting membership of 2,000 state legislators and 300 corporate sponsors, ALEC has come to dominate legislative agendas across the nation, presenting state legislators with bills pre-written by the corporations themselves, many of which are voted into law word-for-word.
Has your state adopted a “Stand Your Ground” law as well? Thank ALEC. Pushed for laws making it harder for minorities and the poor to vote? That’s ALEC too. Attacked unions? Undermined the President’s health care legislation? Weakened environmental regulation? Passed tax breaks for corporations? Privatized government services? These laws were all written by the very corporations or special-interest groups that they benefited.
But we are fighting back! One by one, progressive groups are peeling off corporate support for ALEC. Under pressure from consumers like you, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Kraft, Intuit, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have all fled from ALEC.
Now let’s take the fight to Johnson & Johnson -- which makes everything from Band-Aids to baby shampoo -- AT&T, State Farm and the rest of ALEC’s donors.
Add your name to our petition to ALEC sponsors telling them quit now, before they’re the only one left.
http://sumofus.org/campaigns/alec/?sub=taf

- Claiborne, Kelsey, Kaytee, and the rest of us

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More information:
"Corporate interests fuel group’s desire to shape Va. legislation, critics say", Washington Post, 21 Dec 2011
"EXPOSED: The Corporations Funding The Annual Meeting Of The Powerful Right-Wing Front Group ALEC", ThinkProgress, 5 Aug 2011

 And while we are at it. We must shine the light on AUL also. After all, we cannot let them hide in the shadows, funding one extreme - Un-Just law after another Un-Just  law--After all, American Freedom is at Stake. The United States Was Founded To be A Secular Nation. Yes, Many of the Founding Fathers and Mothers Were Christian, BUT NOT ALL. After all, the proof that not all were Christian is very clear--look at how the Native Americans were treated, which was no where near in line with the Teachings of Jesus--The Native Americans were mistreated because all too many of Our Founding Fathers worshiped the Almighty Dollar more than Jesus or any other Deity.

Meet ALEC's Equally Despicable Anti-Choice Cousin -- AUL

Think the anti-choicers in statehouses around the country are coming up with abortion bans all by themselves? Think again.READ MORE

Sarah Seltzer, Lauren Kelley / AlterNet

Is Georgia Waiting for Its Jobless to Just Kill Themselves? How State GOPers Made Unemployment Hell on Earth Red-state deficit politics become personal when Georgia's Republican majority cuts unemployment benefits. READ MORE George Bauer / AlterNet BUT, PLEASE REMEMBER THAT IT IS NOT ALL 'US VS THEM'--THERE ARE COMPANIES THAT ARE ALSO WORKING TO SOLVE PROBLEMS--NOT JUST MAXIMIZE THE PROFIT MARGIN. The Business of a Better World: Can a New Kind of Corporation Save Us and Our Economy? Corporations by today's definition, are obligated to make as much money as they can. But a new kind of corporation is changing that and potentially our economy, too.READ MORE Tara Lohan / AlterNet

Speaking of those that are worthy of support. Please Don't Forget-->