If you listen to DTE Energy and Consumers Energy tell the story, Michigan is perched on the precipice of an impending energy crisis of epic proportions. New ads running television – over 400 in the past two months – tell us that, thanks to federal regulations, many of our coal-fired power plants will be shut down. The result, they suggest, […]

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a Koch brothers-funded group that churns out pro-business model legislation for state legislators, has been incredibly effective at impacting policy at the state level. A recent study shows just how effective they have been: Building on research I am conducting with Konstantin Kashin, I used text analysis of ALEC’s model legislation, along with all […]

A web of money, power, and deception Earlier this year, I wrote about Lee Fang’s important piece in The Nation magazine titled “The Right Leans In”. In that piece, Fang detailed the pervasive influence of the corporatist network called the State Policy Network (SPN) in shaping public policy in states throughout the country. Funded heavily by corporate interests and wealthy […]

Middle-class Michigan families can watch their taxes increase $50 every second. And they have Gov. Rick Snyder and legislative Republicans to thank for it. For a party that says they want lower taxes, Republicans in Michigan sure like taxing the middle class. During the last legislative session, Governor Rick Snyder and the Republican-led legislature made severe changes to the Michigan […]

“Chalk one up for the good guys”

Last week, I posted a piece titled “Lee Fang exposes the State Policy Network & corporate domination of public policy”. In that piece, I wrote about The Nation journalist and investigative reporter Lee Fang’s work to show how the State Policy Network (SPN) was waging a multi-pronged war to influence legislation, policy and public opinion at the state level across the country. One of the things that Fang reveals is that SPN affiliates have started their own wire services to bring their skewed version of the news to readers all over America. Here in Michigan, SPN affiliate Mackinac Center for Public Policy has done just that.

Thanks to my pals at Progress Michigan, however, today SPN and Mackinac Center lost a round in the battle to sway public opinion and government policy.

It’s much worse than you think

I was recently contacted by journalist Lee Fang and asked to review his new book The Machine: A Field Guide to the Resurgent Right. I received the book yesterday and hope to have a full review out in the next couple of weeks.

As a lead-up to the April 24th release of his book, Fang has published a stunning piece at The Nation titled “The Right Leans In”. I call it stunning because it shows just how much power the corporate-funded right has amassed in shaping public policy in America, operating primarily at the state level. If you thought our biggest problem was the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), you are quite wrong. ALEC is simply one piece of an intricate network formed to push the conservative agenda and turn it into laws and public policy across the country. Fang’s piece is essential reading for every progressive in the country.

Click through for much more.

Shameless shilling for their corporate benefactors

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has been around for 37 years. They are listed as a charitable organization, a 501(c)(3), and yet their entire goal in life is help pass laws around the country that favor corporations and wealthy individuals while harming their political enemies. Their model legislative bills are aimed at destroying unions, expanding voter suppression, restricting women’s access to abortion services, imposing harsh anti-immigrant rules, weakening gun control and expanding “stand your ground” laws, and limiting corporate liability when people are harmed by a product or in their workplace.

Across the country, ALEC is having an impact. Their model legislation is being passed into law at an alarming rate, aided and abetted by the influx of tea party lawmakers. Conservative and dogmatic, they are easy targets for ALEC’s cookie cutter laws. They simply make a few changes (or not, in some cases) and sponsor the bill. No need to write the law themselves; all of the hard work has been done for them.

This week, Progress Michigan published a 73-page report on ALEC in Michigan.

Stay tuned… Earlier this month, I wrote about an effort being spearheaded by Jocelyn Benson to put a constitutional amendment up for vote in November called the Corporate Accountability Amendment. The amendment would bring a level of transparency to our state’s elections that is sorely needed: Michigan has some of the weakest lobbying and ethics laws in the country, with […]

Corporations are NOT people One of my favorite Michigan political movers and shakers, Jocelyn Benson, has launched a petition drive to strip away corporate influence on our elections in Michigan. The petition drive, if successful, would lead to the formation of “The Corporate Accountability Amendment”. Benson and others held a press conference yesterday on the steps of the state Capitol […]

Now that we’ve learned that corporations are people, I got to thinking about the implications of this. It’s something, frankly, that I’ve known since I saw The Corporation. However, this is the first time I’ve heard it uttered with complete sincerity by a politician who knew people could hear him or her. If corporations are people, that should bring with […]