ALEC's Own US Senator?

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/09/tommy-thompson-alec

Before his 14-year stint as governor, before President George W. Bush tapped him to run the Department of Health and Human Services, and before his cushy gig as a wining-and-dining Washington lobbyist, Republican Tommy Thompson began carving out a reputation as powerful state legislator in Wisconsin. He rose quickly through the ranks of the Wisconsin GOP, and went on to become the longest-serving governor in state history. On his way to the top, Thompson found help in an influential policy organization then little known to the public: the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC.

Thompson is now back in the spotlight as the Republican nominee in Wisconsin's US Senate race. By now "Tommy" is a household name in the state, but less understood is Thompson's relationship with ALEC throughout his career and his role in shaping ALEC's agenda. As Thompson once admitted about his early days in the Wisconsin Legislature, "I always loved going to [ALEC] meetings because I always found new ideas. Then I'd take them back to Wisconsin, disguise them a little bit, and declare that it's mine." (A Thompson spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.)

Thompson professed his love for ALEC back in 2002. Today, the national organization is a lightning rod in American politics. A fierce advocate of free markets, privatization, and downsizing government, ALEC brings together dues-paying corporations and thousands of state lawmakers, most of them Republicans, to craft "model legislation" for use in state legislatures. Critics slam as ALEC a pro-business "bill mill" and a speed-dating service for big business and state lawmakers looking for ideas to take back home.



This year, ALEC has faced an onslaught of criticism from liberal groups for peddling "discriminatory" voter ID bills and the "Stand Your Ground" gun legislation brought to national attention by the Trayvon Martin killing in central Florida. Facing pressure from ALEC's well-organized critics, four nonprofit groups and 32 corporations, among them McDonald's, Procter and Gamble, and Walmart, announced plans to sever ties with ALEC. And in April, the good-government group Common Cause filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service alleging ALEC violates its tax-exempt status by lobbying state governments.