Bloomberg News Covers ALEC: Koch, ExxonMobil Among Corporations Helping Write State Laws Across U.S.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-21/koch-exxon-mobil-among-corporations-helping-write-state-laws.html

Koch, Exxon Mobil Among Corporations Helping Write State Laws Across U.S.

By Alison Fitzgerald - Jul 21, 2011 12:00 AM ET

Koch Industries Inc. and Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) are among companies that would benefit from almost identical energy legislation introduced in state capitals from Oregon to New Mexico to New Hampshire -- and that’s by design.

The energy companies helped write the legislation at a meeting organized by a group they finance, the American Legislative Exchange Council, a Washington-based policy institute known as ALEC.

The corporations, both ALEC members, took a seat at the legislative drafting table beside elected officials and policy analysts by paying a fee between $3,000 and $10,000, according to documents obtained by Bloomberg News.

- snip -

“This is just another hidden way for corporations to buy their way into the legislative process,” said Bob Edgar, president of Common Cause, a Washington-based group that advocates for limits on money in politics.

And good for Bloomberg for covering it.

and other secretive behind-the-scenes players, we might see Bloomberg end up like the whistleblowing reporter for News Of The World.

The Business Roundtable is mentioned by G. William Domhoff in Who Rules America?
Domhoff argues that the Business Roundtable supports the network of corporate control, and influence over the economy, politics, and media.

The Business Roundtable also acts as a major lobby that aims to extend or maintain administrators' rights/power in large companies. For example, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission adopted the so-called "shareholders’ access to proxy" rule, which aimed to empower shareholders in the proposition and nomination of administrators of big corporations. The Business Roundtable was strongly against that rule, as its president John Castellani reported to the Washington Post about removing this rule: "this is our highest priority <...> Literally all of our members have called about this".<12> And they got the upper hand: the SEC rule was finally dropped after intense lobbying and law suits.<13>



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Roundtable

http://businessroundtable.org/about-us/