ALEC Openness: Not So Much

Bramble and his bumbling buddy didn't realize what a gift they were giving to me when this came out in the news last Friday:

Utah Senators say it’s time for ALEC to be more open

Secrecy is one of the hits on the conservative organization

By Robert Gehrke

A pair of Utah senators say it is time for the American Legislative Exchange Council to pull back the curtain to dispel criticism that the organization represents a nefarious plot to give corporations control of state legislatures.

Their  media "openness" will never be forgotten.

But, that "openness" evidently doesn’t apply to the ALEC Profit Sector members who pay for scholarships for legislators to attend the annual meeting.

As reported Sunday:

Tennessee's private sector state chair is Patricia Cannon, who lists a Tullahoma address in her registration as a lobbyist for Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, a pharmaceutical company. She previously was registered to lobby in Tennessee for Allergan, Inc. When reached at the Salt Lake meeting, Cannon declared she would not speak to a reporter, suggested a look at the ALEC website and promptly terminated the call.

Kaitlyn Bass, the designated spokeswoman on ALEC's website, did not return a reporter's call.

OOPS!!!

Oh - and BTW - ALEC where is your full membership list - both legislators and corporate profit sector members - Now that would openness.

And while you are at it - how about minutes from your annual meeting - minutes from the annual meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council would create openness - let's see the unedited minutes!!!!!