Hey, remember those leaked documents from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) that The Guardian posted a couple weeks ago? AlterNet points out a chart in those documents that should alarm all South Dakotans.
Scroll down to page 39 of The Guardian's ALEC packet. You'll see a membership chart for each state legislature. ALEC members constitute a minority in almost every state legislature. Those minorities are bigger in conservative places like Kansas (42%), Texas (45%), Oklahoma (47%), and Arizona (49%). But South Dakota' and Iowa's legislatures are listed as having 100% ALEC membership.
Every South Dakota legislator is a member of ALEC? Rep. Sue Wismer? Rep. Bernie Hunhoff? Sen. Angie Buhl O'Donnell? Democrats? You've got to be kidding me.
Not even all Republicans are ALEC members. Rambunctious Rep. Stace Nelson has said he quit ALEC after his freshman year.
The Republican leadership of the South Dakota Legislature passed a really unpopular rule this year to use taxpayer dollars to fund ALEC memberships. It seems an absurd waste of money to use public dollars to buy memberships in an organization for folks who have no desire t be part of that organization, but ALEC appears to be saying that our GOP leaders did exactly that.
But hey, Dems! If you are members, you might as well sign up for the e-mails and mailings and secret meetings... and then pass along the documents to South Dakota's best blog! Let's see what we're getting for our money!
ALEC again shows its completely corrupt nature as anything other than a cheap, partisan tool for the extreme right wing of the GOP. This is like officially declaring 100 percent of the S.D. Legislature as members of the John Birch Society, the Gun Owners of America, the Eagle Forum, the Club for Growth, FreedomWorks, Heritage Foundation, Focus on the Family and National Taxpayers Union.
Isn't this from the Executive Committee's decision after the session last year to have taxpayers pay dues for all members of the legislature? I was pretty sure the Democrats - and a good number of Republicans - asked dues not be paid in their names. But it may have happened anyway.
No Democrats in the SD Legislature are members of ALEC. We specificially asked that our dues not be paid following the partisan vote on the Executive Board was made.
If Democrats didn't want memberships bought in their names, then hopefully memberships weren't bought for them without their knowledge. But I wonder why ALEC thinks all of the SD legislators are members? Is it possible ALEC knows something Senator Lucas does not know?
Senator Lucas and other legislators tuning into WMADville today,
You have an opportunity Monday to inquire with the Legislature's Executive Board as to how ALEC managed to publish information that all 105 members of the Legislature possess ALEC credentials. Find out who did it and hold them accountable.
Thanks for that confirmation, Larry! It seems an odd claim for ALEC to make... but note that this chart comes from the same packet that included the purported loyalty oath that ALEC considered having its state chairs swear to demonstrate their loyalty to ALEC über alles, an oath that the ALEC bosses ultimately did not approve. That's the problem with having a secret group exert such influence over legislative affairs: we can't get hard confirmation of their activities.
By Monday, I mean today.
ALEC makes a lot of odd claims, don't they?
I'm not a member either .
If I'm on the ALEC roles that would be news to me. I've intentionally not joined.
I'm certainly NOT a member of ALEC. I've been an outspoken critic of this corrupt organization
Perhaps these people are members and they don't know it because somebody signed them up and paid their dues.
Let's see: none of the Dems, plus three Republicans saying they aren't in (thanks for the confirmations, legislators!)... looks like it's time for me to e-mail ALEC....
I bet they are in, they are just not aware they are in. Ask them if Jim Hundstadt is still a member.
I wonder what ALEC thinks about legislation that makes knowingly hiring unauthorized aliens illegal.
Come on: the State of South Dakota would never spend money and not tell people about it.
If the GOP finds it OK to use state money to pay the ALEC dues for all legislators (apparently even those who do not share those ALEC principles), would it also be OK for our legislature to sign up and pay membership dues for all the legislators for membership in a union - the AFL/CIO?
Not a lawyer, so could someone explain this? It is a quote from SB139 where it appears that both parties voted for it 100%.
As provided for in Section 1333(b) (2) of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Pub. L. No. 111-148, 124 Stat. 119 (2010), as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, Pub. L. No. 111-152, 124 Stat. 1029 (2010), the State of South Dakota hereby opts out of nationwide plans and no nationwide plans may be sold, solicited, or negotiated in this state.
Is this the "Across State line insurance" we hear the GOP claim can replace the PPACA?