who's behind it being the american legislative exchange council back to the american legislative exchange council yes and and the cooperation that allowed our to do the work they get to do so coca-cola has no thanks i understand that the pepsi companies are also build. wal-mart is saying no no we are putting words in their mouths. or apparently is it just so big they don't they don't care about losing a few customers are they they have basically monopolized markets they run our competition out of business so they don't they don't care. well we actually haven't publicly escalated i'm on wal-mart or any other country the only company that we've actually called out publicly at this point has been coca-cola and so a number of corporations have been discussed and talked about but we've we've had behind the scenes conversations with about fifteen major public facing corporations that every single day try to market their products or sell their services to the black community and we've we've come to them with the simple message that you can't come for black folks money during the day and try to s

on this council at the at the american legislative exchange council that puts together this law and then it gets passed off it to through alec through the american legislative exchange council where you get the koch brothers from to get passed through one of these meetings where the legislators are sitting literally next to lobbyists republican legislators state representatives and state senators state assemblyman sitting next to rob us one on one. the legislators pay one hundred bucks to be there and in the case of virginia the state paid over two hundred thousand dollars to send their legislators to these alec meetings and the lobbyists can pay anywhere from twenty thousand to one hundred thousand dollars to sit next to that legislature and they have equal votes. the republicans or the lobbyists equal votes a democratic congressman from wisconsin marco can pay his hundred bucks went to an alec media came back and told us the story. with the. meeting serious for a corporate lobbyist or legislators they get it together they have you write legislation they have cast force that interesting

and certainly appears to be the case when it comes to the american legislative exchange council or alecoup that promotes such free market ideas as school of choice, pension and tort reform. and very left wing activist lft by van jones and his group, color of change are bullying big business to cut off funding for it, claiming the organization is racist because of the support for voter i.d. laws and so-called stand your ground statutes which have become controversial in the wake of trayvon martin killing in florida. so far the campaign appears to be working with companies like coca-cola, wendy's and kraft cutting ties. >> and most of our viewers, i don't think, have probably heard of the american legislative exchange council. what is it? and why is it under attack? >> well, it's pretty much what you've just described. it's an association of conservative lathes. >> about 2000 in all. >> 2000 of them. and they report in 1973 and i have to tell you, paul, we've been publishing for the activity throughout that period. >> for literally decades. >> and the state legislatures get together and t

you are concerned about this group, american legislative exchange council which pushes these laws.hat you know about them and why you're concerned. >> this is a group, frankly, when we took a look at them, we hoped maybe it was like the chamber of commerce, started off mom and apple pie and moved steadily to the further and further, you know, to the right. but actually, what we found is that, no, they were founded really for ill-intent. this is a group whose founder has said, you know, our best interest is when the voting populous is constrained, when the number of people who can vote in this country goes down. in case after case, they're just on the wrong side. they're super extreme. this wild wild west law that they passed, you know, i mean, frankly, chris, if someone made a 911 call from the frontier in 1880, that's what it would sound like, right? >> yes. >> it raises the question, why are so many corporations supporting a group that is trying to shrink the number of people who can vote in this country? and who is out there pushing the sort of super powered laws that let people

and then wandered through right wing think tanks like the american legislative exchange council they prevent law enforcement from doing their job michael bloomberg the mayor of america's largest city has some thoughts on this exact issue there well. it's now clear that these laws have undermined the integrity of the justice system and done real harm to public safety they have some confusion in police departments about when to make arrests they have made it more difficult for prosecutors to bring charges in cases of deadly violence and these stand your ground states have seen a major increase in so-called justifiable homicides these laws have not only made arc have not made our country safer they have made us less safe look at what's happened in three major states during comparable periods before and after stand your ground laws passed before stand your ground law became close became law in kind of florida the state average twelve cases of justifiable homicide per year since the law was passed the average has been thirty six three times higher three stand your ground george are averag

. >>> coca-cola drops it membership in the american legislative exchange council.hat could be their best decision since getting rid of new coke coming up. power of big ideas. nearly 300 years ago, the italian physicist alessandro volta accidentally discovered what we now call the battery. the device consisted of two different metals attached to a frog's leg. when he applied a spark, the frog's leg moved. nowadays, batteries are essential components of our everyday lives. but mit's dr. sadoway is working on the next big leap forward, with something he calls a liquid battery. the liquid battery can make power plants more efficient and allow us to use renewable energy even when the sun isn't shining or the wind isn't blowing. sadoway's battery works like a traditional one. but inside it, everything is liquid. so it can be scaled up to 400 times the size of a traditional battery. just as revolutionary as the frog's leg, but much more powerful. scion: what moves you. >>> coming up coca-cola drops its membership in the conservative legislative group alec. and the banks s

vigilante laws comparable to florida's thanks to the national rifle association and the american legislative exchange councilhich has worked hand in hand with them in trying to get this legislation through even though it didn't come interest any grassroots effort on the part of citizens. it came from the top. it came from the nra working with the legislators with threats of political repercussions if they don't comply and, of coue, rewas, financial and political, when they do and they have been. there are too many elected officials who are aware of damage that gun violence does to our society, who understand this is an affront to our most basic values, the ght to life. the right to the liberty to be able to walk safely onour streets, the right to happiness that has been destroyed by the senseless wanton violence, the happiness of the thousands of loved ones who have lost people in their lives in ways that virtually nothing could have been done to stop it. the sadness that throughout our society for these inexplicable losses. now, some believe that any strengthening of gun laws is an affront to the second ame

they could lobby coca cola and kraft and mcdonald's and tell them, well, american legislative exchange councilch is basically a free market group, business interest and state legislators free market group draft legislation. if do you anything with them. if you give them any money they are going to do something. intimidation campaign. and the bottom line is color the change does not want free speech. they don't want any real debate on these issues, period. >> bill: i don't think there? i doubt about it the far left and we have been reporting this for a dozen years now. >> years. >> bill: not only do they not want free speech but if you go against their ideology they will hurt you. hurt your family. they will do anything they can. and i don't see that on the right. there are some right wing cranks. no doubt about it. but it isn't as organized and it isn't as it's extremely well funded. talk radio, fence, my business, rush limbaugh, other people, when they are successful, you have these groups pop up that aim to not take on talk radio on issues. debates, forums and so forth. we will cut you off a

there are connections to the american legislative exchange council, when you fall and connect the dots. she is putting stories together about who is behind all this legislation. it is very similar. we have seven ultrasound laws on the books. so many more are racing to the legislature. yesterday, democratic women senators in georgia staged a walkout to protest to measures that would limit access to services and contraception. i want to read a couple of headlines. ohio remains on the front lines of the abortion debate. michigan legislature passes a partial birth abortion bans. you talk ok's 72 hour waiting period for abortions. -- utah ok's 72-hour waiting period for abortions. i could spend the entire lunch talking about this. the good news is that women are organizing, and rallies are taking place on a regular basis. a lot of young women are getting involved. we had a caller to date asking, how do i talk to my male students in high school about this? that is the good news. there are a lot of solutions and we are making progress, but it is difficult. i would like to introduce the woman

the american legislative exchange council is calling the sho shots. its corporate members. alec brought stand your ground to florida and over a dozen other states. a.l.e.c. crafted arizona's show me your paper law. it's now pushing discriminatory voter i.d. laws all over the country. each year close to 1,000 bills based on a.l.e.c. model legislation is introduced in the states. an average of 20% become law. takes connections to hit that kind of number, don't you think? this week color of change, the group that took down glen beck sets it sight on a.l.e.c. four company vs now cut ties. first it was pepsi and then coca-cola and now the software company, intuit. here comes fox news rushing to a.l.e.c.'s defense. a warning was issued earlier, far left third scalp. megan kelly invited a a.l.e.c. spokeswoman to spin the message and hit back at color of change. >> what a.l.e.c. is is a bipartisan association of state legislatures. we have legislatures of all political stripes coming together to talk about the most critical issues facing the states. >> your p

near bad day for cadillac, a high-mo file foundation cuts ties with the american legislative exchange council. also known as cadillacalec. we are tell you how progressive grassroots okaynizers are leading the charge. we will let you know mitt romney flip-flopped but are you aware he habitually lies? >> what politifacts is saying. we will present you the evidence. >>> clangs will claim they are not waging a war on women. the facts suggest otherwise. this is the war room. come on inside!the facts suggest otherwise. this is the war room. come on inside! >> breaking news on a story we have been tracking nightly here in the war room a 5th big-name organization has dropped its support of the american legislative exchange council or alec. the gates foundation announced today it would pull all future funding from alec. for those who are not familiar with alec it is an organizations that works with state lawmakers and corporations to promote anti--democratic legislation like anti-worker bills, voter suppression bills, stand-your-ground bills and pro-corporation laws. the way it works is that corporati

alec, of course, the american legislation exchange council. doing something secretive. shock, as usual. later brett erlich begins his search for the perfect republican vice presidential can data in the war room. we will be right back. >>the war room needs your help. >>the only online forum with a direct line to jennifer granholm. >>our goal is to bring you behind the scenes with access to stories that you've never seen before. >>politicallydirect.com join the debate now. if you have copd like i do you know how hard it can be to breathe and what that feels like. copd includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. spiriva helps control my copd symptoms by keeping my airways open a full 24 hours. plus, it reduces copd flare-ups. spiriva is the only once-daily inhaled copd maintenance treatment that does both. and it's steroid-free. spiriva does not replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms. tell your doctor if you have kidney problems glaucoma, trouble urinating, or an enlarged prostate. these may worsen with spiriva. discuss all medicines you

they could lobby coca cola and kraft and mcdonald's and tell them, well, american legislative exchange councilbasically a free market group, business interest and state legislators free market group draft legislation. if do you anything with them. if you give them any money they are going to do something. intimidation campaign. and the bottom line is color the change does not want free speech. they don't want any real debate on these issues, period. >> bill: i don't think there? i doubt about it the far left and we have been reporting this for a dozen years now. >> years. >> bill: not only do they not want free speech but if you go against their ideology they will hurt you. hurt your family. they will do anything they can. and i don't see that on the right. there are some right wing cranks. no doubt about it. but it isn't as organized and it isn't as it's extremely well funded. talk radio, fence, my business, rush limbaugh, other people, when they are successful, you have these groups pop up that aim to not take on talk radio on issues. debates, forums and so forth. we will cut you off at the

alec, of course the american legislation exchange council.ught doing something secretive. shock, as usual. later brett erlich begins his search for the perfect republican vice presidential can data in the war room. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . you've heard jennifer's views, now let's hear yours. >>the war room needs your help. >>the only online forum with a direct line to jennifer granholm. >>our goal is to bring you behind the scenes with access to stories that you've never seen before. >>politicallydirect.com join the debate now. -dad, why are you getting that? -that's my cereal. is there a prize in there? oh, there's a prize, all right. is it a robot? no. is it a jet plane? nope. is it a dinosaur? [ laughs ] [ male announcer ] inside every box of heart healthy cheerios are those great tasting little o's made from carefully selected oats that can help lower cholesterol. stickers? uh-uh. a superhero? ♪ ♪ kinda. [ male announcer ] and we think that's the best prize of all. ♪ ♪ icy, cool flavor in a delicious 5-c

it appears to be the case when it comes to american legislative exchange council, that promotes freeand tort reform in state legislatures across the country. various left wing activists by van jones and color of change are bullying big business to cut off funding for him claiming it's racist for support for voter i.d. law and stand your ground status that have become controversial in the wake of trayvon martin killing in florida. so far the campaign appears to be working with coca-cola and kraft all cutting ties to alec. most the people haven't heard the american legislative exchange counsel. why is it under attack. >> it's pretty much as you described. it's an association of conservative legislators. 2,000 of them. they reformed in 1973. i have to tell you, paul, we have been publishing about alec's activities throughout that period. for decades, there are state legislature that has get together and talk about what state legislatures do. >> so in california? >> right. >> it's what you expect and wanted the legislators to do and they are doing it from a conservative point of view. >>

. >> there is a group called the american legislative exchange council -- >> alec. >> the sweet namec but it is a group of corporate-funded conservative legislatures funded by the koch brothers, and by major corporations. and they have taken lobbying as a template. in florida you have the league of women voters. a transpartisan group. rocked the vote have pulled out of that state because of limitations on early voting and the ability to register the groups i have suggested -- >> the new goods is in the past couple of weeks there has been a gas roots uprising against alec because the behavior has been revealed. but i want to dig down deeper how and what would these bills require? >> many leaders have said this is perhaps the most targeting assault on voting rights since jim crow. it's like the poll tax in some cases. people -- they demand vote of government inviter id. millions of americans do not have it and 11% of those who don't are poor african american the most vulnerable constituencies. they argue without these photo ids, we're at risk of voter fraud. someone once said that you

they are all members of alec the american legislative exchange council.n watching "the war room" lately it's a starry we have been all over. alec is an organization that works with state lawmakers and corporations to promote anti-democratic legislation like voter id and stand your ground laws, and also procorporation laws. corporations pay big dues to belong to alec and they get to team as co-chairs on committees that draft model legislation on the issues they want to pass. and the glare of the spotlight has not been kind to alec. just this week coca-cola, pepsi, and kraft all announced they are severing their ties with alec. a group that has been instrumental in exposing the alec and again da is colorofchange.org. rashad robinson is their executive director and is in washington tonight. so glad to have you. >> thanks for having me. >> so it's been a good week for color of change but let me start with a question about why did color of change decide it was going to focus alec and target the corporations that fund it? >> well last year as us in of the discr

name was also enormous support of the right on the hard right for groups like the american legislative exchange council which taking a page from mussolini's chamber of fascist corporations goods corporate lobbyists an equal vote with mostly republican state lawmakers to pass corporate for legislation all around the country this is the definition of the rule by corporations which is the definition of fascism and it's also the agenda being pushed by today's republican party and guess who enthusiastically supported and voted for color ryan's fascist budget and plays on prejudices and routinely puts the interests of corporations ahead of his constituents congressman allen west is something really unbalanced with the american political system now and people like congressman west can call moderate policies like tax taxing the rich investing in america's infrastructure and ending our wars communis these policies have historically been embraced by both republicans and democrats as presidents as members of congress as well as the majority of the voting american public and as the influence of the far left the co

what republicans want fewer people voting republican strategist and founder of the american legislative exchange council alec paul way rick once said. how many of our. good government they want everybody to vote. i don't want everybody to vote elections are not won by a majority of people they never happened from the beginning of our country and they are not now. look great in the elections why can't a boy grow up owning a populist. so is that what's going on in michigan joining me now is susan k. smith president of the league of women voters in michigan susan welcome thank you very much tam i know you're a league of women voters is a totally nonpartisan organization i'm going to try and do this in as an nonpartizan a fashion as i can what are the republicans and michigan and are there any democrats who are in on this trying to do with these new restrictions on voting well it seems to be a move to bring in what the. secretary of state coach election reform and it's going to unfortunate and michigan has had a very clean election system for many years and i'm fortunately there's a lot. a lot of inaccurate

today health insurance company blue cross blue shield became the latest member of the american legislative exchange council to sever ties with the koch brothers funded corporate think tank in just one month alone this month alec has lost eleven members after several progressive groups organized a campaign against its corporate sponsors the exodus of alec members comes on the heels of a new report by progress missouri documenting thirty pieces of legislation introduced in the missouri general assembly over the last decade that were written by alec and as many as forty state lawmakers with financial ties to alec and the backlash against alec has now made it to the pages of the new york times the times editorial board took on alec in an article titled embarrassed by bad law. laws alec has been operating since the early one nine hundred seventy s. but it's only just now receiving the sort of attention that it deserves and all this exposure and pressure coming from progressives is starting to pay off in news breaking this afternoon alec decided to dismantle its task forces that write legislation for so-called n

give it a few weeks before a legislation written by alec the koch brothers funded american legislative exchange council so it's making the rounds in state legislatures and the u.s. congress to defund public universities think of it as a well oiled machine it doesn't depend on backs only needs frames but moving beyond the framing tactic to take down public universities here's the bigger picture about why conservatives hate public education the conservatives are really trying to do in america is maintain an oligarchy and now they've created an extremely wealthy elite class by cutting taxes on the rich by breaking up unions and the regulating industries the best way to keep that wealthy elite oligarchy in our is the dumbed down the population get rid of public education make learning about economics history and government a privilege only for those who are the children of the ruling. and convince the rest of the population that since the not as smart or as well educated they should just trust those who proven how smart they are by getting super rich people like romney and bloomberg just trust that to run

koch took us to get to the heart of the koch suppose you have to take a look at the american legislative exchange council or alec i think tank partially supported by the koch brothers fortune here for the latest news coming out of alec and what the koch of course is up to i'm joined by as to get a reporter with your public report communications an outreach coordinator with united republicans said welcome back great to be here great to have you can you give us an overview of the. yeah there's a basically these billionaire industrialist they made moves their money from oil gas and chemical storage histories and they fanned their money all over literally hundreds of organizations everything ranging from organizations like americans for prosperity had to also funding alec to even funding universities and academic departments it's extraordinary and in fact you know with thing i find very ironic is that their father made his money cutting deals with joe stalin for you know the old soviet union back in the forty's and fifty's and then funded the john birch society didn't. exactly exactly true i mean this was th

for big corporations or corporate lobbyists that go through the koch brothers funded american legislative exchange council alec and you know there are some startling similarities between appears to me anyway between the wisconsin anti-union law and john k. six anti-union law although john k. sake didn't exempt police and firefighters do you know is there any evidence that these laws came out of the same source or from the same pot and it may be scott walker just tweeted. he thought he needed the help of the police and firefighters whereas in ohio perhaps a case a good need that help because there is no provision in ohio law for recalling. there is no question there is absolutely zero question that the koch brothers the koch brothers funded groups the bradley foundation all these groups are behind scott walker if we listen to you and we know that because we have we know that because david koch himself has said that he is supporting scott walker here all these phony five one c three five a one c four groups that we believe are illegally coordinating they send out non-profits not for profit and they go ahead

american legislative exchange council which is a business lobby group and they not only lobby for business but they are also lobby on what appear to be social issues like that we need stronger laws that we did a tougher criminal justice system but at the end it's all about business and it's all about profit for this fairly small circle of outfits and i were talking about arizona you know as these prisons are implemented in the states they actually required to be filled ninety percent occupancies that goes hand in hand with these lobbying efforts to for more stringent legislation against immigration and drug offenses why then does the bigger issue i mean this seems like it's a big deal you know lobbying to imprison people in this country why isn't the scene on capitol hill and why i don't really hear about this in the political dialogue. this is part of a bigger problem in this country and i i would hold the street to the fire on this although it's not entirely b.d.'s fault we were just appointed this culture of people's attention spans are so short there are fewer and fewer good outlets ou

it is the nra, and this american legislative exchange council called alec, right? a front group for the koch brothers. here we go again. thigh write this legislation, take it around the state legislators. state legislators have taken this stuff without even reading it. they put it in. it gets passed and there you go. and i tell you governor, the next part of your question republicans, the right wing they are just better at it than we are. they have more talk show hosts, and think tanks, and they recognize the importance of their media, and that's why they are all singing from the same song book, and we got to do the same thing. >> i know we have not as good at it, because perhaps our thought is a little more diverse. and we're willing to express it. today or yesterday there was an announcement that cumulous radio was going to be putting mike huckabee up against rush limbaugh in i think completing time slots. huckabee has a gentler way about him. do you think that is a sign that the right is tired, exhausted from the harshness of rush limbaugh rhetoric? >> no, it is

tonight in the war room, there has been great movement in the war against alec the american legislative exchange councilp that current has been focusing on, passing the anti-worker laws voter suppression laws stand your ground laws. it's a story covering every night in the war room. then we are going to be joined by the president of one of the nation's most influential unions, the cwa about the anti-worker rules and what they are doing to organize workers in other kuntz trees and talking as well about mitt romney the man with no core and the man with more money. i can hardly wait. the war room is next. thanks, eloit. >> he has no core but he has an etch-a-sketch. >> but it's worse. it's more insidious than an etch etch-a-sketch. >> i cannot wait but alec, did any more companies drop out? >> the gates foundation dropped. >> all right. unbelievable. >> yeah. >> huge story. i cannot wait to watch. that will be on war room with jennifer coming up. more viewpoint coming up next. i don't just talk about politics, i've lived politics. >>beltway politics from inside the loop. >>bringing you exactly what's happe