Subject: [big campaign] Fwd: American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) Misrepresents Support in Letter to Senator Durbin
From: Aniello Alioto <[email-masked]>
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Date: Wed, 14 Aug 2013 12:01:03 -0400
List-Id: <bigcampaign.googlegroups.com>

Friends -

BACKSTORY: Last week Sen. Dick Durbin announced an upcoming Senate hearing
on the Stand Your Ground
laws<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/19/dick-durbin-stand-your-ground_n_3624142.html>
 that were aggressively promoted across statehouses by the NRA and ALEC,
the American Legislative Exchange Council. After Sen. Cruz called the
Durbin letter "inappropriate",<http://www.politico.com/story/2013/08/dick-durbin-ted-cruz-stand-your-ground-laws-95381.html>
 ALEC made anattempt to defend
themselves<http://www.politico.com/story/2013/08/dick-durbin-american-legislative-exchange-council-95408.html>
, *but...*

In the latest edition of ALEC actively misleading the public, the "293
signatories" are packed with inaccuracies, names non-existent electeds,
duplicate and even triplicate signatures, spouses that just happened to be
present at the ALEC conference, and my favorite signer: "Hey Dick, Kiss My
Ass, Shooter from Arizona" ... At the end of the day, almost *1 out of
every 5 *signatures are easy to prove invalid with a simple google
search... so we just sent this out to every reporter that has written on
the Durbin letter and/or ALEC, in general, in the last six months (and a
few other friendly folks).

Thanks to our friends at Think Progress (who get over 5 MILLION unique
visitors a month), the first piece is up and out the
door<http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2013/08/14/2466281/alec-signatures-stand-your-ground/>
.

The release can be found online
HERE<http://progressnow.org/alec/alec-durbin-pressrelease.html>and the
line-by-line analysis can be found
HERE <http://progressnow.org/alec/alec-durbin.html>.

Please help us in singing this story from the mountiantops w/ tweets like:

"#ALEC <https://twitter.com/search?q=%23ALEC> misrepresents support re: #
DurbinLetter <https://twitter.com/search?q=%23DurbinLetter> (1 in 5
signatures are false). When will .@ALEC_states<https://twitter.com/ALEC_states>
 learn?!? #ALECExposed <https://twitter.com/search?q=%23ALECExposed>"
"IRONY ALERT: #ALEC <https://twitter.com/search?q=%23ALEC> fearmongers re:
voter fraud but 1 in 5 signatures are invalid int he
#DurbinLetter<https://twitter.com/search?q=%23DurbinLetter>.
Wow. #ALECexposed <https://twitter.com/search?q=%23ALECexposed>"

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: John Neurohr <[email-masked]>
 Date: Wed, Aug 14, 2013 at 11:21 AM
Subject: American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) Misrepresents Support
in Letter to Senator Durbin

*For Immediate Release*

August 14, 2013

*Contact:*

John Neurohr

[email-masked]

202.383.8822

*American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) Misrepresents Support in
Letter to Senator Durbin*

Washington, D.C. -- The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), in a
letter to Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) objecting to his inquiries about the
group's stance on controversial "Stand Your Ground" laws, has once again
attempted to mislead the public.  Though the group contends that the letter
is signed by almost 300 concerned state legislators, *research by
ProgressNow has revealed that nearly 1 of every 5 signatures on the letter
are invalid*.

"Despite being a group dedicated to carrying corporate water on public
policy, ALEC strongly objects to Sen. Durbin asking for the opinion of
corporations on public policy," said ProgressNow Research Director Brian
Wietgrefe.  "ALEC's aversion to transparency is striking, considering that
their attempt to revamp their public image includes repeated claims of
increased transparency<http://link.email.dynect.net/link.php?H=tiMleQXvuhG3cVWUKKJFwgesMDniOk1PtCM4n4IUF9sgSOYWKDC6u0liqvLtlQnhnr1hovXVqNReD1XC58yeOUIbfoXafQkPaNEUtu%2BZo7A%3D&G=26&R=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffingtonpost.com%2F2013%2F03%2F15%2Falec-model-legislation_n_2885570.html&I=%3C20130814152144.06780A077EA4%40mail6-08-ewr%3E&X=MXw1NjA0ODoxMTIwMDM7>.
Moreover, the irony of ALEC misrepresenting signatures while being
responsible for legislation to disenfranchise
voters<http://link.email.dynect.net/link.php?H=tiMleQXvuhG3cVWUKKJFwgesMDniOk1PtCM4n4IUF9sgSOYWKDC6u0liqvLtlQnhnr1hovXVqNReD1XC58yeOUIbfoXafQkPaNEUtu%2BZo7A%3D&G=26&R=http%3A%2F%2Fweb.archive.org%2Fweb%2F20110407110744%2Fhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.alec.org%2Fam%2Fpdf%2FInside_July09.pdf&I=%3C20130814152144.06780A077EA4%40mail6-08-ewr%3E&X=MXw1NjA0ODoxMTIwMDM7>,
under the guise of thwarting imaginary voter fraud is astounding."

Wietgrefe continued, "Beyond that, a simple Google search found that seven
of the signatures on the letter were unidentifiable, four were spouses of
elected lawmakers, 35 of the signatures were duplications and one was an
expletive rant. This is just another example of this shadowy group thinking
that they can contort reality to fit their public goals. Not only are they
falsifying the truth about how many legislators signed on to the Durbin
letter, but they are also sidestepping the truth on ALEC's involvement with
'Stand Your Ground' laws. A little over a year ago, ALEC was defending its
stance on 'Stand Your Ground', see link, but now asks everyone to deny
history."

FUN FACTS:

   - ALEC claims to have over 2,000 elected
officials<http://link.email.dynect.net/link.php?H=tiMleQXvuhG3cVWUKKJFwgesMDniOk1PtCM4n4IUF9sgSOYWKDC6u0liqvLtlQnhnr1hovXVqNReD1XC58yeOUIbfoXafQkPaNEUtu%2BZo7A%3D&G=26&R=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.alec.org%2Fabout-alec%2Ffrequently-asked-questions%2F&I=%3C20130814152144.06780A077EA4%40mail6-08-ewr%3E&X=MXw1NjA0ODoxMTIwMDM7>
as
   members
   - They could only gather "293
signatures<http://link.email.dynect.net/link.php?H=tiMleQXvuhG3cVWUKKJFwgesMDniOk1PtCM4n4IUF9sgSOYWKDC6u0liqvLtlQnhnr1hovXVqNReD1XC58yeOUIbfoXafQkPaNEUtu%2BZo7A%3D&G=26&R=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.alec.org%2Fdurbinresponseletter%2F&I=%3C20130814152144.06780A077EA4%40mail6-08-ewr%3E&X=MXw1NjA0ODoxMTIwMDM7>"
   last week at their 40th annual conference in Chicago; and of those 293
   signatures,
   - Only 2 signatures from Democrats, Reginald Tate of TN, and Kris
   Roberts of NH

   - *55 signatures (18.7%) are blatantly invalid*

          ◦ 35 Duplicates or triplicates

          ◦ 7 unidentifiable people

          ◦ 4 spouses (not electeds)

          ◦ 1 expletive laced rant

Full list of fact-checked signatures can be found at:
http://progressnow.org/alec/alec-durbin.html<http://link.email.dynect.net/link.php?H=tiMleQXvuhG3cVWUKKJFwgesMDniOk1PtCM4n4IUF9sgSOYWKDC6u0liqvLtlQnhnr1hovXVqNReD1XC58yeOUIbfoXafQkPaNEUtu%2BZo7A%3D&G=26&R=http%3A%2F%2Fprogressnow.org%2Falec%2Falec-durbin.html&I=%3C20130814152144.06780A077EA4%40mail6-08-ewr%3E&X=MXw1NjA0ODoxMTIwMDM7>

Wietgrefe's research laid out ALEC's involvement with "Stand Your Ground:"

   - *2005* NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer ‘helped write’ the Florida ‘Stand
   Your Ground’ law.  The bill passed, and was signed into law by Gov. Jeb
   Bush.  [MediaMatters,
03/27/12<http://link.email.dynect.net/link.php?H=tiMleQXvuhG3cVWUKKJFwgesMDniOk1PtCM4n4IUF9sgSOYWKDC6u0liqvLtlQnhnr1hovXVqNReD1XC58yeOUIbfoXafQkPaNEUtu%2BZo7A%3D&G=26&R=http%3A%2F%2Flink.email.dynect.net%2Flink.php%3FH%3Di5UKlPjcTsp07wz%252BZ9OiDsJGvWitMIFutSAqo%252FhzKUVy3nC371WBO02njVxirPEDi3ucArrODDkPlXY9qnuXuDn5DKDn708TNNTTg6xMjkw%253D%26amp%3BG%3D26%26amp%3BR%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fmediamatters.org%252Fblog%252F2012%252F03%252F27%252Fformer-nra-president-we-helped-draft-floridas-s%252F185254%26amp%3BI%3D%253C20130813172946.09D5C3022803%2540mail6-07-ewr%253E%26amp%3BX%3DMXw1NjA0ODoxMTIwMDM7&I=%3C20130814152144.06780A077EA4%40mail6-08-ewr%3E&X=MXw1NjA0ODoxMTIwMDM7>
   ]

   - 22 states have passed full 'Stand Your Ground' laws, while additional
   an additional twelve states have passed elements of 'Stand Your Ground.'
   [NSCL, 07/26/13<http://link.email.dynect.net/link.php?H=tiMleQXvuhG3cVWUKKJFwgesMDniOk1PtCM4n4IUF9sgSOYWKDC6u0liqvLtlQnhnr1hovXVqNReD1XC58yeOUIbfoXafQkPaNEUtu%2BZo7A%3D&G=26&R=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncsl.org%2Fissues-research%2Fjustice%2Fself-defense-and-stand-your-ground.aspx&I=%3C20130814152144.06780A077EA4%40mail6-08-ewr%3E&X=MXw1NjA0ODoxMTIwMDM7>
   ]

   - *August 4, 2005* after the bill had passed in Florida, NRA Lobbyist
   Marion Hammer proposed a model ‘Stand Your Ground’ bill to ALEC’s ‘Criminal
   Justice’ Task Force.  [ALEC.org, archived by
archive.org<http://link.email.dynect.net/link.php?H=tiMleQXvuhG3cVWUKKJFwgesMDniOk1PtCM4n4IUF9sgSOYWKDC6u0liqvLtlQnhnr1hovXVqNReD1XC58yeOUIbfoXafQkPaNEUtu%2BZo7A%3D&G=26&R=http%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2F&I=%3C20130814152144.06780A077EA4%40mail6-08-ewr%3E&X=MXw1NjA0ODoxMTIwMDM7>
   , 11/15/06<http://link.email.dynect.net/link.php?H=tiMleQXvuhG3cVWUKKJFwgesMDniOk1PtCM4n4IUF9sgSOYWKDC6u0liqvLtlQnhnr1hovXVqNReD1XC58yeOUIbfoXafQkPaNEUtu%2BZo7A%3D&G=26&R=http%3A%2F%2Flink.email.dynect.net%2Flink.php%3FH%3Di5UKlPjcTsp07wz%252BZ9OiDsJGvWitMIFutSAqo%252FhzKUVy3nC371WBO02njVxirPEDi3ucArrODDkPlXY9qnuXuDn5DKDn708TNNTTg6xMjkw%253D%26amp%3BG%3D26%26amp%3BR%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fweb.archive.org%252Fweb%252F20061115194959%252Fhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.alec.org%252Ftask-forces%252Fcriminal-justice%26amp%3BI%3D%253C20130813172946.09D5C3022803%2540mail6-07-ewr%253E%26amp%3BX%3DMXw1NjA0ODoxMTIwMDM7&I=%3C20130814152144.06780A077EA4%40mail6-08-ewr%3E&X=MXw1NjA0ODoxMTIwMDM7>
   ]

          ◦ Wal-Mart was, at the time, the corporate chair of the Criminal
Justice Task Force.  The NRA reported that the model bill   passed the task
force unanimously.  [PRWatch,
02/26/13<http://link.email.dynect.net/link.php?H=tiMleQXvuhG3cVWUKKJFwgesMDniOk1PtCM4n4IUF9sgSOYWKDC6u0liqvLtlQnhnr1hovXVqNReD1XC58yeOUIbfoXafQkPaNEUtu%2BZo7A%3D&G=26&R=http%3A%2F%2Flink.email.dynect.net%2Flink.php%3FH%3Di5UKlPjcTsp07wz%252BZ9OiDsJGvWitMIFutSAqo%252FhzKUVy3nC371WBO02njVxirPEDi3ucArrODDkPlXY9qnuXuDn5DKDn708TNNTTg6xMjkw%253D%26amp%3BG%3D26%26amp%3BR%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.prwatch.org%252Fnews%252F2013%252F02%252F11995%252Fanniversary-trayvon-martins-death-alec-backed-stand-your-ground-laws-remain-books%26amp%3BI%3D%253C20130813172946.09D5C3022803%2540mail6-07-ewr%253E%26amp%3BX%3DMXw1NjA0ODoxMTIwMDM7&I=%3C20130814152144.06780A077EA4%40mail6-08-ewr%3E&X=MXw1NjA0ODoxMTIwMDM7>
]

          ◦ ALEC has acknowledged that ALEC’s model bill was based off the
Florida law.  [Press Release, ALEC,
03/26/12<http://link.email.dynect.net/link.php?H=tiMleQXvuhG3cVWUKKJFwgesMDniOk1PtCM4n4IUF9sgSOYWKDC6u0liqvLtlQnhnr1hovXVqNReD1XC58yeOUIbfoXafQkPaNEUtu%2BZo7A%3D&G=26&R=http%3A%2F%2Flink.email.dynect.net%2Flink.php%3FH%3Di5UKlPjcTsp07wz%252BZ9OiDsJGvWitMIFutSAqo%252FhzKUVy3nC371WBO02njVxirPEDi3ucArrODDkPlXY9qnuXuDn5DKDn708TNNTTg6xMjkw%253D%26amp%3BG%3D26%26amp%3BR%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.alec.org%252Falec-statement-on-stand-your-ground-legislation-32612%252F%26amp%3BI%3D%253C20130813172946.09D5C3022803%2540mail6-07-ewr%253E%26amp%3BX%3DMXw1NjA0ODoxMTIwMDM7&I=%3C20130814152144.06780A077EA4%40mail6-08-ewr%3E&X=MXw1NjA0ODoxMTIwMDM7>
]

####

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Contact information: John Neurohr, ProgressNow, 1600 University Ave W 309b,
Saint Paul, MN 551043898

-- 
Aniello Alioto
National Political Director
[email-masked]

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