Subject: [big campaign] BREAKING: SIX new companies drop ALEC !!!
From: Aniello Alioto <[email-masked]>
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Date: Mon, 27 Aug 2012 15:19:19 -0400
List-Id: <bigcampaign.googlegroups.com>

HUGE news (progressemists be damned)!

Color of Change (along w/ others - see below) did a tremendous amount of
work to make this happen and just broke the news on 5 new companies (*Entergy
- which is included in the tally of 6 and in the PRwatch story below -
dropped ALEC recently to no fanfare, so that is why there may be a ? on is
it 5 or 6 - six sounds better*).

NEW TOTALS: 38 corporations, 4 major non-profits (42 private sector former
members) and 70 confirmed elected leaders!

New ALEC companies that we are announcing today are:
General Electric<http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=General_Electric>
(GE),
Western Union, Sprint
Nextel<http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Sprint_Nextel>
, Symantec <http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Symantec> (maker of
Norton antivirus software), Reckitt Benckiser
Group<http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Reckitt_Benckiser_Group>
(a
British consumer goods company that makes such brands as French's mustard,
Woolite, Lysol, Clearasil, Durex, and D-Con), and
Entergy<http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Entergy> (a
power plant company headquartered in New Orleans).

http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/08/11724/six-more-corporations-dump-alec-38-companies-have-now-cut-ties-corporate-bill-mil
 NEWS <http://www.prwatch.org/news-types/news>
 Six More Corporations Dump ALEC; 38 Companies Have Now Cut Ties with
Corporate Bill Mill
by Rebekah Wilce <http://www.prwatch.org/users/35294/rebekah-wilce> —
August 27, 2012
 Topics: Corporations <http://www.prwatch.org/topics/corporations>,
Politics<http://www.prwatch.org/topics/politics>
Projects: ALEC Exposed <http://www.prwatch.org/projects/alec-exposed>
 Share
this<http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.prwatch.org%2Fnews%2F2012%2F08%2F11724%2Fsix-more-corporations-dump-alec-38-companies-have-now-cut-ties-corporate-bill-mil&title=Six%20More%20Corporations%20Dump%20ALEC%3B%2038%20Companies%20Have%20Now%20Cut%20Ties%20with%20Corporate%20Bill%20Mill&description=>

Now you can swap out that GE lightbulb, Western Union $100 to the old
country, continue that cell phone contract with Sprint, protect your
computer from that nasty virus, smother that hot dog with French's mustard,
and pay the electric bill in New Orleans, all without indirectly supporting
the American Legislative Exchange
Council<http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Legislative_Exchange_Council>
 (ALEC).

Six more companies have indicated that they are cutting, or have cut, ties
to ALEC: General
Electric<http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=General_Electric>
(GE),
Western Union, Sprint
Nextel<http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Sprint_Nextel>
, Symantec <http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Symantec>(maker of
Norton antivirus software), Reckitt Benckiser
Group<http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Reckitt_Benckiser_Group>
(a
British consumer goods company that makes such brands as French's mustard,
Woolite, Lysol, Clearasil, Durex, and D-Con), and
Entergy<http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Entergy> (a
power plant company headquartered in New Orleans).
Corporate Involvement with ALEC

GE told the online civil rights organization ColorofChange.org (CoC) that
it decided not to renew its ALEC membership in July 2012. The company was a
member of ALEC's Tax and Fiscal Policy Task
Force<http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Tax_and_Fiscal_Policy_Task_Force>
as
of March 2011.

Tim Daly, senior vice president for global public policy at Western Union,
told CoC that the company was only an ALEC member in 2011 and chose not to
renew in May 2012. Western Union was a member of ALEC's Commerce, Insurance
and Economic Development Task
Force<http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Commerce,_Insurance_and_Economic_Development_Task_Force>
as
of June 2011.

A Sprint spokesperson told CoC that it had not been a member of ALEC for
three or four years. ALEC's internal documents had listed the company as a
member of ALEC's Communications and Technology Task
Force<http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Communications_and_Technology_Task_Force>
as
recently as July
2011<http://www.commoncause.org/atf/cf/%7BFB3C17E2-CDD1-4DF6-92BE-BD4429893665%7D/telecom&it_updated_35-day_mailing%20New%20Orleans.pdf>,
but the spokesperson said that ALEC's records are mistaken.

Symantec is also listed in the same July 2011 Communications and
Technology task
force directory<http://www.commoncause.org/atf/cf/%7BFB3C17E2-CDD1-4DF6-92BE-BD4429893665%7D/telecom&it_updated_35-day_mailing%20New%20Orleans.pdf>,
but Symantec's vice president of global government affairs, Cheri McGuire,
told CoC that the company's membership expired June 2010 and was not
renewed.

Reckitt Benckiser told CoC that it is no longer an ALEC member. It had been
a member of the Health and Human Services Task
Force<http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Health_and_Human_Services_Task_Force>
 and Public Safety and Elections Task
Force<http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Public_Safety_and_Elections_Task_Force>
as
of June 2011.

Last but not least,
Entergy<http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Entergy> said
in a letter <http://alecexposed.org/w/index.php?title=Investor_Open_Letter> to
Walden Asset Management that neither it nor any of its subsidiaries is
currently a member of ALEC, nor has it funded ALEC since 2011. Entergy had
been a member of ALEC's Civil Justice Task
Force<http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Civil_Justice_Task_Force>
as
of June 2011.
The Rush to Dump ALEC

Corporations that have publicly cut ties to
ALEC<http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Corporations_Which_Have_Cut_Ties_to_ALEC>
since
the launch of ALECexposed <http://www.alecexposed/>and related public
interest campaigns include Amgen, General Motors, Walgreens, Best Buy,
Hewlett-Packard, MillerCoors, John Deere, Dell, Johnson & Johnson,
Wal-Mart, Amazon.com, Procter & Gamble, Mars, Wendy's, McDonald's, Kraft
Foods, PepsiCo, and Coca-Cola. The addition of GE, Western Union, Sprint,
Symantec, Reckitt Benckiser, and Entergy brings the total to 38. Four
non-profits -- Lumina Foundation for Education, the National Association of
Charter School Authorizers (NACSA), the National Board for Professional
Teaching Standards (NBPTS), and the Gates Foundation -- and 70 state
legislators<http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Legislators_Who_Have_Cut_Ties_to_ALEC>
have
also cut ties with ALEC.

CMD, along with Color of Change, Common Cause, People for the American Way,
Progress Now, and others are asking eBay to cut ties with
ALEC<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/632/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=10002>.
Credo Action, a project of Working Assets, is also calling on its
supporters and customers to call eBay and urge the company to stop funding
ALEC<http://act.credoaction.com/call/report/?r=6919530&cp_id=244&tg=861&id=44495-1183899-Gr7Qfxx>
.

http://colorofchange.org/press/releases/2012/8/27/general-electric-western-union-sprint-nextel-syman/
 General Electric, Western Union, Sprint Nextel, Symantec and Reckitt
Benckiser Drop ALECColorOfChange Commends Companies for Leaving ALEC; 38
Companies Have Now Left the American Legislative Exchange Council August
27, 2012

CONTACTS:
Timothy Rusch: (917) 399-0236, [email-masked]
Rachel Tardiff: (202) 746-1407, [email-masked]

NEW YORK — Five more major national and global corporate members of the
American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) have told leading online civil
rights group ColorOfChange that they have cut ties to the right-wing policy
group, bringing the total of companies to drop ALEC to 38. They include:
General Electric, The Western Union Company, Sprint Nextel Corporation,
Symantec Corporation, and Reckitt Benckiser Group plc. The announcement of
these major departures comes days before the Republican National Convention
is scheduled to open in Tampa, FL.

"These significant developments, coupled with recent withdrawals from ALEC
by companies like Walgreens and GM, further prove that everyday people
working together to hold corporations accountable can achieve tremendous
change," said ColorOfChange.org Executive Director Rashad Robinson.
"ColorOfChange celebrates these corporations who have withdrawn their
funding from ALEC, which continues to defend its push to enact
discriminatory voter ID laws across the nation."

ColorOfChange has worked in collaboration with the Center for Media and
Democracy (CMD), which
launchedALECexposed.org<http://alecexposed.org/wiki/ALEC_Exposed> last
summer to highlight the corporations and politicians that vote on ALEC
"model" bills. CMD has also documented ALEC's role in pushing controversial
Stand Your Ground and discriminatory voter ID laws. Other allied
organizations include CREDO Action, Progressive Change Campaign Committee,
Common Cause, ProgressNow, People For the American Way, and SumOfUs.org.

Louis Dreyfus Commodities, Amgen Inc. and Entergy Corporation have also
recently dropped their ALEC memberships bringing the total number of
departed members to 38. These companies join General Motors, Walgreens,
CVSCaremark, Best Buy, MillerCoors, John Deere, Hewlett-Packard, Dell,
Johnson & Johnson, Wal-Mart, Amazon, Procter & Gamble, Yum! Brands,
McDonald's, Wendy's, Mars Inc., Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Kraft Foods, Intuit,
Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, Reed Elsevier, Kaplan, Scantron,
Medtronic, American Traffic Solutions, Arizona Public Service, Express
Scripts/Medco, EnergySolutions, and Connections Education.

More than 100,000 ColorOfChange members signed a petition targeting ALEC’s
corporate partners for their role in suppressing Black votes. The petition
can be found here: http://www.colorofchange.org/campaign/alec/.

# # #

With more than 800,000 members, ColorOfChange.org is the nation’s largest
Black online civil rights organization.

-- 
Aniello Alioto
National Political Director
[email-masked]
502.664.2420

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