http://www.wral.com/state-house-leaders-off-to-alec/12405212/

Quote :

"State House leaders off to ALEC As House lawmakers debated whether to halve the number of North Carolina children eligible for free pre-kindergarten, several key members were missing from the chamber. House Speaker Thom Tillis, Rep. Tim Moffitt, R-Buncombe, and Rep. Jason Saine, R-Lincoln, left early Thursday to attend the ALEC Spring Task Force meeting in Oklahoma City, scheduled for Thursday and Friday. According to Tillis spokesman Jordan Shaw, the only state funds spent were for registration fees"

To be fair, it seems using tax payers money to pay for conference registration isn't that uncommon, but isn't this the kind of stuff he used to rail against?

Quote :

"Many other bills bear striking resemblance to ALEC legislation, including proposals to repeal the renewable energy standard, offer school vouchers to parents, and reform environmental regulations. Tillis won the group's Legislator of the Year award in 2011."

I hope people are seeing how the legislation is being written and how the issues are being decided. I don't know what if anything can actually be done about it at this point. Maybe nothing. Maybe that's why they're not hiding the ties to ALEC.

5/2/2013 8:42:51 PM

Do you think the true "low information voter" would care? They probably think ALEC is just another conservative think tank which they will just cling to.

5/2/2013 8:56:35 PM

I think after ALEC's preemptive strike stand your ground castle doctrine legislation made such a splash, and with the Koch brothers and Pope's of the world being out from behind the curtains now, yeah maybe some will care.

This is the kind of stuff where I think independents and even sensible republicans can see that this is a big part of what's wrong with the system.

5/2/2013 9:32:15 PM

It makes me wonder how much environmental rape, pillage, and plunder they will get away with though before sensible North Carolinians are able to reverse this garbage.

5/2/2013 9:37:21 PM

What's the counter strategy at this point?

If the goal is to reach low information voters, wouldn't the strategy to do so have to be as deceptive as the right?

5/3/2013 2:12:29 AM

This article will only serve to infuriate the educated. The low information voter has never heard of ALEC and will NEVER care. Sucks.

5/3/2013 8:51:08 PM

^ Exactly, the rest will just keep voting against their own interests as they are doped up with God, Gays, and Guns.

5/3/2013 10:31:03 PM

So the ncga website won't even let me contact a representative that's not mine, but they can go to another state, talk to corporations that pay lots of $$$$, and write legislation that caters to interests that aren't even native to the state?

This bypass of the public process seems like it should be illegal somehow. Corporations go from just slipping a few dollars under doors to literally running congressional offices.

5/4/2013 12:15:55 PM

^ Don't forget this is the same group that called it harassment when people called them regarding marijuana legalization. In other words constituents calling their representatives is now considered a problem.

5/4/2013 12:40:22 PM

Debate, lobbying, and citizen participation are hallmarks of inefficiency in the legislative process, roadblocks to better government that must be removed.

5/4/2013 12:51:23 PM

OH GOD!!! CONSERVATIVE GROUPS ARE PUSHING FOR THEIR VIEWS TO BE MADE INTO LAWS!!! OH GOD!!!

5/4/2013 8:54:20 PM

yep, its bad

5/4/2013 10:09:06 PM