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Group that Sustains ALEC's Voter Suppression Agenda Releases Sham "Study," to Acclaim from Right-Wing Media

A right-wing group that pledged to "continue the excellent work of the American Legislative Exchange Council" (ALEC) and promote voter ID has published a thinly-sourced blog post that purports to show people of color and the poor are actually helped by voter ID laws, an unsupported claim that is being hyped as a "study" by outlets like Fox News and the Daily Caller. More comprehensive research has demonstrated that these laws threaten to disenfranchise around 5 million people nationally, primarily people of color, students, and the poor.

Three California Democrats Team Up with Monsanto

In California, the battle over Proposition 37, which would require the labeling of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food products, is heating up. In late July, pro-labeling groups obtained a flier sent out by a group opposed to the proposition containing the endorsements of three Democratic California Assemblymembers, even though the Democratic Party of California (and over 90 percent of consumers) supports GMO labeling.

"Now Tell Him He Reminds You of George Washington"

Cartoon by Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune, July 25, 2012The week the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) was in Salt Lake City for its 39th annual meeting, award winning cartoonist Pat Bagley produced this gem in Utah's largest newspaper, The Salt Lake Tribune. The cartoon "A Legislator Walks Into a Bar" aptly characterizes the relationship between legislators, mega-corporations, and ALEC. State Representative Mark Pocan (D-WI) has put it bit more gently describing ALEC as a "dating service" for politicians and corporations.

Emails from ALEC Member Russell Pearce Show Anti-Immigrant Law May Have Been Racially Motivated

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Arizona has asked the man behind the "show me your papers" anti-immigrant law in that state to show them his emails. An open records request to former Arizona state Senator Russell Pearce netted thousands of email records sent from Pearce's account that suggest Arizona's SB 1070, which was taken up as an American Legislative Exchange Council "model bill" but recently struck down in large part by the U.S. Supreme Court, was motivated by racism and xenophobia.

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