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NRA Awards Scott Walker for Pushing Concealed Guns and the ALEC-related "Castle Doctrine" (Stand Your Ground) Laws

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker asked members of the National Rifle Association (NRA) for "help" and "support" in his upcoming recall election in a speech at the organization's annual meeting on April 13, where he received an award for signing into law two controversial bills: Concealed Carry legislation, which allows people to be armed with concealed guns almost anywhere in the state, and what the NRA calls the Castle Doctrine, but what is more widely known as "Stand Your Ground," a version of which had been cited to prevent the arrest of the man who shot and killed Trayvon Martin in Florida.

Koch-Funded "Americans For Prosperity" Rallies at WI Capitol

Americans for Prosperity Tax Day rally in Madison.Americans for Prosperity (AFP), the Koch-funded astroturf group, held a Tax Day rally in Madison on April 14. This year's Tax Day rally was dramatically smaller than the 2009/2010 rallies at the Capitol and even smaller than last year's rally which took place in the sleet and the snow at the height of the Wisconsin Uprising. With the sun shining down on this year's rally, this year's themes included the supposedly fake "War on Women" and claims about how well Governor Scott Walker's policies are working for Wisconsin.

Wisconsin's chapter of AFP has been very supportive of Walker and his policies over the past year, running ads supporting the passage of Walker's union-busting "Budget Repair Bill," that sparked unprecedented protests in February and March of 2011. In more recent months, they have also partnered with the conservative belief tank, the MacIver Institute, to launch an expensive TV ad and Internet campaign called "It's Working," suggesting that Walker's collective bargaining measure and budget cuts have been successful.

Reed Elsevier Joins Mass Exodus From ALEC

Reed Elsevier joins a mass corporate exodus from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), bringing the total number of corporations that have cut ties with the controversial organization to ten. Reed Elsevier is the parent company of Elsevier, which is one of the largest academic publishing companies in the world. It publishes about 2,000 academic journals and other information-related services, including Lexis Nexis and several scientific journals.

ALEC Exposed - A project of CMDReuters reported that Reed Elsevier announced on Thursday that it resigned its board seat and dropped its membership with ALEC.

ALEC: Desperate for Dough?

As a stampede of global corporations drop their membership in the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the right-wing organization is apparently desperate for funds.

Several public interest organizations, including the Center for Media and Democracy, Color of Change, Common Cause, People for the American Way, CREDO and others have been asking corporations to stop funding ALEC for its role in helping spread policies like voter suppression and "Shoot First." In the last two weeks, some of America's largest corporations, including Coca-Cola, Pepsi, MARS, Intuit, McDonald's, Wendy's, and Kraft Foods have announced they will not be renewing their ALEC membership. ALEC receives ninety-eight percent of its funding from its corporate members and from foundations, and only through this funding can ALEC advance its agenda.

Ticketmaster Hot and Bothered About ALEC

Association with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is becoming so toxic that even being listed on ALEC Exposed as a former supporter of the organization is rattling corporate cages. The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) has received a letter from the online ticket sales company Ticketmaster referring to the list of "ALEC Corporations" on our site Sourcewatch.org.

Ticketmaster's letter does not directly deny any current or former involvement with ALEC, but "advises" CMD to "cease and desist from including Ticketmaster on your site," objecting to "the suggestion that Ticketmaster is somehow affiliated with ALEC" and threatening to sue CMD for libel and defamation.

Mars and Arizona Public Service Dump ALEC

The seventh and eighth corporations to publicly state that they cut ties with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) are candy-maker Mars and the Arizona Public Service Company (APS), Arizona's largest electric utility. Mars had been an exhibitor at ALEC's 2011 annual meeting in New Orleans. Mars is the maker of Skittles, the snack Trayvon Martin had purchased before he was shot by George Zimmerman, whose arrest was delayed due to an NRA-backed gun law that became an ALEC "model" bill.

Fox's Michelle Malkin Goes to Bat for ALEC

In the face of a successful relay race of corporations dropping their membership with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a Fox News contributor has called for her own campaign against these same corporations. Michelle Malkin asked her readers in the Washington Examiner to not "do business with progressive appeasers" and to boycott businesses that have decided to sever their relationship with ALEC.

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