By Craig McDermott, cross-posted from Random Musings
Alternate title: “Chutzpah, thy name is Republican legislator”
Once in a while, some of the denizens of AZ’s chapter of the MSM do some actual good work.
In this case, Morgan Loew of KPHO (Channel 5) took a camera to the Arizona recruiting dinner of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).
ALEC is a notably shady organization that serves as a front for lobbyists looking to influence (mostly) Republican legislators. In many states, Republican legislators have pushed or are pushing ALEC- (and industry-) written measures that benefit Big Business, such as bills expanding private prisons, reducing anti-pollution laws, and creating industry-friendly (and human-unfriendly) Stand Your Ground laws.
The video of the KPHO’s story is at the story.
Some of the legislators who attended the closed-to-the-public meeting (Republicans, one and all):
Representatives –
Debbie Lesko
Eddie Farnsworth
John Kavanagh
Carl Seel
Brenda Barton
Bob Thorpe
David Livingston
J.D. Mesnard
Justin Olson
Michelle Ugenti
T.J. Shope
Adam Kwasman
Jeff Dial
Senators –
Senate President Andy Biggs
Nancy Barto
Chester Crandell
Don Shooter
Rep. Lesko is ALEC’s chair in AZ, and she was quoted as saying that ALEC is “a great organization”.
It would have been more believable if the late John Gotti had defended the Gambino crime family as a “benevolent neighborhood improvement association”.
Sen. Shooter spotted the camera near the end of the event, and he demanded that it be shut off.
Guess he had a problem with being seen as dirty.
But not with being dirty.
Anyway, have to give credit where credit is due (even if it is of the backhanded variety). They weren’t really trying to hide their interest in the event.
From the lege’s events calendar on its website –
For the record, if a Democrat had attended the meeting, I would have called him/her out on it – corruption is corruption.