Kraft Foods and Coca-Cola Reps Were ALEC Board Members

The fact that Kraft Foods and Coca-Cola resigned their memberships in ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council — the push group behind the voter suppression movement, Stand Your Ground Laws and similar right-wing efforts — this week is perhaps an even more significant blow to the group than was first reported.

Dozens of mainstream, otherwise respectable corporations — like Microsoft, Sara Lee and even Mary Kay Cosmetics — are members of ALEC, but representatives for Kraft and Coke sat on the ALEC board.

ALEC has two boards of directors. One board is made up of Republican elected officials from state legislatures; the other is comprised of representatives from the corporate members. According to Right Wing Watch, members of ALEC’s Private Enterprise Board include:

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Birther Queen Orly Taitz Leads in Early Polling in California’s GOP U.S. Senate Primary

Taitz
Taitz
Talk about the silly season! Last month, right-wing clown Joe the Plumber won the Republican primary in Ohio’s heavily Democratic 9th Congressional District. Joe — whose real name is Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher — will run against veteran Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur, who has represented the district for 30 years.

Now it appears that another Republican joke, birther queen Orly Taitz, could well win the Republican primary in the California U.S. Senate race in June. She is, by far, the best best known candidate in a field of 23, including 14 Republicans, who are vying to take on Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who has served in the Senate since 1992.

Calbuzz got a quote on the matter from the poor sap saddled with the job of being chairman of the California Republican Party:

“We’re aware (Taitz) has name ID,” state GOP chair Tom Del Becarro, who’s doing all he can to boost the candidacy of little-known but party-endorsed Elizabeth Emken, told us bravely. “We think the party’s endorsement will carry the day.”

Ha! As if:

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Pay to Play: After Meat Industry Donation, Tea Party Rep. Steve King Defends Pink Slime

I’m on the phone today and throughout the weekend and into last week trying to establish a congressional hearing before the Ag Committee for Beef Products, Incorporated, so that we can put into the congressional record the nutritional value and the safety and the tastiness of their product which is an enhancement to hamburger. I’m working with Governor Branstad on that. At this point, there will be a decision made today I think on whether we’re able to get a hearing.

– Rep. Steve King, GOPT-Iowa, after taking donations from meat industry trade associations and meat producers, promising to have a hearing in Congress on the benefits of pink slime, which he calls “lean finely textured beef.”

George Bush: When Unelected Judges Make Law, It’s ‘a Threat to Our Democracy – and It Needs to Stop’

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GEORGE W. BUSH, 2007: When the Founders drafted the Constitution, they had a clear understanding of tyranny. They also had a clear idea about how to prevent it from ever taking root in America. Their solution was to separate the government’s powers into three co-equal branches: the executive, the legislature, and the judiciary. Each of these branches plays a vital role in our free society. Each serves as a check on the others. And to preserve our liberty, each must meet its responsibilities — and resist the temptation to encroach on the powers the Constitution accords to others.

For the judiciary, resisting this temptation is particularly important, because it’s the only branch that is unelected and whose officers serve for life. Unfortunately, some judges give in to temptation and make law instead of interpreting. Such judicial lawlessness is a threat to our democracy — and it needs to stop.

Romney Hires Bush White House Political Czar

George W. Bush with Ed Gillespie
George W. Bush with Ed Gillespie
Politico:

Moving to broaden his campaign organization beyond his close-knit cadre of advisers, Mitt Romney is bringing on former Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie as a senior adviser, POLITICO has learned.

Gillespie will be a sort of strategist without portfolio to the likely GOP presidential nominee, offering counsel on planning for the Tampa convention, the candidate’s message and a general election strategy for a campaign that is already moving beyond the primary.

Gillespie joined the Bush White House as a top political operative — officially “counselor to the president” — in June 2007. Later that year, after Karl Rove jumped ship, Gillespie took over political operations at the White House, a job that, as had also been the case with Rove, he unofficially shared with Roger Ailes, president of Fox News. Here’s how the New York Times described Gillespie back then:

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