For people who don’t like government—or at least big government—conservatives and the business interests that support them sure do know their way around Washington, especially the area around K Street.
A few days ago, Gail Collins wrote a piece about how the NRA practically wrote the “Stand Your Ground” laws that exist in 21 states and are being proposed in other states including ours. There is no great demand for these laws on a personal level but the article points out that the NRA needs to push these laws in order to stay in the game, to continue to be relevant if they are to continue to pull in donations and supporters.
In today’s paper we read about the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) role, not just in passing legislation but also in writing legislation geared to union busting (Because unions gave us a middle class?), undermining environmental protection (Because clean air and water take a bite out of profits?), and tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy (one word-greed).
This same group—with support from companies like AT&T, Coca-Cola and UPS—promote privatization and outsourcing as effective methods of limiting government costs. And when hasn’t privatization and outsourcing worked out well in the long run?
