Our democracy is screwed. It’s been long speculated that Republican state lawmakers are taking their orders from the shadowy right-wing think tank funded by the Koch Brothers and known as the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) – and now there’s proof. It was discovered in Florida – when Republican State Representative Rachel Burgin introduced legislation in the state House back in November that – oops – still included ALEC’s mission statement at the top of the bill, reading: “Whereas it is the mission of the American Legislative Exchange Council to advance Jeffersonian principles…” ALEC gathers lawmakers and corporate interests together to draft model legislation, which is then sent back to state legislatures to be passed. But usually, the lawmakers remember to strip out the ALEC branding from it. Everything from stricter drug laws that help the private prison industry – to anti-EPA laws that help the big oil industry – to voter ID laws that help the Republican Party are produced by ALEC. It’s become increasingly clear what’s going on: we elect representatives – and they represent corporations. That’s how ALEC is turning our Democracy into a Corporatocracy.

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