Brendan Fischer Posts

Voter ID is “a mere fig leaf for efforts to disenfranchise voters likely to vote for the political party that does not control the state government,” federal appellate Judge Richard Posner wrote in a scorching dissent published October 10.

Just one day after Google announced it was cutting ties with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), fellow tech giant Facebook announced that they are "not likely" to renew their ALEC membership next year.

Google chairman Eric Schmidt said Monday that the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is "literally lying" that climate change is not a reality, and that its membership in ALEC "was some sort of mistake."

Leaked audio from an invite-only Koch donor summit highlighted the role of the billionaire brothers in boosting Scott Walker in Wisconsin -- and suggests that David Koch's Americans for Prosperity Foundation may have violated its charitable status during the state's 2012 recall elections.

Despite claims that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is not a "target" in the state's criminal campaign finance probe, newly-released documents demonstrate that prosecutors are indeed looking at potentially criminal activity by the first-term governor and 2016 presidential hopeful.

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon has vetoed a bill that included a drafting error copied-and-pasted from American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) model legislation, and criticized ALEC members for having "simply parroted ... the ALEC model act without alteration."

The "charitable" wing of David Koch's Americans for Prosperity has dropped nearly $900,000 on ads to boost Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's reelection campaign, just days after polls showed Walker tied with his Democratic challenger, Mary Burke.

In one of the first cases to rely on the U.S. Supreme Court's McCutcheon decision, a federal judge just tried to open the door to new levels of corruption in Wisconsin elections -- but the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals could still stop him.

Some things are always worth fighting for, especially clean air and water. Those fights can be tough, too, particularly when your own city and its residents refuse to let go of a profitable but dangerous practice like fracking. For the third time in the past year, voters in Youngstown, OH voted against a fracking ban.

Amidst a new "Sagebrush Rebellion" ignited by a Nevada rancher and his armed supporters that threatened to turn violent, Congressman Raúl Grijalva has asked the U.S. Department of the Interior to "investigate the role of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) in efforts to pass bills at the state level" that undermine federal authority over state lands and thwart the agency's duties.

The Wall Street Journal opinion page has a new installment in its campaign against Wisconsin's "John Doe" campaign finance probe, this time in an effort to resuscitate the image of Kelly Rindfleisch, a top aide to Scott Walker implicated in two John Doe investigations.

Wisconsin could become the latest state to narrow access to the courts for asbestos victims in a bill up for a vote on March 20, joining a national coordinated effort that can be traced back to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

In light of the proposed merger between Time Warner and Comcast -- both of which have been longtime funders of the American Legislative Exchange Council or "ALEC" -- the Center for Media and Democracy is publishing this updated fact sheet, developed jointly with Common Cause, on how ALEC helps these telecom companies advance their legislative agenda through the states.

Tax filings from an array of Koch-connected nonprofits show that the Kochs' political coalition raised over $400 million during 2012, an analysis by the Washington Post and Center for Responsive Politics shows. The Koch network alone raised nearly as much as the Romney campaign, and tens of millions more than GOP presidential candidate John McCain raised for his entire 2008 campaign.

At least 77 bills to oppose renewable energy standards, support fracking and the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, and otherwise undermine environmental laws were introduced in 34 states in 2013, according to a new analysis from the Center for Media and Democracy,

At least 77 bills to oppose renewable energy standards, support fracking and the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, and otherwise undermine environmental laws were introduced in 34 states in 2013, according to a new analysis from the Center for Media and Democracy,

At least 77 bills to oppose renewable energy standards, support fracking and the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, and otherwise undermine environmental laws were introduced in 34 states in 2013, according to a new analysis from the Center for Media and Democracy,

Despite widespread public opposition to the education privatization agenda, at least 139 bills or state budget provisions reflecting American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) education bills have been introduced in 43 states and the District of Columbia in just the first six months of 2013, according to an analysis by the Center for Media and Democracy, publishers of ALECexposed.org. Thirty-one have become law.

The acquittal of George Zimmerman for killing unarmed high-schooler Trayvon Martin serves as a reminder of the continuing inequities in America's criminal justice system -- and might be the impetus to repeal a law like "Stand Your Ground," which was adopted by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and subsequently spread across the country.