More Public Calls for Legislators to Abandon ALEC Corruption, not just the corp-o-rats

I predict that membership in the corrupt special interest machine, ALEC, will be a factor in the 2012 election cycle, at the local, state, and national level.  Interest is growing, and increasingly brighter lights are being shown on ALEC corporations, and ALEC puppet conservative legislators.  We should be emulating the examples from Texas and Iowa in every state and territory in the country. I particularly applaud the Iowans for identifying their elected representatives by name.  As I have noted earlier, I would like to see all the conservative legislators who belong to or attend ALEC events FOIA'd to provide their connections to ALEC, so that their constituents can have those preferential relationships come out of the shadows into the sunlight, so that we citizens can in fact BE vigilante to prevent corrupt cronyism and influence buying.
The latest is from Iowa, but I expect that we will continue to see this movement demanding legislators leave expand alongside and in conjunction with the insistence on the corrupt corp-o-rats to get out of ALEC.
Corruption is when public office is used for private profit, as defined by the World Bank, a definition they apply to a variety of situations around the glove to identify systemic institutional rot and dishonesty.  Any entity that exists to benefit special interests is inherently corrupt by that definition.
We have an interest as consumers and as investors in calling for corp-o-rats to get OUT of ALEC, to stop exploiting the special and privileged relationships with business that involves a lot of influence and money to the detriment of citizens and the unequal, secret, aggrandizement of big business, and specifically of the individuals who run those businesses, the 1% targeted by the Occupy movements.  It is a significant part of the growing chasm of wealth inequality.  It is not based on merit or accomplishment, it is based on rigging the system against the overwhelming majority, the 99% of us.
As citizens it is in our interest and it is our duty to hold our elected representatives accountable.  It is what Thomas Jefferson meant by the price of freedom being eternal vigilance - we must be vigilante that our system works fairly, that it continues to be government of the people by the people and for the people and not government of the people by oligarchy and special interest.  In that context, Romney is wrong; corporations are NOT people.  THAT is a legal fiction.
From the DesMoinesRegister.com:

Progress Iowa calls on state lawmakers to cut ties with conservative group ALEC
12:53 PM, Apr 6, 2012 | by Jason Noble

The advocacy group Progress Iowa on Friday asked 21 state lawmakers to drop their memberships with the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative group that drafts model legislation for consideration in state legislatures.

The group encouraged the lawmakers – all but one of whom are Republicans and several in key leadership positions – to follow the lead of Coca-Cola Co., Kraft Foods Inc. and PepsiCo, major corporations that have announced they would cut ties with the organization this year.

ALEC, as the group is known, has been sharply criticized in recent months for the legislation it has advocated in state governments across the country, including photo-ID requirements for voters and so-called “Stand Your Ground” self-defense laws that have become particularly controversial since the shooting death of teenager Trayvon Martin in Florida.

Among the Iowa lawmakers called out by Progress Iowa are Rep. Linda Upmeyer, the House majority floor leader and ALEC’s national second vice chairwoman for 2012.

“Given what we now know about ALEC and its detrimental effect on public policy, there’s no excuse for Iowa legislators to continue their involvement in the organization,” said Progress Iowa Executive Director Matt Sinovic.  “The fact that Coke, Pepsi and Kraft have left ALEC speaks volumes to how toxic the group has become. It’s time for Iowa’s ALEC members to follow suit.”

Coca-Cola and Kraft announced they would leave ALEC this week after a liberal advocacy groups the Center for Media and Democracy and Color of Change launched a boycott of firms associated with the organization.

ALEC still has many connections to blue-chip corporations, however: executives from companies like Wal-Mart, AT&T and ExxonMobil serve on its “private enterprise board.”

The lawmakers identified by Progress Iowa as belonging to ALEC:

Sen. Sandra H. Greiner, R-Keota
Sen. Tim L. Kapucian, R-Keystone
Sen. James A. Seymour, R-Woodbine
Rep. Richard T. Anderson, R-Clarinda
Rep. Richard Arnold, R-Russell
Rep. Betty De Boef, R-What Cheer
Rep. Dave Deyoe, R-Nevada
Rep. Greg Forristall, R-Macedonia
Rep. Mary Ann Hanusa, R-Council Bluffs
Rep. David Heaton, R-Mt. Pleasant
Rep. Stewart E. Iverson, Jr., R-Clarion
Rep. Mark S. Lofgren, R-Muscatine
Rep. Brian J. Quirk, D-New Hampton
Rep. Thomas R. Sands, R-Wapello
Rep. Charles Soderberg, R-Le Mars
Rep. Linda Upmeyer, R-Garner