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The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) was originally the brainchild of conservative activist and culture warrior Paul Weyrich, a onetime journalist who later coined the term �Moral Majority� for evangelist Jerry Falwell. Weyrich�s original vision was to bring together state legislators who were energized by such social issues as the Equal Rights Amendment and abortion rights and concerned about what they saw as an overbearing, over-regulating, and over-taxing government.
As Weyrich saw it, liberals had spent decades building up their own infrastructure of foundations, think tanks, and academicians; conservatives had not. And so he simply borrowed their techniques. �I always look at what the enemy is doing and, if they�re winning, copy it,� he told an interviewer at the time.
ALEC�s major benefactors have included:
Alcoholic Beverages
Coors Brewing Company Distilled Spirits Council of the United States Miller Brewing Company Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc. Seagram North America
Automobiles
Avis Rent a Car DaimlerChrysler Corporation Ford Motor Company General Motors Corporation
Banks/Financial Services
American General Financial Group American Express Company Bank of America Community Financial Services Corporation Credit Card Coalition Credit Union National Association, Inc. Fidelity Investments Harris Trust & Savings Bank Household International LaSalle National Bank J.P. Morgan & Company Non-Bank Funds Transmitters Group
Criminal Justice
American Bail Corporation Corrections Corporation of America National Association of Bail Insurance Companies Wackenhut Corrections
Energy Producers/Oil
American Petroleum Institute Amoco Corporation ARCO BP America, Inc. Caltex Petroleum Chevron Corporation ExxonMobil Corporation Mobil Oil Corporation Phillips Petroleum Company
Energy Producers/Other
American Electric Power Association American Gas Association Center for Energy and Economic Development Commonwealth Edison Company Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc. Edison Electric Institute Enron Corporation Independent Power Producers of New York Koch Industries, Inc. Mid-American Energy Company Natural Gas Supply Association PG&E Corporation/PG&E National Energy Group U.S. Generating Company
Health Care
American Physical Therapy Association Baxter Healthcare Corporation
Insurance
Alliance of American Insurers Allstate Insurance Company American Council of Life Insurance American Insurance Association Blue Cross and Blue Shield Corporation Coalition for Asbestos Justice. (This organization was formed in October 2000 to �explore new judicial approaches to asbestos litigation.� Its members include ACE-USA, Chubb & Son, CNA service mark companies, Fireman�s Fund Insurance Company, Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., Kemper Insurance Companies, Liberty Mutual Insurance Group, and St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company. Counsel to the coalition is Victor E. Schwartz of the law firm of Crowell & Moring in Washington, D.C., a longtime ALEC ally.) Fortis Health GEICO Golden Rule Insurance Company Guarantee Trust Life Insurance MEGA Life and Health Insurance Company National Association of Independent Insurers Nationwide Insurance/National Financial State Farm Insurance Companies Wausau Insurance Companies Zurich Insurance
Law/Lobbying
Skelding, Labasky, Corry, Hauser, Metz & Daws Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker
Manufacturing
American Plastics Council Archer Daniels Midland Corporation AutoZone, Inc. (aftermarket automotive parts) Cargill, Inc. Caterpillar, Inc. Chlorine Chemistry Council Deere & Company Fruit of the Loom Grocery Manufacturers of America Inland Steel Industries, Inc. International Game Technology International Paper Johnson & Johnson Keystone Automotive Industries Motorola, Inc. Procter & Gamble Sara Lee Corporation
Media American Lawyer Media, Inc. R.R. Donnelly & Sons Company Primedia, Inc. The Washington Times
Pharmaceuticals
Abbott Laboratories Aventis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Bayer Corporation Eli Lilly & Company GlaxoSmithKline Glaxo Wellcome, Inc. Hoffman-LaRoche, Inc. Merck & Company, Inc. Pfizer, Inc. Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) Pharmacia Corporation Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, Inc. Schering-Plough Corporation Smith, Kline & French WYETH, a division of American Home Products Corporation
Restaurants
McDonald�s Corporation Wendy�s International, Inc.
Technology
America Online Americans for Technology Leadership Intel Corporation KeySpan Microsoft Corporation TechCentralStation.com
Telecommunications AT&T Ameritech BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc. GTE Corporation MCI National Cable and Telecommunications Association SBC Communications, Inc. Sprint UST Public Affairs, Inc. Verizon Communications, Inc.
Tobacco
Cigar Association of America, Inc. Lorillard Tobacco Company Philip Morris Management Corporation R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company Smokeless Tobacco Council
Transportation
Air Transport Association of America American Trucking Association The Boeing Company United Airlines United Parcel Service
Other Amway Corporation Cabot Sedgewick Cendant Corporation Corrections Corporation of America Dresser Industries Federated Department Stores International Gold Corporation Mary Kay Cosmetics Microsoft Corporation Newmont Mining Corporation Quaker Oats Sears, Roebuck & Company Service Corporation International Taxpayers Network, Inc. Turner Construction Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
Organizations/Foundations
Adolph Coors Foundation Ameritech Foundation Bell & Howell Foundation Carthage Foundation Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation ELW Foundation Grocery Manufacturers of America Heartland Institute of Chicago The Heritage Foundation Iowans for Tax Relief Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation of Milwaukee National Pork Producers Association National Rifle Association Olin Foundation Roe Foundation Scaiffe Foundation Shell Oil Company Foundation Smith Richardson Foundation Steel Recycling Institute Tax Education Support Organization Texas Educational Foundation UPS Foundation
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