A full-page advertisement, The New Copper Kings, by the Flathead Democratic Women’s Club in last week’s Flathead Beacon (page 33) called attention to the American Legislative Exchange Council, a shadowy and secretive group formed in 1973 to support pro-business legislation at the state level. ALEC writes model bills that state legislators introduce as their own, and provides technical support.
Progressive organizations also provide that kind of help, which in and of itself is not evil. The devil, of course, is in the details of the model bills that ALEC writes — and the details of many ALEC bills, smart and otherwise, can be found at ALEC Exposed, a project of The Center for Media and Democracy.
The advertisement’s retro graphic design recreates the Copper Kings era, and is worth studying for style.