The term Smart Alec is quite fitting for ALEC. The phrase derives from a mid-19th century con artist named Alec Hoag who worked with his wife to scam money and jewelry from hundreds of men in Manhattan. Alec's wife would pose as a prostitute, and Alec would steal her "customers'" belongings while they were distracted. The couple avoided arrest by bribing two local police officers. Given the impact that ALEC's legislative proposals have on every day Americans, the dishonest ways in which ALEC sells its policies, and the level of virtually bribery that occurs in our political system, the use of the phrase "Smart Alec" to describe ALEC seems especially appropriate.]
(By Jillian Barclay, cross-posted at HubPages)
When Wisconsin has a new law that destroys collective bargaining, how does that same law almost instantaneously show up in ten other statehouses? When Florida presents anti-abortion legislation, why are 25 other states doing the same thing at the same time? When Michigan decides that it is a good idea to privatize, well, everything, why do other state legislatures follow suit so quickly? For years, I thought this was just dumb luck or even some kind of political ESP, or maybe even some sort of wild conspiracy theory, but then thought I was being foolish! How could states be reading from the same playbook? Could it be possible that there was a conspiracy? No! More than likely, I concluded, it was dumb luck!
http://http://www.winningprogressive.org/the-smart-alecs-who-are-writing-the-gops-laws
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