{"id":380,"date":"2012-10-25T14:21:11","date_gmt":"2012-10-25T18:21:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2012\/10\/alecs-our-state-legislators-behind-multi-year-ga-constitutional-amendment-referendum.html"},"modified":"2012-10-25T14:21:11","modified_gmt":"2012-10-25T18:21:11","slug":"alecs-our-state-legislators-behind-multi-year-ga-constitutional-amendment-referendum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2012\/10\/alecs-our-state-legislators-behind-multi-year-ga-constitutional-amendment-referendum.html","title":{"rendered":"ALEC&#8217;s &#8220;our state legislators&#8221; behind multi-year GA constitutional amendment referendum"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.senate.ga.gov\/senators\/en-US\/member.aspx?Member=7\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none;\" class=\"at-xid-6a0120a58214e4970b017d3cfbbfda970c\" src=\"\/blog\/images\/6a0120a58214e4970b017d3cfbbfda970c-pi.jpg\"  alt=\"Ronnie Chance\" width=\"159\" height=\"209\"  \/><\/a>\nLook who sponsored\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www1.legis.ga.gov\/legis\/2009_10\/versions\/sr1231_SR_1231_APP_6.htm\">\nGeorgia Senate Resolution 1231<\/a> which put\nthe second referendum question on the ballot!\nTwo of ALEC&#8217;s &#8220;our state legislators&#8221;,\nSenators Ronnie Chance of the 16th,\nand\nSenate Majority Leader Chip Rogers of the 21st,\nare among the sponsors (Chance is the first sponsor).\n<\/p>\n<p>\nSourceWatch&#8217;s ALEC Exposed\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2012\/04\/georgia-legislators-with-alec-ties-thomas-kirkpatrick.html\">\nfound Ronnie Chance on ALEC&#8217;s International Relations Task Force.<\/a>\nRogers himself told CBS News how much he values ALEC,\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/8301-18563_162-57464438\/who-is-alec\/\">\nWho is ALEC?<\/a>\nBy Mark Strassmann and Phil Hirschkorn 30 June 2012.\nRogers spelled out the same thing ALEC itself told me:\nit considers people like Chance and Rogers\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2012\/08\/alec-responds-to-sierra-club-report.html\">&#8220;our state legislators&#8221;<\/a>.\n&#8220;Our&#8221; as in belonging to ALEC, not representing you the voters and taxpayers.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.senate.ga.gov\/senators\/en-US\/member.aspx?Member=38\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none;\" class=\"at-xid-6a0120a58214e4970b017d3cfbbfe1970c\" width=\"136\" height=\"195\" src=\"\/blog\/images\/6a0120a58214e4970b017d3cfbbfe1970c-pi.jpg\"  alt=\"Chip Rogers\" width=\"50%\"  \/><\/a>\nGuess who sponsored the bill that put the charter school amendment on the ballot,\nHB 1162 in its Senate form?\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.legis.ga.gov\/legislation\/en-US\/display\/20112012\/HR\/1162\">\nChip Rogers.<\/a>\nAnd who sponsored the companion bill that would suck money out of public\nschools and give more per pupil to charter schools, using our local tax dollars,\nHB 797 in the Senate?\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.legis.ga.gov\/legislation\/en-US\/display\/20112012\/HB\/797\">\nChip Rogers.<\/a>\nAnd House sponsors Jan Jones (R 46th) and Edward Lindsey (R 54th) of both bills\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2012\/04\/georgia-legislators-with-alec-ties-thomas-kirkpatrick.html\">\nare also ALEC&#8217;s &#8220;our state legislators&#8221;.<\/a>\n<\/p>\n<p>\nI don&#8217;t always agree with Adam Smith, but when I do, I quote The Wealth of Nations from 1776:\n<\/p>\n\n<!--more-->\n<blockquote>\n<p>\n\u201cThe interest of the dealers, however, in any particular branch of\ntrade or manufactures, is always in some respects different from,\nand even opposite to, that of the public.\n<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Adam_Smith\">\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none;\" class=\"at-xid-6a0120a58214e4970b017d3cfbbfe8970c\" src=\"\/blog\/images\/6a0120a58214e4970b017d3cfbbfe8970c-pi.jpg\"  alt=\"Adam Smith\"  \/><\/a>\nTo widen the market and to\nnarrow the competition, is always the interest of the dealers. To\nwiden the market may frequently be agreeable enough to the interest\nof the public; but to narrow the competition must always be against\nit, and can serve only to enable the dealers, by raising their\nprofits above what they naturally would be, to levy, for their own\nbenefit, an absurd tax upon the rest of their fellow-citizens. The\nproposal of any new law or regulation of commerce which comes from\nthis order ought always to be listened to with great precaution, and\nought never to be adopted till after having been long and carefully\nexamined, not only with the most scrupulous, but with the most\nsuspicious attention. It comes from an order of men whose interest\nis never exactly the same with that of the public, who have\ngenerally an interest to deceive and even to oppress the public, and\nwho accordingly have, upon many occasions, both deceived and\noppressed it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\nI recommend your suspicious attention to this ALEC-sponsored second\nreferendum.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nNormally, I would be for a constitutional amendment\nthat purports to promote energy efficiency and conservation,\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www1.legis.ga.gov\/legis\/2009_10\/versions\/sr1231_SR_1231_APP_6.htm\">\nas this one does:<\/a>\n<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\nShall the Constitution be amended so as to provide for guaranteed\ncost savings for the state by authorizing a state entity to enter\ninto multiyear contracts which obligate state funds for energy\nefficiency or conservation improvement projects?\n<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\nBut when it&#8217;s sponsored by the very same ALEC&#8217;s &#8220;our state legislators&#8221;\nwho brought us the so-called charter school amendment, which has\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2012\/08\/alec-behind-georgia-charter-school-referendum.html\">\nALEC&#8217;s fingerprints all over it<\/a>,\nright down to\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2012\/10\/charter-school-referendum-preamble-is-parent-trigger-jargon.html\">\nthe misleading preamble<\/a>,\nplus it&#8217;s backed by\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2012\/09\/walton-family-foundation-granted-105-million-towards-ga-charter-schools-in-2011.html\">\nmegabucks from out-of-state ALEC cronies,<\/a>\nI&#8217;m going to vote No on both!\n<\/p>\n<p>\nYou also have an opportunity right now to vote for new state Senators\nand House members who will not be ALEC&#8217;s state legislators and could\nbe our own state representatives.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n-jsq\n<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Look who sponsored Georgia Senate Resolution 1231 which put the second referendum question on the ballot! Two of ALEC&#8217;s &#8220;our state legislators&#8221;, Senators Ronnie Chance of the 16th, and Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers of the 21st, are among the sponsors (Chance is the first sponsor). SourceWatch&#8217;s ALEC Exposed found Ronnie Chance on ALEC&#8217;s International [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[140,14,15,49,264,265,70,8,2,20,21,22,3],"tags":[8744,1485,163,8704,8705,8721,8754,8755,8728,8701,8699,8702,8710,12,7,1508,1509,8711,8712,1510,162,8700,6],"class_list":["post-380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alec","category-economy","category-education","category-elections","category-energy-conservation","category-energy-efficiency","category-ethics","category-georgia","category-government","category-law","category-planning","category-politics","category-transparency","tag-alec","tag-charter-school","tag-chip-rogers","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-elections","tag-energy-conservation","tag-energy-efficiency","tag-ethics","tag-georgia","tag-government","tag-lake","tag-law","tag-lowndes-area-knowledge-exchange","tag-lowndes-county","tag-multi-year-contract","tag-our-state-legislators","tag-planning","tag-politics","tag-power-grab","tag-ronnie-chance","tag-transparency","tag-valdosta"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p585fK-68","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=380"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5173,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380\/revisions\/5173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}