The Title sounds like cartoon characters, but it isn't a funny story. ALEC is the acronym for a conservative business-dominated group called the American Legislative Exchange Council. They sponsor model legislation written up by their multinational "Sponsors" and attempt to get their laws passed at the State Level. They are very well funded and their membership roster is a who's who of the conservative power elite in the US.
What about Ag Gag? I don't know who dreamed up the name, but it is an insidious piece of model legislation aimed at protecting criminal behavior in the Agricultural industry. It is called the Animal and Ecological Terrorism Act and it's goal is to define anybody taking pictures of animal cruelty perpetuated by any company in the food industry as "terrorists", who can them be prosecuted as criminals.
ALEC has been successful in getting this cancerous legislation passed in 9 States (FL, IL, IN, IA, MN, MO, NY, TN and UT). If you snap a picture or secretly take a video of animal cruelty at a food producer or animal-research location, you are a criminal. Some of its corporate sponsors are Pfizer, Wyeth, GlaxoSmithKline, PhRMA, Boehringer Pharmaceuticals, and the National Pork Producers Council.
Learn more about ALEC on this excellent site.
Update 5/14/2013 TN Gvernor Bill Haslam has vetoed the Ag Gag bill passed by the Tennessee Legislature, but only because he thought the bill as written couldn't stand challenges. The Republicans who wrote the bill promise to have a new improved bill next year.
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