Blog #5: Legislating Norms due January 16th @ midnight

1/16/2015

The American Legislative Exchange Council is an organization that crafts policies to push for a neo-conservative agenda. This organization is responsible for drafting pieces of legislation like SB 1070 in Arizona and a variety of state's dismissal of ObamaCare.
Issue Areas

Choose one of the issue areas above. Find a piece of legislation that you want to write about and answer the following questions.

How does the ALEC legislation push for change in their policy?
What groups (communities, corporations, etc) benefit from this legislation? What groups of people do not? What do advocacy groups feel about this policy? Who do they believe it will benefit or how do they feel it will cause harm?

Requirements for your blog

You must write 250 words (minimum) for your original post with a 50-100 word response to another student.

Students must post on or before the due date.

7 Comments

Sandra Montes

1/14/2015 07:06:27 am

Though we have briefly discussed Arizona’s SB 1070 legislation in class, I chose to write about it, since its success in being passed has turned it into a model legislation for other states to participate in sanctioned racism. ALEC pushed for the enforcement of this bill, by stating that no state may in any way infringe or restrict the full implementation of federal immigration laws. This means that all officials must abide by the legislation, or consequences will be bestowed upon them. Its’ supposed purpose is “to discourage and deter the unlawful entry and presence of aliens and economic activity by persons unlawfully present in the United States.” So, ALEC chose to criminalize all immigrants by simply being on any private or public land in this country and label it as trespassing. Criminalizing the immigrants was a way to instill fear in the public and gain support.
Those who benefit from this legislation are for-profit prison and bail industries, as well as the National Rifle Association who was a co-chair of ALEC at the time. This bill was enacted for racist and profit-earning reasons. Immigrants detained from this bill are a large part of the revenue that corporations make through the justice system. Those who are hurt by this bill are the people targeted; all those who look Mexican. The bill states that an official must have reasonable suspicion that someone is undocumented to ask for documentation, but the racist fact about it is that it is based on phenotype and racial profiling. There is no legitimate way to “look illegal.” The bill also poses a problem for anyone who tries to ensure any safe living of an undocumented person in the country. Supporters of this bill claim that it will ensure safety in communities (with the insinuation that immigrants are dangerous) and that it will save jobs for American citizens. I believe that the public supported it mostly for racist reasons, and was (for the most part) unaware of the large profit that corporations would in turn make from it.

Diana Orozco

1/15/2015 01:06:07 am

What I don't understand is, what makes immigrants dangerous???
As I mentioned many times, these laws are created because it legitimizes forms of discrimination. These laws were created because most White Americans fear that if illegal immigrants are allowed to stay, white Americans will have to start competing with them to keep their high positions. What these white Americans do not understand is that, if people of different ethnic groups start taking over their top hierarchy positions, it is probably for the better of the country. Who wants to keep greedy men who abuse their power in these positions?!? And that, is where the fear comes from, and influences the creation of these unconstitutional laws to wipe out people of color.

DIANA GOMEZ

1/16/2015 11:35:31 am

I definitely agree with you Sandra,
It is incredible that Alec is responsible of lowering k-12 formal education. It is responsible for also inflating public takes but impossible to raise taxes to millionaire, and billionaires. It is like the system only wants to make the rich richer and the poor poorer. This has nowhere to be bettering by cutting government programs for the people that are in need. Even though people will work so hard they it is a hug tax percent they have to pay. I can’t believe that groups helping these injustices actually think that they are benefiting the education of others.

1/15/2015 03:00:20 pm

ALEC uses the Parental Choice Scholarship Program Act to appear as if they are trying to help the education system. This act states that parents of an eligible student will receive a scholarship to put the student into any participating school of the parent’s choice. The Act states that a student is eligible if they attend a public school and receive free or reduced-price lunch due to the families’ income. Of course, no specifics were found on how exactly a child is eligible, if it was that easy, every child’s parents would be receiving this scholarship. Also, low-class families are not eligible because they begin to give the highest amount to a family that receives 100 percent of the maximum income to be eligible to receive free lunch. A family that makes more receives less of a scholarship. If a family makes less than the maximum amount for eligibility, there is no parent scholarship.
The bills for privatizing public education, and higher Ed policy benefit the wealthy families that have children in private schools. These bills will lower private k-12 schools, as well as inflate public tax dollars. Unfortunately, these bills will also further cut public school resources. It may seem as if they are trying to get more children into private schools by saying the parents of private school children will receive tax credit. However, middle- and lower-class families still don’t have enough money to put their children in these schools, especially if they are going to increase their taxes through the same bill as well. Groups supporting these bills believe that this will help the education system, and teach students conservative ideas that will benefit them in the future.

1/16/2015 10:14:41 am

I agree that the way the bill is presented masks its true intentions. It only advertises the good and hopeful aspects of it, and leaves out the "catch," or the very specific conditions of it. People may vote for it believing that their children will benefit from it, when in fact it will actually hinder their chances at receiving a better education because it will turn out to be worse for them. As if wealthy families aren't benefiting in the educational system already, this bill will only give them more of an advantage. This website that we found the bills on is important for identifying and making public the discriminating laws that ALEC wants to put into place.

Fay

1/16/2015 07:44:47 am

Alec can be seen to work successfully isolating females based on their age right here in this few weeks in this 5 blogs sections. (Ironically we all have similar Goals, and are women) Alec can be seen in a bigger circle at SJSU, and all the thanks must be given to our school president, it was under his nose a young man lost his life. To cover up from February all the way to June school was full of African- American advocates and speakers to mention how this is a divers school, but it is not. Alec was successful putting millions of people behind bars, and another few millions to stay in poverty. Look around you and think about how many none immigrant you have seen working in the farm. Even immigrants from Russia have better chance to be hired in high paying jobs. Today’s minority students want to be in law enforcement are tomorrows Hard Core police officers. I have seen many African- American Police Officer to be extra rude to their own people. Once again Alec has done a good job. Alec in schools is just a pure control so there will be no chance for few people Judge LaDoris H. Cordell or Dr. Crystallee Crain. I am all for Alec and it immigration Laws, maybe this is a best way to see without immigrants this country would starve to death in its own dirt. Maybe this is the best way for all those arrogant people to see there are still no jobs but they have no longer to blame others. Majority of Doctors, nurses, engineers, house keepers, farmers are immigrants and they all are over worked and underpaid. Cisco will go bankrupt if all its immigrants engineers went away, family attorneys and family courts would have no longer any income since high percentage of divorces are a result of cultural changes and capitalism (individualism) Police officer can no longer meet their quota giving tickets to people that cannot speak proper English and do not know their rights.

1/16/2015 11:27:32 am

25 % is cut to every single government from social security to Medicare, veterans benefits. Meet lower spending. Behind this new push by Republicans love the most. Alec is organized by republicans the right wing. ALEC makes it impossible to raise taxes to millionaires, billionaires. This is all corporate funded and about 16 states have fallen victim including Arizona, Colorado, and California. Alec is one of the largest groups of legislators, but it is funded by big corporations not legislators. They pay a fee to be a member on Alec task forces. Oil companies, tobacco companies are the biggest long time funders that spend millions on Alec. Participating in Alec is the biggest investment ever. I decided to focus in Guns, Prisons, Crime, and Immigration. I looked at how expanding the list of offenses was to benefit other corporations. Making it more difficult and challenging for an individual to arise and get out of prison.
In February, 2012 an African American 17 year-old Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by George Zimmerman a 28 year old. The media had identified Zimmerman as an American exercising “stands your ground” law. Zimmerman claimed he had justified his killing because he had reasonable fear of bodily harm. Really? An unarmed man was threatening your life. He was a person of color that is what made it reasonable to suspect he was a threat unfortunately.
The corporation’s and states legislators on the task force are the ones who benefit all this. People of color are the ones that are most targeted and affected. Wal-Mart the nation’s largest retailer of long guns and voted anonymously to approve the bill as an Alec model bill.

Blog #5: Legislating Norms due January 16th @ midnight

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Blog #5: Legislating Norms due January 16th @ midnight

Leave a Reply.

JS 132 Students

Archives

Categories

THE BEAUTYOF BLACKCREATION

ABOUT USJOURNALS​​SUBMISSIONS

THE BEAUTY

OF BLACK

CREATION

ABOUT US

JOURNALS

SUBMISSIONS