My teacher showed us this lmao

This needs to played on television..

I'm starting to feel this way too. Just do away with lobbying by organizations entirely, until this situation gets under control. Have only individuals writing, sending emails, and calling legislators. No "non-profits" at all. It's a shame it's come to this, but the system is now so corrupt that we can't just carry on as if these powerful, wealthy lobbying organizations can be out-lobbied by ordinary citizens groups and true non-profits. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Ten years later and sadly nothing has changed. But we are seeing the real time. Consequences. With these train derailments and chemicals

This perfectly explains why the TikTok bill was passed by the house

Time to make this video go viral now that we have a digital 'Town Square" to make it happen. " The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything." - Albert Einstein

That is the BEST video I have seen!! Amazing explanation and easy to understand! Anyone who cares about keeping this country from turning into an Idiocracy for the corporate welfare rolls should share this with everyone you know!!

Campaign finance reform, period. Sign Bernie Sanders' petition for full disclosure.

Who's watching this 10 years later?

Just seeing this in 2024 😢

Brilliant! I remember those "I'm just a bill" songs; nowadays I guess Alec is the bully of the capitol hill block.

Nailed it!

This applies to EVERY candidate - except Bernie. Bernie Sanders for POTUS!

Excellent condensation of the ALEC story. You've got a quick way to see the background that I've gotten by reading many articles in various media.

If you think objecting to 1% of the populace owning twice as much wealth as the bottom 80% is "class envy," then nothing I can say is going to change your mind. The rich get most of their income from capital gains, which are taxed at 15%, while the working stiff pays 25% on anything over $30,000. With their money and political clout, the rich have totally gamed the system in their favor. Right now, they're busy buying our democracy in the fall election. The Corporate Court gave them that right.

2024: It's only gotten worse!

Bernie Sanders will KICK ALEC's ASS!

Unions were created during the Industrial Revolution to counter the wretched excesses of the robber barons. They did their job. Then they careened out of control, demanding more and more. There must be a balance. But it doesn't exist now. The only way to solve it is for these groups to work together for a common goal/common good.

And what you're conveniently omitting is that the "progressives, unions, and special-interest groups" that oppose ALEC represent the interests of the little guy and a majority of citizens. ALEC represents the interests of rich and powerful corporations looking for ways to get richer at the expense of the vast majority of Americans. They have completely gamed the system.

Yes, it's called the "MORALITY of PROFIT". I'm not speaking on you in general, but for all who've been handed a share of the market including myself, learned to amase wealth on our own, yet contribute little to nothing to the overall progression of society as a whole, over "self interest". I'm not a part of a union either, but i know in the coming years they will be necessary for the "younger" generation.

This could not have been more articulately and accurately explained. Get money out of politics!

When buying and selling are controlled by legislation, the first things to be bought and sold are legislators. ~ P.J. O'Rourke

Speaking of GM, they actually are now working through the summer because of the high demand. Had they failed as one candidate called for, those people would be in the unemployment line. You are spot on about the corporate taxes. I will add that we now know from off shore banks that 21 TRILLION dollars are kept off shore TAX FREE by the wealthiest "job creators". I guess we pay that tab too.

Yeah well I don't think something like that will happen knowing that the corporations literally own congress.

I played this in protest of the Wasington NATIONALS beating the New York Mets

I played this in protest of the Washington NATIONALS beating the New York Mets!

we need sequel

I guess my point is it's not strictly corporations corrupting out government, as the cartoon suggest.

You might be right. EVERYBODY tries to pay as little as possible. That's human nature. But the beauty of the flat tax idea is there are no cutouts, loopholes, or exceptions. Everybody's treated the same. The real issue is taxing "earnings" - and not just salary. That would include capital gains, etc. Do that, and nobody will easily weasel out.

This cartoon describes fascism 101. When big business and government work together, that is fascism.

How does paper have blood

Except for emancipation of slavery and suffrage, the political system has abrogated many of the Constitutional restraints placed on government, allowing the usurpation of individual rights throughout this countries history. No society has yet been able to stop the advancement of the collusion between government officials and the monied class. Perhaps we should learn from the experiences of 6,000 years of history and try something different.

ALEC: Taking the load off corporations and dropping it on workers and taxpayers for 40 years! ALEC PROTEST AUGUST 8th JOIN US: Let’s “Welcome” ALEC to Chicago Thursday, August 8, 2013 at Noon Outside the Palmer House Hilton Hotel, 17 East Monroe, Chicago, IL

How can 28 people NOT like this.

#EndCareerPoliticians

Actually, most fascist countries are run by a dictator who relies on an underlying oligarchy of State, Commerce and Religious entities which exist within a network of mutually supportive relationships for the maintenance of power. So in practice, an essential aspect of fascism IS the merger of corporations/guilds (among other powerful institutions) and state. It would seem that the cozy relationship between private financial power and government authority is what empowers fascism>

and sadly some of these groups can't be boycotted, we need internet and gas

Despite ALEC's opposition, the National Popular Vote bill, that changes the way electoral votes are awarded by states in the Electoral College, instead of the current 48 state-by-state winner-take-all system, is 49% of the way to going into effect. Every vote, everywhere, would be politically relevant and equal in every election. The candidate with the most popular votes in the country would get the needed 270+ electoral votes from the enacting states. NationalPopularVote

that's my point, i don't care how intertwined they are, they should not be bailed out by government unless government is willing to bail out every business, large or small, it's called equal protection under the law. i know why companies like these are considered too big to fail, that many jobs and companies depend on them in a symbiotic ecosystem of capitalism. my point is that it shouldn't matter, not unless we aren't a capitalist system. i don't believe in the ends justify the means.

Everyone should send the video to their local senator or congressman and say, so do you wanna talk to me about this and see how many crickets you hear.

-"What you have to said to yourself?, you old dreamer". -"If you fight back I will say you are gay"

we're a democratic republic. IE a republic that practices representative democracy.

Wait, what does people defending themselves from death, great bodily harm, or forcible sexual penetration anywhere they have a legal right to be, have to do with corporate influence in politics?

But again, technically there IS something that can be done about it. I just wish there was a big enough "alarm clock", and a big enough "freezing cold bucket of water."

You are living in a dream world. This is happening.

Taxes are the government's source of income. I find it really idiotic these people who think they can cut the government deficit while cutting the government's income. And the logic of "oh, there will be more profit and more taxes total collected" is flawed. You still end up with less coming into the government. You wouldn't say "I'm short on cash, so I'll take a paycut in my hourly wage, so I get more hours."

Most who pay no income tax are too damn poor to pay anything (except for the rich guys who cheat). But they still pay lots of taxes -- payroll tax, sales tax, etc. Your idea of a millionaire paying the same flat tax rate as a working stiff sucks, but it's better than the way it is now, where the working guy pays a higher rate than many billionaires. Warren Buffet's secretary pays a higher rate than he does, for instance.

We're to late :(

Well I do not think something like that will ever happen knowing that corporations literally own congress.

We will end up with a world like the TV show Continuum.

That's a damn good question. Too bad they don't have to release their finical information like corporations do. Regardless, you're kidding yourself if you think non-corporation organisations don't have major political influence.

There goes my union them mobsters took our money 💰

I'll re-phrase, keep trying to get the state out of the affairs of the bourgeoisie when the state is merely a body to moderate exploitation for the ruling class. Keep trying to keep capital from centralizing as it naturally does in capitalism. No I don't think it "should work like that." that's why I'm a communist, because it doesn't work any other way in capitalism.

"Stand your Ground" IS and ALEC Law

We need to outsource the Politicians...

Because they sell the guns; gun sales = profits. Duh!!

Because I understand how legislation gets passed?

R.I.P syndicate Alec.

Alec, this is NO laughing matter! It's a serious corruption of our democratic process, and could very well affect the kind of country YOU are living in when you become an adult! Why don't you ask your teacher to make this important issue the subject of a lesson in civics for your class?

sad, but true........

What school should’ve showed us

This would be so much better if it wasn't so bias. It completely neglects large organisations like AARP and PETA who do the exact same thing.

Thank you! Exactly!

"Both sides do it" is a non-argument.

There a transcript anywhere? The autotranscript above is kind of sucky.

I would be happy to debate you at length. I enjoy deflating gassbags and disabusing them of their delusions. But the key word here is "length." KZfaq frankly sucks at this, with their restrictions on length, abysmal threading, and the fact that they auto-play videos EVERY time you load the page. I invite you to visit Facebook and look for "captaindigital." I'll be happy to debate you there on my wall.

It's simple, close the NEW YORK STOCK MARKET, and make campaign contributions illegal, punishable by 10 years in a Federal Prison (not run by a corporation).

I think an attempt to compartmentalize morality (morality of profit) is were everything begins to go haywire. I translate it like this "the appearance of godliness, but lacking its power." it will be the remedy and indeed the diagnosis of the new order however. state mandated morality (of money, philosophies, time, etc) which will govern every aspect of citizens lives. Completely willingly succumbing to exacty what enlightened folks have been vehemently objecting to for .....ever.

No, we are a constitutional republic, we are barely on the Democratic side. Really to start with we were only Democratic for the voting system, and that's it.

I agree with most of what this animation is trying to say but. . . I don't understand the connection between corporate lobbys and stand your ground laws. Why would stand your ground laws be in corporations best interest?

They are the legislators who won ALEC "scholarships." :)

Secret combinations

Preach it!

but you aren't the American Legislative Exchange Council so you're good.

I pay 30% income taxes, yet Mitt (R)Money pays 14%? Dafuq?

Haha sorry Profane, I just hate the whole oversight thing and that every corporation and person needs an accountant to work within the system as underhandedly as they can just to file taxes every year. The flat tax doesn't resolve the whole oversight thing. There has gotta be a better way and yea I agree with the Clinton thing. It's amazing how so many other people can fail so bad with regards to economic policy and no one does anything but Clinton had a surplus and ended up impeached.

It's too bad nothing can be done about stuff like this.

Not to mention, ALEC is more efficient. I don't get what's so bad about it, aside from them not caring about the environmental.

Here's the thing. We've run up a HUGE debt. I don't want to saddle my kid and future generations with the bill. There's only one way to fix that problem: 1) cut spending, 2) pay off what we owe. Because of that, the percentage of what we pay from our income will likely have to be higher than I'd like to see. As soon as we stop spending more than we take in, we'll cut the deficit. I don't know the answer to your question (I'm not a financial guy). But I'd bet the number's around 20%.

So what percentage would be good for you?

Yeah, it is. Maybe you're correct, but Labor Unions ARE still necessary. People with YOUR MENTALITY are the REASON they were created in the first place. If employers don't care, who else is going to stand by the average worker as inflation goes up, while everyone else competes for lower wage labor. It's not like large CORPORATIONS are being BUSTED like them. You say UNIONS have all this power yet only 12% of the US population are actually a part of one. Times haven't changed just circumstances.

so true

lol...any idea who runs that? *rolls eyes*

I know this is gonna make you you hyperventilate, but you probably need the exercise: Corporations shouldn't pay any taxes. Now, if you'll stop for a second and listen, I'll tell you why: it's double-dipping. Corporations are not "entities" - they are people. Tax a corporation, and you're taxing twice. And all they do is to pass the cost of taxes on to the consumer of their products. Why not ONLY tax people once?

Why would mega corps lobby for stand your ground laws?

Thanks much, I agree:-) Although as a cartoonist, an Idiocracy would make for great cartoon material. (We're halfway there.)

I'm not mature enough to understand

Living during the corporate response to Occupy Wall Street with former occupiers licking their boots, this is hilarious! Corporations hated ol' Donald with every fiber of their scrawny beings 🤣

Brilliant, and especially infuriating when one recalls (as if anyone would) that Ronald Reagan's FCC deregulated the TV industry in the mid-1980s, watering down requirements for public affairs programming. "Schoolhouse Rock" died soon after.

well, I am just an old bill, on capital hill, very sad

My name is Alec and I full support myself :)

Wait so how would everyone paying the same amount of taxes help? if you are making 20,000 dollars a year and the guy next to you is making 20,000,000 dollars a year how would it be fair that he pays the same percentage of income tax?

LOBBYISTS = CARTEL

Oh my God my ears burned at hearing the truth kind of scary I think

if you beat him with sticks, he'll pop open like a Pinata and hundred dollar bills will spill out. He gets a discount on taxes so he has the bills to keep his stuffing filled.

my name is alec ...

That is the best video!

only problem with that line of thinking is that no matter how many jobs were saved, capitalism requires companies to fail when they mismanage their afairs or become obsolete. government has no business financing them out of bankruptcy with taxpayer money. small businesses employ far more people across the country than gm, but none of them will ever get government money to avoid liquidation. this is clasic socialism for the rich and capitalism for everyone else. and america is poorer for it.

No no no no nooooooooo

Yeah and schools are the newest thing they want to profitize off of. Sad.