Thursday, October 28, 2010

A segment on NPR today exposes a nasty example of public policy for sale to private interests. It turns out that private prison officials, along with a shadowy group nicknamed ALEC, basically wrote Arizona’s controversial new anti-immigration law as a revenue generator; they envisioned special prisons for women and children, among other things. Thirty of the 36 AZ representatives jumping on board to sponsor the legislation received campaign donations from the same prison companies. NPR is also doing an outstanding job of tracking the dominant role of money in this year’s elections; see its site for back stories. A report earlier this week says an estimated $3.5 billion will be pumped into the elections, much of it from a bewildering network of conservative special interest groups traced to two office suites, advised by Karl Rove and funded by Swift Boaters and others. A handy map of these organizations shows just how powerful and well-funded they have become since the Citizens United ruling earlier this year.