Dear John:

It’s 1973. The U.S. Supreme Court recognizes that access to abortion, like contraception, is fundamental to Americans’ constitutional right to privacy. The Vietnam War officially ends and the military draft is abolished. The Godfather wins best picture. Billie Jean King defeats Bobby Riggs on the tennis court in the Battle of the Sexes. Secretariat wins the Triple Crown.

And — the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is launched to give corporations more power to craft our laws and to help right-wing operatives block abortion access, racial integration of schools, and the Equal Rights Amendment.

After years of ALEC operating in secrecy, it was CMD that exposed ALEC’s regressive pay-to-play operation in 2011, after a whistleblower gave me all of the “model” bills secretly approved by state legislators voting as equals with special interests without the press or public present.

And this year — as ALEC celebrated its 50th Anniversary — CMD led the effort to shine a bright light on ALEC’s long-time efforts to promote the legislative wish lists of Big Tobacco, the gun lobby, Big Oil, pharmaceutical giants, and right-wing fundamentalist groups opposed to abortion, racial diversity, and LGBTQ rights.

ALEC has deep-pocket donors like the Bradley Foundation, Koch Industries, and groups tied to right-wing court-packer Leonard Leo that push voter suppression and anti-ESG laws. And it has the financial backing of lucrative public-facing corporations, like tobacco giant Altria and UPS, and trade associations like PhRMA.

But we at CMD have devoted people like you.

Your support makes our ALEC investigations possible, so please make a tax-deductible donation today to help us keep the heat on ALEC.

ALEC’s agenda has also embraced Trump’s Big Lie, coddled white nationalist extremists, jumped into bed with repressive fundamentalists, and rallied for the radical overturning of reproductive freedoms.

This year CMD obtained and exposed ALEC’s price list, showing exactly how much it costs for special interests to buy access to ALEC legislators to push their wish lists at national meetings. As it turns out, you could buy a main stage presentation for $60,000, and for a mere $50,000 you could sponsor a late-night reception for ALEC’s board members and “key legislative leaders'' over cocktails and cigars. Democracy on the cheap!

As the President of CMD’s board and its past executive director, I know how hard the CMD team works to dig behind the scenes and keep up a drumbeat so that you have the information you need to fight back against ALEC and the powerful funders of its regressive agenda.

That’s why I am reaching out to you, now, to ask you to please support CMD’s independent and in- depth investigations into the dark money forces of deception and division!

And, as an added incentive...

Thanks to a $50,000 match, your year-end gift will go twice as far!
Donate Here!

Together, we have so much to do to counter the threats to our democracy and our freedoms in 2024. ALEC is already gearing up for its next round of attacks on public schools, workers and labor unions, renewable energy, equality, the power of our cities to pass progressive laws, and more.

So, please help us to keep up the fight! Together we can secure a democracy that works for all of us.

With deepest gratitude for all you are doing to help make our world a better place,

Lisa Graves, 
Board President