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Outrage over Mecklenburg GOP’s racist photos goes national

Following the Washington Post‘s breaking news of racist photos posted by the Mecklenburg County VA GOP on Facebook – offensively targeting President Obama – outrage has spread across the Commonwealth and into the national spotlight. Last night, on the same day the story broke, the Rev. Al Sharpton covered the offensive photos on his MSNBC […]

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How Virginia is Shutting Down Women’s Clinics

How Virginia is Shutting Down Women’s Clinics from Kontra on Vimeo. A vignette of what happened inside and outside the September 14th Virginia Board of Health meeting as they were directed by Ken Cuccinelli to rule that new, unnecessary regulations could be used to shut down existing abortion facilities.

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The GOP Anti-Woman Double Down: Bob McDonnell Akin-izes Republican platform, Paul Ryan returns to VA to tout backwards policies

Putting to rest any doubt about conservatives’ anti-woman agenda, Bob McDonnell’s platform committee today approved language opposing abortion even in the case of rape or incest. The move brings the official party position in line with Todd Akin and Paul Ryan’s radical anti-woman, anti-family ideology. According to news reports, McDonnell, chairman of the platform committee, […]

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What would Ryan mean for VA?

Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan is in Virginia today, trying to explain why raising taxes on the middle class, ending Medicare as we know it, and gutting home front investments is the right path for America. Our leaders are supposed to work for all of us, not just the wealthiest few. We put together a […]

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Virginia elected official attendees to the ALEC annual conference

Our final list of Virginia elected official attendees to the American Legislative Exchange Council’s (ALEC) annual conference in Salt Lake City included: Delegate Riley Ingram Delegate John Cosgrove House Majority Leader Kirk Cox Delegate Terry Kilgore Delegate James Massie Delegate Kathy Byron Delegate Mark Dudenhefer Delegate Jim LeMunyon Delegate Tim Hugo Speaker William Howell State […]

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My Week at ALEC Part 2: Their Agenda

By Anna Scholl The week before ALEC’s annual conference, ProgressVA and Virginians for Responsible Gun Laws requested meetings with the Virginia legislators attending the conference to learn about the discussions happening behind closed doors and what legislation might be coming back to Virginia. Unsurprisingly, we didn’t get a very positive response. In fact, no one […]

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My Week at ALEC, Part 1: Lobbyists, Golf and Gifts, Oh My!

Opulent chandeliers. A 5 Diamond resort. And corporate lobbyists everywhere. The legislators attending the American Legislative Exchange Council’s annual conference in Salt Lake City sure weren’t roughing it.  The annual ALEC conference last week at the Grand America Resort in Salt Lake City Utah featured legislators and corporate lobbyists coming together behind closed doors to […]

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Live from Salt Lake City…it’s your legislators at “work”

Next week, at least 12 Virginia legislators will head to Salt Lake City, Utah to meet with corporate lobbyists behind closed doors at the 39th Annual American Legislative Exchange Council conference. If that name sounds familiar, it’s probably because ALEC has been in the news recently as 26 corporations, 4 nonprofits, and 55 state legislators […]

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The Role of ALEC in Writing Our Laws [VIDEO]

  Just last week ProgressVA, along with some great progressive allies, participated in a forum on the corporate front group the American Legislative Exchange Council and their role in writing our laws. It was a great event with a fully packed room and we appreciate everyone who was able to attend and watch online. Additionally, the […]

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Let’s talk about ALEC!

Let’s talk! This Thursday, I’m going to be in Arlington to join great progressive allies for a forum on the corporate front group American Legislative Exchange Council and their role in writing our laws. I know you’ve heard a lot about ALEC from Brian and me, so this is a great opportunity to hear more […]