Tagged: ALEC

From NPR: Illinois State Rep. Mike Bost, a Republican representing Murphysboro,  lost his cool after receiving a new version of pension-reform legislation.

A national progressive organization that's pressuring Democrats to drop their memberships in a conservative nonprofit is now operating in Kentucky.

Today on NPR: People are confusing Between Shades of Gray, a novel about a Lithuanian girl exiled to Siberia, with the saucy S&M blockbuster, Fifty Shades of Grey.

Around the Commonwealth:

Several Democrats in the Kentucky Senate have held on to their memberships in the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, despite national blowback against the group for its conservative model laws. 

Today on NPR: Known as "the spray man," 23-year-old Nour Hatem Zahra helped organize protests and spray-painted anti-government slogans around Damascus, the Syrian capital. He died this week after security forces shot him. Hundreds of mourners attended his funeral.

Kentucky:

The advocacy group Common Cause is asking federal agencies to remove the non-profit tax-exempt status of the American Legislative Exchange Council. The ALEC provides lawmakers with sample legislation and talking points, often to promote conservative issues, and Common Cause says the organization is a lobbying group. Kentucky's ALEC co-chair, Senator Tom Buford, says Common Cause could be considered a Democratic group, and isn’t worried about the organization being examined by the Attorney General’s office.

We may resign Afghanistan to a sort of purgatory status. It's not great...not that bad either...kind of so-so. 

NPR reports President Obama paid a surprise visit to Afghanistan, and he says having just part of the country out of Taliban hands might be the best we can do.