By Patrick Howley
ATT, which supports ALEC for its “state legislation aimed at achieving and maintaining a favorable business climate,” shot back with a sharply worded letter to Durbin from senior vice president James Cicconi saying that it’s “inescapable that any response to your request will be used by those interests whose purpose is to pressure corporations to de-fund organizations and political speech with which they disagree.”
“’Because members of the Senate want to know’ is simply not a valid reason for the government invading an organization’s privacy or the privacy of its supporters,” the Center for Competitive Politics, a targeted Virginia-based nonprofit conservative think tank, said in a response to Durbin. “You file financial reports and campaign finance reports because you are a public servant. Citizens do not have to report on their beliefs and activities to the government. The two are not comparable.”
