Over the past year, we’ve been calling out Comcast for not paying its fair share of taxes and because of its ridiculously excessive executive compensation.
Rounding out Comcast’s triple play of bad corporate citizenship is its membership in the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Although this may be one of the corporation’s lesser known fouls, it’s no less dangerous.
ALEC is a secretive, extremist organization that pushes an agenda to limit voting rights, privatize schools and prisons, weaker environmental protections, and promote so-called Stand Your Ground laws (like the law protecting Trayvon Martin’s killer). ALEC also pushes laws that would create giant new tax loopholes and attack workers’ rights. Corporations should not be writing laws that will affect real people and communities.
Due to increasing visibility of ALEC’s ties to awful measures like these, many legislators and major companies, including Coca-Cola, Kraft Foods and Mars Inc., have recently backed out from the group.
So, why is Philly-based Comcast still a member of this organization campaigning to put private profit ahead of the interests of our city? Stumping for corporations over people is not a value that Philadelphians believe in. Instead of investing in an organization fighting for the 1% and big corporations, Comcast should be investing in its workers and our city and paying its fair share of taxes.
Comcast needs to hear from us that membership in ALEC is bad corporate citizenship and is bad for business.
Sign our petition calling on Comcast to dump ALEC today.