MAZOMANIE, Wis. – “Messaging and Democracy” is the theme of the sixth annual Wisconsin Grassroots Festival, to be held Saturday at Wisconsin Heights High School in Mazomanie.
Kickoff speaker Mary Bottari, deputy director of the Center for Media and Democracy, said one of this year’s themes is countering ALEC – the American Legislative Exchange Council – which has been advancing a right-wing agenda with state legislators across the nation.
“They want to take this ALEC corporate model and bring it to legislators across the country at the local level,” she said, “so you’ll have your local ALEC mayors, your local ALEC county commissioners, your local ALEC dog catchers and coroners. I don’t know where they’re really going with it.”
University of Wisconsin emeritus professor Jay Stampen’s study of the last session of the state Legislature showed 46 percent of Wisconsin’s lawmakers voted with the ALEC agenda 100 percent of the time.
