Sean Parnell (Center for Competitive Politics)

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Sean Parnell is the President of the Center for Competitive Politics, a Virginia-based non-profit group that supports corporate "speech" in political campaigns.

Ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council

Parnell represents CCP on the Public Safety and Elections Task Force of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). At the 2011 ALEC Annual Meeting, he introduced the "Resolution in Support of Appropriate Disclosure Requirements" model policy for adoption by the Public Safety and Elections Task Force.[1] On July 20, 2011, Parnell published an article in The Daily Caller (conservative/Republican news spin organization founded by conservative reporter Tucker Carlson and former Dick Cheney aide Neil Patel) criticizing Common Cause for requesting that the Internal Revenue Service look into claims that ALEC, in violation of the laws governing 501(c)(3) organizations, has engaged in lobbying.[2]

About ALEC
ALEC is a corporate bill mill. It is not just a lobby or a front group; it is much more powerful than that. Through ALEC, corporations hand state legislators their wishlists to benefit their bottom line. Corporations fund almost all of ALEC's operations. They pay for a seat on ALEC task forces where corporate lobbyists and special interest reps vote with elected officials to approve “model” bills. Learn more at the Center for Media and Democracy's ALECexposed.org, and check out breaking news on our PRWatch.org site.

Background

A biographical note states that Parnell was "previously vice president for external affairs at The Heartland Institute, a free market think tank in Chicago. His primary responsibility for Heartland was fundraising. At Heartland, Sean also spent time researching, writing, and speaking on public policy issues. He wrote Congressional testimony and numerous articles and op-eds. He also authored two research papers for the Texas Public Policy Foundation and briefed public officials and trade groups on policy issues. Prior to joining Heartland, Sean worked on political campaigns in Iowa. He managed a successful congressional campaign and served as finance director for a U.S. Senate race. Sean received an economics degree from Drake University."[3]

Contact Details

Tel: (703) 894-6800
Fax: (703) 682-9321
Email: sparnell AT campaignfreedom.org
Website: http://www.campaignfreedom.org

Articles and Resources

Related SourceWatch Articles

References

  1. American Legislative Exchange Council, "Public Safety and Elections Task Force Meeting," agenda and meeting materials, August 4, 2011, on file with CMD
  2. Sean Parnell, Common Cause’s selective outrage, The Daily Caller, July 20, 2011
  3. Center for Competitive Politics, "CCP Staff", Center for Competitive Politics website, accessed February 2009.

External Articles

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