On April 4th, Coca-Cola publicly announced it would end its financial support of the American Legislative Exchange Group (ALEC), the right-wing front group backing controversial legislation such as the “Stand Your Ground” laws, which have been implicated in the shooting death of Florida teen Trayvon Martin. 

Now, Senator Chuck Grassley is advocating a boycott of Coca-Cola:

There are two Coca-Cola bottling plants in Iowa, meaning Senator Grassley is calling for a boycott on his own constituents in order to defend ALEC! We visited the plant in Atlantic. Check out the video: 

Click on the image below and sign our petition. For each person who signs, Progress Iowa will personally deliver a Coca-Cola (bottled right here in Iowa) to Senator Grassley’s office! 

After you’ve signed the petition, use this button to send a tweet directly to Senator Grassley. Tell him to stop supporting the extreme, out of state interest group ALEC instead of Iowa:

Click here to tweet @ChuckGrassley directly. Tell him to stop supporting ALEC over Iowa!

ALEC is a secretive, corporate front group that drafts legislation, allowing Iowa legislators to pass it off as their own – turning them into what the New York Times calls “stealth lobbyists”. According to the Center for Media and Democracy, ALEC has provided model legislation in Iowa to suppress voter rights, withdraw from regional environmental partnerships, and require ‘intellectual diversity’ reporting from our college campuses. In recent weeks, 13 companies have announced they will stop their financial support of ALEC.

We want Senator Grassley to know that calling for a boycott on his constituents is unacceptable – that he should always stand up for Iowans instead of extreme out of state interest groups. 

Additional Background:

On Thursday, April 26, Senator Joe Bolkcom speaks out against ALEC from the floor of the Iowa Senate, and brings Coca-Cola for all!

NY Times: Conservative Non-Profit Acts as a Stealth Business Lobbyist

Procter & Gamble becomes 13th Company to Drop ALEC

About Atlantic Bottling Company, in Atlantic and Waukee, Iowa

Attorney and radio host Mike Papantonio discusses Senator Grassley and ALEC on the Ed Schultz show:

A Project of