Protest against ALEC in Cincinnati on 04/29/11

I was in Cincinnati last Friday, and participated in this event.  Here is what the organizing group had to say about ALEC:

What Is ALEC?

They meet in secret. They write our laws. And they want us silent.

On March 15th, University of Wisconsin Professor Bill Cronon posted a study guide on his blog on the history and actions of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). He asked: What is behind the “sudden and impressively well-organized” wave of right-wing legislation targeting workers, students, women, immigrants, and the environment in state legislatures? He found that all roads led to ALEC.

ALEC is a conservative think-tank run by right-wing politicians and corporate and financial interests within the banking industry, the pharmaceutical industry, the big oil and gas industries, and others. They are aligned to many right-wing and conservative interests, including the election-manipulating Koch Industries.

For offering his research to the public, Professor Cronon then immediately found his character, privacy, and livelihood under attack by the GOP.

I had never heard of this group before, but once I heard, I decided I needed to go to the protest.  The reason behind the date and place of the protest was simple - ALEC was having their spring meeting at a hotel in downtown Cincinnati.  The protest started with a rally on Fountain Square, and after about an hour, the crowd (about 100 - 200 people) moved to the sidewalk by the hotel where ALEC was meeting.  We then marched around the block.  Here are some pictures that I took:

Some of the legislation that ALEC has proposed include anti-collective bargaining laws in several states, anti-immigrant laws in Arizona, defunding women's health care, turning prisons into for-profit entities, and rolling back environmental protections. 

Here is a report from someone who also attended this rally and march. 

We Kossacks should give a very hearty Well Done! to the organizing group Seeyouincincinnati, who only one month ago today had absolutely nothing, and in only one month, organized, got demonstration permits, located housing, and in general, organized a terriffic rally to begin the long process of shining the light on the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) the right wing shadow government who has a major hand in writing our 50 state's draconion laws that do everything from privatizing prisons and making prisoners slave labor for corporate interests, to union busting bills OH SB5 and Wisconsin Senate Bill 11, to legislation introduced in 31 states to attempt to implement unneeded and expensive Voter ID requirements with the final goal to supress Democratic voters.  A hat tip is in order for Manfrommiddletown a Miami University PhD student who actually got the ball rolling at Miami, and it was picked up by others.

And here is a link to another report on the event, along with a photo of the march around the block the hotel was on.

Protesting corporate-ocracy in Ohio

Over two hundred people gathered in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio on Friday for the nation’s first-ever organized mass protest against powerful right-wing think tank ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council. Chanting slogans about defending democracy and the priority of people over profit, protesters marched peacefully several times around the block where ALEC was holding its “Spring Task Force Summit” at a Hilton hotel.

ALEC is an elite group of state legislators, corporations, and free market advocates who draft and introduce hundreds of pre-packaged right-wing bills into each state legislature yearly, bills restricting government regulation, encouraging privatization, and promoting (according to their mission statement) “Jeffersonian principles of free markets, limited government, federalism, and individual liberty.”