Occupy Takes Aim at ALEC Today in 70 US Cities | Truthout

Occupy Takes Aim at ALEC Today in 70 US Cities Truthout

The Occupy movement, since its inception in September 2011, has been against corporate greed. And in 70 cities across the country, it's found one target that best shows the rampant corporate control of our judicial system that Occupiers see as a central grievance: the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

ALEC brings legislators and corporations together in a "public-private partnership" to draft model legislation that Occupy groups say serves the interests of the 1 percent.

Today, legislators and companies including Pfizer, Bank of America and Wal-Mart, that benefit from ALEC's power in the legislative system will be the target of demonstrations, direct actions and various public shows of anger across the country under the banner of Shut Down the Corporations.

"The public is never informed that a group representing the most privileged people in America are drafting the legislation that disempowers the most vulnerable," said David Osborn with Occupy Portland. "The decisions affecting our communities should be made democratically, not through a corrupt system that hides the influence of the very corporations that benefit at our expense. ALEC is representative of a failed system in which profit and greed are dominant over everything else."

The protest was called by Occupy Portland and is expected to be the Occupy movement's biggest coordinated action this year.