Code Pink Stages Mini-Protest at ALEC National Conference

This week the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a national organization made up of conservative state legislators from around the country, is holding its annual convention in Dallas, Texas.

Some of these conferences have drawn massive protest crowds from the ideological left, grousing about ALEC’s pro-market bent, and objecting to active participation in the group by large corporate sponsors.

Thus far, as the conference kicks off, the only protestor presence has been about twenty demonstrators from the activist group Code Pink, out in front of Eddie Dean’s BBQ dinner and entertainment venue last night.

While elected officials dined on tri-tip and chicken, some taking photos on a cow brought in for the occasion, the protesters were screaming “corporate whores” and holding up signs that said, “Democracy not Corporatocracy” and “Round Up Alec and Run ‘Em Out Of Town.”

When I approached one of the Code Pink members to see if they had a comment for Breitbart News Network, the response was screamed at me, “Breitbart is part of the corporate machine! You suck!”

She then went back to screaming at the top of her lungs towards the steady stream of conference attendees headed into the BBQ joint.

State Senator Joel Anderson, who is Chairman for ALEC in California, reacted to the protesters by saying, “Hey, this is a free country. We’re here to discuss policies to foster economic prosperity for everyone in America, even those folks yelling at us.”

Keynote speakers at the conference include Texas Governor Rick Perry, economists Arthur Laffer and Steve Moore, former Presidential candidate Herman Cain, and former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina.