Press Call: Good Government Groups, NAACP Call for ‘Money Out, Voters In’; New FEC Reports to Be Released
WHAT: Telephone press conference to demand an end to the growing threat to our democracy posed by voter suppression and unlimited corporate and special interest spending in elections. Momentum is growing nationwide, with more organizations, policymakers and citizens calling for change. On the call, groups will preview rallies and demonstrations being held nationwide on or around Saturday, Jan. 19, to coincide with the third anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision (Jan. 21), Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the presidential inauguration. At the events, people will call for measures, including amending the Constitution, to remedy the harm done by Citizens United and related cases, which opened the floodgates to unlimited corporate and special interest spending to influence elections. In addition, people will call for an end to tactics being used to prevent citizens from exercising their right to vote.
Experts also will unveil two new related reports about outside spending in elections. The first, by Demos and U.S. PIRG Education Fund, will explore the unprecedented role of outside money spent in the 2012 elections. The second, by U.S. PIRG Education Fund and the Center for Media and Democracy, will explore the role of dark money nonprofits and shell corporations in 2012. Finally, U.S. PIRG Education Fund and People For the American Way Foundation will publish individual fact sheets on outside spending in congressional races in 22 states.*
Note: Two calls will be held to accommodate reporters in all time zones.
WHEN: 10:30 a.m. EST Thurs., Jan. 17; and
1:30 p.m. EST Thurs., Jan. 17
WHO: Marge Baker, executive vice president, People For the American Way
Robert Weissman, president, Public Citizen
Benjamin Jealous, president and CEO, NAACP
Blair Bowie, democracy advocate, U.S. PIRG
Adam Lioz, counsel, Demos
Lisa Graves, executive director, Center for Media and Democracy (morning)
Brendan Fischer, staff counsel, Center for Media and Democracy (afternoon)
Bob Edgar, president and CEO, Common Cause (morning)
Derek Cressman, vice president for state operations, Common Cause (afternoon)
CALL-IN: (888) 734-2924
Conference ID 90010593
For more information, please visit www.MoneyOut-VotersIn.org.
* The states are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin.
Groups supporting the “Money Out, Voters In” effort include 350.org, African American Ministers in Action, Campaign for America’s Future, Center for Media and Democracy, Citizens For Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the Coffee Party, Common Cause, Consumer Action, CREDO Action, Demos, Free Speech for People, Friends of the Earth, Hip Hop Caucus, League of United Latin American Citizens, Move to Amend, MoveOn, NAACP, National People's Action, National Women’s Health Network, Organic Consumers Association, People For the American Way, Public Citizen, Rootstrikers, Sierra Club, the Story of Stuff, U.S. PIRG and United Republic/Represent.Us.
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