'If you can't beat the money, be the money'
In the face of a looming Supreme Court decision that could remove limits on political contributions, and radio silence from leaders of both major parties on anti-corruption reforms, a group of activists have plans to reinvigorate a movement.
“Public interest advocates have been ignored and slighted for decades because politicians are focused on pleasing those with the most money, not the best ideas. We finally realized that if we want to get politicians’ attention, we need to be the money.” said Represent.Us director Josh Silver.
Hundreds of activists, joined by a marching band, plan to don giant $100 bill costumes and walk/run from Lafayette Park, down the infamous K Street lobbyist corridor straight to the US Capitol steps. When the Capitol Police prevent the money from entering the Capitol, organizers plan to present the police with a Medal Of Honor for doing what Congress has failed to do for the past 40 years: keep money out of Congress.
“We plan to award US Capitol Police Chief Kim Dine with a medal of honor for having the courage to do what our political leaders fail to do: stop big money from entering Congress.” continued Silver. “Heck, we hope we can convince Ms. Dine to run for Congress. On April 13th she’ll do more in one day than most politicians have done in their entire career to stop the big money madness that defines US politics.”
“It’s time for the anti-corruption political movement in America to be more fun, more creative, and more inclusive of the broad range of Americans – progressive, conservative and disgruntled. The K Street 5 K is the starting gun towards a political movement that can excite and motivate millions of Americans to force our leaders to enact real anti-corruption reforms” concluded Silver.
The event begins at 2 pm on Saturday, April 13th in Lafayette Park in DC. For more information, go to www.represent.us/kstreet5k
Represent.Us, a nonpartisan, national campaign to enact sweeping campaign finance, lobbying and transparency reforms. The campaign is spearheaded by United Republic, a non-partisan, non-profit whose mission is to challenge undue influence of money in U.S. politics. (Motto: “Democracy Is Not For Sale.”)
For information about Represent.Us, as well as the full text of the American Anti-Corruption Act, visit www.represent.us and www.anticorruptionact.org.
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