Media Advisory For: Saturday, October 13, 2-3 pm
Contact: Glenn Turner, 917-817-3396,
Joseph Murphy, 602 577-4629,
Giant Money-Stamping Machine in Phoenix on Saturday, October 13
as Part of Nationwide Tour to Get Money Out of Politics
Thousands of Dollar Bills Stamped with:
“Not to be Used for Bribing Politicians” and “A Corporation is Not a Person, Money is Not Speech,” Among Other Slogans
On Saturday, October 13 the “Amend-o-Matic”, a giant money-stamping machine, will be in Phoenix as part of a nationwide tour to get big money out of politics. Launched by the Move to Amend Coalition and Ben & Jerry’s co-founder, Ben-Cohen, this bold “Stampede to Amend” campaign is encouraging people stamp their money with slogans such as: “A CORPORATION IS NOT A PERSON, MONEY IS NOT SPEECH” and “NOT TO BE USED FOR BRIBING POLITICIANS”.
The ultimate goal of this campaign is to pass a Constitutional amendment stating that 1) A corporation is not a person; and 2) Money is not free speech. Move to Amend was launched in response to the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United ruling allowing unlimited money in politics to drown out the voice of ordinary Americans. The tour will begin in Los Angeles on October 11 and plans to end up in Gainesville, Florida on December 14. Click here to see a full list of dates and cities.
WHAT: Money stamping at the Community Activist Fair; part of the one-year anniversary celebration of Occupy Phoenix
WHEN: Saturday, October 13, 2-3 pm
WHERE: Community Activist Fair (Cesar Chavez 201 W Washington, Phoenix AZ 85003)
WHO: Joseph Murphy, Occupy Phoenix
Ashley Sanders and Renae Widdison, Move to Amend organizers and drivers of the “Stamp Out Corporate Rule” nationwide tour
WHY: No matter which issue you care about – the environment, education, poverty, the mortgage crisis, student debt, Wall Street banks – the root cause of the problem can be traced back to corporations and the wealthy buying politicians with enormous sums of money.
The goal is for tens of thousands of people across the country to stamp messages on our nation's currency in support of passing a constitutional amendment to get corporations out of the Constitution and big money out of politics. As more and more stamped currency spreads, so will the movement to amend the Constitution.
”This campaign is a new way to spread the message about an amendment that 80% of Americans already support. Until our elected officials will listen to us and enact this amendment, we will find ways to reach the American public to let them know that we don’t have to accept a corrupt political system,” said Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap, a Move to Amend National Spokesperson.
Move to Amend and Ben Cohen are making stamps available to the public to stamp their own money and get the word out about the campaign to amend the Constitution.
The campaign estimates that each stamped bill will reach approximately 875 people. Why? The Federal Reserve estimates that the average bill lasts 4.8 years. That is 1,750 days. We figure the typical stamped bill will be half way through its life, or have 875 days left. We then assume that the typical bill is passed around once a day, or 875 more times in its life.
More information about the tour can be found at http://MoveToAmend.org/stampede.
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