How Money in Politics

Affects the 99%...

And how the 99% is fighting back

Campaign Story
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=EEvfuiBMJ5A
We all know that corporations make huge
campaign contributions to candidates and
elected officials. Corporate interests have long
dominated the financing of American elections.
Many, if not most, candidates rely on large
contributions from the 1% to pay for their
campaigns. And now, since the U.S. Supreme
Court issued its 2010 Citizens United decision, our
elections have become even more awash in
corporate money. The impact of the money in
politics is being felt at every level of government.
Corporate interests flex their political muscles in a
variety of ways that sway our public policies in favor
of the 1%s interests and harm the 99%
Corporate interests make direct contributions to
candidates and party committees on the state and
federal levels often targeting their contributions to
members of key committeesand in general
dominating most of the financing of elections.
Spend on independent groups meant to sway
elections (such as super PACs).
Deploy lobbyists in Congress and the statehouses
who work side-by-side with lawmakers, influence
the legislative agenda, and win votes.
Offer lucrative jobs to lawmakers, regulators, and
legislative staffers leaving public service, or place
their employees in public positions (the revolving
door).
Operate through trade associations to cover the
tracks for their lobbying (e.g., Americas Health
Insurance Plans funneling money to U.S. Chamber of
Commerce to attack health reform).
Set up astroturf organizations (fake community
organizations) designed to look like grassroots
groups. They use these to try to disguise that
corporate interests are behind campaigns or
campaign contributions.
Fund public policy think tanks that develop
corporate-friendly research, policy proposals, or
legislation (such as the Koch brothers-funded
American Legislative Exchange Council).
1

Outside Spending on Federal

Elections, 1990-2012 (from
Open Secrets)
1990

$7,213,219

1992

19,635,123

1994

9,538,844

1996

17,884,043

1998

15,191,107

2000

50,796,592

2002

27,289,285

2004

200,102,202

2006

68,852,502

2008

301,679,929

2010

304,679,091

2012*

89,744,111

http://www.opensecrets.org/
outsidespending/index.php?ql3

Campaign Story
How Money in Politics Affects the 99% And how the 99% is fighting back

All this influence runs counter to democracy, which is supposed to work for everyone, not just the 1%.
Corporate influence in politics has resulted in:
Tax rollbacks for corporations and the wealthy
Unnecessary subsidies to Big Oil, Big Ag, and other industries
Expansion of privatized prisons and immigrant detention facilities
Squashing the oversight of polluters, reckless financial institutions, and other corporate bad actors
Attacks on voting rights
Bankrupting our state and federal budgets leading to cuts to education and to programs we depend
on to survive: Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security
Devastating affects on our environment

We need our elected officials to be accountable to the 99%!

An example of the power of 1% money in politics: subsidies to industries that destroy our
communities
An example of the power of 1% money in politics are the subsidies and tax breaks given to some of the
most profitable industries in historyindustries that our destroying our communities, plant and health
by promoting dangerous dirty energy, and climate change and bankrupting our public budgets and
ability to fund social programs.
The majority of Americans support an end to fossil fuel subsidies that lavish billions of dollars on the
fossil fuel Industry. But standing in the way of ending these wasteful giveaways are Members of
Congress and other politicians who benefit from the fossil fuel industrys considerable political
spending.
Of course, the industry makes a tidy profit on their investment in Congress; for every dollar they spend
on lobbying, campaign contributions, they get $58 in return in the form of subsidies and giveaways. Its
a deeply broken system; the fossil fuel industry uses their near-infinite financial power to corrupt the
political process that then keeps those profits flowing.
Fossil fuel subsidies have far reaching impacts. First and foremost, they divert billions of dollars of
taxpayer money into the pockets of the most profitable corporations ever (In 2009, ExxonMobil made
more than any other company in the history of money, period), and out of the hands of the 99% of us
who could put it to good use supporting a sustainable and just economy.
Not only that, subsidies make it possible for the industry to continue reckless carbon emissions that are
driving the climate crisis. In fact, a recent study showed that cutting fossil fuel subsidies globally would
lead to half of the carbon cuts we need to solve the climate crisis. In addition, a majority of these
subsidies go directly to the dirtiest forms of energy, oil and coal. These industries notoriously locate
their power plants and refineries in poor and working class neighborhoodsdisproportionately
affecting people of color in a clear example of environmental racism.
When it comes to stopping climate change, the 99% Spring trainings couldnt be coming at a more
auspicious time. After last years incredible uprising, starting with the protests against the Keystone XL
tar sands pipeline, and continuing through the fall led by Occupy Wall Street, there has never been a
stronger movement against the corporate power that is fueling the climate crisis.
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Campaign Story
How Money in Politics Affects the 99% And how the 99% is fighting back

And on the issue of subsidies in particular, we have a good opportunity to make this issue a priority for
Congress, and a top-tier issue in the 2012 elections. Members of Congress are introducing legislation
that would repeal the $20 billion in subsidies that fossil fuel industries receive every year, and
President Obama is pushing a bill that would repeal subsidies for the largest oil companies - an
important, but limited first step to ending all handouts to the industry.
Public policies that would reduce the power of big money in politics, and make elected officials more
accountable to the 99%
There is no quick fix to big money in politics. We need several different approaches, including some
changes to public policy to better regulate and restrict big money in politics. Here are some examples:
1. Money-in-politics reform to be sure that are elections are of, by, and for the people. If politicians
were dependent on the people, not the big money campaign contributions, to support their
campaignslike laws in Maine, Arizona, Connecticut, New York City, and elsewhereif we gave
incentives to politicians to seek small donations rather than big money, it would be easier for us to
hold politicians accountable to the 99%.
2. Attack the Citizens United decision. There are more than a dozen bills filed in Congress to pursue
a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, to allow for regulation of political money,
and to challenge corporate personhood.
3. Pass regulations and public policies that force disclosure and restrict corporate campaign
contributions. We should know whose behind the ads by exposing big and corporate donors to
front groups.

How the 99% has been taking

direct action to fight back
We can fight corporate money in politics
There is more opportunity now than ever for organizing groups to fight corporate influence in politics.
The awakening of the 99% in the fall of 2011 put the media spotlight on how corporations and the 1%
flex their political muscle.
This outrage builds upon incidents such as the oil spill in the Gulf, union-busting in Wisconsin, and bank
foreclosure practices that led more and more people to wake up to the battle raging between the 1%
and everyone else. A Gallup poll released in February 2011 showed that large majority of people in the
U.S.67%were dissatisfied with the size and influence of corporations. This number had been
climbing steadily since 2007.
We can fight corporate influence by shining a spotlight on money in politics. We can also continue to
let lawmakers and judges know that we dont believe that money is speech and corporations are not
people.
All over the country community organizations, congregations, and working families
have been coming together to fight back. Here are a few examples of some
successful direct actions people have taken to fight back:
Beating Back Payday Lenders in Colorado
In 2010, the payday lending industry in Colorado was handed a legislative defeat at the hands of a
coalition of community organizations including the Colorado Progressive Coalition (CPC). The state
legislature passed legislation that, among other changes, reduced interest rates from 500% to 45%.
The next year, the payday-lending lobby, armed with $1 million in campaign contributions split
between both parties, set about undoing the new law and quickly swayed House Budget & Finance
Committee members. CPC and their coalition partners knew the House was a lost cause, so they
focused on the Senate, accessing detailed campaign donation research from the Alliance for a Just
Society. Initial media outreach didnt get traction, so CPC turned up the heat, adopting more direct,
confrontationaland controversialtactics both in the capitol and on the streets.
CPC and coalition members packed hearing rooms and provided testimony. Payday lobbyists also came
outfive for each hearing. Testifying coalition members found themselves being berated and spoken
over by committee members. CPC countered by aggressively calling out the payday lobbyists.
During hearings, CPC sat in front of lobbyists and began interacting with them, asking questions like,
How much did you pay for that Senator? The questions resulted in growing tension and angry
whispers that caught the attention of committee members. At the end of hearings, CPC would walk up
to lobbyists, shake their hand, and say, You bought this committee, but we arent going away.
CPCs direct confrontations and interactions caught the attention of reporters in the room, CPC
provided more information, and stories exposing the connection between corporate money and
politicians finally began reaching the public.
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How the 99% has been taking direct action to fight back
How Money in Politics Affects the 99% And how the 99% is fighting back

Taking further advantage of the moment, CPC took to the streets of the districts of Senate committee
members with this message: Your Senator took money from payday lenders. Do you want more
payday lenders in your neighborhood? If not, please make a call right now. In just a few days, CPC
mobilized hundreds and hundreds of people to flood legislators offices with phone calls. Senate
staffers began calling CPC, begging them to stop so that they could conduct their business.
The pressure worked. Committee members were being forced to choose between contributions and
their constituents. In the end, to avoid making the choice, they held a special meeting and passed the
bill onto another committee where the bill had no chance of survival. The payday lobby was furious
but they still were not done fighting.
The payday lobby devised a sneaky, back room way of trying to win deregulation. They got a Tea Party
representative to approach the Speaker of the House, who then buried a small section on revised
regulations into the massive Rules & Regulation bill. The entire Republican Party then came out saying
that, if the Governor vetoed the bill, hed be responsible for shutting down all state business.
The battle lines were clearly drawn. At first, the Governor came out saying that he would not veto the
bill and shut down the state government. CPC and their coalition immediately flooded the Governors
office with calls and emails. For two blistering days, there was tremendous pressure put on the
Governors office, all covered in the media. At the end of this battle, CPC and its coalition partners
prevailed. However, theres no doubt that the industry will be back and that the fight will continue.
DOMESTIC WORKERS: Fighting back against a Legacy of Exclusion
The New Deal legislation of the 1930s included landmark labor protections for many workers in the
United States but a legacy of slavery, racism, and capitalist interests prevented domestic workers
(housekeepers, nannies, and caregivers) from gaining equal coverage under these protections.
Legislators in Southern states, influenced by former wealthy slaveholders and white businessmen,
lobbied hard to exclude certain sectors of the workforce from labor protections in order to ensure
continued access to cheap labor. Over the past seven decades of activism and organizing, domestic
workers have fought hard against the lobbying and interests of the wealthy to win protections. Still,
today more than 1.5 million domestic workers, including direct care workers who provide services to
the elderly and disabled, are excluded from even the
most basic minimum wage and overtime protections
under the so-called companionship exemption.
To this day, corporate interests and lobbyists are
attempting to undermine and strip away basic
protections for workers, but a model of worker-led
organizing, using campaign messages based on the
values of love, care, respect and dignity, is helping the
National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA) blaze the
path for domestic worker rights.

How the 99% has been taking direct action to fight back
How Money in Politics Affects the 99% And how the 99% is fighting back

Taking Direct Action to Win Domestic Worker Rights

In 2010, domestic workers in New York won a seven-year
campaign for inclusion into state labor protections. For
seven years domestic workers in New York made regular
visits to the state capital to hold rallies, all-night vigils,
marches. Through their tenacious direct actions coupled
with innovative organizing, domestic workers won a
statewide bill of rights! Because of their work New York
became the first state to specifically recognize the rights
of household workers, bolstering the potential of state
level legislative campaigns to bring respect and dignity to
all workers.
Inspired by this victory, NDWA launched a campaign for
a Domestic Worker Bill of Rights in the California
Assembly to extend similar worker protections to
domestic workers in California.
At the first hearing in the California legislature,
representatives from corporate homecare agencies
mobilized to oppose the bill of rights through using funds
from their Political Action Committee. In response,
domestic workers began organizing a series of direct
actions in Sacramento, San Francisco and Los Angeles to
confront the legislators who were taking money from
the corporate opposition. The series of direct actions
included a childrens march to the State Assembly, an
action with traditional labor organizations to leverage
our power, and worker-led actions targeting corporate
homecare agencies which raised awareness about both
their campaign contributions and their opposition to
workers rights.
In December 2011, the Obama Administration and Department of Labor announced proposed changes
to the companionship exemption regulations that would clarify the definition of companion, and, in
effect, close the loophole that excludes so many workers the minimum wage and overtime protections
they deserve. Once again, corporate homecare industry lobbyists, this time on the national scale, have
mounted an opposition to the regulations.
NDWA believes that direct actions, led by the people directly impacted, are an essential part of any
legislative or regulatory change strategy. We are responding to the corporate homecare industry
attacks on domestic worker rights with worker-led rallies, marches, meetings, and public mobilizations
calling for Congress to approve these new regulations.


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How the 99% has been taking direct action to fight back
How Money in Politics Affects the 99% And how the 99% is fighting back

Taking on the Big Banks & Corporate Lobby: Showdown at Suncadia
Washington CAN and the Alliance for a Just Society helped
spearhead statewide protests against Wall Street banks
raiding of our economy and our political system.
The Association of Washington Business the states
corporate lobby, which has also spent tens of thousands of
dollars on statewide elections was holding a policy
summit at Suncadia, a swank golf resort on the eastern
slopes of the Cascades. JPMorgan Chase regional exec
Phyllis Campbell was there to lead a seminar called,
Where Will the Money Come From?
In the wee hours of the morning, Washington CAN gave
wake-up calls to slumbering CEOs and flyered their
rooms with agendas for the days activities. Later in the
day, two hundred protesters descended onto Suncadia
from all corners of the state. They staged a picket at the
resorts entrance, while a fifty-person team dodged
security to deliver the Save Our State message outside
the lodge where the corporate CEOs were hammering out
the corporate agenda.
The protest put Chase exec Campbell on the defensive and
forced her to speak publicly about the tax breaks her bank
pulls in from the state.
While the Showdown at Suncadia was raging, more
protests took place in Seattle, Spokane, Vancouver, and
Olympia. In Seattle, community members declared Chases
downtown headquarters a crime scene, took over the
intersection of 3rd & University, and put the CEOs of
Chase, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America on trial for crimes
against our community.
Some of these crimes include fraudulently foreclosing on
peoples homes, hoarding money instead of paying their
fair share of taxes, and taking from the poor by charging 85 cents per transaction for use of electronic
benefit transfer cards.
Eleven people put their freedom on the line and were arrested while standing up against big bank
greed. These were just the first of many that will be sweeping across the country in coming weeks.

How the 99% has been taking direct action to fight back
How Money in Politics Affects the 99% And how the 99% is fighting back

Crashing fancy fundraisers

Our elected officials should be meeting and
listening to us, the 99%. But all too often they are
meeting with the 1% at fancy fundraisers. On
November 11th, members from the Campaign for
Community Change, National Peoples Actions,
National Domestic Workers Alliance, Caring
Across Generations, and PICO National Network,
decided that wed had enough and we invited
ourselves to attend the fancy fundraiser
breakfast Senator Kyl was holding.
We are having our homes foreclosed on, losing
our jobs, the programs we need to survive such
as Medicare and Medicaid are being cut; we are
drowning in student loan, medical and housing
debt -- and we thought Senator Kyl needed to
hear from us.
About 15 of us got to the restaurant early and
discreetly sat down at 4 separate tables. As soon
as we were sure Senator Kyl was there, having
breakfast with corporate lobbyists, a group of
about 50 members marched into the restaurant,
and together we started chanting and singing,
and than people shared their stories. Meanwhile
100 people gathered outside of the restaurant to
get the attention of the media.
Fundraiser Action on Senator Kyl on November
11, 2011
We kept chanting and singing, and eventually we
were successful in ending the fundraiser
breakfast. Senator Kyl tried to sneak out a side
door...but we caught him on tape!

Direct Actions that you can take

to as part of the 99%
There are many creative direct actions you can take to hold banks accountable to the 99%. Be creative,
and plan an action that will be fun, and strategic!
Once you have an action planned, be sure to go to: actions.the99spring.com
and register your action as one way to help recruit people to come!
Here are a few examples of actions you can take in your community:
Sit Ins to End Fossil Fuel Subsidies:
One tactic to begin to undo corporate powers impact on our government and environment is to lead
Sit-Ins Against Fossil Fuel Subsidies. We need to use people power to counter balance the power of
fossil fuel industrys money.
From April 28th to May 7th, Congress will be out of session, and most Members of Congress will be in
their home districts. This means we have a perfect opportunity to lead bold actions that put Members
of Congress on the spot about their stance on fossil fuel subsidies.
The idea of a Sit In Against Fossil Fuel Subsidies is simple: create a well-crafted, concrete demand, visit
a targets office to make it in person, and then refuse to leave until it is metdisrupting business as
usual and attracting media attention so that it is impossible for your target to avoid taking a stand
regarding your demand.
Sit-ins have been an effective tactic across social movementsfrom
lunch-counters, to CEO officesthis can be a great peaceful way to
show the resolve, seriousness, and urgency of your issues. A great
example of this tactic in practice are the Congressional Office sit-
ins led by Dreamers, young undocumented students fighting for
the DREAM Act that would allow a pathway to citizenship for
students who graduate college. These sit-ins galvanized attention
and moved moderate Senators off the fence, getting them to
support the bill in Congress.
Undocumented Students Risk Deportation To Stage Sit-In At
McCains Office, Calling On Him To Sponsor DREAM Act
Undocumented and Unafraid Students Sit-in for Their Dream at
the Capitol
Your demand should be something that only your target can meet
and requires a yes or no response. In some cases that will be a
promise to oppose fossil fuel subsidies, but in other cases, could
be something different, tailored to fit your particular target. (See
below for more)
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Direct Actions that you can take to as part of the 99%

How Money in Politics Affects the 99% And how the 99% is fighting back

Who should be the target of a sit in?

The targets for sit-ins are the bad actors who are corrupting our political system and keeping the
money flowing into the pockets of the fossil fuel industry.
There are two main categories of targets to consider.
1. Politicians who accept large contributions from the fossil fuel industry and support fossil fuel
subsidies. The best resource for finding out how much money your local reps have taken is
dirtyenergymoney.com
When targeting politicians, you have a few options for locations. You could target a District Office
of an elected official, or a campaign office of someone who is running for election or re-election.
Or, if you have the right intelligence, an action at a local fundraiser, conference, or speaking
engagement would be terrific as well.
For the most part, the question for political targets is simple, Will you end your support of fossil
fuel subsidies? However, its sometimes useful to fashion it into a concrete demand, Sign this
statement saying you oppose fossil fuel subsidies now. Or, bring a giant check made out to the
Fossil Fuel Industry representing all the money given out every year, and ask the target to VOID it.
2. Fossil Fuel corporations who spend lots of money on Congress. In this case, the action should be
at a local business office (for oil companies, local gas stations are probably not the best choice), and
the demand is for the target to end their extravagant spending on Congress. The best resource for
finding these corporations is opensecrets.org
Heres what youll need
Roles
There are many roles to play in a sit-infrom people actually sitting-in, to those providing valuable
support to them directly, or to the action generally. Not every action will have the same needs, but
here are a few roles to think about.
People sitting-in. This could be 2 people, or 20, or 200 (if you can pull it off!).
Liasion. Its often helpful to have someone not directly doing the action act as a facilitator of
communication. This might be with office staff, or the decision-maker, police, security, or with
passerbys. They can act as a neutral role of not making decisions for the group, but helping make
communication easier by having a clear facilitator.
Media spokespeople. Having someone who can eloquently speak the groups concerns and
intentions to the media is a must. Think about whom in your group can best serve this role. Maybe
its someone most impacted by the issues are you talking about, or maybe its just someone who is
knowledgeable and charismatic. Be sure to help train each other so multiple people can take on
these roles and practice your talking points beforehand!
Documentation. We dont want to rely on outside media to tell our stories - we want to make sure
we tell them ourselves. Make sure to have people doing photos, videos, photographic and video
recording, Tweeting, live-blogging.

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Direct Actions that you can take to as part of the 99%

How Money in Politics Affects the 99% And how the 99% is fighting back

Visuals
- Simple banner with your core message, sized to allow 2-3 people to hold it sitting down.
- Your smiling faces. :)
Other materials
Bring a little bit of food with you, to help stick out what could be a long wait (But not too much, see
point #2)
Bathroom supplies. It may be that your Reps are polite enough to let you use their restroom as you
wait for your response, but in case they arent, you may want to be ready with appropriate supplies
in case you need to use the bathroom.
Songs, chants, or other games to keep everyone fired up as you sit-in.
Media
The keys to a successful media strategy for this action are photographs of the action as it is happening,
and a powerful first person narrative about why your participation in this action is so important.
Photographs are the best way to connect with people outside the office to let them know that you are
peaceful, principled protesters, and will be the type of content that supporters of your action will most
want to share. Telling your story in those photographs, and in your press contacts, will help make sure
our message is spread far in a fair way.
After that its up to you to decide how you get the word out. Press releases and advisories are good
tools, but you will want to decide when is best to send yours, depending on how much warning you
will give your target that the action is happening.
Twitter, Facebook and other social media are really helpful too. If you choose to Tweet or Facebook
updates during the action, please let us know and we can discuss strategies for how to make this
successful.
Sample Media Advisory & Media Tips
Tips
Assign one person responsible for media relations
Assign 2-3 people who are available before, during, and after for interviews with the press, ideally
this is someone who is directly affected by budget cuts and can clearly and concisely tell their
personal story
Send your press advisory out one week in advance, and again 24 hours in advance
Remember to make a round of phone calls to key press to ensure they have looked at your advisory
Remember to always come back to the message that banks and large corporations are the ones who
broke the economy, and they should be held accountable to pay their fair share of the revenue
crises, and what that means for families, no matter what question you are asked
Stick to what you know. You do not need to be an expert in the tax code. You are an expert in your
own experience and that is what matters.

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Direct Actions that you can take to as part of the 99%

How Money in Politics Affects the 99% And how the 99% is fighting back

Breaking up fundraiser or lobbying meetings

Our elected officials should be holding meetings with the 99%, but all too often they are meeting with
the 1% at fancy fundraisers. Its high time we go to these events, too.
Organizations across the country have been mobilizing their membership and leadership to attend --or
crash--fundraisers being held by and for Members of Congress. Opportunities abound to engage
elected officials and their big money backers at fundraising events. Though the goals for engaging in
this mode of direct action will this memo simply attempts to give a brief overview on what to think
about when engaging Members of Congress at their fundraisers.
Why Congressional Fundraisers?
Its impossible to say for certain whether or not crashing actions at fundraisers actually change the
positions of the targeted Member of Congress. Its also impossible to gauge the effect on their donor
base. However, one thing is for certain. If timed correctly and done with creative flare, there exists
some benefit for doing them, which can include, but are not limited to the following:
1. Press Grabbers: the press likes a good story that involves controversy or conflict. Whats a better
story (especially for political reporters) than a crashed party, especially a big-money party?
2. Getting Under Their Skin: No one likes to have their donor base messed with. Engaging a Member
of Congress in front of people that they are soliciting financial support from can provide for many
youtube-able moments. Since many of these fundraisers actually have the Member of Congress in
attendance, it can be one of the few opportunities to actually interact with them face to face.
3. Leadership Development: As with any direct action, having leaders participate in and lead these
actions is crucial, and an important development step for an organization or their leadership team.
Where to Start:
The best place to begin is to first think about when, where and who is holding the fundraiser. There are
many resources for doing some basic research behind a Member of Congress and what may be
influencing his or her vote or position on any given topic. There are a number of very good sites to get
an appraisal of a particular Member of Congress funding base. Some of the best sites for doing so
include: www.opensecrets.org, www.publicampaign.org, or www.littlesis.org. Also, a quick Google
search around a particular Member of Congress with the sector in question that may be influencing
their political position is recommended (example: Sen. John Cornyn, Big Oil, etc.).

Next, its important to identify a fundraiser that makes sense to visit. There are a number of ways to
research Congressional fundraisers. One is to simply perform some basic internet research that is
linked to a particular industry or sector that is trying to peddle their influence with a particular
Member of Congress. For instance, if youre upset about how a Member of Congress is participating in
a debate around healthcare, simply visiting AHIPs (Association of Health Insurance Plans) website may
provide some clues as to when or where some fundraisers may be happening. One of the best sites for
discovering the location of particular Congressional Fundraisers is to research the Sunlight
Foundations Political Party Time website which is: http://politicalpartytime.org/.
No matter how you discover when or where an event may be happening, its extremely important to
figure out a way to confirm that the event is happening since its not out of the ordinary that they are
cancelled, rescheduled or moved.
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Direct Actions that you can take to as part of the 99%

How Money in Politics Affects the 99% And how the 99% is fighting back

The Preparation:
After the event is selected and confirmed, then its time to turn to planning the event with your
organizations leadership. Below is a sample agenda for a prep meeting for a Fundraiser Action:
Direct Action Team Training Overview:
Goals:
Build leadership skills around direct action and the role it plays in the broader movement of social justice
Give leaders and staff a sense of what the fundraiser actions look like
Build levels of agreement on the nature and expectations around the actions
Welcome and Introductions: (10 Minutes)
Have folks go around the room, say who they are, where they are from and what they hope to learn or accomplish by
participating in the action
Give an overview of the agenda and goals for the session
Review ground rules on butcher paper
Direct Action, Its Role in Our Work: (15 Minutes)
It is important to lead a discussion about Direct Action. One of the best ways to do this is by using a quote from a known
leader in the movement for peace and justice in America. Some examples include: Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. We who
engage in direct actions are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already
alive.
Questions to probe could be the following:
1. What does this quote mean to you?
2. What role do you think non-violent direct action plays in our world?
3. What role does direct action have in reference to this campaign?
4. Why do we not solely rely on direct action to achieve our means?
Obtain Levels of Agreement On Direct Action:
1. Arrests or non-arrest? Relationship with the Police?
2. Quick Overview of Leadership Roles (Action leader, chant leader, police liason, etc.)?
3. Signals to use to ensure Crowd Control (Were not a mob, were disciplined.)?
4. Actions generally involve people, a target and a demand.
5. Other items.
Overview of the Reason Behind the Action Chosen: (15 Minutes)
Description of how this direct action fits into the campaign and goals for the action
Run the film on what the action is. Overall goal is to run the film on what it will look like.
(Facilitator Note: Its very important to be able to have a butcher paper that literally maps out what the action will look
like)
Roles and Responsibilities: (15 Minutes)
Create roles and decide who is best to be police liason, action lead (or leads, but now more than two), testimonies,
chant leader, press spokespeople/media contact
Role play the action, practice
Debrief: (5 Minutes)
Any items that we might be forgetting
Gut check on how people are feeling
One last review of the agreements on particular direct action

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Direct Actions that you can take to as part of the 99%

How Money in Politics Affects the 99% And how the 99% is fighting back

Last, But Not Least:

Have fun! Below are some clips of recent Congressional Fundraiser Actions that a number of
organizations collaboratively ran with their leadership over the course of this last year. Organizations
that were involved in these events include the following: Campaign for Community Change, National
Peoples Action, Caring Across Generations, Service Employees International Union, PICO, and the
Gamaliel Foundationamong others. They can give you a sense and hopefully some ideas on how to
run a Congressional Fundraiser
Fundraiser Action on Senator Kyl on November 11, 2011
Fundraiser Action on Senator Graham on December 8th, 2011
Fundraiser Action Outside of Senator Blunt Fundraiser on December 8th, 2011:
Research Resources
There are several resources for researching corporate contributions to elected officials. The following
are a few research resources:
National Institute on Money in State Politics (state governments) followthemoney.org
Center for Responsive Politics (federal government) opensecrets.org
Guide to Money in Politics: Research Tools for Issue Campaigns (Alliance for a Just Society)
allianceforajustsociety.org
State disclosure databases many states also have online databases for accessing campaign
contribution and lobbying disclosure reports

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