Issues Campaigns
Money in politics relates to every issue out there. Below is an example of an issue based campaign that shows how money in politics impacts health care. This model can be used for any current issue like the environment, student tuition, war, labor reform, etc.
Numbers Campaign: This campaign stretches out over several weeks. During the first week, the group would plaster the campus w/ flyers. These flyers would all have the same number on them. For half of the first week one number should be used, and a second number during the second half. The next week the group would plaster the campus w/ flyers with two different numbers. You don’t say what the numbers mean in order to create a “buzz.”
An example of this campaign for our attack on Big Pharma would be:
1st half of week 1: 38,000,000
2nd half of week 1: 93
1st half of week 2: 562
2nd half of week 2: 140
The 3rd week consists of tabling. People would make big posters with these numbers on it (one number per poster) and would explain what the numbers meant. (38,000,000=the number of people living with HIV in 2004, 93=percent of people who need antiretroviral drugs who do not have access to them, 562=the amount in U.S. dollars that the CDC would have to spend per patient/year in a program they have started under instruction from the administration in which they must use 6 brand name pills from 3 different companies, 140=the amount in U.S. dollars that the Clinton Foundation, UNICEF, the World Bank and the Global Fund would spend collectively, if backed by the U.S., per patient/year using generic fixed-dose combination pills) They would have informative flyers to handout and a petition that people could sign and send to politicians.
*Facts from The Nation article “Bush, AIDS, Big Pharma” and the 2004 UNAIDS Report
Free Prescription Drug Campaign: This campaign involves having members of the group dress up as doctors. Buy some fun toy doctor’s supplies like toy stethoscopes and thermometers and give out candy to represent the free samples of medications that some people have to rely on because of the skyrocketing prices. Have flyers to give out with information about the rising cost of prescription pills; relate this information to donations made by pharmaceutical companies to politicians.
Grim Reaper Campaign: Have members of group dress as grim reapers. Members should dress in black cloaks (these can be bought or made with cheap cloth). You can use cardboard and spray-paint to make scythes. The idea behind dressing like grim reapers is that they are there to collect the bodies of those who die from AIDS because they couldn’t afford the high cost of prescription drugs. Email open lists and go door to door to recruit participants and tell them to dress in black as well. Meet in an area of campus were there is a lot of pedestrian traffic. The impact of a crowd dressed in black will be large and will hopefully spark the interest of people who pass by. Pass out info on the issue and if possible, obtain a bullhorn or megaphone to broadcast facts about AIDS, prescription pill costs, political contributions, university investment figures, etc.
Auctioning Off a Politician: This action step is a skit that can be performed in an area on campus that has a lot of pedestrian traffic. Some people should dress up as large pharmaceutical companies (Pfizer, Eli Lily, etc. or just the generic “Big PhRMA) and pretend to out bid “average Americans” for Congress. After they purchase Senators or Congressmen, you can have the pharmaceutical company make a conniving comment about now being able to raise the cost of prescription drugs or market drugs for symptoms they are not meant to treat.