Bailout Main Street

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

CONTACT:    Liz Hourican, CODEPINK 202-903-3363
Medea Benjamin, 415-235-6517

TAXPAYERS SAY “OVER OUR DEAD BODIES” TO BAILOUT
Call for a taxpayer revolt and ‘die-in’ on Capitol Hill

WHEN: Monday, September 29, 12 p.m.

WHERE: Outside Cannon Building, Independence and New Jersey Ave., House of
Representatives, Washington DC

Representatives of different sectors of society—health care workers,
teachers, construction workers, professionals—will hold a press conference
to denounce the bailout bill. With the message, “Bailout? Over my dead
body!” they will stage a die-in on the steps of the Cannon Building and
along the route Congresspeople use to enter the Capitol to cast their votes.

Organized by CODEPINK, the group will represent the outrage that the public
feels about the bailout. “Congress will be voting on the biggest give-away
of our tax dollars to the financial sector in our nation’s history,” says
CODEPINK cofounder Medea Benjamin. “Despite their efforts to portray this as
a compromise bill that helps both Wall St. and Main St., in reality it
represents an appalling transfer of wealth upward. It’s time for a taxpayers
revolt against this mind-boggling Wall St. swindle.”

“We teachers sacrifice to equip our classrooms with books, struggling to pay
our mortgages and healthcare while reckless Wall Street speculators are
bailed out with our tax dollars,” says former Texas schoolteacher Desiree
Fairooz. “I feel betrayed by Congress.”

CODEPINK calls on Congress to reject the very Wall St. financiers who
brought on the crisis. “Congress should stand up for the well-being of
average Americans, not the bank accounts of billionaires,” says Benjamin.