99% movement in Raleigh to picket Art Pope’s big money agenda

NC State AFL-CIO, PO Box 10805, Raleigh, NC 27605

Press Advisory for March 3, 2012

Contact: Jeremy Sprinkle, Communications Director, 919-833-6678, [email protected];

99% MOVEMENT IN RALEIGH TO PICKET ART POPE’S BIG MONEY AGENDA

Calling out the Art Pope-funded “crazy train” for bringing extremism to town at Civitas conference, 12 noon on Saturday, March 3

Raleigh, N.C. – People who are tired of Art Pope's extreme, Big Money agenda will picket outside Civitas Institute's "Battleground NC: Conservative Leadership Conference" at noon this Saturday in Raleigh, NC.

The Civitas Institute, a right-wing think tank funded by Art Pope, is holding a national conference in Raleigh this weekend. Leading speakers include Jason Lewis, a far-right talk show host who advocates state secession and has compared paying taxes to the enslavement of African Americans, and Hans von Spakovsky, whose nomination to the Federal Elections Commission was rejected by Congress because of his extreme views on voter suppression.

This conference is a reminder of why Art Pope continues to be the most dangerous man in North Carolina politics. By using his personal fortune and corporate treasury to bankroll The Civitas Institute - which receives 95 percent of its funding from Art Pope - he is paying to bring right-wing extremist messengers to Raleigh.

Groups like Civitas, along with Civitas Action and American for Prosperity North Carolina, only exist to advance Art Pope’s narrow, extreme, Big Money agenda, one that puts profits over people and values greed over workers.

The Civitas conference on Saturday is just another example of what one observer recently called the Art Pope-funded crazy train. We may not be able to derail it, but our picket will sound the alarm about the Big Money, right-wing extremism that is poisoning our state.

What: Picket the "Art Pope-funded crazy train"

When: Saturday, March 3, 2012 at 12noon

Where: Sidewalk at the corner of Glenwood Ave and Marriott Dr, Raleigh, NC (across from Crabtree Valley Mall)

Why: Art Pope’s empire pays to poison North Carolina politics with right-wing extremism.

Who: AFL-CIO, Triangle Labor Council, Occupy, Democracy NC, Progress NC, and community activists.

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Want to learn more about how Art Pope uses his empire to poison North Carolina? Visit www.ArtPopeExposed.org.