08/14/2017
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Cards Against Humanity’s Nuisance Committee Relaunches
Targets U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.); Launches Nationwide Competition for its Next Five Billboards
CHICAGO, IL - The Nuisance Committee, Cards Against Humanity’s super PAC, has relaunched with a series of three billboards attacking U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) for his cruel and shortsighted vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
The billboards feature three families in Roskam’s 6th District — the Strojnys, Sciortinos and Grovers — whose access to healthcare would have been imperiled had Republicans succeeded in repealing the act. Michael Grover of Cary lives with brain cancer; Ian Sciortino of Fox River Grove has autism; and Mike Strojny of Inverness inherited a neurodegenerative disease from his father.
Their stories can be read at http://roskamvotedtotakemyhealthcare.com/; you can access the billboard images here.
“Pete Roskam voted to hurt these families — to take away the health care that is essential to their survival,” said Max Temkin, the founder of The Nuisance Committee and a co-creator of Cards Against Humanity. “His vote was heartless and cold, and heaped unnecessary anxiety on these families and millions more like them. Basic compassion and empathy for our neighbors should be a prerequisite for holding political office.”
The Nuisance Committee believes personal stories are crucial to changing the perception of the Affordable Care Act.
To that end, the Committee is launching a competition: It will buy billboards for five families to create their own campaigns targeting their local Republican Congressman. To “win” a billboard, a family must rely on the Affordable Care Act and be registered to vote in the district. To apply to be featured on a billboard, please email [email protected] with your story.
“We’ll pay for the billboard so that each family can confront a representative head on and tell their story,” Temkin said. “It’s important to us that the people most affected by the political schemes of the House Republicans have their voices heard.”
The committee's name comes from a meaningful piece of Temkin's family history. His grandfather, Ira Weinstein, was shot down over Germany on his 24th combat mission during WWII and interned in a POW camp, Stalag Luft 1. There Ira and other Jewish POWs banded together to form a "Nuisance Committee" to irritate their captors and divert German resources away from the front lines.
Contributing to this campaign in Illinois’ 6th District are Temkin; noted Chicago-based commercial photographer Paul Octavious, who shot the three anti-Roskam billboards; San Francisco-based design firm Mule Design, which designed the billboards; web designer Lindsey Camelio; coder Kara Carrell; former Chicago Reporter managing editor and Chicago Tribune investigative reporter Deborah Shelton, who researched and wrote the families’ stories; and former Chicago Tribune business columnist Melissa Harris, who manages the committee’s efforts.
“History will judge our society by how we treat the people who are struggling the most,” Temkin said. “When I think about how cruel that vote was, and how many people it harmed, it keeps me up at night. I hope these billboards and these family’s stories keep Pete Roskam up at night for the rest of his life.”
Existing billboard locations:
Sciortinos: West side of Highway 53, north of Euclid Avenue for traffic headed south (Rolling Meadows, Cook County)
Grovers: South side of North Avenue just east of Klein Avenue for traffic headed west (West Chicago, Dupage County)
Site of third billboard, which will go up by week’s end.
Strojnys: North side of Northwest Highway, 0.25 miles east of Route 31, for traffic headed west (Crystal Lake, McHenry County)
PRESS CONTACT
Melissa Harris
[email protected]
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Stories from Illinois' 6th Congressional District, as told by The Nuisance Committee.
