Monthly Archives: December 2014

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Enough! Rashad Robinson, ColorOfChange.org


A movement to end police violence and racial profiling is growing. Since the brutal police killing of 18-year-old Mike Brown, you and nearly 900,000 people have raised your voices demanding full accountability for Mike’s death and condemning the crisis of racially-motivated police violence. Today, ColorOfChange, Organization for Black Struggle, and dozens of other progressive groups will go to the White House to deliver your voice and that of 900,000 others calling on President Obama and US Attorney General Holder to secure justice for Mike Brown and commit to systemic changes to policing nationwide.

Your voice has made an incredible difference and your commitment to abolishing racially discriminatory policing has brought us all the way to the President’s door. And we won’t stop there.

Will you help us build power to secure #JusticeForMike Brown and federal reforms to end police brutality by calling on friends and family to join the campaign? Every voice counts.

Visit the link to share a powerful #JusticeForMikeBrown image with your friends and family

For the first time in years, federal officials are more engaged in addressing issues of police accountability and racial profiling. Now, we must act swiftly to leverage this critical moment and ensure that national leaders like President Obama and US Attorney General Holder bring Officer Wilson and other law enforcement who violate civil rights to justice.

Tomorrow, as we near the 9th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, we will gather in front of the White House to send a clear message that this administration, elected from the power of Black voters, has a duty and responsibility to protect Black lives and show the necessary leadership to end the national crisis of police brutality. As we saw in the aftermath of Katrina, the federal government’s response to issues impacting Black communities has life and death consequences for our families.

While hundreds gather at the White House, help show your support by growing the movement to secure #JusticeForMikeBrown and an end to racially-motivated police violence.

Thanks and Peace,

— Rashad, Matt, Arisha, Jamar, Lyla and the rest of the ColorOfChange team.
August 28, 2014

Help support our work. ColorOfChange.org is powered by YOU—your energy and dollars. We take no money from lobbyists or large corporations that don’t share our values, and our tiny staff ensures your contributions go a long way.

 

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Look what Republicans slipped into the bill


Late last night, the House of Representatives passed a $1 trillion spending package to keep the government running through September.  And they included in it a Wall Street giveaway that puts taxpayers back on the hook for banks’ risky bets.  We need to fight.
One of the important provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law was pushing swaps out of taxpayer-insured depository institutions.  These swaps are essentially bets on things like the prices of commodities or financial instruments.
In 2008 when banks’ bets went bad, taxpayers bailed them out and ordinary Americans lost jobs, homes, and retirement savings.  That’s why the reforms pushed those risky activities out of the banks — if the bets go bad, taxpayers shouldn’t be at risk.
Now, in order to enrich a handful of the biggest banks in the world, the House is saying working families and small businesses across America should once again be put at risk. Let’s stand up and say no. Join the conversation on Facebook and voice your concern!
Putting this Wall Street giveaway into a must-pass bill to keep the government funded is the beginning of an all-out assault to roll back the reforms and turn the keys of our economy over to Wall Street once again.  We saw how that turned out last time.
We need an economy that is designed to create opportunity and success for middle class families, not one designed to enrich Wall Street at everyone else’s expense.
This kind of stealth effort to dismantle Dodd-Frank is unacceptable – let’s shine a light on this provision. Wall Street has its army of lobbyists; the American people have you. Join the conversation on Facebook and help spread the word.
Jeff
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Re: 6,000 miles


Arctic whales need you to speak up for them!

Gray Whale

Tell Secretary of State John Kerry to stand up for the Arctic!

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¡Amazonia Viva! Art and Action at COP20

¡Amazonia Viva! Art and Action at COP20
Yesterday hundreds of indigenouspeoples from communities across the Amazon joined together on a beach in Lima, Peru to create a massive “human banner” image to promote awareness about territorial rights for indigenouspeoples in the global climate conversation. Beneath the heat of the sun and to the sound of beating drums, indigenouspeoples and allies danced and rallied around a united message. Representatives from many Amazonian communities participatedin the creation of the banner includingShipibo,Asháninka,Achuar,Awajún,Munduruku,Guajajara,Kichwa andKampupiyawi.”Together we created a beautiful image of what we want to see in the world. We want our rights and territories respected here in Peru, across the Amazon and around the world,” said Juan Agustín Fernandez, leader of the Shipibo community of Cantagallo who participated in the creation of yesterday’s banner.

The artwork coincided with the UN COP20 climate summit. Indigenous peoples and allies worked together to form a design with their bodies displaying the words “Pueblos + Derechos = Bosques Vivos” (Peoples + Rights = Living Forests). Participants aim to send a message about the importance of territorial rights to decision-makers and world leaders.

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The Wall Street Giveaway In The ‘Cromnibus


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Dems Fight Back Against Wall Street Attempts To Use ‘Cromnibus’ To Weaken 2010 Financial Reform

Last night we wrote about the giveaways to big money political donors tucked into the last-minute, 1600-page federal budget bill nicknamed the ‘Cromnibus’ that needs to pass today in order to avoid a government shutdown. But there’s another deeply troubling provision in the bill that would be a huge win for Wall Street at the expense of average Americans. It has nothing to do with keeping the government funded; instead, it’s a provision that would undermine the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law passed to prevent another economic crisis like the one in 2008 from happening again.

The provision, known as a “policy rider” because it is not a spending appropriation but a change to an unrelated law, would significantly weaken Section 716 of the Dodd-Frank law. Part of what caused the economic meltdown that led to the bailout was banks making high-risk trades that were insured by the federal government — and when those trades blew up, the taxpayers were left holding the bill. Section 716 of Dodd-Frank didn’t prohibit the Wall Street banks from making those trades, but it did make banks separate those trades from the rest of their business so they would no longer be backed up by the taxpayers. Wall Street banks don’t like having that responsibility with the new law, so their army of lobbyists went to work to kill the provision by writing a bunch of exemptions to it in the depths of the vital, last-minute spending bill to avoid a government shutdown.

Now that trick is in the light of day, and congressional Democrats are fighting back. Senator Elizabeth Warren has been leading the charge to get Democrats to vote against the must-pass spending bill with this provision still in it. Senator Sherrod Brown issued a statement saying that passing the Cromnibus with this provision in it would “open the door to future bailouts funded by American taxpayers.” Former Rep. Barney Frank, the namesake of the 2010 financial reform, has also urged his former colleagues to vote against the spending bill.

And this morning, the drama appears to have ratcheted up even farther. The House of Representatives just barely passed a key procedural vote on the bill, with all Democrats and some Republicans voting no. It’s not clear whether Republicans will have the votes on the actual bill later today. With House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi calling the bill a “moral hazard,” it certainly appears that Democrats could stay united in their opposition until the rider is removed. And all bets are off for what will happen when the Senate votes later today.

Adding to the complexity of the issue is the fact that, with the exception of riders like this one, the Cromnibus is actually a relatively good spending bill. Imperfect, but an acceptable compromise. That is why President Obama, while fiercely denouncing riders like the Wall Street give away which the White House says would “weaken a critical component” of financial reform, is in support of the bill and would not veto. The Adminstration is, very reasonably, worried that if this version gets scrapped, the only alternative would be a short-term continuing resolution that would lack many other positive elements currently in the Cromnibus.

With so many moving pieces and time running out, there’s a lot that could happen before the clock strikes midnight. Stay tuned.

BOTTOM LINE: There is simply no place for secretive, special-interest provisions on unrelated issues written into critical, last-minute legislation. One of these efforts — pushed by Wall Street lobbyists and tacitly supported by the GOP — would remove important rules that protect average Americans and hold Wall Street accountable. This effort wrongly favors the big banks that are more profitable than ever, while most Americans struggle just to make ends meet. And it sets a dangerous precedent on future negotiations. We need to pass a spending bill, and the spending component of the Cromnibus is an acceptable compromise. But we don’t need special-interest riders like this Wall Street giveaway.