Economy | Be a Seed for Change

I trust my neighbors more than any Wall Street bank, hedge fund, or oil company. I think we all do.

But we keep letting the banks and multinational corporations, and their high-priced lobbyists, call the shots in our economy.

You know what? I think they’re doing a terrible job. Now it’s time for us, the American people, to come up with our own vision.

So today we’re launching a new effort. And we need your help.

Our goal is to help create a “Contract for the American Dream“—a people-powered plan for creating an economy that works for ALL of us.

When it is completed, this document will be very special. For one thing: thousands of us will have created it TOGETHER, as a community of friends and neighbors.

You are an important part of this community, and you have a key role to play in this effort:helping to choose the best ideas for fixing our economy.

It won’t take long, and you don’t need to be an expert. Just visit our new site and rate which ideas you think will make a real difference. We have some great ideas from progressive leaders. And you can add your own, too. No idea is too big or too small, too tame or too out there. We need your brain engaged on this.
To help get started, former Labor Secretary Robert Reich made a short video about how we can invest in creating more good jobs.
Check it out, then help rate some proposals!

We’re building this Contract with a deep belief that folks like us—all across America—have enough wisdom and common sense to come up with workable solutions to our nation’s problems. By putting our heads together, and combining our best thinking on a national basis, we believe we can craft a plan that unites our struggles for economic fairness and opportunity.

The key to this idea working is simple: we need as many people as possible to participate. We need you to submit ideas and to give feedback. The more people who join in to help craft the Contract, the better it’s going to be.

This week we’re going to focus on four areas. We are starting today with good jobs. Over the coming days, we’ll look for solutions to problems in other areas—from education, to labor rights, to taxes.

Then, on July 16 and 17, thousands of Americans are going to gather in living rooms, community centers, and church basements across the country. In just ten days, people will discuss and help sort the top ideas we have generated together. Between now and then, it’s up to all of us to feed the very best, most creative, most inspiring ideas into the conversations.

Can you help right now—by rating ideas and submitting your own?

http://www.moveon.org

Thanks for all you do.

–Van Jones

More than 2 million workers and their families are in danger of losing their unemployment benefits just before the holidays.

Tell Congress to renew unemployment insurance now:

For millions of Americans and their families, a storm is brewing. Unless Congress acts by November 30th, two million unemployed Americans who are struggling to find work will be cut off from vital unemployment payments just before the holiday season.¹

It would be a disaster — not only for people who are out of a job and whose only lifeline is these small unemployment payments, but for the entire economy.²

It’s going to be a tough fight to make sure Congress extends these benefits — Republicans and conservative Democrats have stood in the way of extending unemployment insurance in the past, and they’re likely to do it again. They say we can’t afford to pay for it, but many of the same politicians are willing to add trillions to the deficit to extend President Bush’s massive tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.

Please join us in demanding that Congress extend unemployment benefits, and ask your friends and family to do the same:

http://www.colorofchange.org/preserve/?id=2275-1238940

The economic downturn has hurt everyone, but it’s hit Black communities particularly hard — unemployment among Black folks is at 16%, twice the national average. For young Black men, it’s above 40%.³

Economists say that unemployment benefits are one of the most effective ways to boost the economy, and the U.S. Census Bureau data reports that 3.3 million more people would have fallen below the poverty line in 2009 without unemployment benefits.^4,5

There are some signs that the economy is starting to recover — the number of new people applying for unemployment benefits has recently fallen. But if Congress fails to extend unemployment for 2 million people who are currently out of work, it would deal a serious blow to that progress. Those two million jobless Americans won’t have money to spend on their basic needs, and all kinds of businesses will suffer as a result — and be even less likely to start hiring.

Congress reconvenes on November 15 — and will only have a short time to continue the federal unemployment benefits program before the November 30 deadline. This past May, because of what conservative Democrats and Republicans to block extending unemployment benefits, Congress missed the deadline and allowed the program to lapse for seven weeks — stopping benefits to more than 2.5 million long-term unemployed job-seekers and their families. The unemployed cannot afford another lapse in benefits, and neither can our economy.

It’s hard to believe, but some politicians are saying we can’t afford to pay for these benefits, while at the same time trying to extend President Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthy. It’s a position that prioritizes luxury for the wealthy over survival for the most vulnerable people in our country — and it makes no sense for our economy.

Congress hears from wealthy people with access and power every day. So it’s essential for all members of Congress to hear from ordinary Americans who are struggling to make ends meet or know someone who is.

Please join us in demanding that Congress extend unemployment benefits by clicking the link below. We’re working with the National Employment Law Project to deliver your message to Congress this week. And we’ll keep our eye on politicians who are standing in the way of doing what’s right for our economy, and we’ll give you ways to hold them accountable.

http://www.colorofchange.org/preserve/?id=2275-1238940

Thanks and Peace,

— James, Gabriel, William, Dani, Natasha, and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
November 15th, 2010

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. You can contribute here:

https://secure.colorofchange.org/contribute/