Tag Archives: Huffington Post

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Don’t Deny My Health Care! … HCAN


What’s at the heart of health care reform?

At every rally, in each blog post, in every comment we’ve made to the press or email we’ve sent you, HCAN has talked about how Obamacare expands coverage to more than 30 million people and eliminates the worst insurance company abuses.

We don’t talk about the so-called “mandate” because it’s a means to an end – it’s one of the ways everyone gets health care and it’s how we stop the big insurance companies from discriminating against people who are sick.

But the mandate isn’t what Obamacare is all about, even if that’s what the right-wing says to stir up anger against the Affordable Care Act.

Please take a moment to read our latest blog post in the Huffington Post about what’s at stake with the Supreme Court’s ruling. Help us spread the truth.

Please share it on Facebook and Tweet about it.

HCAN will keep you updated on how the Supreme Court’s ruling will affect everyone’s access to health care.

Thanks,

Will O’Neill
Health Care for America Now

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VIDEO: In Arizona, A Latino Family Fighting Against All Odds “Axel Caballero from Cuéntame”

Dear Carmen,
The Moreno family knows first-hand what it means to fight against all odds in order to keep their family together. Living in Arizona, the emblematic state best known for its harsh stances on immigration and Latino educational culture, has been a challenge in it of itself.
Watch this powerful and honest conversation!
Honest and direct the Moreno family tell us their powerful story. One which is already changing paradigms and perspectives – from their conservative community to the entire nation. Today, Cuéntame’s video of the Moreno Family is the front page of The Huffington Post Latino Voices.
Their conversation is direct, funny, emotional, challenging yet hopeful and ultimately inspirational. The Moreno family is a perfect example of how an honest conversation changes the family dynamic – for the better.
Join in the conversation by sharing this video!

Yours, Axel Caballero and the Cuéntame team.
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Call AG Rob McKenna: Hold Wall Street crooks accountable


Original Post on 12/01/2011

Call Attorney General Rob McKenna: Hold Wall Street criminals accountable!

Call your Attorney General and demand criminal penalties for unscrupulous mortgage servicers.

Call Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna at (360) 753-6200.

Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna has a chance to make sure some of Wall Street’s biggest criminals don’t get away with cheating millions of foreclosure victims. But we need you to make a call right now.

Less than a month ago, the lead Attorney General in a 50-state investigation of the mortgage industry, Tom Miller of Iowa, promised a group of foreclosure victims and their advocates that the investigation would “put people in jail.”1

This was in response to revelations from Congressional hearings and news articles documenting pervasive abuses by mortgage servicers — the companies that collect the mortgage payments, impose late fees, negotiate loan modifications and initiate foreclosures.

But now AG Miller has changed his tune, calling the investigation “inherently civil,” not criminal.2 And just last week, when AG Miller once again met with foreclosure victims, he refused to repeat his pledge to prosecute those responsible.3

Call Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna now and demand criminal penalties for Wall Street’s worst — unscrupulous mortgage servicers. Here’s the call info and a sample script:

Attorney General Rob McKenna — (360) 753-6200

SCRIPT: “I am a resident of Washington and I am watching the foreclosure fraud investigation very closely. I want to make sure that the Attorney General reaches as strong a settlement as possible with the banks. The settlement must include principal reduction for millions of homeowners and imposes criminal penalties on those who broke the law.”

It’s clear that AG Miller and the other 49 Attorneys General are being pressured by the big banks to agree to a settlement that lets them off the hook. But we can’t let them get away with cheating millions of Americans. We need to fight back.

That’s why we’re teaming up with our friends at National People’s Action for a national call campaign targeting the attorneys general of every state. Join thousands of activists across the country in calling your state’s attorney general to demand that Wall Street’s biggest criminals are held accountable for their crimes against foreclosure victims.

Call Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna now and demand criminal penalties for corrupt mortgage servicers.

Attorney General Rob McKenna — (360) 753-6200

Thank you for fighting back against criminal Wall Street banks.

Mark Anthony Dingbaum, Campaign Manager

CREDO Action from Working Assets

1. “‘We Will Put People in Jail’ — AG Tom Miller,” YouTube.com, 12-14-2010

2. “Foreclosure Deals to Start With Big Lenders, Iowa Says,” Margaret Cronin Fisk and Prashant Gopal, Bloomberg.com, 01-03-2011

3. “Groups say Iowa AG Retreats From Promise To Be Tough On Robo-sign Banks,” Yepoka Yeebo, The Huffington Post, 01-27-2011

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Health Care for America Now … Melinda Gibson – Find an Occupy Together event


It began on Wall Street
and now has spread to hundreds of cities around the country. The Occupy Wall Street movement gives voice to the anger of families and small  businesses struggling to make ends meet while the richest 1% cut corners, cut jobs and raise prices. Health care activists know that the health insurers are some of Wall Street’s greediest players.

HCAN‘s Ethan Rome has a new piece on the Huffington Post on the nationwide “Occupy” protests and the role of the health insurance companies in sabotaging
our economy:

“America’s families and small businesses are barely hanging on while
the Wall Street-run health insurance profit machines have been jacking
up rates and providing less care. That’s why it makes sense for Occupy
Wall Street protesters to occupy them as well.

Much has been said about the banks and credit card companies that are
headquartered on Wall Street. The health insurance companies’ relentless
pursuit of profit and callous disregard for people offers another
window into how big corporations have abused people and twisted the
economy to serve their own interests.

Health
insurance companies make excessive profits, hoard massive amounts of
cash, overcharge their customers and give their top executives obscene
paychecks.“

We’re
working to spread the word about Occupy Wall Street to fellow health
care activists. Act now and share Ethan’s piece with anyone who you
think needs to read more about health care and this important movement.

Our slogan from the health care reform fight is as true today as it was in 2009: “If the insurance companies win, we lose.”

Now is the time to spread the word.

In Solidarity,

Melinda Gibson

Health Care for America Now

P.S. You can read Ethan’s full post here.

P.P.S. Click here to find an Occupy Together event near you.

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Big bad Banks


The banks behind the mortgage crisis are looking for a way out, and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner wants to hand them one.1

Three years after the housing collapse that crashed the world economy, not a single Wall Street executive has faced real punishment for the fraud, corruption, and greed that caused it. And those same big banks continue handing out massive bonuses and dividends while homeowners struggle.2

Now there’s a deal in the works that would let Wall Street banks get away scot-free, giving them immunity from investigation and prosecution of crimes like falsifying documents, encouraging bad loans, and lying to investors. In return they’d pay $20 billion—a fraction of what they could truly owe—and regulators would lose their leverage to help homeowners.3

This deal only works if it stays behind the scenes. If we can get enough people behind this petition, we can embarrass Geithner and the Obama administration into backing down. So we’re joining with MoveOn.org to send a strong message that can’t be ignored.

Tell Treasury Secretary Geithner, “No more sweetheart deals for Wall Street. Let states investigate and prosecute the crimes that crashed our economy.”

The world economy lost $7.7 trillion thanks to the big banks pushing bad loans and risky investments as sound financial planning. And millions of Americans lost houses and jobs. But Wall Street banks got nearly $2 trillion in loans to rebuild, while Main Street Americans are still working to get back on their feet.4

If we want to save the American Dream we need to show that big banks will be held accountable for these crimes, and a few state attorneys general are doing just that. Eric Schneiderman and Beau Biden, the attorneys general of New York and Delaware, have said they won’t settle with the banks without doing a real investigation into the fraud and corruption.5

Standing with homeowners against bullying by big banks is part of what the American Dream Movement is about. We can stand up and stand behind the state attorneys general who are fighting to expose the crimes that caused the collapse.

Tell Treasury Secretary Geithner, “No more sweetheart deals for Wall Street. Let states investigate and prosecute the crimes that crashed our economy.”

Toward an America that works for all,

–Natalie, Van, Ian, Billy, and the rest of the Rebuild the Dream team

Sources:

1. “New York Attorney General Kicked Off Government Group Leading Foreclosure Probe,” The Huffington Post, August 23, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=263396&id=30464-17809870-86VbHcx&t=4

2. “Biggest Fish Face Little Risk of Being Caught,” The New York Times, February 25, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=263413&id=30464-17809870-86VbHcx&t=5
“Banks Poised to Pay Dividends After 3-Year Gap,” The New York Times, January 13, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/14/business/14dividend.html

3. “Obama Goes All Out For Dirty Banker Deal,” Rolling Stone, August 24, 20110
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=263395&id=30464-17809870-86VbHcx&t=6

4. “U.S. Subprime Crisis Costs World $7.7 Trillion Dollars,” The Huffington Post, February 15, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=263403&id=30464-17809870-86VbHcx&t=7
“Wall Street Aristocracy Got $1.2 Trillion in Secret Loans,” Bloomberg News, August 22, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=263394&id=30464-17809870-86VbHcx&t=8

5. “New York Attorney General Kicked Off Government Group Leading Foreclosure Probe,” The Huffington Post, August 23, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=263396&id=30464-17809870-86VbHcx&t=9