Tag Archives: United States

Dear Washington MoveOn member,

Reports are circulating that a settlement of the robo-signing case between the big Wall Street banks and the 50 state attorneys general will be announced as soon as next week. Early indications are that the settlement will amount to yet another unconscionable giveaway to the banks.

The settlement will provide too little money to homeowners, require only trivial financial penalties for the banks, distributehuge amounts of money to individuals who were NOT fraudulently foreclosed upon, and will not have sufficient enforcementmechanisms to ensure that the money banks are supposed to pay actually gets paid—all while falling far short ofcompensating actual victims for the losses they wrongfully sustained. Worst of all, early reports indicate that the settlementgrants civil and criminal immunity to the Wall Street banks and their executives.

That’s why I created a petition to Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna on SignOn.org, which says:

Oppose any settlement of the robo-signing case that provides civil or criminal immunity to banks or their executives. Instead,create a program that helps Washington state homeowners damaged by fraudulent bank processes to sue banks for full recoveryof damages and punitive awards.

Will you sign the petition? Click here to add your name, and then pass it along to your friends:

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=267289&id=32771-17809870-OUgF%3Dvx&t=2

Thanks!

–Linda Brewster

The text above was written by Linda Brewster, not by MoveOn staff, and MoveOn is not responsible for the content. Thisemail was sent through MoveOn’s secure system, and your information has been kept private.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Big bad Banks

09/01/2011 Nativegrl77

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

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Chicken of the Sea: Stop Ripping up the Sea

08/31/2011 Nativegrl77

Tell Chicken of the Sea that it’s time to end their destructive ways and start getting serious about saving the oceans.

There’s more that goes into a can of tuna than just what you find inside. A lot more.

According to an Australian government study, the canned tuna industry is responsible for killing thousands of sharks, rays, sea turtles, sea birds and other marine life as a result of the methods they use to catch tuna every year.

One company called Chicken of the Sea has a particularly bad track record when it comes to ocean destruction. That’s why we’ve been trying to start a dialogue with Chicken of the Sea for months now about how they can make their fishing practices more sustainable.

In fact, just last week I personally traveled to their headquarters and delivered a letter. They promptly showed me the door and have refused to acknowledge the damage they are doing to the oceans.

But they can’t ignore you and the tens of thousands of other Greenpeace supporters who care about the oceans. So join me and sign on to my letter to Chicken of the Sea. Once we reach 30,000 signatures I will head back to their headquarters and deliver the message again.

Tell Chicken of the Sea that it’s time to end their destructive ways and start getting serious about saving the oceans.

As one of the largest tuna companies in the U.S., Chicken of the Sea has a major role to play in saving our oceans. They have a chance to be a real leader in the industry, but it is pretty clear that they aren’t going to do it on their own.

Right now, the company is using something called fish-aggregating devices (FAD) to catch their tuna. The problem is that FADs, which are basically floating objects, don’t just attract tuna. They attract all sorts of things — including sharks, marlin, and baby bigeye tuna, which is a species in serious trouble. When the ship returns, it takes everything that has gathered around the FAD with a net. Very few animals caught in these nets survive the process.

The simple truth is that if Chicken of the Sea doesn’t change how it catches tuna, our oceans don’t stand a chance.

We aren’t going to allow that to happen. Join me and add your name to my letter today.

Once we’ve collected over 30,000 signatures I will head back to Chicken of the Sea Headquarters and deliver the letter with your signature on it. This next time we’ll make sure we get their attention.

For the oceans,

Casson Trenor,
Greenpeace Senior Markets Campaigner

P.S. Forward this to everyone in your address book who eats canned tuna and cares about the oceans.

~ my 2cents ...

Jobs … The President has been talking Jobs contrary to “the media” comments

08/31/2011 Nativegrl77 2 Comments

by BarackObamadotcomon Aug 9, 2011

Description: President Obama announces a major jobs initiative for veterans, with the goal of getting 100,000 more veterans working by the end of 2013. August 5, 2011

Nominates Alan Krueger to chair the Council of Economic Advisers. August 26, 2011.

President Barack Obama FTW to CEOs Ask what you can do for America Chamber of Commerce Feb. 7, 2011

With a huge nuclear crisis in Japan and fighting in Libya, why is President Obama visiting Latin America this weekend? The short answer is American jobs. In his weekly address he discusses his trip to Latin America and the importance of strengthening our economic partnership with the region to create good jobs at home. He expresses a need to open more global markets and increase exports as a way of expanding the U.S. economy.

President Barack Obama outlines his fiscal policy during an address at George Washington University in Washington DC. Wednesday, April 13, 2011

President Barack Obama is reassuring the public that jobs and the economy are his top priority. (May 7)

President Obama Wishes America Happy Fourth of July Creating Jobs and Cutting Deficit

I renewed my call to Congress to stop subsidizing the oil and gas industries. Understand, I’m not opposed to producing oil. I believe that if we’re serious about meeting our energy challenge, we need to operate on all cylinders, and that means pursuing a broad range of energy policies, including safe and responsible oil production here at home. In fact, last year, America’s oil production reached its highest level since 2003.

Speaking from Carnegie Mellon University, President Obama discusses the vital role advanced manufacturing will have in strengthening our economy and creating good, middle-class jobs.

President Barack Obama visited Cree Monday to tour one of our LED lighting manufacturing lines, meet with his Council on Jobs and Competitiveness and to address Cree employees. Cree was honored to play host to the president and his Jobs and Competitiveness Council.

President Obama Winning The Future Advanced Manufacturing Jobs America Economy President Obama visits the Alcoa Davenport Works in Bettendorf, Iowa and speaks about the critical role manufacturing plays in the American economy.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Abuse at Hershey

08/30/2011 Nativegrl77

Hundreds of foreign exchange students paid to come to America this summer, expecting opportunities to learn English and experience American culture.

Instead, the exchange students found themselves forced to work in back-breaking, round-the-clock production lines packing chocolates at a Hershey’s plant in Pennsylvania at low wages. When the students complained, Hershey‘s threatened to have them deported.

Now the exchange students are fighting back. They just walked out of the Hershey’s plant and into the streets to protest the abusive conditions and to demand big changes to Hershey’s deceptive “cultural exchange” program.

And they’ve teamed up with the National Guestworker Alliance to start a petition demanding that Hershey’s compensate the exchange students, and turn their work into good jobs for local workers. Click here to add your name. www.change.org

Yana, a 19-year-old girl from Ukraine, lifts boxes that weigh 40 pounds — nearly half her weight. Peng, a 21-year-old economics student from China, also lifts heavy boxes during his eight-hour shifts at the warehouse.

Hundreds of students from Ghana, Turkey, Mongolia, and other countries each paid up to $6,000 for the privilege to come to America in a cultural exchange program this summer. Now Hershey’s pays them around $8 an hour for their warehouse work, minus costs of housing — leaving many students broke, tired, and disillusioned.

Why would Hershey’s want to use foreign exchange students as cheap, manual labor? According to the National Guestworker Alliance, a group helping the students, it’s about profit. Hershey’s is laying off 500 American workers in the next year. The company’s strategy is apparently paying off: Hershey’s pocketed $130 million in just the last three months.

The foreign exchange students are asking Hershey to refund the thousands of dollars the students paid to come to America. And that’s not all: The students also want Hershey’s to convert their low-paying positions to living wage jobs for local residents in Pennsylvania.

Please sign the petition to Hershey’s demanding the company refund the students’ costs to come to America and give their jobs back to American workers who live near the warehouse.

http://www.change.org/petitions/hershey-stop-exploiting-student-guestworkers

Thanks for being a change-maker,

– Jess and the Change.org team