Tag Archives: Wall Street

Occupy Wall Street …Gregg Ross, Democracy for America


The Occupy Wall Street protest is a watershed moment.

For weeks, protesters have been camped out in Liberty Square near Wall Street.

They are marching during the day and sleeping on the street at night, facing arrest and police violence. They are gaining media attention, inspiring thousands more to join them every day in New York and in cities across the country — and they are giving a voice to the American working class that has been attacked by big corporations and their allies in Congress.

The Occupy Wall Street protesters are standing up for us — because of that, thousands of people across the country have joined together to send them food to keep them going.

These donations have worked. They’ve kept the occupation strong. But it’s October in New York City and getting colder each day.

Protesters are now in immediate need of 200 sleeping bags to keep warm and keep the occupation going.

Donate $20 here to buy a sleeping bag to keep the occupation going in the cold.      http://nycga.cc/donate/

Working together, we can build a movement to take back our country from corporate greed.

In solidarity,

– Gregg

Gregg Ross, Political Campaign Manager
Democracy for America

OCCUPY Your City …Robert Greenwald


by on Oct  4, 2011

People young and old are taking the streets to let our government and corporations know that we are a democracy that’s not for sale. Take action:http://bravenewfoundation.org/occupy

There’s a movement in Massachusetts to elect Elizabeth …Jim Dean


I don’t need to tell you who Elizabeth Warren is — you’ve probably seen the video where she debunks right-wing “class warfare” talking points and makes a powerful case for the social contract.

Elizabeth is a fighter and a truth-teller. You saw it in that video — and you saw it in Washington, where she stood up for the middle class and took on the big banks to hold Wall Street accountable.

She is exactly the sort of person we need fighting for us in Washington everyday and we need to have her back in this Senate race in Massachusetts. Republican Scott Brown has a $10 million war chest and big banks will go to the mat to keep a real progressive like Warren out of the Senate.

Help elect Elizabeth Warren. Chip in $12 to her campaign right now.    WWW.DemocracyForAmerica.com

When we asked our Massachusetts members who they supported for Senate, the answer was loud and clear — 90 percent of DFA members said they supported Elizabeth Warren.

There’s a movement in Massachusetts to elect Elizabeth and it’s about more than taking back a Senate seat — it’s about electing someone who will get America working for regular folks again and hold big banks, insurance companies and Wall Street accountable for their actions.

Electing Elizabeth is a huge step towards getting Americans back to work and rebuilding the middle class.

Elizabeth Warren is standing up for us. Let’s stand up for her. Chip in $12 to her campaign right now.   WWW.DemocracyForAmerica.com

Thanks for everything you do.

– Jim

Jim Dean, Chair
Democracy for America

Will you Join US?


Will you join me and President Obama in insisting that Congress get busy fixing our jobs crisis—and pay for it by asking millionaires and billionaires like Warren Buffett to pay their fair share?

Tell your lawmakers to start fixing America’s jobs crisis—and let them know you’ll hold them accountable if they won’t.

WWW.AFLCIO.ORG

Jobs are the crisis in America. Our economy will not recover until people get work.

America wants to work. But how hard are you willing to work to create jobs? If you’re willing to go all-out, let your lawmakers know right now.

President Obama understands the severity of America’s jobs crisis. This morning, he called on Congress to get moving on solutions—and to pay for his American Jobs Act by restoring tax fairness. He hit the nail on the head when he said, “Warren Buffett’s secretary shouldn’t pay a higher tax rate than Warren Buffett.”

Thanks to President Obama, our national conversation is moving in the right direction. With the release of the American Jobs Act—and today’s speech—he has come forward with important steps to start addressing our jobs crisis. Now, it’s our job to demand action.

Let Congress know you’re ready to go to the mat in pushing our leaders to create jobs.

Over the coming days and weeks, as part of our America Wants to Work campaign, we’ll be asking for your help to advance a job creation agenda that will:

Rebuild America for the 21st century by investing in the schools, roads, bridges, transit, ports, rail, communications and energy jobs and systems we need to succeed.
Revive U.S. manufacturing and reform our trade policies, so we can export American-made goods and services—and stop exporting good jobs.
Help our cities and states—and the federal government—avoid layoffs that drag down our economy and threaten essential services to communities.
Directly create millions of jobs in local communities, especially hard-hit communities of color. These jobs must pay competitive wages and target distressed communities and must not replace existing jobs.
Solve the massive shortfall of consumer demand by extending unemployment benefits and keeping homeowners in their homes.
Reform Wall Street so it helps Main Street create jobs.

Tell your lawmakers: America wants to work. It’s time to end the distractions and political brinksmanship that have left working families out in the cold and take bold action to create jobs.   WWW.AFLCIO.ORG

We will not reduce our demands or accept failure. And we will not accept any schemes to cut Medicaid or Social Security or Medicare benefits in exchange for getting Americans back to work.

To make our case for jobs, we will flood Congress with calls and e-mails. We will take our demands to the streets—and to the front doors of congressional offices. And we will make it clear to corporations, to elected officials and to the press just how many this crisis hurts in our communities, just how much pain is caused by inaction and just how tireless our pursuit of good jobs will be.

Get started today: Let Congress know you’ll be fighting for jobs, and it’s time for members of Congress to join you.   WWW.AFLCIO.ORG

Our campaign to get America back to work will not stop—it will only grow stronger. We will start by ratcheting up the pressure now. And we will make sure leaders who fail to put jobs first are held accountable in 2012. Because what happens in the coming days and months—and during the next year—will determine the future of America’s working middle class.

Will we work hard enough, starting now and through the next election, to preserve America’s middle class? Or will we fail? It’s up to us.

If you’re ready to work for working people, start by letting Congress know.   WWW.AFLCIO.ORG

This morning, President Obama outlined the choices our country faces:

“Either we ask the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share in taxes or we ask seniors to pay more for Medicare. We can’t afford to do both. Either we gut education and medical research or we’ve got to reform the tax code so that most profitable corporations have to give up tax loopholes that other companies don’t get. We can’t afford to do both. This is not class warfare; it’s math.”

With your help, we can create jobs in a fair way. And we can pay for it—as President Obama proposed—by requiring millionaires, billionaires and profitable corporations to pay their fair share to get America back on track.

Thank you for standing with us.

In Solidarity,

Richard L. Trumka
President, AFL-CIO

P.S. Your action today is only the beginning. Because you know as well as I do that getting Congress to take real action to tackle America’s jobs crisis won’t be easy—it will be supremely difficult to overcome the partisanship and political games.

That’s why I need you to stay with us. We’ll ask you to follow up with more actions—and harder actions—and to rise to the challenge for America’s working middle class.

Help Protect Consumers Against Wall Street Greed …Ben Betz, People For the American Way


At the first Richard Cordray confirmation hearing last week, the two Republican senators (out of ten on the committee) who showed up indicated that their party had every intention of obstructing Cordray’s confirmation to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Many Republicans are insisting on structural changes to CFPB, which would render the bureau ineffective and allow greed and corruption to prevail over consumer protection, before they say they’ll even consider confirming a nominee for director.

One way or another, the corporate Right is determined to stop the CFPB from doing the important job it was created to do. We need to break through this obstruction!

Please join the nearly 20,000 activists who have already signed our petition urging the the confirmation of Richard Cordray!

www.pfaw.org
— Ben


Original Message:

CFPB

Tell the Senate: Give the CFPB the authority to protect consumers! Confirm Richard Cordray as CFPB director!

WWW.PFAW.ORG

Dear PFAW supporter,

Today, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs is holding a hearing on the nomination of Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). It’s the beginning of what will be a very big fight.

Wall Street and Republicans don’t want CFPB oversight and have made clear their intentions to sabotage this important agency in any way to prevent it from protecting consumers. Since the CFPB requires a permanent director in order to operate with full authority, Senate Republicans see defeating the nomination of Richard Cordray as priority #1 in crippling the Bureau.

Please sign our emergency petition to CONFIRM RICHARD CORDRAY now.

We need to keep significant pressure on Senate Democrats to stand unified and use every tool they can to confirm Cordray. And we need to keep grassroots pressure on Republicans to challenge the financial industry’s iron grip on their party and do the right thing for American consumers.

Cordray was picked by Professor Elizabeth Warren to be one of her top deputies in setting up the CFPB. As Ohio’s attorney general, Cordray earned a reputation of being tough on the financial industry.  He was among the first attorneys general to take action in the nationwide foreclosure investigation into the mishandling of paperwork and successfully sued AIG, exposing banks’ use of hidden fees and other consumer exploitations.

Urge your senators to stand up for consumers and CONFIRM RICHARD CORDRAY.

After you sign the petition, please call your senators’ office to back up the message.

www.pfaw.org

This will be a sustained campaign that could call for various actions and constituent contacts, but the petition is the way we want to register support for Cordray first and foremost. If we can get enough Americans to sign, we’ll be able to make a splash on Capitol Hill when we deliver the signatures to the Senate.

Help us get the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau working! Help to confirm Richard Cordray as its director.   www.pfaw.org

— Ben Betz, Online Strategy Manager