Montanans Stop Drastic State Budget Cuts

Last week, on April 28, the 62nd Montana Legislative Session came to a close. The session was a contentious one, featuring some of the worst budget cut proposals in state history. Faced with devastating cuts to health and human services, education, and public employee jobs and salaries, members of the Montana Organizing Project responded byContinue reading “Montanans Stop Drastic State Budget Cuts”

Rude Awakening for Seattle Tax Dodger & Wells Fargo Board Member

On a typically rainy Seattle morning, Tuesday, May 2, commuters stuck in rush hour traffic were treated to a  perfect view of a banner declaring peoples’ demands to big banks – PAY YOUR TAXES! The banner, hoisted up by 8-foot weather balloons and anchored by local students’ sailboat, reading “Wells Fargo-Pay Your Taxes”  flew aboveContinue reading “Rude Awakening for Seattle Tax Dodger & Wells Fargo Board Member”

Two Steps Backward for Bankers — 100,000 Steps Forward For the People

Last Thursday, April 14, Washingtonians from all walks of life put on their walking shoes and set out on the People’s Walk for Our Future. The five-day, 50-mile walk included stops at places in communities that are facing devastating cuts because of Washington’s $5 billion revenue shortfall: schools, mental health clinics, and many more. LegislatorsContinue reading “Two Steps Backward for Bankers — 100,000 Steps Forward For the People”

On Tax Day, Time to Tell Corporations that the Game of Tax Dodgeball is Over

This year Uncle Sam pushed Tax Day back to April 18, giving us all a three-day tax filing holiday. It’s almost enough to make you feel warm and fuzzy inside. Until, that is, you hear about GE, which apparently is on extended vacation, paying essentially nothing in taxes for 2010 despite raking in $5.1 billionContinue reading “On Tax Day, Time to Tell Corporations that the Game of Tax Dodgeball is Over”

Big Banks Must Step Up to Address the Revenue Crisis

The big banks live in a parallel universe. In their universe, the financial meltdown was beyond their power to stop.  The recession that left more than 1/10th of the American workforce unemployed is a shame they had little to do with.  The massive government bailout of the financial system was an opportunity to make aContinue reading “Big Banks Must Step Up to Address the Revenue Crisis”

Video: Washington CAN! Quarantines State Capitol from Bank Lobbyist Germs

On Bankers’ Lobby Day (February 7), members from Washington Community Action Network quarantined the state Capitol building in Olympia to protect lawmakers from from lobbyist “germs” of misinformation. Lobbyists were there to dissuade lawmakers from voting for House Bill 1847, which would eliminate outdated tax breaks for big Wall Street banks and private jet ownersContinue reading “Video: Washington CAN! Quarantines State Capitol from Bank Lobbyist Germs”

Money in Politics: The Best Tax Break Half a Million Dollars Can Buy

The first in a series of articles exploring the influence of corporate money over our political system. When Microsoft filed pay disclosures with the Securities and Exchange Commission last year, it reported a $670,000 bonus for company CEO Steve Ballmer. But the company didn’t mention how Ballmer spent the bulk of that check – onContinue reading “Money in Politics: The Best Tax Break Half a Million Dollars Can Buy”