With the deadline for an agreement from the Congressional Supercommittee less than a week away, small business owners in the Main Street Alliance network are calling on Congress to support policies that bolster the 99 percent and reject any budget-cutting deal that destroys more jobs and further weakens their customer base.
We’re starting to get the 1% to pay attention. But this system’s still rigged against us: Wall Street is still making billions and taking our homes, and Congress can’t pass a jobs bill. To amplify the economic emergency, Thursday, November 17, has been declared a massive day of action to show “We Are The 99%”. We are proud of our Alliance affiliates who are organizing a Day of Action in their hometowns. Please join them and show your solidarity for the 99%:
Will Congress choose need or greed? Cutting the federal deficit means making some tough choices. The new report, Food Choices: Families or Corporations and online petition asks Congressional super committee members to look at bloated federal subsidies for giant corporations before they cut food assistance struggling families depend on.
On Saturday November 5th, the Alliance and its affiliates joined hundreds of thousands of activists from across the country for “Bank Transfer Day, a “deadline” of sorts calling for people to shift their funds from for-profit banking institutions to not-for-profit credit unions.
Wells Fargo was put on notice last week as Colorado Progressive Coalition (CPC), the Alliance for a Just Society, and community members took their grievances with the Wall Street bank to the streets of Denver. The week started out with a delegation of homeowners, union members, immigrants, and students delivering their set of demands to Western Regional CEO Tom Honig, and vowing to not let up on Wells Fargo until their demands were met.
They made good on that promise when a group of “Robin Hoods” joined CPC on Tuesday to take their money back. The delegation turned in over 300 signatures of individuals, all pledging to take their money out of Wells Fargo. They also pledged to actively work with the City of Denver to ensure that tax dollars would stay out of the hands of Wall Street.
The next day, 99 letters from occupytheboardroom.com were delivered to both Tom Honig, Western Regional CEO, and Nathan Christian, Regional President, who coincidentally live across the street from one another in a gated community. But snow, gates, and security cameras did not deter Robin Hoods from delivering their message. Watch what happened here.
On Thursday, homeowners in jeopardy of losing their homes gathered outside the Wells Fargo Center to demand action. And Wells Fargo responded by locking their doors. CPC and the homeowners were not deterred and set up a makeshift “Fargoville” outside of the locked doors. Watching through the windows of the building, bankers looked out on more than 150 protesters. Angered at Wells Fargo’s use of high-interest subprime loans directed at communities of color and “robo-signing” tactics, the protestors demanded that Wells Fargo and other “big” banks put a moratorium on all foreclosures. In addition, they called on Wells Fargo to pay back home-owners who helped bail them out by resetting mortgages to their true market value.
Vicki Dillard, one of the protesters who is experiencing difficulties with Wells Fargo Home Mortgage after she was a victim of predatory lending, explained the group’s objective was to ensure that home owners are not the ones being blamed for the crisis.
“We are trying to name who the villain is, and that is truly Wells Fargo and the big banks. I believe that we are starting to refocus and get the target back on who the target really is.” Dillard said. “I hope that this motivates people to begin using their voice and to get our elected officials, the law, and hopefully the banks to do some things are on their own.”
Another group of protestors marched from the CPC offices on Santa Fe Drive to the Denver Performing Arts Center where they joined Occupy Denver in a protest at the Colorado Chamber of Commerce’s annual luncheon that featured Tom Donohue, CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Both groups are vehemently opposed to the U.S. Chambers investment of $750 million over the last 15 years to heavily influence elections and gain corporate-friendly policies for the benefit of the 1 percent. With swelled numbers the group then marched to the Wells Fargo Center to join the homeowners in “Fargoville.”
The week capped off with an action to highlight Wells Fargo’s investments in the two largest private prison corporations – GEO Group and Corrections Corporation of America. CPC, The Alliance for a Just Society, and hundreds of protestors met at the Auroria Campus. Students, dressed as the “Bulls of GEO and Wells Fargo”, were paraded down Main Street in a “prison stagecoach”, and the march continued on to Wells Fargo Center. The march ended with “Robin Hood” freeing the students and symbolically putting GEO and Wells Fargo in the prison instead.
The Mile High Showdown is just the beginning of Colorado Progressive Coalition and the Alliance’s campaign against big bank greed. To get involved, please go to www.progressivecoalition.org and sign up to become a member of CPC.
Dixie Mitchell is a 71-year-old cancer survivor. She and her husband have cared for over fifty foster children over the years in their Seattle home which, until this weekend, was scheduled to be auctioned off on October 28th. After a campaign by The New Bottom Line and Washington CAN!, Dixie now gets to keep her home. Continue reading “Justice for Washington Homeowner”
On October 20, an all-star team of small business leaders from across the Main Street Alliance network made the trek to Washington, DC to represent the voice of Main Street small businesses in the nation’s capital.
Business owners came from Montana, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Washington to participate in meetings on Capitol Hill. In a day and a half, the team conducted close to 20 meetings with Senate and House offices, including three face to face meetings with U.S. Senators.
A financial transaction tax (FTT) is one proposal being debated by economists as a solution to the national budget deficits both in the US and in Europe. The FTT would place a small tax on stock and commodity trade, and a version of it has been introduced in the Congress by Representative Peter DeFazio (D-Oregon) and Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa). A similar proposal is being considered by the European as well.
Last week, a federal judge refused to block enforcement of Alabama’s anti-immigration law, HB 56. This law, the harshest anti-immigrant law in the country, requires law enforcement officers to check the immigration status of anyone they suspect may be an undocumented immigrant and demands that K-12 schools track the immigration status of children. This law is bad for people, especially people of color. Since enactment, thousands of people have taken their children out of school, abandoned their jobs and have left Alabama altogether. This has been devastating to agriculture in the state, where millions of dollars of produce are simply rotting in the fields.Continue reading “Alabama’s H.B. 56 is Bad for People of Color”