Beginning January One, Bank of America will be charging customers $5 a month to use their debit cards. Back in 2009, small businesses banded together to fight back against ever escalating fees levied by the banks. This was a monumental win for small businesses- these fees amounted to a $16Billion a year transfer of wealth from the nation’s businesses directly to Wall Street. Click here to see how small businesses beat back the big banks.Continue reading “Bank of America to Charge Fee to Use… Your Money”
The Distasteful Politics of Food
How, what, and where we eat everyday is strongly influenced by the federal government, in partnership with major food corporations, through a piece of legislation called the Farm Bill. Many of the social determinates of health that impact our communities find their roots in the Farm Bill a massive piece of legislation up for renewal in 2012.
We need to pay close attention to this legislation in the coming months. In particular, we need to focus on the ways in which the Farm Bill enables corporate practices that contribute to racial disparities in health, set us back in terms of racial equity, and promote greed over need. In a climate where Congress is looking to make cuts, corporate agribusiness will be working hard to protect their interests, leaving the rest of us with a huge tab that will cost not just in dollars but also in lives.Continue reading “The Distasteful Politics of Food”
Message to Banks: Pay US Back
The Alliance’s LeeAnn Hall and National People’s Action George Goehl on the nationwide protests in Truthout.
Showdown Against Big Bank Greed in Washington
Kicking off a month of New Bottom Line actions sweeping across the country, yesterday Washington CAN and the Alliance for a Just Society helped spearhead statewide protests against Wall Street banks’ raiding of our economy and our political system.
The Association of Washington Business – the state’s corporate lobby – was holding a policy summit at Suncadia, a swank golf resort on the eastern slopes of the Cascades. JPMorgan Chase regional exec Phyllis Campbell was there to lead a seminar called, “Where Will the Money Come From?”
In the wee hours of the morning, Washington CAN gave “wake-up calls” to slumbering CEOs and flyered their rooms with “agendas” for the day’s activities. Later in the day, two hundred protesters descended onto Suncadia from all corners of the state. They staged a picket at the resort’s entrance, while a fifty-person team dodged security to deliver the “Save Our State” message outside the lodge where the corporate CEOs were hammering out the corporate agenda.
The protest put Chase exec Campbell on the defensive and forced her to speak publicly about the tax breaks her bank pulls in from the state.
While the Showdown at Suncadia was raging, more protests took place in Seattle, Spokane, Vancouver, and Olympia. In Seattle, community members declared Chase’s downtown headquarters a crime scene, took over the intersection of 3rd & University, and put the CEOs of Chase, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America on trial for crimes against our community.
Some of these crimes include fraudulently foreclosing on people’s homes, hoarding money instead of paying their fair share of taxes, and taking from the poor by charging 85 cents per transaction for use of electronic benefit transfer cards.
Eleven people put their freedom on the line and were arrested while standing up against big bank greed. These were just the first of many that will be sweeping across the country in coming weeks. To get involved, click here.
Media Coverage:
Retta Green: “Medicaid truly is a Lifesaver”
This past weekend, organizers from the Alliance for a Just Society joined over 50 members of the Idaho Community Action Network at their annual meeting in Boise, Idaho. People traveled from all over the state to develop their 2012 issue agenda. They strategized around a number of issues including payday lending, immigrant rights, and foreclosures. They also began to create their plan to organize in defense of Medicaid.Continue reading “Retta Green: “Medicaid truly is a Lifesaver””
Small Businesses Applaud Paid Sick Days Vote in Seattle
Last week, the Seattle City Council, in a historic voted, passed a new city-wide standard ensuring that workers will have access to paid sick days. The vote tally was a resounding 8-1, a testament to the broad support the proposal garnered from key stakeholders in the community – including local small business owners.Continue reading “Small Businesses Applaud Paid Sick Days Vote in Seattle”
Left in the Dark
Today, members of the Health Rights Organizing Project called on the federal government to prevent health insurance companies from denying health care to people who speak limited English. Under the new health reform law, patients have the right to appeal insurance companies’ health care denials. Insurers are supposed to inform patients of these rights, including patients not fluent in English.Continue reading “Left in the Dark”
Small Businesses Oppose Mandatory E-Verify as Job-Killer
Ahead of a scheduled mark-up of H.R. 2885, a proposal that would mandate the use of the controversial E-Verify employment verification system by every employer in the country, small business owner David Borris, owner of Hel’s Kitchen Catering in Northbrook, IL spoke at a press event outside the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on September 14 opposing the plan. David is a leader in the Main Street Alliance network.Continue reading “Small Businesses Oppose Mandatory E-Verify as Job-Killer”
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Lacks Director: Small Businesses Economy Suffers
More than a year after the passage of the financial reform, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau still doesn’t have a director at the helm. Robert Cordray, former Ohio Attorney General, awaits confirmation, now stalled by Senate Republicans more interested in abetting the banks and gutting the bureau than in protecting consumers. This is bad not just for people looking to take out loans but for the country’s small businesses, too.Continue reading “Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Lacks Director: Small Businesses Economy Suffers”
Rate Review Victory for Consumers, Small Businesses
New rules for health insurance rate increases took effect on September 1st. By giving consumers access to more information about why insurers are raising their rates – and whether experts deem the increases reasonable – the new rules aim to put downward pressure on health insurance premiums.Continue reading “Rate Review Victory for Consumers, Small Businesses”