PLEASE: Link to this video, comment, or watch in full screen at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxqMeUHecuo Remember - sharing this video by any means is what will make it count, so post it at your Facebook site, send the link to your friends, embed the code on your website. TEAMWORK! Below is the IPS Sensible Plan for Recovery, but if you are interested in our first counter-proposal that was sent in 130,000 emails to Congress click here. Also you can listen to our Conversations with progressive economists and activists at the Conversations with the Cabinet page. Be sure to check out the newest efforts of our allies at Democrats.com by visiting PaulsonWatch.com, and Code Pink's PaulsonMustGo.org
TAKE ACTION: Send YourUnpaid Bills To: Attn: Hank Paulson Department of the Treasury 1500 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Washington, D.C. 20220
2. Then Thank-N-Spank Congress: Visit or contact your members of Congress while they are in their home states and districts. Read our guide to "Bird-dogging" candidates. "Thank" those who opposed the bailout. "Spank" those who voted for the bailout. See how your Senators here. Learn how much they've received from the banking and mortgage industry here. See how your House member voted here. Learn how much they've received from the banking and mortgage industry here. Get local addresses and FAX numbers at VoteSmart.org.
Plan a vigil outside your nearest Goldman Sachs or Citibank - exposing obscene executive compensation and their corrupting influence on OUR government.
Organize a town hall forum or Conversation Cafe to discuss with your community how to build true economic security locally.
5. Engage the Media & Influence the Conversation - Write letters to the editor, call in to talk radio programs, send op-eds, and letters to the editor, add comments and links to blogs, online articles, and youtube videos.
No More "Bubbles, Busts & Bailouts"
This crisis bursts the conventional "bubble" that markets will solve all our problems. For 30 years we were told that markets are good and government is bad. We are now surrounded by market failures in finance, trade, jobs, health care and climate change. Not one of these problems can be solved without strong public policies to intervene and regulate market outcomes to align with the public interest.
A Stimulus for Main Street - Aid to the Real Economy
Make Wall Street Speculators Pay for the Bailout - No More Debt
Shut down the Casino: Rein in the Unregulated Financial Sector
Limits on CEO pay and Prohibitions on Profiteering from the Bailout
The grassroots blowback against the Bush Administration's proposed Wall Street bailout is rooted in deep distrust. The following is a simple program that should be incorporated into the current bailout proposal to address the root causes of our problem and restore trust and confidence in our economic system. 1. A Stimulus For Main Street
A $200 billion Main Street Stimulus Package could bolster the real economy and those left vulnerable by the sub-prime mortgage meltdown. This package should include investment in renewable energy infrastructure, help to distressed homeowners and federal aid to the states. See the terms of the $56.2 billion proposed Economic Recovery Package proposed by Senators Reid and Byrd. LINK: Reid/Byrd Economic Recovery Act of 2008
2. Make Wall Street Speculators Pay for the Bailout
Congress must make the speculators pay for the mess they created. Progressives have put forward $900 billion in revenue. http://www.ips-dc.org/articles/740. This includes a Securities Transaction Tax ($100 Billion); a Corporate Minimum Income Tax ($60 Billion); a "Disgorgement" recovery from profligate CEOs ($40 Billion).
3. Shut Down the Casino: Assert oversight of Financial Markets
Shutting down the casino would include re-regulation of the financial sector with new oversight authority and extending oversight to hedge funds and other unregulated financial instruments.
4. Limits on Excessive CEO Pay and Prohibitions on Profiteering from Bailout
Putting limits on CEO pay removes one of the incentives that drove the short-term casino mentality in corporate America. Private firms involved in the bailout should be subject to strict controls and conflict-of-interest oversight to prevent profiteering at taxpayer's expense.
The Backbone Campaign P.O. Box 278, Vashon, WA 98070 206-408-8058 ©2007 Backbone Campaign