Saturday, June 26, 2010

This Week's Activity Requests

Overview

Our goals for this week are 1) Deliver the essay below to every single member of Congress via every possible communications channel and to follow-up with telephone calls to compel them to actually read it and 2) Get our membership to uncover and attend any upcoming town hall meetings their representatives have scheduled and push for passage of HR3149. We’ve got to get more active in our efforts to expose our individual members of Congress and hold them accountable!

Our approach for this week breaks from our norm in two ways: The message (essay) is not our typical one page pitch and secondly we ask that you forward the essay in its entirety, uncut and unedited. (We’re pitching the essay/article for publication, but that’s a long-shot and we need the message delivered now!) Rather than see this request as a deviation from our norm to speak separately with thousands of different perspectives, we hope that you’ll view it as an effort to deliver “the big picture” perspective to members of Congress. (We don't expect anyone to agree with every thing in the essay 100% . . . that's just NOT realistic.)

In general they either don’t get it, or they simply don’t care in the least about the national employment crisis being created by the practice of employment credit checks. Many continue to play the Washington game of saying they never heard of HR3149 even though we all know better. So this is an effort to end that charade via all communications channels as well as attending all town hall meetings. So let’s get started . . .

Contacting Your Members of Congress

1) Find Your 9 Digit Zip Code Before you begin, you’ll need your full 9 digit zip code. Simply go to the link below and plug in your address and it will provide your full 9 digit zip.

http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/welcome.jsp

2) Contact YOUR member(s) the House of Representatives

https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

Simply click on the link above and follow the steps, select your state, enter your full 9 digit zip code, click “contact my representative,” answer the security question, plug in your personal information, paste in the essay you will find below, and hit “send message.” Then get the mailing address of ALL their offices, the telephone numbers of ALL their offices and the FAX number of ALL of their offices. Convert the essay below into a document via your word processor and mail it to every office and FAX to every office. (If the conversion to a document is too challenging for you, send an e-mail to hr3149@hotmail.com and type "Send Essay" in the subject line and we'll send you the essay in a MS Word doc.) Then use the telephone numbers to A) confirm receipt of the essay and B) demand acknowledgement via a letter that the essay was read and a response.

IMPORTANT: While on their site, DO NOT forget to seach for upcoming town hall meetings and if nothing is showing ask about the dates and locations when you make your phone calls.

3) Contact YOUR Senator(s)

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Simply click on the link above, choose your state, choose your senator(s), go to their website(s) and navigate their website looking for “contact info.” then follow their steps, copy and paste in the essay below and hit “send.” Then get the mailing address of ALL their offices, the telephone numbers of ALL their offices and the FAX number of ALL of their offices. Convert the essay below into a document via your word processor and mail it to every office and FAX to every office. (If the conversion to a document is too challenging for you, send an e-mail to hr3149@hotmail.com and type "Send Essay" in the subject line and we'll send you the essay in a MS Word doc.) Then use the telephone numbers to A) confirm receipt of the essay and B) demand acknowledgement via a letter that the essay was read and a response.

IMPORTANT: While on their site, DO NOT forget to seach for upcoming town hall meetings and if nothing is showing ask about the dates and locations when you make your phone calls.

[Essay Begins]

Employment Credit Checks Equal Class Genocide

Right now, more than 60 percent of all employers and more than 80 percent of all white collar jobs require a credit report in exchange for the right to work in America.

Most Americans acknowledge that the free enterprise system is far from perfect. However, there was a time when we were all in this together. Our economic system worked; it wasn’t perfect, but it worked. There were always going to be rich people and poor people within the system, but if a person was willing to work, there was a job for him or her somewhere. In that America, everyone had the right to work and if you were willing to work you could expect a job. Even trickle-down economics seemed to be effective for some time, because, as Americans, even the elite knew they owed something to their nation and to their fellow citizens.

Then something drastically changed. Under the guise of supporting the emerging global economy and based on theories of economic efficiency, the concept of free trade was introduced—and the fall of our American middle class began. The essential change was not the introduction of a world economy, but something more basic—a paradigm shift within the human heart: greed now trumped patriotism. Fellow Americans became mere profit centers, rather than humans. The concept of free trade was sold to the people and to voters as good for America because we would all be able to work in the “service sector” while the rest of the world’s citizens would become our manufacturing serfs.

It seemed like a good idea at the time. The American elite wanted cheaper labor and the political class indebted to them for campaign contributions gladly provided their creditors the "free" trade agreements they demanded and which have proliferated ever since NAFTA (which was pushed for and signed by a Clinton). Year after year, decade after decade, jobs went offshore and the middle class became smaller and smaller. The rich got richer and the poor got poorer. It happened so slowly that most Americans barely even noticed. Corporate greed was rewarded, stockholders – receiving an ever larger share of the corporate revenue pie - were happy, and so was the political class. The middle class, however, was squeezed tighter and tighter losing buying power each year—but the shift was so small and so incremental – and the source of the problem so obfuscated - that they didn’t perceive it or complain via the voting booth.

The greed of the American elite and political class delivered some middle-class downsides that showed up in lack of savings, bigger debt loads and personal credit reports that slid downward incrementally each year. By 2007, half of the African-American population and 34 percent of Hispanics had bad credit, while only 27 percent of Caucasians had slipped into the doghouse. Thanks to the power of social stigma, no one was going to raise a hand and say “I have bad credit.” Instead, they just paid cash and suffered along as an invisible mass while their debt load grew via penalties and ever-escalating interest rates; as long as they kept their right to work, there would still be hope of getting out of the financial mess someday.

As this squeeze of the middle class transpired, the big three credit bureaus—TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax—were feeling a financial squeeze of their own due to loss of revenue following the passage of the Fair Credit Reform Act (FCRA). The system that had been created for the just and valid purpose of lending money and extending credit didn't allow them to make the returns they craved. They needed a new revenue stream to replace what had just been lost via FCRA, and so they concocted one: Employment Credit Reports. They had already started selling Americans’ personal credit reports to determine insurance rates and no one noticed or complained, so why not expand the idea into the employment arena?

While America’s manufacturing jobs have now been out-sourced to people enjoying no labor protections and paid as little as a dollar a day, the US arguably remains the best in the world at one thing: advertising and marketing. We’re so good at it that people once bought pet rocks and Cabbage Patch dolls; fat balding guys actually believe that purchasing sports cars will make them sexy, and an iPad is suddenly an essential life tool for people who already have laptop computers. If the perception could be created that people with bad credit are irresponsible and prone to commit fraud and steal, employers would fear hiring them and would buy their personal credit reports as a means to weed them out.

To validate the idea, studies indicating “the two most common red flags for employees who commit workplace fraud are living beyond their means and having difficulty meeting financial obligations” were used. What was conveniently left out of the marketing materials is that such a description encompasses more than 86 percent of all Americans. During sworn testimony in January 2010 in the Oregon hearings where employment credit checks are now illegal, TransUnion testified under oath that they do not have any statistical evidence to suggest that a bad credit rating is an indicator of poor job performance or of likelihood that an employee will commit crime. Pure marketing spin was deployed to create the completely false idea that people with bad credit commit fraud and steal. Nonetheless, the message and spin was rolled out anyway because employment credit checks were a revenue generator for the credit bureaus.

With the messaging frame constructed, a multimillion-dollar marketing and advertising machine went into high gear. The buy-in from employers started slowly, but, over time, the idea caught on. What began as a colossal leap in logic before the campaign is an unquestioned belief today. Forget reality—perception is reality. What was once a valid tool for lending and evaluating credit worthiness has now become the predominate means to evaluate character, work ethic, responsibility, talent, drive, ambition, and, above all else, whether an applicant will steal from an employer. Just one small problem remained: requiring a credit report for the right to work is a violation of Americans’ privacy and constitutional rights. The solution? Force all applicants to sign away those rights when they apply for work. They have to work, so, therefore, they have to sign their rights away. No credit report equals no food. Civil liberties problem? Solved.

While the rise in the use of credit reports as an employment tool accelerated each year, American CEO’s such as Bernie Ebbers, Kenneth Lay, Ken Lewis, Richard Fuld, and Bernie Madoff were pulling the biggest corporate heists in the history of capitalism. Employees may steal, but American CEO’s steal billions and several of them are still walking the streets, free from prosecution. Their credit is perfect. Do they live beyond their means? Do they have trouble paying their bills? Were any of these guys considered a risk to commit fraud and theft? Would a credit check have uncovered greed?

It wasn’t enough that the political class and the American elite shipped good US jobs to workers in countries whose economies are less regulated that ours and now profit wildly from their unregulated manufacturing drones. Having hollowed out the industrial core of the country, the financialization of the economy proceeded to siphon off more money to corrupt elites via risky loans and predatory lending—all condoned and encouraged by Congress. Wall Street and the banks pushed the limits of greed to the breaking point. When casino capitalism exploded into a meltdown, Congress stepped in to bail out their Wall Street friends with taxpayers’ money.

First we were sold “trickle-down economics”; then we were sold free trade; most recently, we were sold the idea that if we didn’t bail out Wall Street, our entire economy would fail. The results of these policies: the rich have become richer; the poor have become poorer; the political class has become even more corrupt; and members of the middle class are losing their homes and moving out into the streets. More than 8.5 million American humans lost jobs because of Wall Street’s greed. More than 15 million are “officially” unemployed with many estimating the number to be twice that figure and over 25 million are under-employed. Have even one million of the lost jobs been replaced? No! Nonetheless, Congress has already cut off unemployment benefits to millions of the unemployed and continues to trim the number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits by 250,000 per week because of their sudden concern over the deficit and getting reelected – even though there are six unemployed applicants for ever single job that exists.

Largely because of Wall Street’s Congress-enabled greed, upward of 100 million Americans now have bad credit and can’t pass an employment credit check. That number constitutes almost half of the entire U.S. workforce. If a worker is fortunate enough to have a dead-end job, he or she has no chance of changing jobs. Far worse than that scenario, however, are the 15-plus million Americans with no employment at all. Does anyone think these people have good credit? Many have already lost unemployment benefits, and very soon all unemployment benefits will be dead. (By the way, unemployment benefits don’t lead to a good credit rating unless you live in a cave.)

The simple solution to at least allow for equality in workplace competition has been sitting stalled in the House of Representatives for a year now. HR3149: The Equal Employment for All Act, which would make employment credit checks illegal for most positions. Similar legislation is already law in Hawaii, Washington State, and Oregon, but that’s not doing anything for Americans in the other 47 states. Those deficit hawks who want to cut all unemployment benefits should love the idea, because the bill provides employment and doesn’t add a penny to the federal deficit. In general, though, the same members of Congress opposed to paying out unemployment benefits are the very same people opposed to HR3149—but they’re not the sole opposition by any means.

It’s illogical that members of Congress would not only cut off unemployment benefits when we’re still more than seven million jobs in the hole, but would also, by stalling HR 3149, make it almost impossible for Americans to get jobs in the first place. (You don’t even get a job at McDonald’s with bad credit because employees have access to cash.)

The huge numbers of Americans with bad credit also have no money, no means, and no organization to fight for them. To date, the stigma of bad credit has kept these downtrodden citizens suffering in silence. They are implicitly identified as the dregs of society who don’t deserve the right to work or to hold a job. Irresponsible for having lived beyond their means, they are rightfully locked out of the workplace by their own behavior. (It has to be true because it says so in the credit bureau marketing materials.) In the event that some Americans have to be socially killed off, those with bad credit should be the first to go. Survival of the most financially fit. What better way to judge the worth of a human life than by a credit report?

Marketing logic and profit motive aside, the choice to mark these Americans for extermination doesn’t quite add up. Many had huge medical bills they couldn’t afford, and millions of others were just victims of offshore outsourcing, or of the economic crash precipitated by Wall Street’s greed. Why would our “public servants” in Washington single out these people for extermination?

The answer to that riddle is most probably the millions of dollars in PAC money from the big three credit bureaus, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and at least 19 other business lobbying groups. The votes in Congress have been bought and paid for to ensure that HR3149 never makes it out of the House Committee on Financial Services. Both parties feed at this trough: more than 38 percent of the members on the House Committee on Financial Services have taken PAC money directly from the big three credit bureaus. The Chair of the Committee, Democrat Barney Frank, took more than $25,000 and eight other Democrats are feeding from the same trough as well. Those dollars, however, pale in comparison to what the U.S. Chamber of Commerce doles out each year. It’s the biggest and strongest lobby in Washington by far, and along with 19 other business lobbying groups, they’re daring any member of Congress to move the bill forward. Meanwhile, billionaire TransUnion Chair Penny Pritzker sits on our president’s Economic Recovery Board because she raised millions for his election campaign. That represents “change we can believe in.” The corporate lobby owns Washington and nothing has changed.

Why is none of this being reported in the news, and why hasn’t anyone ever heard of HR3149? The answer to that question is corporate ownership of the media and the news. Corporations are running those employment credit reports on Americans. The media does, however, report the story every single day, from all across America, in the form of coverage of suicides, drug overdoses, crime waves, domestic violence, rising prison populations, bankruptcies, foreclosures, tent cities, poverty, starving children, soup kitchens, etcetera—but they conveniently ignore any link between those tragedies and employment credit checks.

In one manner or another, employment credit checks are killing off Americans one by one. It is class genocide perpetuated by corporations, the American elite, and the political class upon half of American workers who don't have "clean" credit reports. Working people send their children off to die in war while children of the American elite and political class attend Harvard, yet now Americans' very right to work is imperiled because their credit reports have been savaged through the implementation of economic policies over which they had no control. There will always be inequalities within every economic system, but when the basic right to work has been stripped away and Americans are experiencing social and physical death through the use of employment credit checks something has to be done. Haven’t the American elite and the political class done enough damage to the American middle class already. The least Congress can do is to restore basic right to work via passage of HR3149: The Equal Employment for All Act.


[Essay Ends]

Saturday, June 19, 2010

State-by-State NPR Media Outreach - Ongoing

[Note: As always any sample messages, letters, etc. that we provide are just that, “samples.” The samples are just what we’re sending out from this end and you are strongly encouraged to use your own judgment, voice and perspectives. Our prose, tone and approach can always be improved upon and quite frankly a good mix of perspectives is better than following our samples verbatim. We don’t do messaging for the group (nor do we aspire to) or ever speak for the group, but instead merely facilitate our members’ ability to speak at once for more power and volume. If you’re a “professional communicator” or would like to help with recruiting, research, administration, etc. shoot us a note and we’ll be happy to get you involved. There is no lack of work to be done.]

NPR Media Outreach

Building upon our existing state-by-state newspaper outreach, we’re launching an outreach to all National Public Radio (NPR) stations. In most states, the list is short enough that with 30 minutes to an hour of research you’ll have an e-mail contact list for every single station. In the larger states such as CA, please hit at least 25 or so in your geographic area (we need overlap). If you’re in a small state such as DE or RI, for instance, don’t be a “slacker.” Please help our members in bigger states of your choice to get the word out. Everyone needs to hit the NPR mother ship in Washington, DC.

NPR listeners, even if you never listen, are “politically attuned” and “activist oriented” so reaching them with the HR3149 message and mobilizing them is mission critical. In addition, because they are not corporate owned the likelihood they will run with the story is much higher. Unfortunately, as with almost everything we do, it requires a little “work” on your part. That’s the nature of citizen activism . . . there is no party or organization to do the job for you. If you don’t do it, it doesn’t get done and we don’t win. Please make sure your state is covered and we’ll cover ours . . . together we’ll win! So let’s get started . . .


Step-by-Step How To:

Station Finder Link
http://www.npr.org/stations/pdf/nprstations.pdf

1) Find your state via the link above

2) Copy the call letters of each station and paste them one by one into Google (or some search engine)

3) Search for “contact” info. (news, news tips, story ideas, talk shows, etc.) and copy the e-mail address(s) into MS Word, Excel, notepad, etc.

PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU MAINTAIN A COPY OF YOUR LIST FOR FUTURE REFERENCE, WE WILL USE IT AGAIN.

4) Copy and paste the sample letter below (or edited version to suit your perspective) into your e-mail program and then send, send, send!


[Sample Letter]

FICO Scores Drop to New Lows
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/12/credit-scores-sink-to-new_n_642616.html

Bankruptcy Filings Highest Since 2005
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38744083/from/toolbar

Fidelity Sees Record Number Raid their IRS http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38783832/ns/business-your_retirement/

What does all the above news really mean? One simple thing: half of America can’t get hired or change jobs for better pay. Please connect the dots and report the story that until HR3149: The Equal Employment for All Act is passed by Congress, the American people will needlessly lose their homes and their cars while their children slowly starve to death. When you include the direct impact on families and potential impact on extended families; no single issue in America cries out more for a solution than workplace discrimination based on credit reports. FICO estimates that 35 percent of Americans have a credit score below 650 which they estimate that is 70+ million Americans, but anything under a score of 700 is considered “bad credit.” The real number of Americans with bad credit is closer to 100 million who are now second class citizens without the right to work. If these people don’t have a job, they don’t get one and if they have a job it not only jeopardizes them losing it, but it also means that they can’t change jobs for better pay to fix their credit report.

George Orwell’s world of big brother has arrived but it’s not the government that took over, instead a secret FICO software program now literally determines whether you live of die. Who benefits from the practice? The big three credit bureaus, their employees, their stockholders and them alone. Who loses? Everyone else . . . starting with the employers who purchase the worthless measurement tools because millions spent by the credit bureau on marketing materials have convinced them that a credit report indicates theft and fraud potential. They believe this lie even though, under oath during sworn testimony in Oregon where the practice is now illegal, a VP from TransUnion stated they have zero statistical evidence to validate that someone with bad credit is more prone to steal or commit fraud than anyone else. The one and only piece of documentation to back up their marketing claims is a study that indicates that people who “live beyond their means” are more prone to steal from their employer. Guess who that includes? At least 86 percent of the entire U.S. population . . .

This is about submission to the almighty corporation and handing total control over every aspect of someone’s life just for the right to work. Once they have your credit report the employer knows just how little they can get away with paying (in the rare event someone with bad credit is ever hired). With the worst economy since the Great Depression and more jobs moving to third world countries every day, the corporations are now in the driver’s seat like never before. Through PAC money, corporations now own Congress 100 percent and they are daring them to pass HR3149. The bribes are working for one reason and one reason only, because of you, the American media, the so called free press now controlled by the corporations as well. The people have no money to bribe anyone in Congress, Wall Street greed saw to that. All we have is you and you alone. You’re our one and only hope. If you don’t cover the story and get the word out to the American people they can’t support the legislation in large numbers simply because they don’t know it exists. The practice of locking people out of the workplace based upon their credit report during this economy is wrong, it’s sick, it’s inhuman and amounts to class genocide albeit more slow than a bullet . . . America needs you to stand up for the people like we’ve never needed you before in our history. If not for the people with ruined credit, do it for their children, their spouses, their extended families and all generations of Americans that follow. If rumors are correct, a mark-up hearing on the bill (the first sign of any movement to date) is coming in just a few short weeks when Congress returns from recess so your coverage of HR3149 in a timely manner is critical.

[End Sample Letter]

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Perseverance and Perspective . . .

If you’ve been a group member for awhile participating in our weekly activity requests, you’ve got to be saying ‘this is getting old’ and asking ‘what progress are we making?’ Guess what? We on this end ask ourselves the very same questions, but each week we find the strength to fight on because employment credit checks are wrong! We are making progress and we have had and will continue to have major wins with coverage in the media due to our efforts. You have to view this as a war, not a battle, and realize that the credit bureaus are not going to let go of a multi-million dollar revenue stream and the corporations are not going to give up control and allow Americans to squirm out from under their boot . . . without one hell of a fight. They don’t care if we all drop dead from starvation. Their greed has no limits and their inhumanity to man during the second worst economic disaster in our history knows no bounds. They are cruel and sadistic and represent the worst than man is capable of and that’s why we’re going to fight them and continue fighting them until we win.

Media, Media, Media!
As we’ve said before, this battle will primarily be won or lost in the media. No matter how much money they have, they can’t win in the media because 90 percent of “the people” agree that employment credit checks are wrong. That’s why we must win the media battle by getting the issue coverage anywhere and everywhere we can. We accomplish that, we win. It’s just that simple but that takes effort from YOU on a weekly basis. So let’s just keep pushing forward in the face of adversity . . .

We supply lists and our blog has hundreds of media contact points, but don’t stop there. Do some google searches on your own and make as many contacts each week as possible. It’s strictly a numbers game, the more contacts you make the more coverage the issue of employment credit checks receives and the more pressure Congress receives to pass the bill. It’s time consuming, it requires effort, but it’s NOT rocket science.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Activity Request(s): Thursday - Media Outreach

Simply use the outreach letter you created on Monday and continue forward . . .

AOL

bryanmonroe@aolnews.com

. . .

espovich@aolmail.com

. . .

newsroom@aolnews.com

Subject Line: Message for Rachel Sklar


Dissent Magazine
inquiries@dissentmagazine.org

New Labor Forum
newlaborforum@qc.edu

The Militant
themilitant@mac.com

NY Observer
editorial@observer.com

Too Much
editor@toomuchonline.org

Extreme Inequality
chuck@ips-dc.org

Class Action
info@classism.org

Fair
fair@fair.org

The Raw Story
editor@rawstory.com

rsitips@rawstory.com

Divided by Politics
http://www.dividedbypolitics.com/modules/contact/

Political Wire
tips@politicalwire.com

CQ Politics
cqpolitics2@cq.com

Colorado Independent
dowilliams@coloradoindependent.com

jtomasic@coloradoindependent.com

Iowa Independent
editor@iowaindependent.com

Michigan Independent
michiganmessenger@gmail.com

New Mexico Independent
gdoland@newmexicoindependent.com

tjennings@newmexicoindependent.com

Huffington Post
huffpolitics@huffingtonpost.com

Activity Request: Wednesday - Media Outreach

Simply use the outreach letter you created on Monday and continue forward . . .

AOL

speechboy71@yahoo.com

. . .

newsroom@aolnews.com

Subject Line: Message for Alan Colmes

. . .


mara.gay@sphere.com

. . .

newsroom@aolnews.com

Subject Line: Message for Dana Kennedy

. . .

tammy.lytle@sphere.com

. . .

scottmartelle@gmail.com

. . .

michael.medved@aolnews.com


Daily KOS
http://www.dailykos.com/contactus

Crooks and Liars
crooksandliars@gmail.com

America Blog
americablog@starpower.net

Think Progress
http://thinkprogress.org/contact/

Media Matters
mm-tips@mediamatters.org

Buzz Flash
http://blog.buzzflash.com/contact/newstip/

The Daily Democrat
pamela@thedemocraticdaily.com

Common Dreams
editor@commondreams.org

The Progressive
https://www.progressive.org/contact

The Nation
http://www.thenation.com/node/399

Atlanta Progressive
matthew@atlantaprogressivenews.com

Michael Moore.com
http://www.michaelmoore.com/submit

Zmag
zmag@zmag.org

chris.spannos@zmag.org

Human Rights Watch
http://www.hrw.org/contact/new-york

A World of Progress
kim@aworldofprogress.org

Alternative News
nunziarider@gmail.com

The Progressive Populist
populist@usa.net

In These Times
http://www.inthesetimes.com/about/contact/

The American Prospect
letters@prospect.org

The Daily Howler
bobsomerby@hotmail.com

Activity Requests: Tuesday - Media Outreach

Simply use the outreach letter you created on Monday and continue forward . . .

AOL

newsroom@aolnews.com

Subject Line: Message for JJ Helland

. . .

david.knowles@aolnews.com

Subject Line: Message for David Knowles

. . .

john.merline@aolnews.com

. . .

newsroom@aolnews.com

Subject Line: Message for Christine Riedel


newsroom@aolnews.com

Subject Line: Message for Martin Steinberg

. . .

newsroom@aolnews.com

Subject Line: Message for Andra Varin

. . .

mjarceneaux@gmail.com

The New York TimesLetters to the Editor (for publication):
letters@nytimes.com
Write to the news editors: news-tips@nytimes.com
The Editors executive-editor@nytimes.com
managing-editor@nytimes.com
The Newsroom
bizday@nytimes.com
metro@nytimes.com
washington@nytimes.com
public@nytimes.com

USA TodayLetters to the Editor: editor@usatoday.com

The Wall Street JournalLetters to the Editor:
wsj.ltrs@wsj.com
Comment on News Articles: wsjcontact@dowjones.com

The Washington PostLetters to the Editor: letters@washpost.com
Ombudsman: ombudsman@washpost.com

NewsweekLetters to the Editor:
letters@newsweek.com

U.S. News & World ReportLetters to the Editor letters@usnews.com

Associated PressGeneral Questions and Comments: info@ap.org

Reuters
http://reuters-en.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/reuters_en.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php?p_sid=1tz7ud2k&p_lva=&p_li=&p_accessibility=&p_redirect=&p_page=1&p_cv=&p_cats=&p_hidden_prods=&p_new_search=1&p_prod_lvl1=&p_masthead=us&p_pv=2.47&p_prods=19%2C47&prod_lvl1=19&prod_lvl2=47

United Press InternationalComments and Tips: tips@upi.com

Washington Independent

alowrey@washingtonindependent.com

mlillis@washingtonindependent.com

awiener@washingtonindependent.com

rhartman@washingtonindependent.com

Friday, June 11, 2010

Activity Requests: Monday, Media Outreach

[Note: As always any sample messages, letters, etc. that we provide are just that, “samples.” The samples are just what we’re sending out from this end and you are strongly encouraged to use your own judgment, voice and perspectives. Our prose, tone and approach can always be improved upon and quite frankly a good mix of perspectives is better than following our samples verbatim. We don’t do messaging for the group (nor do we aspire to) or ever speak for the group, but instead merely facilitate our members’ ability to speak at once for more power and volume. If you’re a “professional communicator” or would like to help with recruiting, research, administration, etc. shoot us a note and we’ll be happy to get you involved. There is no lack of work to be done.]

A Week of Media Outreach
Just like anything else in life, effort breeds success and just like selling - getting media coverage is all about numbers. The more YOU pitch, the more coverage the issue gets and the more people are exposed to HR3149. In turn more voter and media heat is placed upon Congress. To succeed, we need a lot of heat and a high rate of member participation. While we've had our successes, media coverage has fallen off drastically in the past month or so and we've got to turn that back around and keep the issue in the media. It's like feeding a fire . . . it has to be constantly refueled. This week' sample letter below is but one perspective, but we need to get a good mix so please share your unique percpectives, stories and approaches.

This isn't going to happen with a couple of e-mails here and there. The contact points that we supply are just a sampling of potential media outlets. Whether you agree with the orientation of the outlets simply doesn't matter. Many we don't agree with either. E-mail the ones we've supplied then do some googling to find outlets you think are appropriate. Again, this is about numbers, numbers, numbers . . . so let's get started!

[Sample Letter]

When was the last time that 90 percent of Americans agreed on anything? Poll after poll indicates that virtually all Americans believe a ban on employment credit checks should be law . . . especially during the Great Recession. A democracy for the people by the people means it’s a law since 90 percent of voters approve of a ban . . . right? Not so, except in three states, and that is the story the American people deserve to have investigated and reported . . . the sell out of our democracy to the corporations.

Setting aside the merits of a ban on employment credit checks that HR3149: The Equal Employment for All Act would bring about. The story that demands to be told is why the legislation has been stalled in the House Committee on Financial Services for a year. The fact that 90 percent of voters support the ban and it is NOT law says one thing and one thing only – America is no longer a democracy by the people for the people. Corporate arm twisting and PAC money have turned our nation into nothing more than a corporate monopoly where the people’s demands and needs are forgotten in Washington. Voting, then contacting members of Congress is an exercise in futility. All the while, corporate greed by TransUnion, Equifax and Experian enable them to continue making millions off selling people's personal credit reports to employers to keep Americans from putting food on the table. People don't need to work, let them eat cake! Even more outrageous is President Obama’s appointment of Penny Pritzker, billionaire and Chair of TransUnion, to his Economic Recovery Board in exchange for raising millions for his campaign. Money and corporate geed are starving the people and the political class is deaf from PAC money stuffed in their ears.

The big three credit bureaus along with 20 mega business lobbying groups that include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (the strongest lobby in Washington) are funneling millions in PAC money and twisting arms in Washington to dare “the people’s” representatives in Congress to pass HR3149. Guess what, it’s working because the media won’t expose the payoffs and bribery (a.k.a. lobbying). Long before the Great Recession 27 percent of Caucasians, 34 percent of Hispanics and half of African-Americans had bad credit, but now the percentage of Americans who can’t pass an employment credit check is approaching half the entire U.S. workforce! Nonetheless the percentage of employers deploying the practice just continues to rise – 60+ percent of all employers and 80+ percent of white collar employers currently cull the herd of applicants based on their personal credit reports simply because it makes their hiring job easier.

Unless the 8+ million lost jobs suddenly reappear, corporate America can hire from half of the 15+ million unemployed and 25+ million under and unemployed who may still have good credit and never run out of applicants. Those with bad credit will eventually die off after living in the streets. Until corpses from employment credit checks line main street U.S.A. no one seems to care. Everyone at the credit bureaus and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have a job and their children are fat and happy – what do they care if America is starving? As long as our members of Congress have millions in corporate PAC money coming out of their ears, they don’t care. The real tragedy is that the American press and media don’t care. “The people” have no lobbyists and no PAC money to buy votes – we only have the “free press.” The real question is whether or not our corporate owned press is still a “free press” allowed to report the story of bribery, payoffs, corruption, arm-twisting, vote buying and the purchase of Washington by corporations. The entire city is owned and run by corporate money. Without a free press there is and can be no democracy. Please stand up for 90 percent of “the people” by reporting the story that Congress has been bought off by the corporations to kill HR3149. When Americans are no longer free to work because corporations own Washington, there is no freedom and there is no America!


[End Sample Letter]

Contact Points

AOL News

newsroom@aolnews.com

Subject Line: Message for Mike Nizza

. . .

newsroom@aolnews.com

Subject Line: Message for Claire Robinson

. . .

amy.ayres@corp.aol.com

. . .

newsroom@aolnews.com

Subject Line: Message for Theresa D'Angelo


Ed Shultz Show
http://www.bigeddieradio.com/emailEd/


Huffington Post
huffpostbiz@gmail.com


Washington Examiner
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/info/contact/

ABC News General e-mail:
netaudr@abc.com
Nightline: nightline@abcnews.com

CBS NewsCBS Evening News: evening@cbsnews.com
The Early Show: earlyshow@cbs.com
Face The Nation: ftn@cbsnews.com

CNBC
mailto:%20info@cnbc.com

Fox News Channel comments@foxnews.com
FOX Report with Shepard Smith:
Foxreport@foxnews.com

MSNBC/NBCHardball with Chris Matthews:
hardball@msnbc.com
MSNBC Reports with Joe Scarborough: joe@msnbc.com

NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams: nightly@nbc.com
NBC News Today: today@nbc.com

PBS The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer:
mailto:onlineda@newshour.org
National Public Radio Ombudsman
ombudsman@npr.org

Select “Submit a Story Idea”
http://help.npr.org/npr/includes/customer/npr/custforms/contactus.aspx
The Los Angeles TimesReaders' Representative:
readers.rep@latimes.com

Labor Beat
mail@laborbeat.org

BeyondChron
rshaw@beyondchron.org

paul@beyondchron.org

American Spectator
editor@spectator.org

Workers Independent News
femspak@igc.org

LaborRadio@gmail.com

Minnesota Independent
tips@minnesotaindependent.com

paul@tainews.org

Smerconish
showmail1@mastalk.com

Monday, June 7, 2010

Employment Credit Checks Equal Class Genocide

Let’s fact it America, the truth is, we just have too many dang people to suit the corporations, the American elite and the political class. There was a time when the American middle class and economically disadvantaged served the useful role of “profit centers” for the America elite. Then came the concept of “free trade” a.k.a. “free labor” and the corporations and the American elite via campaign contributions convinced Congress to pass series after series of free trade agreements to benefit the America elite and corporations by providing “free labor.” To pull the wool over our eyes, the politicians from both political parties sold the American people the bill of goods that Americans would all work in the “service sector” going forward and “free trade” would raise the economic prosperity of every American. In short, the political class took care of their friends in the American elite by providing free labor and sold out the American people. The result, as “we the people” have gone to the voting booth for more than three decades to continue voting in rich Democrats and rich Republicans, the rich have become richer and the poor have become poorer. What a surprise, the rich take care of the rich . . .

Bad enough the political class and the America elite gave our good jobs to people in mud huts and now profit wildly from free labor as the political class becomes even more corrupted by corporate money – the elite wanted even more money. Via risky loans and predatory lending all condoned and encouraged by Congress, Wall Street and the banks pushed the limits of greed to the breaking point. When it exploded into a meltdown, Congress stepped in to bail out their elite friends on Wall Street with the money of taxpayers and the middle class. What a surprise, the rich take care of the rich . . .

First we were sold “trickle down economics,” then we were sold “free trade” and then most recently we were sold the idea that if we didn’t bail out Wall Street our entire economy would fail. The result of it all is that the rich have become richer, the poor have become poorer and the political class has become even more corrupt.

Now, however, as a result of all the greed and corruption in the political “system” they have a real problem . . . too many dang people. More than 8 million lost jobs, 15+ million unemployed and 25+ million under or unemployed presents a big problem for the American elite and the political class. If something isn’t done, confidence in the “free enterprise system” may falter and their power and control could fall along with it. Overt genocide of millions at once would get the attention of even the corporate owned American media. On the other hand, workplace discrimination via employment credit checks will cull the herd via suicide, starvation and no medial care and no one will notice or care. After all, everyone knows that anyone with bad credit has no money, means or organization to fight for them. The stigma of bad credit will keep them suffering in silence as they die off one by one. They are the dregs of society and don’t deserve the right to work or to hold a job, they’re all irresponsible, lived beyond their means and are rightfully locked out of the workplace by their own doing. Free trade and the economic collapse caused by the greed of Wall Street have nothing to do with the ruined personal credit of a 100+ million Americans. First the American elite and corporations gave American jobs to people in mud huts, then via Wall Street greed destroyed the economy and now they check everyone’s credit to deny as many as possible the right to work.

Now the personal credit issue is so severe that almost half of the entire U.S. workforce is now unable to pass an employment credit check. Years and years before the Great Recession, the percentages of bad credit was 27 percent for whites, 34 percent for Hispanics and a whopping 48 percent for black Americans. Now, virtually no one born without with a silver spoon and wealth built over generations can pass an employment credit check. Nonetheless, the percentage of employers using the hiring and firing criteria just continues to climb. Currently well over half of all employers and more than 80 percent of white collar jobs require an employment credit check just for the right to work in America.

Employment credit checks never make the news. The corporate owned media, the American elite and the political class see to that. Instead the story is reported as suicide, family suicides, suicide by cop, drug overdose, foreclosures, bankruptcy, crime, murder, starvation, rising prison population, illegal drug dealers, domestic abuse, child abuse, gang violence and the host of other under reported events driven directly by employment credit checks. One by one, employment credit checks are killing off Americans on a daily basis in one manner or another. It is class genocide perpetuated by the corporations, the America elite and the political class. As long as it continues one or two people at a time, no will notice, no one will complain and the American elite and the political class will continue to plunder a once strong nation where country, patriotism and the common good of the people came before all else.

Now the political elite stall passage of HR3149: The Equal Employment for All Act that would make the practice of employment credit checks illegal. Billionaire Penny Pritzker, Chair of TransUnion sits on our president’s Economic Recovery Board because she raised millions for Obama’s election campaign. The big three credit bureaus, TransUnion being the most unscrupulous, funnel money into Congress via PACs and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other groups add millions to that in order to buy votes against passage of HR3149.

They claim the bad credit reports of Americans may lead them to commit fraud and theft while American CEOs such as Bernie Madoff, Bernie Ebbers, Kenneth Lay, Ken Lewis and Richard Fuld steal billions and many still walk the streets. What’s the average American worker going to walk away with, a pencil? Zero evidence whatsoever exists to suggest that someone with bad credit is more prone to commit fraud or theft within the workplace, but there are mountains of evidence that document beyond any doubt whatsoever that people without jobs will steal and commit crime.

As the American middle class send their children off to die in war so children of the American elite and political class can go to Harvard, they in turn don’t even have the right to work in America? Why . . . because their credit reports have been savaged by the American elite and political class via free trade and Wall Street greed. There will always be inequalities within every economic system and society, but when the basic right to work has been stripped and Americans are being killed off on a daily basis via employment credit checks - the free enterprise system along with any sense of democracy are dead. The American elite and the political class have done enough damage to the American middle class already, the least Congress can do is to restore the right to work via passage of HR3149: The Equal Employment for All Act.

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Why an Outreach Just to the African-American/Civil Rights Community?

Continuing the outreach we began last week, we’ll complete this cycle of outreach to the African-American/civil rights community on Thursday. While reaction from our membership to this outreach has been positive, we had a few members drop off. We can easily guess why. Just to be clear, there is no racial divide here or within the group. There is however a far higher percentage (almost double) of black Americans suffering from the injustice of employment credit checks. While we fully support this segment of our membership as evidenced by our two week outreach, we also question why more isn’t being done within this segment of the population at-large and within our membership group. If black America isn’t “pissed off” and outraged by employment credit checks then who will be?

Again, we appeal to our membership for members of the minority community to step-up and volunteer to lead this effort as an ongoing fight on a weekly basis. We can’t do it all from this end, we have open chairs at the table, pull one up and get involved! We’ve just scratched the surface of what needs to be done. This segment of the fight needs to be conducted every single day with passion and perseverance just like our outreach efforts at large. Step-up, let’s organize, let’s demonstrate some anger and passion for our cause . . . most especially when more than 60 percent of black America is locked out of the workplace via employment credit checks. If you don’t fight who will?

Friday, June 4, 2010

Thursday - Congressional Black Caucus Outreach

Outreach: Congressional Black Caucus
This is our group’s second pass at attempting to motivate the Congressional Black Caucus. Quite frankly, the first pass didn’t work. This time around we’re going to get someone’s attention. The tone in our sample letter simply reflects what we’re sending and you’re advised to use your own judgment. With that said, these people need a major wake-up call and a mere e-mail coupled with a phone call to the Caucus is not going to cut it . . . therefore, beneath our sample letter below, we’ve included a link that lists all the members of the Congressional Black Caucus along with their phone numbers. There are 42 and we need YOU to place a call, or several calls to every single member of the Caucus. The time for patience and apathy is over, act now!


Caucus Telephone # and Contact Points:
202.226.9776
Patrice Willoughby, Executive Director
Irene Schwoffermann, Coalition Director
J. Jioni Palmer, Communications Director


Caucus E-mail Link
congressionalblackcaucus@mail.house.gov

[Sample Letter]

Most of, if not all, the Congressional Black Caucus and our president can trace their political position and power to passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Many within the Caucus are the first to stand upon and commemorate their standing with Dr. King and their role within the civil rights movement as if the fight is “job done,” mission finished, time to kick-back and rest. Under the watch of the Congressional Black Caucus, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 has been erased for the vast majority of African-Americans via employment credit checks. The “Whites Only Need Apply” sign has simply been replaced by a “Credit Check Required for Employment” sign. Where is the outrage, where is the anger, where is the fight?

Someone once said, ‘a full belly doesn’t fight’ and $170+ K per year now and for the rest of your lives makes for a very full belly. Nostalgia and looking backward is wonderful and commemorating the passing of such civil rights icons as Benjamin Hooks and Dorothy Height via your website is highly appropriate. Isn’t it just as appropriate and even more important to lament the passing of the right to work for African-Americans? Where is that on your website? When unemployment (15.5 %) and under-employment for African-Americans is at its highest in modern history and economic gains made over decades of struggle are being erased into thin air, the Congressional Black Caucus has allowed HR3149: The Equal Employment for All Act to just sit stalled for almost a year.

Your efforts to create jobs and stimulate the economy are futile and worthless for the vast majority of African-Americans because they can’t pass the credit checks applied by well over 50 percent of all employers and more than 80 percent of white collar jobs. There’s no glamour associated with HR3149, just the ugly reality that bad credit is now the backdoor vehicle to racial discrimination in the workplace that was once illegal.

The corporate PAC money form the big three credit bureaus, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and all the other millions flowing into Congress have worked to stall HR3149 thus far. In 1964 those dollars didn’t buy silence and there was no Congressional Black Caucus. In 1964 African-Americans gained the right to work in America, but in 2010 the overwhelming vast majority of black Americans no longer have that basic right. That you seem to believe is worthy of nostalgia and commemoration? Has the cushy life within the Washington beltway blinded the Congressional Black Caucus to the racial inequality now exploding within the America workplace?

The fact that HR3149 sits stalled serves as an obvious answer that question. Many if not most of the Congressional Black Caucus are co-sponsors of the legislation. So what? What impact has that had? ZERO! Where is the outrage, where are the press conferences, where is support from a black president, where are the news releases, where are your calls for action and passage, where is any REAL support for HR3149? Without racial equality in the workplace, there is no equality in America and without passage of HR3149 Title VII is the Civil Rights Act is dead along with your relevance to the plight of the African-American community in regard to workplace equality. It’s time is for the Congressional Black Caucus to become relevant by restoring Title VII to the Civil Rights Act by passing HR3149 NOW! Way too much nostalgia has led to zero action in regard to the right of African-Americans to work.


[End Sample Letter]

Member Listing of the Congressional Black Caucus, CLICK ON "OUR MEMBERS" - Use it to make a call to every single member and call repeatedly until we see action.

http://www.thecongressionalblackcaucus.com/

Wednesday - African American Media Outreach

Outreach to African-American Media Outlets - Continued from Monday . . . use the letter you created on Monday or from last Thursday

African-American Media Contact Points:


Prince George’s Post
pgpost@gmail.com

Insight News
INFO@INSIGHTNEWS.COM

St. Louis American
cking@stlamerican.com

Charlotte Post
http://www.thecharlottepost.com/index.php?src=forms&ref=Contact%20Editor

Toledo Journal
toljour@aol.com

The Skanner
News@theskanner.com

seattle@theskanner.com

Dallas Examiner
publisher@dallasexaminer.com

Houston Forward Times
krichards@forwardtimes.com

Style Magazine
editorial@stylemagazine.com

Wisconsin Community Journal
teretha@communityjournal.net

Ebony
editors@ebony.com

tips@ebony.com

My Bortha
user-articles@mybrotha.com

American Legacy
apeterson@americanlegacymag.com

Black EOE Journal
Editor@BlackEOEJournal.com

Tuesday - African American Media Outreach

Outreach to African-American Media Outlets - Continued from Monday . . . use the letter you created on Monday or from last Thursday

African-American Media Contact Points:

Oprah (2000 character max.)
https://www.oprah.com/ownshow/plug_form.html?plug_id=220

BCNN1.com
bcnn1@bcnn1.com

Redding News
rob@reddingnewsreview.com

BlackVoices.com
http://www.blackvoicenews.com/home/contact-us.html

California Advocate
http://www.caladvocate.com/contact/

California Voice
sunmedia97@aol.com

Pasadena Journal
http://www.pasadenajournal.com/index.php?option=com_contact&view=contact&id=2&Itemid=80

SacObserver
whlee@sacobserver.com

SF Bay View
editor@sfbayview.com

Capital Outlook
http://www.capitaloutlook.com/?page_id=971

Florida Sentinel Bulletin
http://flsentinel.com/contact-us/

Orlando Times
http://www.orlando-times.com/contact_us_48.html


Columbus Times
columbustimes@knology.net

Indy Recorder
james-recorder@indy.rr.com

brandon-recorder@indy.rr.com

Monday - African American Media Outreach

[Note: As always any sample messages, letters, etc. that we provide are just that, “samples.” The samples are just what we’re sending out from this end and you are strongly encouraged to use your own judgment, voice and perspectives. Our prose, tone and approach can always be improved upon and quite frankly a good mix of perspectives is better than following our samples verbatim. We don’t do messaging for the group (nor do we aspire to) or ever speak for the group, but instead merely facilitate our members’ ability to speak at once for more power and volume. If you’re a “professional communicator” or would like to help with recruiting, research, administration, etc. shoot us a note and we’ll be happy to get you involved. There is no lack of work to be done.]

Outreach to African-American Media Outlets - (A continuation of last week's initiative) See Contract Points Below Sample Letter . . .

[Sample Letter]

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, that once barred workplace discrimination on the basis of race and skin color, is now dead for the vast majority of African-Americans. As a result, the economic gains made by black Americans over the past several decades are evaporating into thin air. Employment credit checks quietly became a workplace discrimination tool in the 90s and today have grown to 50+ percent for all jobs and 80+ percent of all white collar jobs. Long before the Great Recession, “bad credit” in the African-American community was 48 percent. With the outrageously high unemployment numbers now in black America the percentage must be a staggering 60 or 70 percent, if not higher.

While many want to minimize it as mere coincidence instead of racism and bigotry, the reality is that racial inequality in the workplace is now rampant once again. By easily adding a couple additional filters to credit checks (such as predominately black neighborhoods along with first and last names) and the result is that African Americans don’t work. Currently 15.5 percent don't work. The “Whites Only Need Apply” sign has simply been replaced with a “Credit Check Required for Employment” sign – Title VII doesn’t exist! This is happening in a nation that has a black president, celebrates MLKs birthday and each year commemorates the passage of the Civil Rights Act with nostalgic fervor?

HR3149: The Equal Employment for All Act, stalled in the House, would outlaw employment credit checks for all Americans and help to restore racial equality in hiring and promotions. Have you or your readers ever even heard of the legislation? Do you see or read about support for the legislation from the Congressional Black Caucus, NAACP, National Urban League, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Jessie Jackson or Al Sharpton? With the exception of the NAACP’s weak support thus far, you won’t see any support whatsoever from the civil rights community because it doesn’t exist. As long as there is no “whites only need apply” sign in the window, the majority of the civil rights community appears to be blind to what quietly just happened in less than two decades.

Your readers and the African-American community at large deserve to know HR3149 exists so they can come together and support it. Without you reporting on it, that won’t happen. It also won’t enable your readers to ask difficult questions such as why there is virtually zero support from black leaders and civil rights advocates. Millions of dollars in corporate PAC money are buying votes and stalling the legislation in Congress which begs the question, could corporate money be muzzling some civil rights advocates as well? Something is clearly amiss . . . otherwise, HR3149 would be law. It’s just that simple!

During a time when unemployment is rampant in the African-American community, backdoor racial discrimination in the workplace via employment credit checks is killing what little opportunity there is. If Title VII of the Civil Rights Act were officially rescinded you’d write an article daily and call for mass protests, but backdoor racial discrimination via employment credit checks and no support for HR3149 from civil rights advocates is just fine? I ask that you perform your duty of informing your readers about HR3149 and to go the extra mile by reporting who is not supporting the legislation and ask the question, why?

[End Sample Letter]

Contact Points - Black Media

Tavis Smiley Show
http://www.tavissmileyradio.com/tell.html

The Grio
info@thegrio.com

Roland Martin
roland@rolandsmartin.com

Santita Jackson Show
santita@wvon.com

Bookerrising.com
bookerrising@yahoo.com

Color Lines Magazine
colorlines@colorlines.com

Jack & Jill Politics
cherylcontee@gmail.com

jackturnerpolitics@gmail.com

The Daily Voice
editor@thedailyvoice.com


Black Comentator
http://www.blackcommentator.com/contact_forms/lola/contact.php

http://www.blackcommentator.com/contact_forms/julian_bond/gbcf_form.php

http://www.blackcommentator.com/contact_forms/david_love/gbcf_form.php

http://www.blackcommentator.com/contact_forms/jpatterson/contact.php

http://www.blackcommentator.com/contact_forms/ethel_long_scott/gbcf_form.php

http://www.blackcommentator.com/contact_forms/chuck_turner/gbcf_form.php

http://www.blackcommentator.com/contact_forms/jmala_rogers/gbcf_form.php