Saturday, July 31, 2010

Activity Requests: Contact Your Incumbents' Opponent(s)

[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.]

Force Your Incumbent to Take a Position via their Opposition Candidate(s)

If you do NOT know who your House member is, use #s 1 and 2 below . . . if you already know them then jump to #3 below . . .

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) Look up YOUR member(s) the House of Representatives and make sure you get the DISTRICT # YOU'LL NEED IT . . .
https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

3) Click on link below, click on your state and viola . . . find the number of your district and then start googling all opponents of your House representative until you find their website and contact info. to include an e-mail address (or online form) and a telephone number. (While you are there, many States have Senate races listed as well . . . hit them for "extra credit.")
http://www.votesmart.org/election_congress.php

[Sample Letter/Pitch Points]

As a candidate for Congress that I’m evaluating, I’ve yet to hear you come out and support a prohibition on employment credit checks as part of your platform. HR3149: The Equal Employment for All Act sitting stalled in the House of Representatives would make the practice illegal, but I don’t see any mention of it on your website or hear about your support for the legislation.

Just behind national security, jobs and the economy, it’s the most important issue facing our nation. Every candidate it seems is yelling “freedom,” yet 100 million Americans with ruined credit reports don’t have the “freedom” to change jobs or get a job because of employment credit checks. That’s NOT freedom! It’s the worst most oppressive, inhuman obstacle to putting food on the table during the second worst economic disaster in our nation’s history. Even biased numbers just released by FICO point to a national catastrophe. They estimate that more than 35%, 70 million Americas, have credit scores less than 650 which they equate to “bad credit.” The real number is far higher and the reality is that these people if unemployed don’t eat for at least 7 to 10 years since it takes that long to correct a bad credit report. How in God’s name do you correct a bad credit report with no job? The answer is that you don’t, instead you die a slow painful death that starts with the loss of your home and car and then morphs into living on the streets. It’s happening all across America as the politicians in Washington take bribes a.k.a. PAC money from the business/credit bureau lobby to kill the legislation and the American people.

Their only justification they use is that people who “live beyond their means” might steal or commit fraud. Statistics show that more than 86 percent of Americans “live beyond their means” which probably includes you. So only 14 percent of Americans are qualified to work? The credit bureaus that are profiting wildly (as the practice of workplace credit checks is increasing by the day) have ZERO statistical evidence to back their claim that a bad credit report equals theft and fraud. Not one single study whatsoever backs their greed based marketing and profit only motives. Yet with nothing to back the practice, they are being allowed to starve more than 30 million under or unemployed Americans if they have bad credit? With five applicants for every job opening, Americans with bad credit will simply die off before any employer is forced by business demand to hire even one.

As a candidate for Congress you have a moral obligation to stop the class genocide that’s taking place via employment credit checks. Yes, I used the word "genocide" a.k.a. death. That’s the reality and the truth and just because it’s slow and gradual doesn’t make it any less criminal, inhuman and sadistic than other forms of genocide. A document created for lending purposes and extension of credit now dictates life or death. China and Russia don’t even exterminate people based on their credit report, but it’s allowed and even encouraged in America . . . and that is called “freedom” by politicians and the American elite?

Nine out of ten Americans say the practice is sick, warped and depraved. What do you say? I need to know before I vote in November. Are your going to stand with the people or the corporations?

[End Sample Letter]





Update, Strategy, Schedule, etc.

Congress goes on recess August 9 and even though a mark-up hearing on HR3149 has been rumored for a couple weeks now, our inside information says it’s NOT going to happen before the recess. That’s actually good news in that it buys us more time to get it together and prepare of battle. Sharpen those pitch forks and prepare those torches because when they return on September 13 until October 8 (when they break for more campaigning) it’s going to be all out war!

They are coming home, leaving the safe secure confines of the beltway and you need to be ready to pounce on any and all town hall meetings. Contact the offices of your members of Congress in both the Senate and House this week and find out where and when they have town hall meetings scheduled and make plans to crash the party to deliver our HR3149 message. Unlike past years, many are bypassing town hall events because they simply don’t have the guts to answer to their boss a.k.a. YOU, but the ones that do show their face need to hear from YOU in person loud and clear. Pass HR3149 NOW!

We’re shifting our strategy somewhat and pivoting toward “election politics” in order to get the job done before November. Our goal is simple, make HR3149 and employment credit checks an election issue for every candidate. We’re going to force them to publicly come out either for it or against it. This strategy will require just a little more work from you than usual, but not much. In many cases you’ll have to hold your nose, park your partisan party politics at the door and instead think strategically. It doesn’t matter who you support or who you’re going to vote for in November. What matters is forcing these worms out of their holes (so to speak). If your current member of the House is NOT a co-sponsor of HR3149, then they are NOT on board our cause. Good intentions and comments such as "I have to wait and see the bill" JUST DON’T CUT IT! If you know your House representative’s name use the following link to see if they are one of the 55 co-sponsors (if you don’t know them at the moment then refer back to this link once you find out):
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-3149

In short, start by figuring out who’s running against your current House representative (and members of the Senate if they are up for re-election this cycle) and ask them via e-mail and telephone where they stand on the issue and request their support. After this effort we'll come back and use our state-by-state database of newspapers/contacts to A) force the candidates to answer to the public via media pressure and B) get the word out on the issue to all voters in your area.

Will the strategy work? Yes, without a doubt, but only if we execute. We already have one prime example in the MA governor’s race where the independent candidate, Cahill, just came out in favor of a prohibition against employment credit checks. Now the Republican and Democratic candidate can’t hide from the issue or take the business lobby PAC money (a.k.a. bribes) in exchange for ignoring the issue. We’re simply using that same concept for the Congressional races. So let’s get started . . .

PS Keep the faith! Activity is way up, media mentions and articles are up, more people are awakening and coming to the cause and momentum is building. Many allied groups are coming together behind the scenes preparing to push and fight in September, but we need every citizen we can get so continue to recruit new members to our group FAST! Now we just have to bring the issue to a head and make it pop via election year pressure. Right now we have the power via the voting booth. The overwhelming vast majority of politicians will throw lobbyists (or their mother) and PAC money under the bus in order to either stay in office or to get in office. It’s called “democracy” ;-) All we have to do is force the issue . . . stand with 90 percent of the people or the corporate money. It’s decision time!

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Activity Request: Counter the Lies!!!

The following linked letter from the opposition tells you two things A) we have very formidable opposition that’s organized, well funded and has huge numbers B) they will stop at nothing including outright lies in order to kill passage of HR3149.

http://www.nacsonline.com/NACS/News/Daily/Documents/ND072310_HR3149letter.pdf

We have to counter this garbage and we have to grow our numbers fast. Use the sample letter below and FLOOD the House Committee on Financial Services and their members with our counter points and the truth. Push this out to friends, neighbors, family, church groups, etc. . . . we need big numbers!!!!! Send it over and over and over until they are flooded with the facts instead of lies and misinformation. It’s the only way we’ll win . . . BE RELENTLESS and just a little bit OBNOXIOUS!

E-mail Letter to the Commitee:

http://financialservices.house.gov/contact/contact.shtml

E-mail Representative(s) on the House Committee on Financial Services . . .

1) See if YOUR Representative is one of the 71 members on the House Committee on Financial Services, search by State and District (via the link below)
http://financialservices.house.gov/singlepages.aspx?NewsID=397

You’ll need to have your full 9 digit zip code handy. Use the following link to look it up if you don’t already know it.
http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/welcome.jsp

[Sample Letter]

I recently came across a propaganda letter being pushed by opposition groups who want you to believe outright lies and misinformation in regard to HR3149. So you’ll be fully informed and able to counter their lies, I provide the truth as follows:

1) Almost half the entire U.S. workforce now has ruined credit. Even FICO estimates the number to be at least 70 million, but the real number is closer to 100 million. That number alone says one thing: half of the U.S. workforce is not a bunch of “thieves and fraud risks” which makes their entire argument null and void. This is about profits for the credit bureaus and intrusion of personal privacy by corporations.

2) The letter states that employment credit checks are included in only 15% of background checks. Where is the audit, where is the documentation to back that statement up? There is none because it is an outright lie! 60 percent of all jobs and 80+ percent of all white collar jobs require a credit check just for the right to work. Even SHRM backs-up the 60 percent figure and they are opposed to the legislation. The truth is that you don’t work anywhere in America with bad credit unless it’s shoveling manure in a barn somewhere.

3) The letter claims that employment credit checks are only used “responsibly.” Who regulates that? Who’s to say what’s “responsible?” Do they get training on how to evaluate a credit report? No! It’s an arbitrary judgment call. Ask yourself this question: is it “responsible” to cull out half of the resumes and applicants via a credit check even before you start to review their application? That’s what is being done and any honest HR person will verify that fact. It costs $8 to run a check which is cheaper than the hours required to do their jobs – which is to truly evaluate applicants.

4) The letter claims that people are given a chance to explain. That may be the biggest lie of all. Bad credit = moving on to the next applicant in the pile, plain and simple. It’s easy because there are 5 applicants for every job that exists. Furthermore, why should anyone have to explain their credit report to an employer . . . the applicant is not borrowing money or applying for credit – they just want to work! It’s a gross invasion of every Americans’ privacy!

5) The biggest and most fluffy lie in the letter is the reference to fraud examiners stating that “living beyond one’s means” leads to fraud. At least 86 percent of all Americans “live beyond their means” and that probably includes you. Even in sworn testimony during the Oregon hearings where similar legislation is now law, a TransUnion executive says there is ZERO STATISTIAL EVIDENCE that a bad credit report leads to fraud and theft in the workplace. Watch the video for yourself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RypwgmjZXow Did American CEOs like Bernard Ebbers, Dennis Kozlowski, Kenneth Lay, Bernard Madoff, Richard Fuld or Ken Lewis “live beyond their million dollar means” or were they just thieves? Did they have their credit checked? No! Only common citizens have to endure that indignity and violation of their right to privacy.

While I could continue pointing out more of their lies within their misinformation campaign, I’ll simply rest with the five points above. During the second worst economic disaster in American history, employment credit checks amount to class genocide. We’re already suffering from corporate overreach with BP and the collapse of Wall Street and now an American can’t get a job because Wall Street ruined our credit reports? This is the most inhuman form of oppression to befall the American worker since slavery. We formed American in large part to flee debtors’ prisons and these opposition groups want to return Americans to those prisons. Bad credit = no job and no job = bad credit and it’s a potential death sentence for 100 million Americans with 30 million of them under or unemployed.

Don’t buy the lies and propaganda by the opposition. You were voted in by the American people, NOT corporations. Do the right thing and pass HR3149 NOW before more people die and suffer needlessly.

[End Sample Letter]

Friday, July 23, 2010

So You Think We’re Being Melodramatic?

If you think we're melodramatic at times then we’ll start sending you all the e-mails and messages of desperation we receive on a weekly basis from people losing their homes, people who have starving children and people considering suicide. Who knows how many members we’ve lost due to desperation? Quite frankly, when we started this endeavor, we didn’t bargain for the sense of guilt that we now carry. For many people, passage of HR3149 is now a matter of life or death. The sense of desperation grows by the day and Congress just continues to take the PAC money for their campaigns in exchange for stalling the legislation.

There are exceptions, but based upon our experience with this issue since mid November members of Congress just simply don’t give a damn if people starve and die as long as they get their money. When corporations such as the credit bureaus and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are allowed to buy votes and their profits are placed ahead of people’s lives it qualifies as one of the most depraved, travesties of justice and democracy in the history of our nation. Just because death comes more slowly via employment credit check discrimination, is it any less diabolical than a Nazi death camp? If Americans were being gassed to death someone would pay attention, but death via credit report is just seen as the free enterprise system of profits for the credit bureaus. How can this be happening in America?

A recent publication indicates that 1 in every 25 people are sociopaths a.k.a. having no conscience or any sense of right and wrong whatsoever. If a sociopath is on death row we call it “criminal” but if they are a member of Congress we call it “politics.” Taking bribes to stall legislation that will save people’s lives by allowing them to work is no less criminal than actual murder. Even so, the real guilt lies with “the people” in America that have allowed Congress to get away with this. Until and unless a huge number of people come together and raise hell with their members of Congress for taking bribes in exchange for starving the people – HR3149 will remain stalled.

Some 90 percent of Americans say that employment credit checks are wrong, but they sit idle, complacent and uninvolved as their fellow citizens perish. Quite frankly that’s our biggest frustration . . . why doesn’t America seem to give a damn? Why aren’t more of our citizens fighting to stop the practice of employment credit checks? Where is the anger? Where is the passion? How can millions of Americans be led to slaughter like sheep without a fight? We just don’t get it . . .

Activity Requests

[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.]

And You Thought Recess was Just for Children . . .

Since children never look ahead, play games all day and rarely if ever are held accountable for their actions, perhaps a “recess” for Congress is quite appropriate. They just took a week-long break around the 4th of July and on August 9 they’re all taking a month off. Must be nice to make $170 K a year now and for the rest of your life even after you’re voted out of office and on top of that get a recess like you did in kindergarten or elementary school. (With a deal like that why would you listen and respond to your constituents?) Ok, we digress and are just jealous . . . Let’s at least give them a good old HR3149 paddling before they go play at recess. We hit them just a couple of weeks ago and we’re going to hit them again with hard numbers and we’re going to keep hitting them until they listen!


Contact 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, edit to suit you and hit “send message.”

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 sample letter below, edit to suit you and hit “send.”


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.

[Sample Letter]

The numbers are in and I simply ask that you review the linked article at the end of my letter and read the horrific handwriting on the wall. FICO scores, even according to their never audited numbers, are at a 20 year low. If they paint a picture that bad, how bad is it really? They estimate that 35% of FICO scores of Americans fall under 650 which they term as a “bad credit.” They estimate that some 70 million Americans fall into this category. That’s means at least a third of Americans are either locked out of the workforce or barred from changing jobs due to employment credit checks. Since the actual scores are not provided on the employment version of credit reports and there are zero regulations, guidelines or criteria for employers to evaluate credit reports . . . the real number of Americans impacted is closer to 100 million. That’s half of the entire U.S. workforce!

With some 30 million Americans under or unemployed, their credit reports may as well be an order of execution. In America if you have bad credit you don’t work, you don’t eat, you don’t make house or car payments and you eventually end up living on the streets. A document for loans and credit now determines whether you live of die? The value of human life is now being determined by a credit report?

The entire precept of “fraud and theft prevention” that credit bureaus use to market the sale of credit reports is rendered null and void just by the numbers alone. Based on their greed-based marketing half of the entire U.S. workforce are a thief and a fraud risk. No one in their right mind believes that, but the percentage of employers doing credit checks just continues to rise to now be 60+ percent of all jobs and 80+ percent of white collar jobs. All the while HR3149: The Equal Employment for All Act sits stalled due to PAC money pay-offs and lobbying by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce among others.

The lives of millions of Americans and constituents that voted you into office are in your hands. The passing of an extension to unemployment benefits just prolonged life a little longer because there is no job with a damaged credit report. Without HR3149 as law, the extension was a waste of money. Starve to death now or starve to death later, what’s the difference? As credit bureau profits soar from their greed-based selling of credit reports to employers, Americans are literally dying because of the practice. You have a moral obligation as member of the human race to stop the deaths by passing HR3149. Please read the numbers in the following article and realize the life and death ramifications that you hold in your hands before more perish needlessly.

Americans' credit scores at new lows
The credit scores of millions more Americans are sinking to new lows, according to new figures provided by FICO Inc.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38205674/from/toolbar

[End Sample Letter]

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Contact YOUR Representatives on the Committee

Contact YOUR Representative(s) on the House Committee on Financial Services . . . Please Continue the Contact At Least Weekly if Not More Often . . . no more stalling and delays!

1) See if YOUR Representative is one of the 71 members on the House Committee on Financial Services, search by State and District (via the link below) and if you find them, e-mail, FAX them and call every telephone every number available, but first see # 2) below to uncover if YOUR "Representative" is on our HR3149 "Dirty 27" list. One of the 38% of the 71 committee members that took the PAC money being handed out by the big three credit bureaus. Use the link below to search and see if YOUR State Rep. is on the committee.

http://financialservices.house.gov/singlepages.aspx?NewsID=397

Make sure to include link/info./data from recent FICO numbers:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38205674/from/toolbar

You’ll need to have your full 9 digit zip code handy. Use the following link to look it up if you don’t already know it.
http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/welcome.jsp

2) We're calling the list below our HR3149 "Dirty 27" who accepted PAC money from the big three credit bureaus during the "2010 Cycle" as it's called in Washington.

Bachmann, Michele (R-MN) $4,000
Bachus, Spencer (R-AL) $7,000 - Committee Ranking Member
Bean, Melissa (D-IL) $10,500
Biggert, Judy (R-IL) $6,000
Campbell, John (R-CA) $8,227
Capito, Shelley Moore (R-WV) $1,000
Childers, Travis W (D-MS) $2,000
Foster, Bill (D-IL) $4,000
Garrett, Scott (R-NJ) $2,000
Hensarling, Jeb (R-TX) $7,000
Himes, Jim (D-CT) $5,000
Jenkins, Lynn (R-KS) $3,000
Kanjorski, Paul E (D-PA) $4,000
Lee, Christopher J (R-NY) $1,000
Maloney, Carolyn B (D-NY) $2,500
McCarthy, Kevin (R-CA) $2,000
McCotter, Thad (R-MI) $4,000
McHenry, Patrick (R-NC) $1,000
Meeks, Gregory W (D-NY) $5,000
Moore, Dennis (D-KS) $3,000
Neugebauer, Randy (R-TX) $4,000
Paulsen, Erik (R-MN) $1,000
Peters, Gary (D-MI) $2,000
Posey, Bill (R-FL) $2,000
Price, Tom (R-GA) $5,000
Royce, Ed (R-CA) $7,500
Scott, David (D-GA) $1,000

If you find YOUR representative on our HR3149 "Dirty 27" list above, your job and role within our group is ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL to our success. Don't minimize your importance to our cause. Please express the following by phone and by e-mail repeatedly as often as possible and encourage everyone you know in your voting district to do the same:

* Why did you accept $______ from the big three credit bureau PACs when you reasonably should have known that you could be sitting in judgment and ruling on legislation that could impact the big three credit bureaus? Doesn’t that create a conflict of interest? Doesn’t that border on corruption of our democracy?

* What was the money for? Does the money enable clear unbiased thinking? Does it better enable you to care about the "folks back home" that voted you into office? Rembemer us, your voters who who are now unemployed, having our homes forclosed upon and are locked out of the job market by workplace discrimination?

* As a voter in November, while millions of Americans are locked out of the workplace in a catch 22 of no job = bad credit and bad credit = no job, the fact that you’re accepting money from the big three credit bureaus that oppose HR3149 causes me great concern! I will share my concerns with everyone I can find in our district as well as the media and I’ll be watching so see just how hard and fast you work to get this stalled legislation out of your committee. What’s more, I’ll also be voting in November based largely upon passage of HR3149 and will encourage everyone I can find in our voting district to do the same. I think they deserve to know the truth about our democracy and how Washington works for us folks back home.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Siege on House Committee on Financial Services!

Contact the House Committee on Financial Services - Ongoing and Relentless!

HR3149 has sat stalled in this committee for a year now. If you've been a member for awhile you know it's due to PAC money from the credit bureaus being paid into the commmittee and big dollar business lobbyists such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In short, a government bought and paid off by corporations and their lobbyists pushing their demands ahead of the people's demands. A MSN article on FICO scores puslished last week, referenced in our sample letter below and linked at the end of the letter, is a golden opportunity to force this committee to look at just how horrible the bad credit situation really is. Demand a hearing now in order to get HR3149 out of committee and brought to a vote in the full House!

Committee Telephone Number: 202.225.4247 Start calling an keep calling!

E-mail Letter to the Commitee:

Use this e-Mail Link below to FLOOD them with e-mails (repeat as often as possible until we advise we have a hearing scheduled):

http://financialservices.house.gov/contact/contact.shtml

[Sample Letter]

FICO’s just released numbers on “bad credit” point to a national catastrophe, especially for the more than 70 million Americans who have ruined credit files. Due to employment credit checks they are barred from getting a job or changing jobs for 7 to 10 years (which is how long it takes to fix a credit file). The linked article that follows my letter states that FICO numbers now show that at least 35 percent of all Americans’ scores now fall under 650. Having a private, unregulated and never audited corporation in charge of lending and borrowing criteria may or may not be suspect, but it’s Orwellian, sick and depraved to have FICO determining whether an American can work or change jobs. Americans are now forced to sign away their right to privacy in regard to their personal credit report in exchange for the right to work and Congress does nothing to stop it? How can HR3149: The Equal Employment for All Act still be in the House Committee on Financial Services a year after introduction?

While the article speaks to the lending debacle, the numbers equate to a death sentence to people that just want to work. The big three credit bureaus try and cover their greed-based selling of credit reports to employers with the fact that they do not include the actual credit score. It’s true, the actual score is not included in the report, but in reality that makes it even worse for applicants and employees since the report provides no basis whatsoever for employment evaluation. No hiring company or their HR team has any business whatsoever with someone’s personal credit report. It’s a lending document not an employment document. What qualifications does an employer have to review a credit report?

The FICO report numbers completely debunk the entire basis that the big three credit bureaus use to market the practice of selling credit report to employers . . . “fraud and theft prevention.” Give me a break! More than 35 percent of Americans are thieves who will commit fraud as employees? There was never a correlation between a credit report and fraud, but now with the largest increase in “bad credit” in more than 20 years the assertion smacks in the face of any logic whatsoever. Even TransUnion in sworn testimony admitted there is zero correlation between a person’s credit report and theft or fraud in the workplace.

More than 30 million Americans are without a job or under-employed and at least 70 million people have ruined credit reports. How bad does it have to get before Congress acts to protect the people instead of taking bribes from the credit bureau PACs and making back room deals with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business lobbyists? Linking credit reports with employment worthiness is junk science with zero data to back it up and now it’s literally killing people, making people homeless and starving children all across America. Isn’t it time Congress listened to the cries of the people instead of the strong armed tactics and money from lobbyists?

Simply read the numbers in article below and please act to protect the American workforce during the Great Recession by passing HR3149 NOW!

Linked Article from MSN
Americans' credit scores at new lows
The credit scores of millions more Americans are sinking to new lows, according to new figures provided by FICO Inc.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38205674/from/toolbar


[End Sample Letter]

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Our Two Cents Worth . . .

Even though we live in Washington and have always been informed at a minimum and somewhat politically active, we just didn’t know the truth until getting involved in passage of HR3149. In our opinion based on experience, and you’re welcome to disagree, we have no democracy. When 90 percent of the American people demand passage of HR3149 and it has sat for a year now – that tells you all you really need to know. Money, bribes and payoffs via PACs along with backroom deal making are 100 percent responsible for the legislation being stalled. That’s called CORRUPTION of our political system by corporations. No matter your political party or inclination, you have to hold the Democrats responsible since they control all three legislative braches of the Federal government. If they weren’t being bribed and really cared about the American people during the second worst economic disaster in our nation’s history, HR3149 would now be law. On the other side of the isle, the Republicans cry deficits but give zero support to legislation that will put millions back to work and won’t cost one single dime to the taxpayer. If people get a job they might not vote the way they want. It’s all sad but true . . . 99 percent of Congress could care less if Americans are starving, but they do care about votes in November. They all make $170 K per year and will make that for the remainder of their entire life even if voted out . . . they are going to eat no matter what, but the rest of us live in the real world.

Games, lies, smokescreens, cronyism, payoffs, bribes, pay-to-play and lack of any heart or conscience when it comes to the suffering of the American people is the reality. To starve the people via employment credit checks to protect the profits of the big three credit bureaus is the height of cruelty and greed. For this performance, they expect our vote in November . . . not going to happen if and only if we do out utmost to make passage of HR3149 a campaign issue. Just keep pushing, keep calling, keep writing and keep calling them out at ever turn and we will prevail.

Activity Request(s): Tuesday . . .

Outreach to House and Senate Leaders

1) Speaker of the House, link below, add name, e-mail address, zip, copy sample letter below and paste into form, edit to suit you and send.
http://speaker.house.gov/contact/

2) House Minority Leader, link below, add name, e-mail address and send, or use the e-mail address provided.
http://republicanleader.house.gov/contact/

3) Senate Majority Leader, link below, add name add personal info., etc. copy and paste sample letter below into form, edit to suit you and send.
http://reid.senate.gov/contact/

4) Senate Minority Leader, link below, add name add personal info., etc. copy and paste sample letter below into form, edit to suit you and send.
http://mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=ContactForm

[Sample Letter]

Your role in the Washington gamesmanship at the expense of “the people” is insulting to the intelligence of all Americans. HR3149: The Equal Employment for All Act that would remove the biggest impediment to getting a job has sat stalled in the House for a year now. Nonetheless, with the recent impasse/debate in extending unemployment benefits both political parties cried crocodile tears for “the people.” Millions of Americans would already be back to work and have no need of extended unemployment benefits if the Democratic controlled House, Senate and Executive branch had passed HR3149. On the other side of the aisle, Republicans cry deficit in the debate around unemployment benefits, yet have yet to lift one finger to pass HR3149 that would put people back to work and would not cost the taxpayer one single dime or add a penny to the deficit.

Why . . . votes in November, gamesmanship and political bribes. Neither political party in Washington seems to care about “the people” beyond getting their votes to either maintain or acquire political power. If “the people” mattered, unemployment benefits would have been proposed as a stand alone issue/bill by the Democrats instead of adding more spending to the bill (outside of unemployment benefit funding) and Republicans wouldn’t have played the deficit card to get votes in November. These are obvious Washington business as usual games and “the people” are no longer blinded by the smokescreens. We’ve wised up . . . the two party system doesn’t work for “the people.”

Congress can put millions of Americans back to work NOW, with passage of HR3149, but would rather starve “the people” so they can fund their reelection coffers with money from the PACs that oppose the legislation. The millions of dollars from the big three credit bureaus, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other groups opposing passage of HR3149 are no secret to the American people. It’s also no secret that the legislation would have passed a year ago if it were not for political bribes, payoffs and backroom deal making.

A 100 million Americans (half the entire workforce) now have “bad credit” due to lack of Congressional oversight of Wall Street and bribes a.k.a. campaign donations are more important than “the people?” Some 30 million people under/unemployed and protecting the profits of the big three credit bureaus is more important to Congress that allowing people to work? Since HR3149 will put millions back to work and is absolutely 100 percent free to the taxpayer, no Republican can play the vote getting "deficit game" in regard to passage. Even worse, since Democrats control all branches of government, no Democrat can say they are working to put people back to work since they have allowed HR3149 to sit stalled for a year.

Votes in November or political bribes is the real question now. Upwards of 90 percent of the American people support passage of HR3149, yet bribes seem more important to Congress. Every member of Congress is there to deliver the will of the people, yet political games are more important than starving Americans. The American people are watching the money flow and we’ll vote in November based on passage of HR3149. You can take the money in exchange for continuing to stall HR3149 or you can stand with the people who elected you into office. The clock is ticking . . . please pass HR3149 NOW so millions of Americans can get back to work.


[End Sample Letter]

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Ask Obama to Purge Pritzker and to Support HR3149

Whether you're loyal to the Democratic Party and ardent supporter of President Obama or detractor, any supporter of HR3149 has to be extremely concerned with our President’s ties to Penny Pritzker, Chair, TransUnion. Our President has yet to show one ounce of support for HR3149 and the following linked HP article speak volumes . . . (For more info. do some Googling and you'll find enough dirt on Pritzker to tell you one fact: Pritzker's position on Obama's Economic Recovery Board is "Chicago politics," backroom deal making and nothing short of "slime ball" pay-to-play political fund raising to protect the profits of TransUnion at the expense of "the people." Most especially if you're a Democrat and loyal to Obama, you should be sick and outraged by this obvious political payoff.)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/earl-ofari-hutchinson/pritzker-saved-obama-much_b_145339.html

Use White House link below, copy sample letter below, open link, paste in letter, edit to suit you, fill in the blanks and send. The form within the link allows for only 2500 characters MAX, we edited the sample letter below . . . it fits, so keep the length of your letter close to the sample provided.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

[SAMPLE LETTER]

Unless I’ve missed something, you have yet to utter one word in support of HR3149: The Equal Employment for All Act. With all due respect, myself and millions of other Americans are forced to question whether that is due to your personal friendship and long-time political relationship with Penny Prtzker, Chair, TransUnion (who led your campaign finance team and raised millions of dollars for your campaign). To have Pritzker on your Economic Recovery Board smacks in the face of justice and workplace equality. Millions of Americans are locked out of the workplace by TransUnion, Equifax and Experian selling their personal credit reports to employers. Worse than profiting directly from the suffering of Americans, all three credit bureaus deploy multi-million dollar marketing efforts to encourage the discrimination practice. Pritzker, however, takes it even further by directing TransUnion's seedy backroom arm twisting, “lobbying,” and manipulation of legislators to ensure that children go hungry and their parents remain jobless. Pritzker also funds hundreds of thousands of dollars in credit bureau PAC money to buy votes in Congress and the House Committee on Financial Services to keep the legislation stalled. Is this someone you can hold up to the American people as a good person to deliver a jobs recovery? An atmosphere of personal friendships, cronyism and corporate money buying Congress is NOT the “Change We Can Believe In” you promised during your campaign. As more than 25 million Americans suffer from under and un-employment and 100+ million suffer from damaged personal credit reports, the perception of having Pritzker on your Economic Recovery Board and no support for HR3149 looks nothing short of cold and callous to the American people. It looks even worse to African-Americans who way back in 2007 had “bad credit” at a 48 percent rate and Hispanics who had a 34 percent rate (27 percent for Caucasians). What do you think the percentages are by now Mr. President? Many Americans now must question whether you have lost touch with the "common man" and the American people and are beholding to a billionaire like Pritzker and her multi-million dollar political money machine.You can’t talk jobs and the economy without very publicly supporting HR3149 and you have yet to do so even once. Having Pritzker on your Economic Recovery Board looks horrible for you, your party and makes any jobs talk seem hollow and disingenous. There are no jobs without HR3149 as law. I ask that you stand with the American people who are suffering by the millions by supporting HR3149 and put personal friendship aside by purging Pritzker from your Economic Recovery Board.

[End Sample Letter]