Friday, April 30, 2010

A Must Read: An Absolute Outrage!!!

If you read our Wednesday wall post, you saw the Chicago Tribune article (linked below) entitled “TransUnion battling attempts to ban employment credit checks.” Hands down, this is the best press coverage employment credit checks have ever received for the simple reason that it exposes some of the TransUnion backroom slime tactics they’re deploying to kill anti-employment credit check legislation at the state level. Rest assured the same tactics are being deployed at the Federal level as well with HR3149. Big PAC money and an army of lobbyists conducting backroom arm twisting and underhanded manipulation at every turn. Read the article below and make up your own mind on what type of company they are. Guess what . . . that’s not the outrage.

HERE IS THE OUTRAGE!!! If you read the article on Wednesday, you discovered the same time that we did the most egregious horrible atrocity we can imagine.

“TransUnion's chairman, Penny Pritzker, serves on the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, charged with advising
Barack Obama's economic recovery efforts. Some say her company's lobbying efforts, which have extended to Oregon and Connecticut, undermine the nation's goals of getting back to work more than 15 million unemployed people in the U.S.”

Quite frankly, our mouth fell to the floor upon reading the above. We knew we were fighting lobbyists and hundreds of thousands of dollars in PAC money from the big three credit bureaus, but this? The words “Economic Recovery” and “TransUnion” used within 100 miles of each other, much less in the same sentence, is beyond comprehension and beyond outrageous . . . It’s like combining good and evil, right and wrong, greed and charity. What could be more diametrically opposed to economic recovery than TransUnion starving the people and locking them out of the workplace? Admittedly we tend to be verbose, rant and ramble on, but with this combination of polar opposites, we have but two words, “HELL NO!

In our press release linked below, we’re calling for President Obama re-think and disassociate by purging Pritzker from the board effective immediately. Any members not outraged or who disagree with this reaction are of course free to skip this week’s media outreach efforts and continue on with our ongoing state newspaper outreach efforts (see link below), but before you do so, at least get educated on Pritzker
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_Pritzker The TransUnion connection is bad enough, but via her connections to the failed Superior Bank in Chicago she’s implicated in the sub-prime mortgage melt down and predatory lending (the starter drug for bad credit) that disproportionately exploits racial minorities. (According to the Federal Reserve, African-Americans were three times more likely to receive higher priced loan products than non-Hispanic whites in 2005 and 2006. More than half of the high-priced loans issued to African-Americans during 2006 are now at risk of foreclosure, being over 60 days past due. Black home ownership, which had seen dramatic gains in the early part of the decade, hit a sharp decline as a result of the foreclosure crisis.) So based on all this, we don't think she's should be near an economic recovery board, much less on one . . . but you make up your own mind.

So if you’re even half as outraged as us, click on Monday’s activity requests and let’s get started booting her posterior out of the White House and of this board.

Monday’s Activity Requests:

http://hr3149.blogspot.com/2010/04/activity-requests-monday_29.html

Link to copy of the press release scheduled to go out on Monday morning . . .
http://hr3149.blogspot.com/2010/05/may-3-2010-press-release.html

CT Article Link: “TransUnion battling attempts to ban employment credit checks”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-0429-credit-checks-transunion--20100428,0,5056644.story?page=1

What we hope to accomplish: Best case scenario, Pritzker resigns or gets booted, however we’re not naïve or under any illusions about our power. With almost 3,000 members now, we are large enough to alert the media to shine a bright light where it needs to shine and to stir the pot. Pritzker is a controversial figure and was nixed as a candidate for Commerce Secretary so there is hope we can nix her from this board. That’s why your outreach letters to the media this week are more than critical, they’re essential! Without a huge number of members writing every media outlet provided, we can’t demonstrate to the media that “we the people” are outraged. Worst case scenario, Pritzker gets marginalized and becomes a political liability and anti-employment credit check legislation gets lots of free press coverage which brings more warriors to the fight. Exposing the TransUnion connection makes any veto almost impossible without political consequences from “the people” so we win with just press coverage alone.

If you choose to opt out of this week’s activity requests we respect your prerogative and trust that you will simply continue forward with your state newspaper outreach effort. If you’re a new member, the link below will get you up to speed. We're a diverse group and don't expect a lock-step buy-in with every position we take or initiative we pursue.

Massive Newspaper Outreach Campaign – Ongoing . . .
http://hr3149.blogspot.com/2010/04/massive-newspaper-outreach-campaign.html

More background on Pritzker

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

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/02/28/obama-finance-chair-linke_n_88884.html

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/11/obama-pritzker.html

http://gdaeman.blogspot.com/2008/02/who-is-penny-pritzker-and-why-is-she.html

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Activity Request(s): Thursday

Simply use your media letter(s) that you created on Monday and roll . . .

Orlando Sentinel

insight@orlandosentinel.com

Kansas City Star

mpepper@kcstar.com

The Union Edge Talk Radio

http://theunionedge.com/contact

The Source

editorial@thesource.com

The Root

readerfeedback@theroot.com

Richmond Times


feedback@timesdispatch.com

letters@timesdispatch.com

Truthout

http://www.truthout.org/contactus

Denver Post


newsroom@denverpost.com

openforum@denverpost.com

Startribune, MN

http://mpls.startribune.com/dynamic/feedback/form.php

Politics Daily

http://www.politicsdaily.com/contact/melinda-henneberger

Insider
insider@govtrack.us

Washington Journal – Radio Call In.

journal@c-span.org

Daily Morning News, Dallas TX

mbeelman@dallasnews.com

tconnolly@dallasnews.com

readertips@dallasnews.com

Scott@ScottBurns.com

Atlanta Journal Constitution

jgalloway@ajc.com

newstips@ajc.com

jdwallace@ajc.com

Baltimore Sun

talkback@baltimoresun.com

marcia.myers@baltsun.com

jean.marbella@baltsun.com

USA Today
http://feedbackforms.usatoday.com/marketing/feedback/feedback-online.aspx?type=18

Roll Call

http://www.rollcall.com/cgi-bin/udt/fdc.collector?

http://www.rollcall.com/cgi-bin/udt/fdc.collector?client_id=rollcall&form_id=maileditform&link_id=15

http://www.rollcall.com/cgi-bin/udt/fdc.collector?client_id=rollcall&form_id=maileditform&link_id=510

http://www.rollcall.com/cgi-bin/udt/fdc.collector?client_id=rollcall&form_id=maileditform&link_id=68

Startribune, MN

http://mpls.startribune.com/dynamic/feedback/form.php

Activity Request: Wednesday

Simply use your media letter(s) that you created on Monday and roll . . .

Real Clear Politics
letters@realclearpolitics.com

PBS/NPR
onlineda@newshour.org

Use link below, Select Diane Rheme in the “To” box

http://wamu.org/contact/

Use the link below, select “Contact a Show” in the “I want to” box and then in the show box, select “Morning Edition” . . .

http://help.npr.org/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=5670&task=ticket

Use link below, go to bottom o page, for “To” select “Send a News Tip” fill in the blanks

http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=56&sid=597520

Drudge Report

drudge@drudgereport.com

Salon


readermail@salon.com

jwalsh@salon.com

klauerman@salon.com

Ebony/Jett

glover@ebony.com

Washington

Monthly

editors@washingtonmonthly.com

Truthdig

feedback@truthdig.com

Free Speech TV

viewercomments@freespeech.org

Coast to Coast AM
george@coasttocoastam.com

ian@coasttocoastam.com

georgeknapp@coasttocoastam.com

lisa@coasttocoastam.com

tom@coasttocoastam.com

Cleveland.com/Plain Dealer


sgoldberg@plaind.com

Washington Week w/Gwen Ifill


http://www.pbs.org/weta/washingtonweek/feedback.html

Slate

dcoffice@slate.com

nyoffice@slate.com

Activity Requests: Tuesday

Simply use your media letter(s) that you created on Monday and roll . . .

LA Times

Russ.stanton@latimes.com

Davan.maharaj@latimes.com

Jon.thurber@latimes.com

Sean.gallagher@latimes.com

NY Daily News


voicers@edit.nydailynews.com

The Source


editorial@thesource.com

The Root

readerfeedback@theroot.com

Tavis Smiley


http://www.tavissmileyradio.com/tell.html

Washington Journal – Radio Call In.

journal@c-span.org

The Mike Malloy Show


Mike@mikemalloy.com

Kathy@mikemalloy.com

The Bill Press Show

http://www.billpressshow.com/contact-us/

The Thom Hartman Show

thom@thomhartmann.com

The Rick Smith Show

Rick@theRickSmithShow.com

Labor Beat

mail@laborbeat.org

Real Clear Politics

letters@realclearpolitics.com

Counter Punch

counterpunch@counterpunch.org

GritTV grittv@grittv.org

Newsweek
Editors@newsweek.com

Letters@newsweek.com

okieandaussie@gmail.com

Newsday

benjamin.weller@newsday.com

news@newsday.com

The Hill

letters@thehill.com

Washington Monthly

editors@washingtonmonthly.com

Stltoday.com

mailto:Stltoday.com

siteeditor@stltoday.com

Café Sentido

sentido@casavaria.com

Kansas City Star
mpepper@kcstar.com

NY Daily News

voicers@edit.nydailynews.com

Denver Post

newsroom@denverpost.com

openforum@denverpost.com

Star Telegram

jrlabbe@star-telegram.com

Activity Requests: Monday

[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.]

Media Outreach: A Call for Pritzker to be Purged or Resign NOW!

1) Create your own version of a short and a long media pitch to use for online and e-mail outlets. [See sample pitch below] Some online forms limit the number of words or characters and we on this end find out those limitations, if any, the same time you do.

2) Remember to save whatever you write somewhere on your computer so you don’t have to recreate the wheel over and over. (We'll use this pitch again . . .)

3) Simply make media pitching a mindless simple for you repetitive exercise that you can do almost with your eyes closed. While what you say is important, at the end of the day it’s a numbers game. Just make this effort a paste in your message, fill in the blanks (or e-mail address) and send exercise that you do over and over and over.

[Sample Letter]

SUBJ: Pritzker Must Go! Now!

Upon reading a Chicago Tribune article this past week (linked below), I was absolutely dumbfounded and outraged to learn that the Chair of TransUnion, Penny Pritzker sits on Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board. Already nixed as a candidate for Commerce Secretary because of her links to predatory lending and the sub-prime mortgage meltdown via her position at the failed Superior Bank of Chicago; Pritzker is the epitome of the fox in the hen house when it comes to an economic recovery.

As the Chair of TransUnion, Pritzker is 110% committed to barring every single American from holding a job or getting a job without passing an employer mandated credit check. TransUnion along with Equifax and Experian are directly 100% responsible for millions of the under/unemployment numbers in America. It’s all about greed and profits from promoting workplace discrimination and selling Americans’ personal credit information to employers.

HR3149: The Equal Employment for All Act stalled in the House would make employment credit checks illegal for most jobs, but Pritzker on the economic recovery board with Obama’s ear creates a direct conflict of interest. With the majority of the more than 25 million Americans struggling with under/unemployment living in fear of employment credit checks and 100 million Americans with bad credit in fear of losing the job they have (if they are lucky enough to have one) . . . Pritzker is more like the employment Grim Reaper than a jobs savior. If the 100 million Americas with bad credit starve in the streets, Pritzker will laugh all the way to the bank (adding to her 1.1 B net worth). A better position for Pritzker would be starvation/poverty czar . . .

Long before the economic collapse, a third of working Americans suffered “bad credit” and now the figure is approaching half of the U.S. population (between 20 and 75 years old). Black America has “bad credit” at a 48% rate and the rate is 34% for Hispanics and 27% for Caucasians. More than 50 percent of all jobs and 80+ percent of white collars jobs force submission of a credit report just for the right to work. This is occurring in a nation that supposedly prides itself on liberty, freedom and the right to privacy. Even more cruel, the percentage of employers and jobs impacted is growing rampantly as the economy worsens. The right to work is the most basic of all human rights and Americans no longer have that right in 47 states.

More than 60,000 businesses, impacting more than three million people, filed bankruptcy in 2009 but if a citizen hits a ‘bump in the road’ they never work again because of employment credit reports? As long as Pritzker sits on this economic recovery board and credit bureau greed and money rule Washington (instead of the will of 90 percent of the American people that support HR3149) there can be no economic recovery. I call upon you to report the blatant hypocrisy and gross conflict of interest of having Pritzker on our President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board. Please call for her resignation along with me and the millions of other Americans that see this appointment as an absolute outrage!

Link to Chicago Tribune Article:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-0429-credit-checks-transunion--20100428,0,5056644.story?page=1

[End Sample Letter]

Media Outlets for Monday:

NBC News & MSNBC
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29104230/

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28437928/ns/msnbc_tv-morning_joe/

hardball@msnbc.com

Countdown@msnbc.com

rachel@msnbc.com

Washington Post:

letters@washpost.com

CNN Money


Use link below, select "News Alert Problem or a Question"


http://money.cnn.com/services/speakup/speakup.html

CNN, CNN Website, etc.

caffertyfile@cnn.com

http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form11b.html?http://

www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form5.html?

http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form5.am.htmltami.

luhby@turner.com

http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form4.html?2

http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form5.html?24

CBS News: Use the following link and hit: CBS Evening News w/Katie Couric, CBS Morning News and The Early Show

http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/feedback/fb_news_form.shtml?tag=contentAux;ad-googleAdSense

Use the following link and hit: CBS Evening News

http://www.cbs.com/info/user_services/fb_global_form.php

ABC News

http://abcnews.go.com/Site/page?id=3271346&cat=World%20News%20with%20Charles%20Gibson

http://abcnews.go.com/Site/page?id=3052660

http://abcnews.go.com/Site/page?id=3428117


MSNBC


john.schoen@msnbc.com

Fox News

yourcomments@foxnews.com

oreilly@foxnews.com

newsmanager@foxnews.com

Real Clear Politics.com


letters@realclearpolitics.com

john@realclearpolitics.com

tom@realclearpolitics.com

The Wall Street Journal

kristen.mcnamara@dowjones.com

Slate


mailto:Slatedcoffice@slate.com

nyoffice@slate.com

NY Times:

washington@nytimes.com

managing-editor@nytimes.com

national@nytimes.comletters@nytimes.com

Monday, April 26, 2010

A One Way Dead End Street: Employment Credit Checks

According to the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI), more than 60,000 businesses in America filed bankruptcy in 2009 – long before the full economic collapse. In 2010 it’s no stretch whatsoever to project 100,000+ business bankruptcy filings. The past, with examples such as WorldCom and Enron, tells us that it’s not just the SMEs (Small to Medium Enterprise) that crash and burn, but the mega corporations as well. Using a very conservative figure of 50 employees per company, the 2009 figures tell us that more than 3 million people at these companies have already been tossed out into the street or are living in fear of a pink slip.

If a company is privately held, virtually no one within the company except the CFO has a clue about the company’s financial stability. Even in the case of a publicly held company such as Enron and many more just like them, the books are cooked and crooked so an annual report tells you nothing! Independent auditing firms are bought off every day and accounting scandals are rampant. The competition is fierce today to see who is less trustworthy . . . accountants or attorneys? It’s an absolute fact that the vast majority of mega corporations pay their invoices 30 to 59 days late simply because they are big enough to get away with it. It’s just the standard practice and everyone in the AP department throughout corporate America will verify the fact. Try paying your electricity bill 59 days late . . . in the dark.

With all this financial instability, complete lack of transparency and poor credit in the business world – what access or ability to evaluate and scrutinize do employees or prospective employees of a company have? ZERO! Enron sure looked stable to all those eager people lined up for a job. How many people left a good job to go to work for Enron to not only lose their job but have their entire retirement savings wiped out as well? May God rest Enron CEO, Kenneth Lay's good soul as thousands of his former employees work for pennies until death instead of the retirement they earned working for their CEO.


Just a brief look at the pantheon of American CEOs and we find such shinning examples as Bernard Madoff - Madoff Investment Securities, Kenneth Lay - Enron, Bernard Ebbers - WorldCom, Dennis Kozlowski – Tyco, Walter Forbes - Cendant Corporation and last but not least Mr. Wall Street himself Richard Fuld, Jr. - Lehman Brothers. Let’s not forget all those great individuals out there running those SME businesses who are sucking money out the bottom as fast as possible to live beyond their means or afford Viagra and keep that trophy bride by the pool at home. When you consider all these shining examples looking out for the financial welfare of all their employees “first and foremost” . . . it gets a little spooky when looking for a job or staying where you are. Just pure greed and or a sexual kink at the top of your company and you’re out of a job and never saw it coming.

Here is the ultimate question for every working American: how is it that we're given ZERO transparency or ability to review a company’s financial stability or credit rating, but every single company in America has the right to use YOUR PERSONAL credit report to fire you or not hire you? Even more insane: how is it that any of those 60,000 companies that filed bankruptcy in 2009 still barely floating can fire you on the spot for no other reason other than a poor personal credit report?

Believe it or not, it’s true in 47 states and 50+ percent of all jobs and 80+ percent of all white collar jobs now require a personal credit report. No report = no job and no job = bad credit. As if that’s not hard enough to believe, even more brain bursting and unbelievable is the fact that the percentage is increasing wildly as our economy gets worse by the day. Easily more than 100 million Americans have “bad credit” and have now lost the right to work in America. Why?

The answer is simple: the big three credit bureaus are making a buck off selling your credit report to employers and then using the proceeds to bribe members of Congress via hundreds of thousands in PAC money to kill HR3149. Similar legislation is already law in three states, but HR3149: The Equal Employment for All Act, that would make selling your credit report to employers illegal, has sat stalled in the House Committee on Financial Services for almost a year now. More than 38 percent of the committee members have the PAC marked bills in their wallets and “we the people” wonder why the legislation is stalled . . . could be the same human motivation that brought about our economic collapse and the Enron failure?

Zero statistical evidence whatsoever exists to prove in any way shape or form that an employee’s poor personal credit leads to fraud or theft within a company. You heard correctly . . . ZERO, NONE! To prove it we have the American CEOs noted above who had perfect credit. Even better than that, however, we have sworn testimony during the Oregon hearings on state legislation by a senior executive at Trans Union (one of the big three credit bureaus) that states that no correlation whatsoever exists. Selling the personal credit reports of Americans to employers was dreamed up as a revenue stream by the credit bureaus back in the 1990s and now it’s literally killing many of the 25+ million unemployed or under-employed Americans one day at time. It’s all the result and only the result of a clever multi-million dollar marketing scheme that convinced employers it was a good idea to run credit checks on their employees. It only costs eight bucks, why not? Even though we all thought slavery was abolished during the civil war . . . once an employer knows someone's debt load and credit standing - they know how low they can go on wages and how strong their chains and shackles are. It has nothing to do with theft and fraud risk whatsoever! A few pennies go missing from time to time from the bottom of the food chain but the billions get stolen at the top.


At the end of the day HR3149 is about the right to privacy and if you're not borrowing money or asking for credit your personal credit report has zero significance at all! Even if some day a link were to somehow be established between a bad credit report and fraud, the report is still a private document that belongs to each citizen not the employer. Most people would agree that regular church attendance by people = less theft and fraud in the workplace by the people that attend. Does that mean that employers should be allowed to ask you about your religion, church attendance or follow you around to see if you attend?

Instead of the liberty, freedom and the right to privacy our nation was founded upon, we have regressed backward to the good old debtors’ prisons of pre-colonial times. Remember? Being put in prison for owing money with no way to pay off the debt (a.k.a. improve your credit rating). Let’s see if we have this accurate . . . many of our ancestors left Europe and sailed to the New World to flee debtor’s prisons and taxation without representation. Now, even though 90 percent of the people support HR3149 – we have a modern day debtor’s prison called employment credit reports and our “representation” got bought out by Trans Union, Equifax and Experian? The cliché that “history repeats itself” sure rings true . . .

Saturday, April 24, 2010

The Horror Stories Just Keep Coming In . . . Add Yours

"I have over 18 years of accounting experience, BS in Management and Accounting, and working on my MBA, but becuase I have a BK in my past, I am unemployed and have been since Sept having to move my family to TX and still no job. I don't even know if I can get a job making minimum wages at Walmart. The bill is a must!!!!!"
. . .

"I have 33 years of accounting and over 25 years of HR experience and have been turned down five times in the last year because of a BK (which we had to do becuase of a foreclosure). My husband's company closed down in Sept and we are both out of work. Without this bill passing, we will not be able to find employment for the next 5 years. So what are we to do? Remain on unemployment and then go on welfare? This is nuts! This bill must pass!"

. . .

"I have over 25 years in the electronics industry, & over a decade in the customer service/hospitality industries. I became unemployed in May 2009 & have been without work since. Naturally, no $$ coming in so no $$ going out as I was denied benefits. The credit bureaus have wrangled their propaganda to brainwash the companies into believing they need this worthless info all the while making them richer. I can't tell you all the jobs I have been turned down for since my credit tanked. Never had this problem all of my 38+ years of working. I even got turned down for a Telemarketing fund raising job. This is insane what they are doing. This bill has got to pass!"

. . .

"20 years in marketing and PR, used to make well over 6 figures and now I'm not allowed to even work? Congress works on HC for over a year as the people starve with no protection from workplace discrimination? HC doesn't fix starvation last time I checked. Obama has his head up his legacy and could care less about "the people, it's all about Obama only! If he cared he would have gotten behind HR3149."

Friday, April 23, 2010

Outreach to YOUR Members of Congress

[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. IF YOU HAVE A PERSONAL STORY PLEASE SHARE THAT, NOTHING IS BETTER! 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.]

Contact YOUR members of Congress NOW and force them to pass HR3149

[The legislation called the Equal Employment for All Act will make it illegal for employers to use your personal credit report to hire and fire.]

Even if you have written before, even if you have written repeatedly, write them again. Also it's VERY IMPORTANT is to get everyone you know via e-mail and FB to write them as well. This is about numbers and the more people you can get to write the more numbers we deliver. So ask everyone you know to write and ask them to pass this page on to everyone they know. Without huge numbers this simply will not happen. It's up to YOU! Simlply add your quick personal note of encouragement and link them to this page . . .

How to:

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 sample message you will find below, edit if you wish and hit “send message.”

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 message below, edit if you wish and hit “send.”

[Sample Message]

As a regular voter and your loyal constituent, I request that you do your part to get HR3149: The Equal Employment for All Act passed NOW. Adding your name to the 53 already co-sponsoring the legislation would be a great start.

Upwards of 100+ million Americans now have “bad credit” which is well over 1/3 of the entire U.S. workforce and is quickly approaching almost half the entire workforce (everyone between the ages of 20 and 75). Currently at least 50% of all jobs and 80% of white collar employers discriminate against people for bad personal credit. Even worse, in a horrible economy, the percentage of employers discriminating is increasing at alarming rates. Are we supposed to “eat cake” or improve our credit reports working at McDonalds? Just how bad is life outside of the Washington, D.C. beltway? Here’s a brief Q1 snapshot:

* 379,000 Bankruptcies Filed Q1, 2010, (17 percent increase over Q1, 2009 during a year in a year which they soared upward by 32%)


* 35% Increase in Foreclosures and a 16% Increase in Foreclosure Notices Q1, 2010 (over Q1, 2009) and 1 in every 4 Homes in America are at least 10+ % “underwater.”

It’s no stretch whatsoever to foresee the “bad credit” numbers reaching half the working population of our entire nation. Here’s how: no job = bad credit and bad credit = no job, no changing jobs or no promotion. With the personal debt load at $45 K for every U.S. citizen of all ages, no job options thrust those impacted into a financial death spiral and there is no way to ever pull out of the spin! “We the people” didn’t bring about this horrible economy, Wall Street and Congress are responsible, but we’re the ones paying the price as Wall Street gets billions in bonuses and we lost the right to work . . . the most basic of all human rights. If the economy suddenly rebounded and 8 million new jobs were created tomorrow . . . it simply would not help the millions and millions of Americans who are credit dead and suffering this horrible form of workplace discrimination. A law and only a law can save them . . . there simply is no other solution. To use a hiring and firing criteria with ZERO merit whatsoever is insane, inhuman and cruel beyond belief.

Unlike the $1 trillion stimulus plan and current jobs initiatives being discussed, this legislation is absolutely free to the U.S. taxpayer and doesn’t add one penny to the Federal deficit. What’s wrong with a FREE jobs solution from Washington? In survey after survey up to 90 percent of the American people approve of the legislation but the hundreds of thousands of dollars in corporate and credit bureau PAC money are thwarting the overwhelming will of the people. Do you believe it is fair for 100+ million Americans to be tossed into a catch 22 scenario where bad credit = no job and no job = bad credit with no possible way out? How can any human condone such horrible workplace discrimination?

So the question is whether you will follow the will of the people or the money from the corporations? I’m working to get the word out in November on where you stand and I’ll be doing the same in 2012. This issue will not go away and simply will get worse even if a million jobs are added to the economy tomorrow. Stand with the people or stand with the corporations . . . the decision and the consequences are all yours.

[End Sample Message]

DON'T FORGET TO USE THE CONTACT INFORMATION ABOVE TO PICK UP THE PHONE AND CALL YOUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS NOW!

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

PROJECT VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: State Database for Newspaper Contacts

We currently have our newspaper database e-mail project launched and moving forward in NC, NV, OH, MD and VA but we need to get the project launched in the other 42 states help compiling. If you don’t volunteer, your state will get missed . . . all we need is at least 2 volunteers for each state, more than 2 for each state is far better because it reduces the work load for each volunteer. In most state without at least 2 volunteers from your state, we won’t even launch the database project for your state. There is no staff on this end, you’re it! It’s called grassroots activism for a reason. If you don’t do it, it simply doesn’t get done, that simple. We just need to get it accomplished over a period of several weeks if possible. Just let us know if you’re willing to work on the project for your state and we’ll split up the workload based upon how many volunteers we receive for your state. You won’t be contacted until we have enough volunteers from your state.

Upon completion of the project, we’ll have a contact database to use to support the cause from this end with press releases, stories, data, information, legislation status, etc. (and as we continue to keep our story in the press, you'll be able to use the complete list as well.) That way, each state gets our support from this end. Without the database your state gets left out, that simple . . . it’s not going to happen without YOU.

Basically, you would be assigned letters A through D or T through Z for example and you would do the same research associated with this weeks outreach effort by compiling e-mail address contact points for newspapers in your state. Then we will compile a data base for your state and be off and running.

How to volunteer . . . simply shoot us a FB message along with your e-mail address of what state you’re in and that you’d like to help. That’s it . . . we’ll compile the volunteers from you state and be in touch when we have an adequate number of volunteers from your state.

Hesitant to volunteer . . . we totally understand. Once we ended up in the Army and the other time we volunteered we ended up working to pass HR3149 . . . the Army worked out “ok” and the jury is still out on this volunteer effort ;-) No pressure whatsoever, we just need this accomplished somehow and this is the ONLY way it will happen.

Admins and Volunteers to Date:

MD
Dee W. - State Lead

NC - Project Completed . . . Almost . . . want the list? Shoot an e-mail to hr3149@hotmail.com and type "NC Newspaper List" in the subject line and we'll shoot you the MS Word doc pronto . . .
R. Congress - State Lead

NV
Jaquelyn R. - State Lead

OH
Tracy H. - State Lead

VA
Katrina K. - State Lead

Strategy, Goals and What This Effort will Get Accomplished

We’ve accomplished to a significant degree the Tier II media mission with outlets such as MSNBC, NYT, CNBC, WSJ, etc. That is NOT local exposure with a significant percentage and this is a main street, kitchen table issue for well over 1/3 of working America with support from 90% of America. Local media especially wants to pretend and present a picture that ‘everything is just fine our community,’ but we all know that’s a lie. Until this issue gets local play and people find out about the legislation we don’t have the numbers or the ability to apply the pressure we need to force passage. It’s not going to happen with a couple of e-mails to a couple of newspapers, but our prolonged campaign will accomplish the following:

* Local newspaper media contacting members of Congress from their area gets attention from the member of Congress big time, especially in an election year. It forces the member of Congress to take a firm position and make a statement either supporting the legislation or opposing it. You on the other hand get nothing but the old “dodge and weave” when you write your members of Congress, such as ‘I didn’t know about it, I’ll have to wait and see the bill,’ etc.

* This effort sends three vital messages to local media: 1) everything is NOT alright here and 2) this issue is important to their readers and 3) this is a huge issue impacting millions and millions of Americans that is simply not going to improve until and unless this legislation is passed.

* Every article that publishes brings more people to the cause, gets more people writing their members of Congress, indirectly adds more members to our FB group, makes this a main street talked about issue in every neighborhood and accomplishes our ultimate goal of everyone knowing about the legislation. We of course will never reach the noise level that the health care debate reached, but we do have the numbers and the interest level to reach something just short of that level.

* This is NOT some fringe issue for a couple of people with bad credit. First and foremost it's a privacy issue 100% and every single American should have the right to privacy and not have it violated just for the the right to work. The right to privacy is an issue for every American and with the economic dissaster, unemployment/under-employment at 25+ million and perhaps 100+ million or more of people with "bad credit" this issue impacts every single American. There is no way to pin down the number of people with "bad credit" exactly becasue the information needed to do that is owned by the credit bureaus and they will never release it, unless they are forced to. It is however a huge, huge number and as long as "they" can keep people suffering in silence because of the "stigma factor" America will continue to suffer the horrible consequences of this workplace discrimination practice. Our job is to alert the media as to how large this issue really is and make them realize that it's their sibling, their friends, their next door neighbor driving the Mercedes and someday may be their child or even themselves.

Sample Letter for Newspaper Outreach Campaign

[Sample Letter]

Celebrating the 4th of July with No Right to Work

An American’s rights to privacy and pursuit of happiness will be celebrated all across the nation on the 4th of July, yet upwards of 100 million Americans will be left out of the celebration. People never convicted of any crime, regular voters and taxpayers. Many are even veterans or have children dying in foreign lands for America as children of the elite attend Harvard. All day long members of the political class will give speeches about “inalienable rights,” talk about what a great nation we live in and beg for another term in office.

Central to every American’s “pursuit of happiness” guaranteed by our founding fathers is the right to work and the right to change jobs to better one’s predicament in life. Nearly half of the entire U.S. workforce has been stripped of that American birthright right by employers discriminating via workplace credit checks. At least 60 percent of all employers and more than 80 percent of white collar jobs discriminate based on an Americans personal credit reports. A document invented for lending money and evaluating credit worthiness is now the yard stick for whether someone lives or dies. That’s not freedom, that’s not the right to pursue happiness, that’s not the right to privacy and it’s sure as hell NOT one of the founding principles this once great nation was founded upon! Freedom has been eclipsed by corporate greed and profit motive by TransUnion, Equifax and Experian via the sale of Americans’ personal credit reports to employers. Greed and political bribes (a.k.a. PAC money) are barring 100 million Americans from changing jobs or finding a job to feed their starving children and that gets no media coverage, but birds dying in the Gulf of Mexico from greed and political payoffs gets 24/7 coverage?

The career politicians (a.k.a. “public servants”) from both political parties who will give speeches on the 4th of July are the very people that hoodwinked the American public with trickle down economics and free trade theory over the past three decades. They are the same political class that rewarded their greedy friends on Wall Street for destroying the economy. In return for their “public service,” these very same politicians are raking in PAC money and enriching themselves via influence peddling at every turn – while the personal credit reports of half the entire workforce have been ruined by their actions.

As if that weren’t sickening enough, for almost a year now the payoffs and bribes have stalled passage of HR3149: The Equal Employment for All Act. Legislation (now law in three states) that would make it illegal for employers to discriminate against applicants and employees based upon their personal credit reports. The legislation would redress at least a little of the damage done by corporate and political greed and give Americans some small hope of fixing their credit reports and feeding their children.

With the real unemployment figure more like 30 million and the underemployment number at least 25 million – one would think that Congress would see the damage they have done. Instead, their beltway cocoon makes them deaf to the cries of the people as they drastically cut the unemployment rolls because they’re suddenly worried about the deficit . . . now that their friends on Wall Street are fat and happy again. Even more important to Congress are the millions of dollars in PAC money funding their reelection campaigns coming from the big three credit bureaus, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and 19 other big dollar business lobbying groups in exchange for killing HR3149 along with “the people.”

The corporate media are being paid to kill the story while Congress is being paid to kill the legislation. On the 4th of July publications, websites and TV stations all across America will show fireworks, hotdogs being gobbled up and politicians begging for votes, but virtually none will report on HR3149: The Equal Employment for All Act. The hypocrisy of any celebration by politicians and the media when 100 million Americans don’t even have the right to work smacks in the face of everything the 4th of July stands for and America represents. Ninety percent of Americans support HR3149 once they know it exists, but the corporate owned American media have thus far made sure “the people” never hear of it. If that is worthy of flag waving, hotdogs and fireworks then every so called journalist in America should hang their head in shame. America has fallen . . .

[End Sample Letter]



Massive Newspaper Outreach Campaign – 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. IF YOU HAVE A PERSONAL STORY PLEASE SHARE THAT, NOTHING IS BETTER! 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.]


Coast-to-Coast Newspaper Outreach to Every Single Newspaper in America . . .

[We’re looking to build out a state-by-state data base of newspaper contacts, but more on that in a moment.] In the meantime, every member has the time to hit a few newspapers each day in their state. We'll be at this effort for weeks, probably more than a month, so plan accordingly. The list for each state we’re providing is huge and all we want from each member is to haphazardly or systematically hit several each day. DO NOT GO IN ALPHEBETICAL ORDER, (unless you can hit the entire list over the course of a month or so, if you can hit the entire list volunteer to help with our database project, see info. below) we want to get coverage all over each state. Just track what publications you’ve hit and do as many as you can fit in each day and don't forget to save your list of addresses somewhere. We expect duplication and we want duplication by different members within each state. It’s a numbers game - huge numbers equal more coverage . . . it’s just that simple. PLEASE KEEP US POSTED ON ALL COVERAGE YOU SEE, BOTH PRINTED AND ELECTRONIC . . . IF POSSIBLE LINK US OR SEND A COPY TO hr3149@gmail.com

HOW TO GUIDE:

1) Find your state via the linked listing below (Hawaii, Oregon and Washington State are omitted because they have legislation already).


State-by-State Directory of Newspapers/Publications

http://hr3149.blogspot.com/2010/04/activity-requests-newspaper-outreach.html

2) Just start clicking somewhere within the list (NOT alphabetically) and work your way through the list week after week as we move forward. We don’t expect anyone to make it through an entire state’s list. Each newspaper/publication site will take about 60 seconds max to get the contact points . . . if it takes longer than that you’re wasting your time. If it’s not fast and easy, forget it and move on to the next publication’s site. This is about numbers of contacts 100% . . . so keep it simple and fast!

3) 98% of the sites are organized the same way. Upon arrival, zip all the way to the bottom of the home page and look for “contact, contact info.” etc. Drill down into the news department and find the “editor, managing editor” and a couple of “reporters.” If that doesn’t work, find “About Us” somewhere on the site and search out “contacts” and perform the same exercise. Every site is somewhat different, but generally “contact, news” or “letters to the editor” will get you where you need to go. If you can find “political reporters, business reporters, career reporters,” etc. great – that’s even better. Some pubs are so small that they will have one contact point only, grab that. Again, this is 100% a speed and numbers exercise!

4) Every e-mail address you find, copy it into MS Word, or Excel if you prefer and just keep adding to your state list.

5) Then use the sample letter below, edit it if you like, or create your own to e-mail each contact point on your list. Just shoot them out like rapid fire bullets to as many publications as possible. It’s all about numbers!

Sample Letter Linked Below . . . (BTW: Polished and Improved from Last Week's Version)

http://hr3149.blogspot.com/2010/04/sample-letter-for-newspaper-outreach.html


Strategy, Goals and What This Effort will Get Accomplished

http://hr3149.blogspot.com/2010/04/strategy-goals-and-what-this-effort.html


Monday, April 19, 2010

Directory for Newspaper Outreach

Alabama: AL
http://www.usnpl.com/alnews.php

Alaska: AK
http://www.usnpl.com/aknews.php

Arizona: AZ
http://www.usnpl.com/aznews.php

Arkansas: AR
http://www.usnpl.com/arnews.php

California: CA
http://www.usnpl.com/canews.php

Colorado: CO
http://www.usnpl.com/conews.php

Connecticut: CT
http://www.usnpl.com/ctnews.php

Delaware: DE
http://www.usnpl.com/denews.php

Florida: FL
http://www.usnpl.com/flnews.php

Georgia: GA
http://www.usnpl.com/ganews.php

Idaho: ID
http://www.usnpl.com/idnews.php

Illinois: IL
http://www.usnpl.com/ilnews.php

Indiana: IN
http://www.usnpl.com/innews.php

Iowa: IA
http://www.usnpl.com/ianews.php

Kansas: KS
http://www.usnpl.com/ksnews.php

Kentucky: KY
http://www.usnpl.com/kynews.php

Louisiana: LA
http://www.usnpl.com/lanews.php

Maine: ME
http://www.usnpl.com/menews.php

Maryland: MD
http://www.usnpl.com/mdnews.php

Massachusetts: MA
http://www.usnpl.com/manews.php

Michigan: MI
http://www.usnpl.com/minews.php

Minnesota: MN
http://www.usnpl.com/mnnews.php

Mississippi: MS
http://www.usnpl.com/msnews.php

Missouri: MO
http://www.usnpl.com/monews.php

Montana: MT
http://www.usnpl.com/mtnews.php

Nebraska: NE
http://www.usnpl.com/nenews.php

Nevada: NV
http://www.usnpl.com/nvnews.php

New Hampshire: NH
http://www.usnpl.com/nhnews.php

New Jersey: NJ
http://www.usnpl.com/njnews.php

New Mexico: NM
http://www.usnpl.com/nmnews.php

New York: NY
http://www.usnpl.com/nynews.php

North Carolina: NC - Complete Database Almost Complete and Available to Members
http://www.usnpl.com/ncnews.php

North Dakota: ND
http://www.usnpl.com/ndnews.php

Ohio: OH
http://www.usnpl.com/ohnews.php

Oklahoma: OK
http://www.usnpl.com/oknews.php

Pennsylvania: PA
http://www.usnpl.com/panews.php

Rhode Island: RI
http://www.usnpl.com/rinews.php

South Carolina: SC
http://www.usnpl.com/scnews.php

South Dakota: SD
http://www.usnpl.com/sdnews.php

Tennessee: TN
http://www.usnpl.com/tnnews.php

Texas: TX
http://www.usnpl.com/txnews.php

Utah: UT
http://www.usnpl.com/utnews.php

Vermont: VT
http://www.usnpl.com/vtnews.php

Virginia: VA
http://www.usnpl.com/vanews.php

West Virginia: WV
http://www.usnpl.com/wvnews.php

Wisconsin: WI
http://www.usnpl.com/winews.php

Wyoming: WY
http://www.usnpl.com/wynews.php

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Activity Request(s): Thursday

A Letter to Speaker of the House and Minority Leader and the Senate Majority and Minority Leader

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]

Previous to the economic collapse, some estimates for Americans suffering “bad credit” were 70+ M which is 1/3 of the population between the ages of 20 and 75. Now, post-collapse, with the millions unemployed or under-employed the debt defaults, bankruptcies and foreclosure numbers are astronomical and growing larger every day. Just the following numbers alone tell the story of the ever growing crisis that is not going to improve without jobs:

* 379,000 Bankruptcies Filed Q1, 2010, (17 percent increase over Q1, 2009 during a year in a year which they soared upward by 32%)

* 35% Increase in Foreclosures and a 16% Increase in Foreclosure Notices Q1, 2010 (over Q1, 2009) and 1 in every 4 Homes in America are at least 10+ % “underwater” (a.k.a. upside down).

Since 50+ % of all jobs and 80+ % of all white collar jobs mandate a personal credit check previous to hiring and many companies conduct post-hiring checks to terminate – far more than 1/3 of the working population have been given a financial death sentence with no way out. Perhaps most alarming is the fact companies are increasing the practice instead of decreasing it – as our economy continues to decline along with Americans’ credit reports. The practice is simply wrong even in a good economy, but in this economy it is by far the most cruel and inhuman form of workplace discrimination possible.

For these millions of Americans there is one way out and only one way out: HR3149: The Equal Employment for All Act that has been sitting stalled in the House Committee on Financial Services since August 2009. With exceptions for specific financial positions, the legislation would make it illegal to use personal credit reports to hire and fire. The legislation is an easy quick fix that would allow millions of Americans to get a job or become more gainfully employed in order to fix their damaged credit. Unlike all the current jobs initiatives and those being discussed, this initiative is absolutely free to the American taxpayer and doesn’t add one penny to the deficit.

Americans overwhelmingly support the legislation by as much as 90 percent. With at least 1/3 of the working population locked out of the workforce or barred from changing jobs and the massive number of unemployed, the fragile fabric holding American together cannot hold much longer. These people along with many of the 90 percent in favor of the legislation will vote in November based upon this legislation being passed or not passed. This is not a small number by any means, nor does this issue represent some isolated segment of the population.This legislation will put millions of Americans back to work now and will correct a gross injustice that has gone on for far too long already. Everyone should have the right to work. The American people are suffering in huge numbers and must have relief and your push for HR3149 will bring relief to a huge number of them. I urge you to get behind this legislation and get it moving forward.

[End Sample Letter]

Activity Request: Wednesday

[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 the President

We know from the work of the administration's EEOC in regard to prosecution of workplace discrimination based on personal credit reports that the administration is generally supportive, but we have to raise the profile to get him to push Congress for HR3149. After you have used the link below to submit your letter, please push the link out to friends and family to have them add their voice.

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 or your letter close to the sample provided.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

[SAMPLE LETTER]

Previous to the economic collapse, some estimates for Americans suffering “bad credit” were 70+ M which is 1/3 of the population between the ages of 20 and 75. Now, post-collapse, with the millions unemployed or under-employed the debt defaults, bankruptcies and foreclosure numbers are astronomical and growing larger every day as I’m sure you’re aware.

Since 50+ % of all jobs and 80+ % of all white collar jobs mandate a personal credit check previous to hiring and many companies conduct post-hiring checks to terminate – far more than 1/3 of the working population have been given a financial death sentence with no way out. Perhaps most alarming is the fact companies are increasing the practice instead of decreasing it – as our economy continues to decline along with Americans’ credit reports. The practice is simply wrong even in a good economy, but in this economy it is by far the most cruel and inhuman form of workplace discrimination possible.


For these millions of Americans there is one way out and only one way out: HR3149: The Equal Employment for All Act that has been sitting stalled in the House Committee on Financial Services since August 2009. With exceptions for specific financial positions, the legislation would make it illegal to use personal credit reports to hire and fire. The legislation is an easy quick fix that would allow millions of Americans to get a job or become more gainfully employed in order to fix their damaged credit. Unlike all the current jobs initiatives and those being discussed, this initiative is absolutely free to the American taxpayer and doesn’t add one penny to the deficit. Americans overwhelmingly support the legislation by as much as 90 percent. With at least 1/3 of the working population locked out of the workforce or barred from changing jobs and the massive number of unemployed, the fragile fabric holding American together cannot hold much longer. These people along with many of the 90 percent in favor of the legislation will vote in November based upon this legislation being passed or not passed. This is not a small number by any means, nor does this issue represent some isolated segment of the population.

This legislation will put millions of Americans back to work now and will correct a gross injustice that has gone on for far too long already. Everyone should have the right to work. The American people are suffering in huge numbers and must have relief and your push for HR3149 will bring relief to a huge number of them. I urge you to get behind this legislation and get it moving forward.


[END SAMPLE LETTER]

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Activity Requests: Monday

[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 The Center for American Progress:

The Center for American Progress is a high-profile advocacy group/psuedo-think thank. Whether you agree or disagree with their overall "progressive" orientation is irrelevant to getting HR3149 passed. They have clout, the have media connections and getting just one of their staff on board our cause will greatly assist with media attention. Please do your part to get their attention. The greater the number of e-mails we deliver the greater the perceived need for HR3149.

Remember to save whatever you write somewhere on your computer so you don’t have to recreate the wheel over and over.

[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 really mean? One simple thing: half of America can’t get a job or change jobs for better pay. In just a few short weeks after Congress returns on Sep. 8, beginning in the House Committee on Financial Services, Congress will debate passage of HR3149: The Equal Employment for All Act. For most jobs, the legislation will make it illegal for employers to use an American’s private and personal credit report to hire and fire. Without the help of your group and full mobilization with all the numbers you can muster and groups like yours, the bill doesn’t have even the slightest chance of passing. The reason is simple: money. The big three credit bureaus have already paid out hundreds of thousands of dollars to members of Congress in order to bribe them to protect their revenue stream. In addition to that, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and 19 other business lobbying groups have paid in millions in PAC money. All are poised, ready and sitting with their finger on the trigger to stop passage of HR3149 by calling in their markers and behind the scenes arm twisting. Even if you may be opposed to passage, this pay-to-play outright bribery of Congress to kill a bill that 90 percent of Americans support is horribly wrong and smacks the word “democracy” in the face.

While the issue disproportionately impacts minorities, the truth is no group of Americans is immune in our struggling economy. The FICO numbers in the linked article above guesses at number of 70 million, but the real number is far closer to 100 million since evaluation of credit reports by employers is completely arbitrary. This number includes entry level personnel and professionals such as doctors, lawyers, sales people, marketing people, etc.. The percentage of use of credit reports by employers is now at least 60+ percent of all jobs and 80+ percent of all white collar jobs. No race, profession or socio-economic segment of America is immune.

The sad news is that without your action and full mobilization in support of HR3149, millions of Americans will continue losing their homes, their cars, their dignity and their children will starve. Employment credit checks are a catch 22 with no way out: bad credit = no job and no job = bad credit. America needs you to stand up for the people and fight the corporate greed. 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. Please act now to stop this senseless practice and the needless suffering of millions of your fellow Americans.


Committee Chair, Rep. Barney Frank, (202) 225-5931

House Committee on Financial Services: 71 Members Total

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/committee.xpd?id=HSBA

[End Sample Letter]

Selected E-Mail Contact Points for The Center for American Progress:

kwalter@americanprogress.org

mboteach@halfinten.org

hboushey@americanprogress.org

jrahlan@americanprogress.org

jneurohr@americanprogress.org

dabromowitz@americanprogress.org

apurse@americanprogress.org

mechaveste@americanprogress.org

mettlinger@americanprogress.org

sfulwood@americanprogress.org

jkohli@americanprogress.org

dmadland@americanprogress.org

dmin@americanprogress.org

jmoses@americanprogress.org

aoleary@americanprogress.org

irodriguez@americanprogress.org

arosenblatt@americanprogressaction.org

frotondaro@americanprogress.org

lsoares@americanprogress.org

wstachelberg@americanprogress.org

cweller@americanprogress.org

http://www.americanprogress.org/aboutus/contact.html