H.R. 3149: The Equal Employment for All Act

Activity Request: VERY, VERY IMPORTANT!

2010-12-15T10:40:00.000-08:00

Passage of HR3149 and bills in state legislatures are just one set of tools on our path toward removing employment credit checks from the corporate bag of employment discrimination. Long in coming, we’ve now been given a new tool with which to fight back and it’s called litigation in the court system as well as suits brought by the EEOC. When you fight you fight with the weapons you have! To lay it all out, we’ll start with a suit against the University of Miami that is part of a larger effort outside of the University of Miami suit. For background on the suit, we provide the following link:

http://newsone.com/nation/newsonestaff2/bad-credit-cost-woman-job-at-university-of-miam/

Of course if you are a member of the minority community and have been discriminated against based upon employment credit checks or know someone that has, we’d like for you to use the link below to join the suit. Just as importantly, if not more, please reach out to any member of the minority community anywhere in America that has been discriminated against based on employment credit checks and have them make contact with this NY law firm as well. The more suits we can bring, the more monetary damage and legal precedents we can deliver the greater our chances of removing employment credit reports from the corporate bag of employment discrimination tools. It’s your job to seek out and find all the litigants possible and send them the link below to join the at large pool of potential litigants. Please get this link out to everyone in America.

http://www.creditdiscrimination.net/index.php?option=com_proforms&jid=1&cid=-1&Itemid=89

If you are a white American like we happen to be, we know what you’re thinking and you couldn’t be more WRONG! When our fellow Americans who are members of the minority community win this case and others to follow we all win! We’re in this together, but it’s only the minority community that are currently protected by law against employment discrimination based upon credit reports because of Title 7 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that prohibits discrimination on the basis of race. Because black Americans and Hispanics have a far higher rate of poor credit, they can sue because employment credit checks disproportionately discriminate against them based upon their race.

We address race issues head on and don’t pull punches. Race is just part of reality. It is horribly unfair that white Americans can join this suit, but in regard to litigation within the court system we can only fight with the laws that are passed and on the books and with the exception of 4 states no laws exist to protect everyone. It sucks, it’s unfair and we’re going to change that . . . trust us!

Please do not allow race to divide all Americans impacted by employment credit checks. We’re in this fight together and based upon the laws on the books we need our fellow Americans from the minority community to take the lead. So find them, reach out to them and get the link above into their hands.

Once these suits are won by the minority community, we all win. Here’s why: now way, now how, just not possible will blacks and Hispanics be the only people excluded from employment credit checks!!!!! It’s not going to happen!!!!! Assuming that white America didn’t first take the streets in violence, the law suits based upon "reverse discrimination" will be coming out the wood work so fast and furious that every unemployed lawyer in America will suddenly have a job. Every company in America will get hammered by white Americans and the media will fan the fire to a point where companies will finally say “pulling employment credit reports on anyone of any race is just not worth the legal trouble”. . . the law suits, the outrage and the loss of revenues from “pissed off” Americans of all races that refuse to do business with companies pulling credit reports will finally turn the tide in our favor – not to mention that all this activity will drive passage of HR3149 as well.

This specific suit and all that will follow are a win for all Americans of all races!!! Do not allow division within our ranks! Stand solid with members from the minority community by encouraging them to join in the litigation.

Activity Request and Update

2010-12-08T16:46:00.000-08:00

Where Are We and Where Do We Go From Here?

While many, if not most, political pundits would project that the November 2nd vote lessened our chances of passage of HR3149 in Congress, we see it another way. It made numbers supporting the measure and passion from those numbers far more important. We’ve been out of touch with you for about a month while we’ve been monitoring events and the new political landscape.

It quickly became obvious that nothing was going to happen during the current lame duck session of Congress simply because the agenda was way too overcrowded, so we punted on outreach efforts to Congress and will pick that effort back up after the first of the year. In the meantime, we need you to recruit new members to our group. While we are far from being alone in our fight, our group numbers count for a variety of reasons such as: 1) quick mobilization without the internal political constraints of the many organizations on board for passage and 2) a true grass roots voice of common citizens untainted by some political party agenda. With that said, however, SIZE matters. We need tens of thousands of new members in order to speak with volume when the new Congress convenes in January.

Luckily we’ve been given a great new tool to use in both recruiting and advocacy. It is a series of four separate articles that we were privileged to consult upon. Written by Brenda Krueger Huffman, a new member to our group, who opened the door on a segment of Americans with ruined credit impacted by employment credit checks to long ignored. While much coverage has been focused on the minority and lower socioeconomic aspects of the issue, this is the first series we’re aware of that has highlighted the previous upper income tier of Americans of all races that are being impacted by employment credit checks.

While we have supported our membership in the minority community with outreach efforts specifically geared toward that segment of our membership, the opportunity to highlight a far larger segment of our membership has until now been difficult. With this series of articles, we intend to both reach and call out the previous upper income segment of Americans that have been hiding in the shadows in shame. If you fall into that category, you need to realize that you’ve done nothing for yourself and our cause by lurking in the shadows due to pride. With the Great Recession all stigma to a bad credit report have been removed, but until you make your voice heard, we’ll continue to struggle with passage of legislation to remove employment credit checks from the arsenal of workplace discrimination.

Toward that end, we’d like for all our group members to distribute the entire series of articles, beginning with first one linked below, in an effort to bring more members to our group and more importantly bring more people out of the shadows.

Please share the linked article as follows with every American you know:

http://axcessnews.com/index.php/articles/show/id/21264

Within at least two of the articles, if not all, Brenda has conveniently provided a link to to our FB group, but add it as well to all your verbiage in your recruiting efforts: with a “join our FB PAG at: http://groups.to/h.r.3149 in addition to providing our groups e-mail address at hr3149@hotmail.com with instructions for them to type ”sign me up” in the subject line in order to join our at large group outside of FB. We will shoot you a link to the second, third and fourth articles in the series as they become agailable. Now is the time to push hard to educate and recruit! To slightly paraphrase the words of John Paul Jones “we have just begun to fight!”

In other Employment Credit Check Discrimination News

The EEOC already has one suit under way in Baltimore in regard to employment credit checks and we’re monitoring that suit as it progresses through the courts. In addition, the EEOC recently held hearings in October in regard to employment credit checks and ALL indications are that they are taking the issue very seriously and many more suits will follow the one they have underway in Baltimore. Don't hesitate to make contact with the EEOC with even the hint of the issue employment credit checks being used against you.

Sue, Sue and Sue Some More!

Cases against the use of employment credit checks are gaining in both number and momentum all across the nation. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a related case this session and individuals across the nation are opening their own cases as well. The University of Miami is being sued and we’re awaiting word as to whether that case may give wind to a larger class action suit that we can join in so stay tuned. This could be a HUGE development!

Pay Attention to Your State

While at some point as many as 16 states have considered legislation, New Jersey, Ohio and the District of Columbia seem to be the hottest at the moment. While our limited time and resources preclude us heavily supporting legislation on a state by state basis, we will commit to act as a clearing house for amassing people to work within states and sharing general state based information on our group FB page.

Individually, we’d love to hear from all residents within North Carolina who would like to get involved with initiating a state push. If you’d like to get involved just let us know.

Just Keep Fighting!!!!

The key is to fight, fight, fight in every way, at ever level of government whether it is at the national level, the state level or in the court system. We will win this battle and every day, unfortunatly, the numbes of credit distressed Americans say we will win, but NOT if they continue to hide in the shadows. Stand up, be proud, be strong and fight like hell for your right to work free from workplace discrimination. We will not be starved by the profits and greed of the big three credit bureaus and the politicans they have bought off and bribed.

Activity Request: "Thank You" to HFS hearing participants

2010-11-12T04:24:00.000-08:00

After a long break in activity requests, we have to pick it up again to utilize the upcoming lame duck session of Congress to push for passage. Although, passage is supported by at least 80+ percent of Americans, we’re not going to insult your intelligence by pretending that if we don’t get this passed during the upcoming lame duck session, that begins on Nov. 15, that our odds of passage won’t fall dramatically after the first of the year. Quite frankly, as far a Federal protection throughout the entire nation, it may be now or never due to the "new political realities" in Washington.

We’ll start out with the outreach below to members of the House Financial Services Committee that seemed to favor passage during their questioning at the hearing on Sep. 23 (click on the “archived webcast” link off the following linked page to watch the hearing if you wish http://financialservices.house.gov/Hearings/hearingDetails.aspx?NewsID=1355 then we’ll follow-up with other efforts in the coming days.

We’ve provided the following sample letter just as a point of reference because contacting most of these House members is not as straight forward as simply sending an e-mail in most cases. The point is to make contact via phone, fax and e-mail if we’ve provided a contact point. If we didn’t provide one or more of the three contact vehicles, below the sample letter, it simply means it wasn’t an available option.

[Sample letter/e-mail/message]

Thank you for your participation in the recent House hearing on HR3149. From your astute questions and comments it’s obvious that you get it. Employment Credit Checks are a worthless employment evaluation tool that only serve to put revenues into the coffers of the big three credit bureaus as well as unscrupulous resellers of credit information for purposes of employment evaluation.

No study, no data, no validation whatsoever exists for any rational human being to conclude that the personal credit information of a U.S. citizen, provided to any company or H.R. representative, delivers any value as an employment screening tool. The “living beyond one’s means” bar used in testimony during the hearing to block passage of HR3149 applies to at least 85 percent of all Americans. By that standard, only 15 percent of Americans should be allowed to work.

Fair, Isaac and Company (FICO) reported in April, 43.4 million of America's 170 million consumers had credit scores below 599. That's more than 25 percent of all consumers in this country, up from the pre-recession tally of 15 percent, or 25.5 million consumers. FICO's benchmark for "bad credit" is anything under 650, and anything under 700 is considered a "moderate credit" number. The number of recession-damaged Americans with credit scores under 700 is now 75 million, or 44.1 percent of consumers.

The problem is that HR3149 has been discussed long enough. Your fellow citizens are literally dying in some cases due to this draconian, heartless application of a credit report “scarlet letter” upon anyone with damaged credit that needs to work to put food on the table. The house has had two hearings, the EEOC has had a hearing, at least 4 states now have laws barring use of credit reports in employment (at least 16 other states are considering legislation) and the issue is finally receiving a significant amount of media coverage that’s long overdue.

Now, during the upcoming lame duck session of Congress, is the time for passage. If Nov. 2 said anything, it said one thing loud and clear: jobs and the economy are just about the only thing Americans really care about, but for two years Congress focused on anything but jobs and the economy. HR3149 is about jobs! It simply allows people to work, hold a job and earn a living.

Please refocus and make jobs and the economy the top priority by working to pass HR3149 during the upcoming lame duck session. At least 80+ percent of the American people support passage and it’s time that Congress listened to the people for a change.

You’ve had the hearings, you know that almost half of the entire U.S. population is impacted, you’re aware, or very well should be, that upwards of 30 million Americans are under or unemployed and you just got a clear undeniable message from voters that jobs and the economy are priority No. 1!

If not during the lame duck session then when — you know the answer to that question. It’s now or never to stand up for the people and do the right thing by passing HR3149 before the window of opportunity is closed for good.

[End Sample letter/e-mail/message]

House Contacts:

Chairman Gutierrez, IL
202.225.8203 in D.C. or 773.342.0774 in IL
e-Mail: fsdwebupdate@mail.house.gov
or
https://forms.house.gov/gutierrez/webforms/zip_auth.shtm

Congressman Steve Cohen, TN
1005 Longworth House Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20515
PH: 202.225.3265
FX: 202.225.5663

Congressman Mel Watt, NC
2304 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515-3312
PH: 202.225.1510
FX: 202.225.1512

Congressman Al Green, TX
236 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-4309
PH: 202.225-7508
FX: 202.225-2947

Congressman David Scott, GA
225 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
PH: 202.225.2939
FX: 202.225.4628

Congresswoman Maxine Waters, CA
2344 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
PH: (202) 225-2201
FX: (202) 225-7854

Very Important Activity Request!!!!

2010-10-24T08:04:00.000-07:00

We’re moving forward and the use of employment credit checks has never had more news coverage in a single week than with this week’s hearing by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). For some of the coverage simply click on the links we’ve provided on our group wall, but the following link was the most high profile and the best we’ve seen: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/23/AR2010102300314.html?hpid=topnews

Please send the writer an e-mail at singletarym@washpost.com to thank her for the article and encourage her to provide more reporting on this critical issue. Coverage in the WP is as good as it gets for our cause and we need more of it. You may also want to include some of the information contained in the sample letter below.

Please Mail Five Letters this Week to the EEOC

Ms. Jacqueline Berrien, Chair
Mr. Stuart J. Ishimaru, Commissioner
Ms. Constance S. Barker, Commissioner
Ms. Chai Feldblum, Commissioner
Ms. Victoria A. Lipnic, Commissioner

Mailing Address for All Five Letters:

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
131 M Street, NEWashington, DC 20507

[Sample Letter]
As evidenced by your hearing last week on the use of credit checks within the employment arena, I’m encouraged that you’re finally beginning to address the issue. With that said however, I’m alarmed at two issues: 1) The massive amount of misinformation being pumped into the discussion and 2) The lack of concern and sense of immediate need on the part of the commission. I’ll address the misinformation first:

* This is NOT some small insignificant problem impacting only a few black and Hispanic people.

* Fair, Isaac and Company (FICO) just reported that as of April 2010, 43.4 million of America's 170 million consumers had credit scores below 599. That's more than 25 percent of all consumers in this country, up from the pre-recession tally of 15 percent, or 25.5 million consumers. FICO's benchmark for "bad credit" is anything under 650, and anything under 700 is considered a "moderate credit" number. The number of recession-damaged Americans with credit scores under 700 is now 75 million, or 44.1 percent of consumers.

* Virtually no one within any company or corporate HR department has any training, yardstick or clue as to how and by what measure to evaluate a consumer credit report.

* Virtually no one has or ever will be given any opportunity to “explain their credit report” (nor should they have to with an employer). The employer simply moves on to the next applicant . . . job filled.

* Virtually no company ever follows the current laws in place whereby an applicant is notified they were denied employment due to their credit report. The company just moves on to the next candidate and says they were a “better fit.” The law is not monitored or enforced by the FTC contrary to their testimony.

With just some of the misinformation corrected above, please consider first and foremost that employment credit checks are a gross invasion of an individual’s privacy. Everyone in America should be allowed to work if they are willing and ZERO evidence exists to validate or document that someone with poor credit is more likely to steal or commit fraud within the workplace. The “living beyond one’s means” criteria used in testimony does not hold water, because that describes 85% of the American population. Do you live beyond your means?

In closing, the issue of employment credit checks is the No. 1 issue in America along with jobs and the economy. With damaged credit, in America, you don’t work anywhere that pays a living wage . . . end of story. With 30+ million un or under-employed Americans someone out of the five applicants for every job will still have good credit and they get the job . . . it’s just that simple!

Imagine for a moment, if you can, that you don’t have a big job at the EEOC and you are well qualified to work but have damaged credit. You have two children at home that need to be clothed and fed and everywhere you apply to work you’re turned down because of your credit report. Children are starving and people are committing suicide because of employment credit checks . . . that’s the reality!

So when you conclude that the issue “needs more research and study” ask yourself how many more children will starve and how many more people will die while you are studying the issue? Ask yourself if “more study” would be acceptable if it was your children starving?

Employment credit checks are one thing and one thing ONLY: a money making revenue stream for the big three credit bureaus. They have no validity or relevance in the workplace whatsoever. No research or evidence backs up their use within the employment arena. More than 75 million of your fellow Americans don’t have the time or luxury for “more study.” There is no food on the table, there are rags on the backs of our children, our homes are being taken away and our cars are being repossessed . . . all so the big three credit bureaus can make a buck and for no other reason whatsoever.

I ask you to move and move quickly with any further “study” to end this horrible practice that should have never been allowed to begin in the first place. Now, however, during the Great Recession it is more important than ever before.

[End Sample Letter]

Tuesday/Wednesday Media Outreach

2010-09-18T20:12:00.001-07:00

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

Crooks and Liars crooksandliars@gmail.com

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

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

Voice of America voanews@voanews.com

The American Prospect letters@prospect.org

ZCom zmag@zmag.org

Free Press
jsilver@freepress.net

caaron@freepress.net

cclement@freepress.net

jkelsey@freepress.net

Real Clear Politics.com
letters@realclearpolitics.com
john@realclearpolitics.com
tom@realclearpolitics.com

AOL News newsroom@aolnews.com

Political Wire
tips@politicalwire.com

CQ Politics cqpolitics2@cq.com

Monday/Tuesday Media Outreach

2010-09-18T20:11:00.001-07:00

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

The American Prospect
letters@prospect.org

The Daily Howler bobsomerby@hotmail.com

Call the Ed Schultz Show between daily between 12 – 3 EST877.934.6833
During the show between 12 – 3 EST use the following contact link/e-mail to flood the show with e-mails: ed@edschultzshow.com and use http://www.bigeddieradio.com/emailEd/ before and after the show.

Mother Jones scoop@motherjones.com

Washington Independent
alowrey@washingtonindependent.com
mlillis@washingtonindependent.com
awiener@washingtonindependent.com
rhartman@washingtonindependent.com

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

The Grio info@thegrio.com

Roland Martin roland@rolandsmartin.com

Santita Jackson Show santita@wvon.com

The Root readerfeedback@theroot.com

The Raw Story
ron@rawstory.com

larisa@rawstory.com
sahilkapur@gmail.com

The Real News Network

http://www.therealnews.com/t2/contact-us

Counter Punch counterpunch@counterpunch.org

Drudge Report drudge@drudgereport.com

Salon
readermail@salon.com
jwalsh@salon.com

klauerman@salon.com

Truthdig feedback@truthdig.com

Freepress.org truth@freepress.org

Open Left christopher_j_bowers@yahoo.com

NYT, Paul Krugman http://www.nytimes.com/gst/emailus.html

Washington Post http://projects.washingtonpost.com/staff/email/ezra+klein/

Sunday/Monday Media Outreach

2010-09-18T20:10:00.000-07:00

ABC News
Fire off a less than 2000 character note to Mr. Stephanopoulus via the following link: http://abcnews.go.com/Site/page?id=3052660

Associated PressGeneral Questions and Comments: info@ap.org

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

CBS NewsCBS Evening News: evening@cbsnews.com

The Early Show: earlyshow@cbs.com

Use the following link and hit: CBS Evening News http://www.cbs.com/info/user_services/fb_global_form.php

CNBC
mailto:%20info@cnbc.com

Fox News Channel
comments@foxnews.com

FOX Report with Shepard Smith: Foxreport@foxnews.com

MSNBC/NBC

Hardball with Chris Matthews: hardball@msnbc.com

Obermann Countdown@msnbc.com

Maddow rachel@msnbc.com

MSNBC Reports with Joe Scarborough: joe@msnbc.com

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

NBC News Today: today@nbc.com

PBS The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer: mailto:onlineda@newshour.org

Select “Submit a Story Idea” http://help.npr.org/npr/includes/customer/npr/custforms/contactus.aspx

The Los Angeles Times Readers' Representative: readers.rep@latimes.com

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.html

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

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

The New York Times
Write to the news editors: news-tips@nytimes.com

The Editors
executive-editor@nytimes.com
managing-editor@nytimes.com

The Newsroom bizday@nytimes.com
metro@nytimes.com
washington@nytimes.com

public@nytimes.com

USA Today Letters to the Editor: editor@usatoday.com

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

Huffington Post

huffpolitics@huffingtonpost.com

The Daily Democrat
pamela@thedemocraticdaily.com

Common Dreams
editor@commondreams.org

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

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

Actitity Requests: Sunday through Wednesday

2010-09-18T18:33:00.000-07:00

You’ve fought beside us this far and with a hearing Thursday we’ve broken through the enemy’s first line of defense. Tired, beleaguered and on empty stomachs we have to finish the fight with a massive media push between now and midnight on Tuesday. We know you want to cringe when you hear the words “media outreach,” but it’s our only weapon we have to tip the scales in our favor by shining light on the hearing and bringing more warriors to our cause. Otherwise Congress will sell us out. While the outreach lists we’re providing are long, it’s just a mindless copy, paste, edit, send numbers game . . . the more we send the better our chances of media coverage and success. Think big, think homeruns and think success. A couple more weeks or so and we’ll either have a law or be able to take a long break. We’re thinking law, we thinking homerun NOW! So let’s get started . . .

PS Don’t forget to watch the hearing on Thursday at 10 via the following link and give us your feedback. We’ll evaluate and react accordingly . . .
http://financialservices.house.gov/Hearings/hearingDetails.aspx?NewsID=1355

[Sample Letter/e-Mail]

Subj. Line: Please Cover the Issue and Hearing on Thursday!

The ONLY issue important to the overwhelming majority of Americans is the “Jobs and Economy” issue. Despite all the banter and political noise, the ONLY quick fix that can be accomplished with the simple stroke of a presidential pen is HR3149: The Equal Employment for All Act. It simply allows highly qualified Americans the right to work by banning employment credit checks for most jobs. Without passage, extensions to unemployment insurance just delay an inevitable dead-end when benefits run out and any jobs created are out of reach for almost half of the entire U.S. workforce. The numbers as detailed in the following linked article don’t lie:

Truthout
http://www.truth-out.org/one-less-privacy-intrusion-bill-end-pre-employment-credit-checks63283

Against the overwhelming odds of vote buying via millions in PAC money from the big three credit bureaus, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and 19 other business lobbying groups “we the people” with no money have moved the legislation forward to a hearing on Thursday at 10:00.

Legislative Hearing on H.R. 3149, the Equal Employment for All Act
http://financialservices.house.gov/Hearings/hearingDetails.aspx?NewsID=1355

Yes, hearings happen every day and this will not be news unless you make it news. Without YOU covering the hearing and the issue, HR3149 will never make it out of committee . . . it’s just that simple. Millions more of your fellow Americans will lose their homes, cars, dignity and their children will needlessly starve.

Lowly citizens with no money and many with no job have fought to somehow move the issue to a hearing. We’re fighting Goliath with pebbles and slingshots and without YOU we’ll be crushed under the corporate boot that has stolen our American democracy from the people. There is no issue more critical or more important to 75 million of your fellow citizens . . . please see to it that the issue is heard and the legislation is fast-tracked to passage by covering the hearing and the issue. Lives and livelihoods hang in the balance and ONLY YOU can tip the scale of justice to end the needless genocide brought about by this invasion of privacy and workplace discrimination.

[End Sample Letter]

Sunday/Monday Media Outreach
http://hr3149.blogspot.com/2010/09/sundays-media-outreach.html

Monday/Tuesday Media Outreach
http://hr3149.blogspot.com/2010/09/mondays-media-outreach.html

Tuesday/Wednesday Media Outreach
http://hr3149.blogspot.com/2010/09/tuesdays-media-outreach.html

Activity Requests: URGENT! We Need YOU!!!!!

2010-09-15T18:01:00.000-07:00

After months and months of writing and rewriting the following linked article we finally got it published!!! It could not have come at a better time when we needed it more than ever. I cuts through much of the double-speak and delivers our message loud and clear! PLEASE HELP US get the message out to more readers and to members of Congress, etc..

Truthout:
http://www.truth-out.org/one-less-privacy-intrusion-bill-end-pre-employment-credit-checks63283

1) Please add your comments to the linked article above . . . as many as possible and pass the article link to everyone you know.

2) Click on the Newsvine link below and vote on the article as many times as allowed. Just keep voting it up! This will make it rise in readership and get the word out to more people. Make comments as well . . .
http://hr3149.newsvine.com/_news/2010/09/15/5117914-t-r-u-t-h-o-u-t-one-less-privacy-intrusion-bill-to-end-pre-employment-credit-checks

3) E-Mail, Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House: use link below, add name, e-mail address, zip, copy a link to the article and paste into form, then add a note for her to simply read the article and move the legislation forward for a hearing now! Flood her and just keep sending it over and over and over!
http://speaker.house.gov/contact/

4) Financial Services Committee e-Mail: Copy a link to the article and paste into the form, then add a note for the committee to simply read the article and move the legislation forward for a hearing now! Flood them and just keep sending it over and over and over!
http://financialservices.house.gov/contact/contact.shtml

5) Print the article and FAX it to Barney Frank as many times as possible at
(202) 225-0182 !!!!! Just keep faxing!!!!!
For Barney Frank Constituents (ONLY) use following e-mail link to copy a link to the article and e-mail it to him over and over:
https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

6) Use the link below to contact the White House . . . copy a link to the article, add your comments and ask him to push for passage of the bill.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact?utm_source=email75&utm_medium=footer&utm_campaign=economy

7) Contact Your Members of Congress

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

7A) 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 a link to the article and ask them to read it a pass the bill then hit “send message.” If you can, please print a copy and FAX it to them as well . . .

7B) 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, paste in a link to the article and ask them to read it a pass the bill and hit “send.” If you can, please print a copy and FAX it to them as well . . .

8) Nominate the Article for a Sidney Award
Please take the time, using the link below, to nominate the article for a Sidney Award which if selected will give the article much, much more exposure to more people.
http://www.hillmanfoundation.org/nominations-1

9) Please shoot a linked copy of the article out to all your FB friends, e-mail friends and paste on your FB wall. Ask them to join the cause, our FB group, etc.

Contact Your Member of the House

2010-09-11T09:03:00.000-07:00

1) Contact Your Member of the House

DON’T FORGET TO PICK UP THE PHONE AND CALL as well as e-mail your member of the House to push for a hearing on HR3149 NOW! These people work for YOU and YOU pay them $170 K per year so make them earn it. Don't just leave a message or speak to some clerk or underling, demand to speak to YOUR representative personally (even if you don't it still makes more of a point).

They’re asking for your vote in a few weeks, so ask them what have they done for you in regard to passing HR3149? Hold them accountable and don’t allow them to say it’s in committee and they have no recourse to help . . . ask them to pick up the phone and contact Barney Frank and Nancy Pelosi to demand a hearing NOW!

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

Contact YOUR member 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 your letter, edit to suit you and hit “send message.”

[Sample e-Mail]

In just a few short weeks I’m going to vote, but since I’ve written and called repeatedly for passage of HR3149: The Equal Employment for All Act and have yet to see a mark-up hearing . . . my vote is up in the air. Jobs and the economy, of which HR3149 is a huge part, is the No. 1 issue in America and HR3149 has sat stalled because of PAC money and lobbyists for more than a year. With all due respect that’s NOT democracy by 90 percent of the people who support passage and it’s completely unacceptable! Corporations are NOT citizens . . .

More than 75 million Americans are barred from changing jobs for higher pay or locked out of the workplace entirely because their credit scores are below 700. This is not some minor issue, it’s a national crisis and it demands attention before you break to campaign and ask for my vote. Please pick-up the phone and call Barney Frank and Nancy Pelosi and demand a mark-up hearing so America can get back to work. Almost half the entire U.S. workforce is now impacted by credit scores, but with five applicants for every job that exist the discrimination will just continue as long as it is allowed by law. Haven’t enough Americans lost their homes and cars already? Why would you condone throwing even more Americans out into the streets just so the credit bureaus can make a buck off selling credit reports?

You’re my representative in the House so I have no choice but to hold you responsible in November if there is no mark-up hearing before you break to campaign. Please, please, please do the right thing for the American people and contact Barney Frank and Nancy Pelosi today to demand a hearing on HR3149. I’ll be voting based upon your ability to get this accomplished and appreciate your efforts. The time has come to do what’s right for the American workforce. Humans can't just sit and wait on food, let’s get this done before more children needlessly go hungry.

[End sample e-Mail]

Activity Request: Ask the AFL-CIO . . .

2010-09-09T20:04:00.000-07:00

We know this is our third activity request in one week and we’re aware that frequent messages do NOT go over well, but we’re in the trenches fighting with all we have and this was an opportunity to good to pass up. The AFL-CIO is officially on board supporting HR3149, but to date they have not lifted one finger, that we’re aware of, to support passage - even though we have tried repeatedly on this end to connect. They have the type of numbers and clout in Washington to go up against the U.S. Chamber of Commerce so let’s use the linked opportunity below to ask AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka why there has been no support to date and ask him to please support the legislation. If you are a member of the AFL-CIO or any labor union, please use this opportunity to bring your union to the table to fight for HR3149.

Submit your HR3149 Question:
http://www.aflcio.org/aboutus/askofficers/index.cfm

[Sample Question – Please DO NOT just copy this question, paste and send, but instead edit to reflect your personality and perspectives . . . in other words we do NOT want this to look like what it is ;-) a.k.a. not spontaneous] 50 Words MAX

Why no support for passage of HR3149: The Equal Employment for All Act? According to FICO more than 75 million Americans now have a credit score under 700 a.k.a. “bad credit.” With 30 million people under or unemployed there is no issue more important than outlawing workplace credit checks.

[End Sample Question]

PS If we can bring the AFL-CIO strong to the table we can cease sending activity requests and just kick-back and watch this legislation pass ;-) Please try!

3) Activity Requests: Madam Speaker

2010-09-07T10:27:00.000-07:00

Madam Speaker Outreach Efforts . . .

We have to use this week’s window to turn up the heat. Please continue to hammer Nancy Pelosi with your calls and e-mails. Call the following number and use the e-mail contact form over and over and over . . . then repeat! We have to flood these contact points NOW. Please help!!!!!

(202) 225-0100

E-Mail Ms. Pelosi:
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/

[Sample Letter]

HR3149 is a Silver Bullet for November and Employment

How can America go into the voting booth in November knowing that a jobs and economy fix has been sitting stalled in the House, Financial Services Committee for more than a year? It’s called HR3149: The Equal Employment for All Act and it would allow 75+ million Americans to get a job or change jobs. According to FICO more than 75 million Americans now have a credit score under 700. With only 139 million Americans currently employed, it means that more than half fall under a FICO score of 700. Even SHRM who is opposed to HR3149 admits this discrimination is being used in 70+ percent of all businesses. More than 26 percent of Americans have suffered a period of unemployment since 2007 and many of these Americans have taken a pay cut to become reemployed. As many as 26 million Americans who are under or unemployed are now locked out of the workplace or barred from changing jobs because of their credit reports. The numbers are now approaching the level of national catastrophe if you happen to be among the under or unemployed. Passage is good for jobs, good for the economy and good for the Democrats in November if and only if it is fast-tracked and passed. All informed Americas know that bribes via PAC money are buying off committee members to keep the legislation stalled. Please encourage Committee Chairman Barney Frank to schedule a mark-up hearing now and then push for fast tracking passage of HR3149.

More than 75 million voters are watching and waiting as they lose their jobs, homes, cars and their children go hungry because they are locked out of the workplace via employment credit check discrimination. Please give them a reason to vote for the party in charge by passing HR3149.

[End Sample Letter]

1) Outreach e-Mail to all friends, family and acquaintances

2010-09-05T16:35:00.000-07:00

Outreach e-Mail to all friends, family and acquaintances

Please copy the sample e-mail below into your e-mail software, edit to suit you and send to every single American you know. We need thousands and thousands of Americans to respond.

[Sample e-Mail]

SUBJ: Please Support Your Fellow Americans Right to Work!

Please join with your fellow Americans in the fight to pass HR3149: The Equal Employment for All Act that would make it illegal for employers to use YOUR personal credit report to hire and fire. At present 75+ million Americans have FICO Scores less than 700 (a.k.a. "bad credit") and are locked out of the workplace or barred from changing jobs due to discrimination via workplace credit checks. With only 139 million Americans currently employed, it means that more than half of the entire workforce fall under a FICO score of 700. More than 26 percent of Americans have suffered a period of unemployment since 2007 and many of these Americans have taken a pay cut to become reemployed. How can someone fix their credit report if they can’t get a job or change jobs for better pay? It’s a catch 22 with no way out and it is wrong!

During the second most horrible economic disaster in our history, employers are increasing the use of employment credit checks instead of decreasing them. Currently at least 70 percent of all employers are hiring and firing based upon an American’s personal credit report. You know it’s wrong, but it won’t end without your help. Barney Frank, Chairman of the Financial Services Committee where the legislation has been stalled for more than a year has thus far refused to schedule a mark-up hearing. He is quoted as saying that he “doesn’t know if it’s a big enough priority” to waste his time on. Please let him know that it is part of the jobs and economy fix and it is PRIORITY I for every single American. Please call him via all the numbers below several times per day every single day until he schedules a mark-up hearing. Time is running out, we must act NOW to protect the American workforce that has been mutilated by this economy. Please stand up for your fellow Americans in their time of need.

Rep. Barney Frank
(202) 224-3121 (Congressional Switchboard)
(617) 332-3920
(508) 999-6462
(508) 822-4796

(202) 225–4247 Financial Services Committee

Financial Services Committee e-Mail
http://financialservices.house.gov/contact/contact.shtml

PLEASE CALL EVERY NUMBER AS MANY TIMES PER DAY AS POSSIBLE AND SEND AS MANY E-MAILS AS POSSIBLE . . . DON’T STOP UNTIL WE HAVE A HEARING AND WIN THIS BATTLE.

The big three credit bureaus, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and 19 other corporate business groups are bribing congress to kill this legislation. don’t allow our democracy to be bought, support the will of 90 percent of the people that support hr3149.

PLEASE FORWARD THIS E-MAIL TO EVERY SINGLE AMERICAN YOU KNOW!!!!

[End Sample e-Mail]

2) Rep. Barney Frank Siege!!!

2010-09-05T16:26:00.000-07:00

Rep. Barney Frank Siege!!!

As noted in our friends and family e-mail outreach, Barney isn’t sure at this moment that Americans being starved, losing their homes and their children going hungry due to employment credit checks is “a big enough priority” to schedule a mark-up hearing. He did however think that taking $25 K in 2008 from the big three credit bureaus was a priority . . .

PLEASE let him know IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS that "we the people" are priority one in America and a mark-up hearing on HR3149 NOW is our top priority! You simply cannot call enough times, or send enough messages 10 times a day or more if that’s what it takes! This is probably our only chance, so let’s don’t blow it by being apathetic and complacent. Act now or regret if forever! It’s been a long march to get to this stage so let’s engage with everything we can muster to demand a mark-up hearing NOW!

Rep. Barney Frank
(202) 224-3121 (Congressional Switchboard) Ring these numbers off the hook!!!!!
(617) 332-3920
(508) 999-6462
(508) 822-4796

For Barney Frank Constituents (ONLY) use following e-mail link: https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

(202) 225–4247 Financial Services Committee

Financial Services Committee e-Mail (Flood them with e-mails!!!!! every single day!!!!!)
http://financialservices.house.gov/contact/contact.shtml

[Sample Letter]

ATTN: Barney Frank

Half of the Entire Workforce is Not a Priority?

According to FICO more than 75 million Americans now have a credit score under 700. With only 139 million Americans currently employed, it means that more than half fall under a FICO score of 700. More than 26 percent of Americans have suffered a period of unemployment since 2007 and many of these Americans have taken a pay cut to become reemployed. As many as 26 million Americans who are under or unemployed are now locked out of the workplace or barred from changing jobs because of their credit reports. The numbers are now approaching the level of national catastrophe if you happen to be among the under or unemployed.

If my information is correct you were quoted as saying that scheduling a mark-up hearing on HR3149 “may not be a big enough priority.” What on earth could be more important than food on people's tables? Please tell me my information is incorrect by scheduling a mark-up hearing after more than a year’s delay. This is a jobs and the economy issue and there is no other issue more important to the American people . . . especially with citizens walking into the voting booths in just a few short weeks.

Does Washington need to see the body bags before they will act to protect the American people? You simply can’t get a job in America without a stellar credit report and it’s not only the CFOs being checked as the credit bureaus would lead members of Congress believe. Even SHRM who is opposed to HR3149 admits the discrimination is being used in 70+ percent of all businesses. Believe it or not some babysitters now have to pass credit checks to get a job. The situation is completely out of control and the time is now to lift the boot of corporations off the neck of the people. Simply allow people to work . . . is that too much to ask?

On behalf of the American people, the children starving, the spouses and extended families, please schedule a mark-up hearing now on HR3149. Please work to fast track passage of a bill before more people lose their homes, cars and are thrown out into the streets. The days of corporate big brother violating the privacy of American citizens for the right to work must come to an end. Please immediately schedule a mark-up hearing!

[End Sample Letter]

3) Contact the Ed Schultz Show

2010-09-05T15:49:00.000-07:00

Contact the Ed Schultz Show

Shultz has a huge audience and he was integral in getting the recent unemployment extension passed so we know he can do the job for HR3149. We just have to get him tuned in and talking . . . work the horn and the e-mails repeatedly to get him focused and moving on getting Barney Frank to schedule a mark-up hearing NOW!

Call the Ed Schultz Show between daily between 12 – 3 EST
877.934.6833

Use the e-mail addresses below daily to get Ed’s attention to work for a mark-up hearing and passage of HR3149.

During the show between 12 – 3 EST use the following contact link/e-mail to flood the show with e-mails:
ed@edschultzshow.com

Before and after the show times, please use the

http://www.bigeddieradio.com/emailEd/

vern@edschultzshow.com

wendyjoschultz@yahoo.com

[Sample Letter]

Dear Ed:

Please help your fellow Americans by forcing Rep. Barney Frank, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee to finally schedule a mark-up hearing on HR3149: The Equal Employment for All Act. For most jobs, the legislation would make it illegal for employers to use an American’s personal credit report to hire and fire. Now, after Wall Street’s greed destroyed the economy, more than 75 million Americans have credit scores under 700 and the number is growing higher faster than ever. With only 139 million Americans currently employed, it means that more than half of the current workforce fall under a FICO score of 700. More than 26 percent of Americans have suffered a period of unemployment since 2007 and many of these Americans have taken a pay cut to become reemployed. As many as 26 million Americans who are under or unemployed are now locked out of the workplace or barred from changing jobs because of their credit reports. The numbers are now approaching the level of national catastrophe if you happen to be among the under or unemployed.

Bad credit means no job and no job equals bad credit. There is simply no way out without passage of HR3149 and there is no way to get a mark-up hearing scheduled without your audience and help. Please have members of your audience contact Barney Frank now to demand that he schedule a mark-up hearing and stop stalling he legislation.

Rep. Barney Frank
(202) 224-3121 (Congressional Switchboard)

[End Sample e-mail]

What Are Our Chances?

2010-08-29T02:58:00.000-07:00

Right now our chances of getting HR3149 out of committee and passed are about 50/50. It’s being hotly debated within the Financial Services Committee and we’re right on the cusp of having it scheduled for a mark-up hearing. If we can get it to a mark-up hearing our chances go way, way up!

We need help, we need more groups beyond the 30 or so that are officially on board behind the cause because some of the groups we have are small and most are passive. The opposition in organized and ready to strike with thousands of employees who will write, call etc. to stop passage so we must do our part to bring more fighters to our cause via groups with numbers, contacts, etc. This week’s outreach effort is intense and heavy with lots of contact points in an effort to bring more troops to our side going into the battle. We simply have to bring more of these groups to the battlefield or we’re doomed.
So please get your letters out this week to bring more warriors into the fight and don’t forget to recruit new members to our group. Stand side by side and fight to defeat greed and to remove the corporate boot off the neck of the American people!!!

Let’s Get Them Talking!!!!

2010-08-21T13:18:00.000-07:00

We’ve been remiss in addressing the talk radio outlets for far too long, but the reason why is somewhat complex. Even though HR3149 is a populist issue with support of 90 percent of Americans, some on the right have been resistant and slow to come to the table. That is starting to change as evidenced by a conversation we had this week with the office of one of our two Senators, a Republican who called us. He's leaning toward supporting a watered down version of HR3149, but we advised that's NOT going to cut it. Nonetheless, rest assured that this battle for passage of HR3149 is just over the horizon and Congress is well aware of the issue no matter what your members may tell you. They are ALL aware of it, but they are trying to figure out a way to keep the money that’s been stuffed in their pockets to defeat it without getting voted out of office in November. If they vote with the money, we're going to do everything in our power to remove them from office.

Our goal this week is to get the talk radio outlets moving their mouths with a solution for something instead of endless banter of left, right hate mongering. The activity requests Monday thru Thursday are just a starting point for you. Please do a simple Google search by typing in “Talk Radio” and then type in the name of your city and or state. Then start calling and writing . . . this is a numbers game and 99 percent about effort and only one percent about being some type of activist genius. Please put forth some effort . . . at the Federal level to pass nationwide protection, this upcoming shot previous to November is the best shot we may ever have. After November, if something were to get passed our chances of any real legislation with teeth dim greatly.

Activity Requests: Thursday

2010-08-21T12:34:00.000-07:00

Simply use the Talk Radio Outreach letter you created on Monday and hit the contact points below:

jim@wnir.com

phil@wnir.com

slakefield@wor710.com

http://900amwurd.com/contact-us/

wxei@radio.fm

condace.pressley@coxradio.com

Activity Request(s): Wednesday

2010-08-21T12:33:00.000-07:00

Simply use the Talk Radio Outreach letter you created on Monday and hit the contact points below:

leigh@nytalkradio.net

staff@oraclebroadcasting.com

programming@radiosandysprings.com

http://www.wabcradio.com/contactus.asp

bcarl@wcbm.com

news@wibc.com

Activity Request(s): Tuesday . . .

2010-08-21T12:32:00.000-07:00

Simply use the Talk Radio Outreach letter you created on Monday and hit the contact points below:

alltalkradio@gmail.com

souza@freethoughtradio.com

http://www.green960.com/pages/contact.html

manager@kconlineradio.com

http://www.kgoam810.com/Article.asp?id=456314

http://www.publicradio.org/applications/formbuilder/user/form_display.php?form_code=53214004afb5

Activity Requests: Monday

2010-08-21T12:31:00.000-07:00

[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.]

Talk Radio Outreach
Simply copy the sample letter below, jump down to the contact points below the sample letter, paste, edit to suit you or write a letter of your own, paste and send. Please do include the linked articles at the top of the sample letter to validate the issue.

[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 IRAs
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38783832/ns/business-your_retirement/

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

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

This is about submission to the almighty corporation and handing total control over every aspect of someone’s life just for the right to work. Once they have your credit report the employer knows just how little they can get away with paying (in the rare event someone with bad credit is ever hired). With the worst economy since the Great Depression and more jobs moving to third world countries every day, the corporations are now in the driver’s seat like never before. Through PAC money, corporations now own Congress 100 percent and they are daring them to pass HR3149.

The bribes are working for one reason and one reason only, because of you, the American media, the so called free press now controlled by the corporations as well. The people have no money to bribe anyone in Congress, Wall Street greed saw to that. All we have is you and you alone. You’re our one and only hope. If you don’t cover the story and get the word out to the American people they can’t support the legislation in large numbers simply because they don’t know it exists. The practice of locking people out of the workplace based upon their credit report during this economy is wrong, it’s sick, it’s inhuman and amounts to class genocide albeit more slow than a bullet . . . America needs you to stand up for the people like we’ve never needed you before in our history. If not for the people with ruined credit, do it for their children, their spouses, their extended families and all generations of Americans that follow. If rumors are correct, a mark-up hearing on the bill (the first sign of any movement to date) is coming in just a few short weeks when Congress returns from recess so your coverage of HR3149 in a timely manner is critical.

[End Sample Letter]

Contact Info.: Talk Radio Outlets

RandyGorbman@wham1180.com

https://www.daveramsey.com/radio/email-dave/

jeffhenderson@clearchannel.com

760comments@kfmb.com

wgy@clearchannel.com

Click on link, select “News Tips”
http://www.850koa.com/pages/pop/feedback_pop.html

Activity Request(s): Thursday

2010-08-15T09:37:00.001-07:00

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

Mother Jones
scoop@motherjones.com

The Raw Story

ron@rawstory.com

larisa@rawstory.com

sahilkapur@gmail.com

The Real News Network

http://www.therealnews.com/t2/contact-us

Counter Punch
counterpunch@counterpunch.org

Drudge Report
drudge@drudgereport.com

Salon
readermail@salon.com

jwalsh@salon.com

klauerman@salon.com

Truthdig
feedback@truthdig.com

Activity Requests: Wednesday

2010-08-15T09:36:00.000-07:00

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

Voice of America
voanews@voanews.com

The American Prospect
letters@prospect.org

ZCom
zmag@zmag.org

Free Press

jsilver@freepress.net

caaron@freepress.net

cclement@freepress.net

jkelsey@freepress.net

Real Clear Politics.com

letters@realclearpolitics.com

john@realclearpolitics.com

tom@realclearpolitics.com

Slate

Slatedcoffice@slate.com

nyoffice@slate.com

Activity Requests: Tuesday

2010-08-14T20:51:00.000-07:00

Media Outreach with More to Follow . . .

Just like anything else in life, effort breeds success and just like selling - getting media coverage is all about numbers. The more YOU pitch, the more coverage the issue gets and the more people are exposed to HR3149. In turn more voter and media heat is placed upon Congress. To succeed, we need a lot of heat and a high rate of member participation. This week' sample letter below, as with all letters, is but one perspective. What do we know? The point is to write and a good mix of unique perspectives, stories and approaches is best. Edit our verbiage or write your own and save it somewhere on your computer. Then scroll down to our list of media outlets and send, send, send!
We’re going to be doing tons of media outreach in the coming weeks, perhaps months, so save your letter so you don’t have to recreate the wheel over and over. Keep it simple and easy for you. Let’s get started, we have miles to travel but we've never been more close to our goal than now.

[Sample Letter]
When you include the direct impact on families and potential impact on extended families; no single issue in America cries out more for a solution than workplace discrimination based on credit reports. FICO estimates that 35 percent of Americans have a credit score below 650 which they estimate accounts for 70+ million Americans, but anything under a score of 700 is considered “bad credit.” The real number of Americans with bad credit is closer to 100 million Americans. If these people don’t have a job, they don’t get one and if they have a job it not only jeopardizes them losing it, but it also means that they can’t change jobs for better pay to fix their credit report. It’s like tying someone to a ship anchor then throwing them into the water to see if they can swim. Almost half of the entire U.S. workforce, according to the big three credit bureaus, is no longer trustworthy enough to allow through the front door of any business.

George Orwell’s world of big brother has arrived but it’s not the government that took over, instead a secret FICO software program now literally determines whether you live of die. Who benefits from the practice? The big three credit bureaus, their employees, their stockholders and them alone. Who loses? Everyone else . . . starting with the employers who purchase the worthless measurement tools because millions spent in credit bureau marketing materials have convinced them that a credit report indicates theft and fraud potential. They believe this lie even though, under oath during sworn testimony in Oregon where the practice is now illegal, a VP from TransUnion stated they have zero statistical evidence to validate that someone with bad credit is more prone to steal or commit fraud than anyone else. The one and only piece of documentation to back up their marketing claims is a study that indicates that people who “live beyond their means” are more prone to steal from their employer. Guess who that includes? At least 86 percent of the entire U.S. population . . . little old ladies, police officers, preachers and everyone else that ever bought something they didn’t really need or couldn’t afford. If this is the standard for who can work, only 14 percent of the entire population are trustworthy.

Employers lose out on wonderful highly motivated employees who in most instances after starving are more loyal than their dog at home. (Dogs are actually treated better because they are allowed to eat.) That’s the whole point and why a law to eliminate the practice now in the House of Representative is being so hotly contested by the corporations. This is about submission to the almighty corporation and handing over total control over every aspect of someone’s life just for the right to work. Once they have your credit report the employer knows just how little they can get away with paying (in the rare event someone with bad credit is ever hired). With the worst economy since the Great Depression and more jobs moving to third world countries every day, the corporations are now in the driver’s seat like never before. Bad enough they polluted the entire Gulf coastline and destroyed our economy because of their greed, but now they own our right to privacy? Through PAC money, corporations now own Congress 100 percent and they are daring them to pass HR3149: The Equal Employment for All Act that would in most cases make discrimination based on credit reports illegal.

The bribes are working for one reason and one reason only, because of you, the American media, the so called free press now controlled by the corporations as well. The people have no money to bribe anyone in Congress, Wall Street and the corporations have seen to that. All we have is you and you alone. You’re our one and only hope. If you don’t cover the story and get the word out to the American people they can’t support the legislation in large numbers simply because they don’t know it exists. No one will ever know that the credit bureaus, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and 19 other business groups are buying votes and twisting arms behind the scenes to stop the legislation. The practice of locking people out of the workplace based upon their credit report during this economy is wrong, it’s sick, it’s inhuman and amounts to class genocide albeit more slow than a bullet . . . the end is no different whatsoever. America needs you to stand up for the people like we’ve never needed you before in our history. If not for the people with ruined credit, do it for their children, their spouses, their extended families and all generations of Americans that follow. If rumors are correct, a mark-up hearing on the bill (the first sign of any movement to date) is coming in just a few short weeks when Congress returns from recess so your coverage of HR3149 in a timely mannner is critical.

[End Sample Letter]

Media Outlets/Contact Points:

Freepress.org
truth@freepress.org

Open Left
christopher_j_bowers@yahoo.com

NYT, Paul Krugman
http://www.nytimes.com/gst/emailus.html

Washington Post
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/staff/email/ezra+klein/

Huffington Post
huffpolitics@huffingtonpost.com

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

Crooks and Liars
crooksandliars@gmail.com

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

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

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

Activity Requests: Monday

2010-08-14T16:32:00.000-07:00

[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.]

Follow-up to ABC News Segment

Responding to the following ABC News Good Morning America Segment:
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/rising-jobless-claims-put-white-house-pressure-11392000

Step 1: Please fire of a less than 2000 character note to Mr. Stephanopoulus via the following link: http://abcnews.go.com/Site/page?id=3052660

[Sample Note]
ATTN: George Stephanopoulus
In reference to your interview with James Carville on Friday morning’s show, how can any Democrat assert they are for jobs and the economy until they get behind passage of HR3149: The Equal Employment for All Act? The bill would enable millions of Americans to get back to work almost immediately by simply making it illegal for employers to discriminate based upon personal credit checks. The bill was introduced by a Democrat and is the 53 co-sponsors are almost if not all Democrats, yet pay-offs, via credit bureau PAC money, to nine Democrats sitting on the House Committee on Financial Services is helping to keep the legislation stalled. A Democrat, Barney Frank, chair of the committee took more than any Democrat back in 2008 when he snatched $25 K from the credit bureaus. This is change we can believe in? This is a reason to vote Democrat in November?

Upwards of 100 million Americans now have damaged credit reports due primarily to Wall Street’s greed that destroyed the economy, yet Congress that enabled the greed just take PAC money from the credit bureaus, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and 19 other business groups in exchange for stalling legislation that would allow millions to work. In addition to their majority on the committee Democrats control Congress. Yet you allowed Carville to sit there and pretend that Democrats are doing all they can do to relieve the jobless situation when a free to the taxpayer, absolute surefire solution to much of the joblessness is staring them in the face. That’s not journalism. That’s partisan media manipulation that protects your party of choice.

As the former press secretary under Clinton, this is your party so do something to save them before November by passing legislation that 90 percent of the people support and demand. If nothing else it’s a very popular issue in the minds of almost every voter and just smart election year politics. A mark-up hearing on the legislation is anticipated when Congress returns in September and I hope you will provide some coverage and shine a bright light on the pay-offs to members of both parties within the committee.
[End Sample Note]

Step 2: Fire off an e-mail to James Carville at: james@carville.info

[Sample E-Mail]
Mr. Carville, I caught your interview on Friday’s Good Morning America and have to say I’m greatly disappointed in you. Nonetheless, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you’ve never heard of HR3149: The Equal Employment for All Act that’s been stalled in the House Committee on Financial Services for more than a year now. A mark-up hearing on the legislation is anticipated when Congress returns in September. It will put millions of voters back to work almost immediately by banning employment credit checks for most jobs. How many Democrat seats in Congress would that save? You’re a Democrat strategist . . . correct? Forgive me for overstepping my bounds as a mere citizen, but doesn’t that seem like a good strategy move to you? Make 90 percent of the voters happy about something before November . . .

The problem is, your fellow Democrats have been taking bribes in exchange for stalling the legislation. The bill was introduced by a Democrat and the 53 co-sponsors are most if not all Democrats, yet pay-offs, via credit bureau PAC money, to nine Democrats sitting on the House Committee on Financial Services is helping to keep the legislation stalled. A Democrat, Barney Frank, chair of the committee took more than any Democrat back in 2008 when he snatched $25 K from the credit bureaus. This is NOT change we can believe in and the type of thing that Democrats want people thinking about in November on an empty stomach with no job. Democrats control the committee and Congress so the blame game is a one way street.

Upwards of 100 million Americans now have damaged credit reports due primarily to Wall Street’s greed that destroyed the economy, yet Congress that enabled the greed just takes PAC money from the credit bureaus, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and 19 other business groups in exchange for stalling legislation that would allow millions to work. That doesn’t sit well with voters and there is no spin that will make that go away. You can’t pretend that Democrats are doing all they can do to relieve the jobless situation when a free to the taxpayer, absolute surefire solution to much of the joblessness is staring them in the face.

Since upwards of 90 percent of the people support passage of HR3149, this is a major win-win opportunity for your party if passed, but it’s a major lose-lose if not passed before November. The pundits believe your party is floundering, gasping for air and drowning fast and HR3149 is a major lifeline if you can wake someone up before it’s too late. Everyone can see the car wreck coming in November for the party in power, please grab the wheel and turn the wheel toward passing HR3149 fast. It’s just the type of good, smart politics that you’re known for, but Friday you seemed to be rudderless and hopeless. HR3149 is a beacon of hope for the people and your party if you can get it moving. Do some polling, 90 percent of the people support passage which means votes in November if HR3149 is passed.
[End Sample E-Mail]

Activity Requests: Leverage Major News Coverage

2010-08-05T08:15:00.000-07:00

Carpe Diem a.k.a. Act Now!

It’s rare that we get an open door like the following linked MSNBC article http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38561183/ns/business-consumer_news/ so we have seize the moment and pounce with all we have to get as much mileage out of it as possible. As noted previously, September will be war for HR3149 passage and the following multiple activity requests will help to prime the effort. Any and all media coverage is in most cases helpful if we use the opportunity to correct the misinformation, gather our forces (recruit) and pressure for more media coverage and action by Congress.

Since we have multiple avenues to leverage and attack, we can’t provide you with a one size fits all “sample letter” however, our blog has more than enough previous sample letters and information to copy, paste and edit to make your job easy. As base information to add to, we need to deliver the following:

* Make sure they get the linked article . . .
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38561183/ns/business-consumer_news/

* The idea stated in the article that credit checks provide “legal cover” is only a propaganda smokescreen to continue the practice. Since almost half the workforce has damaged credit and 86 percent of Americans “live beyond their means” a credit report measures nothing and indicates nothing in regard to potential theft and fraud in the workplace. It’s simply marketing spin by the credit bureaus and a way for them to make a buck off the downtrodden in America.

* Opportunities to explain anything are ZERO (nor does any employer have the constitutional right to violate an American's privacy for the right to work) Any job candidate with “bad credit” simply doesn’t get the job . . . end of story!

Again, to finish out your pitches and letters see the multitude of sample letters and information in previous blog entries and just copy, paste, edit, etc. (It’s NOT rocket science.) Send your e-mails, letters, etc. to the following contact points and media outlets:

1) E-mail Letter to the Commitee:

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

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

1A) 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

2) Hit the House and Senate Leaders

2A) 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/

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

2C) 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/

2D) 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

3 President Obama
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

4) Contact Your Members of Congress

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

4A) 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 your letter, edit to suit you and hit “send message.”

DO NOT forget to seach for upcoming town hall meetings.

4B) 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 your letter, edit to suit you and hit “send.”

DO NOT forget to seach for upcoming town hall meetings.

5) Use the contact info. from the Outreach to Opponents we just did and hit them with the article and another letter.

http://hr3149.blogspot.com/2010/07/activity-requests-contact-your-house.html

6) Outreach to Newspaper Outlets . . . the link below is a previous Activity Request, nothing has been revised for this effort, however, the effort, contact points, strategy, etc. hasn't changed. In short we want to get this article to every newspaper in America and ask them to cover the story a.k.a. answer to their readership for a change. Use the information from #5 above and DEMAND THAT THEY ASK THE CANDIDATES ABOUT THEIR POSITION AND REPORT IT TO THE PEOPLE!

http://hr3149.blogspot.com/2010/04/massive-newspaper-outreach-campaign.html

Activity Requests: Contact Your Incumbents' Opponent(s)

2010-07-31T18:01:00.000-07:00

Update, Strategy, Schedule, etc.

2010-07-31T17:07:00.000-07:00

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!

Activity Request: Counter the Lies!!!

2010-07-25T13:09:00.000-07:00

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]

So You Think We’re Being Melodramatic?

2010-07-23T07:22:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-23T05:56:00.000-07:00

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

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

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]

Contact YOUR Representatives on the Committee

2010-07-18T04:03:00.000-07:00

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.

Siege on House Committee on Financial Services!

2010-07-17T08:38:00.000-07:00

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]

Our Two Cents Worth . . .

2010-07-11T05:40:00.000-07:00

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 . . .

2010-07-11T03:34:00.000-07:00

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]

Activity Requests: Monday

2010-07-11T03:33:00.000-07:00

This Week's Activity Requests

2010-06-26T12:59:00.000-07:00

Overview

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

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

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

Contacting Your Members of Congress

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

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

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

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

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

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

3) Contact YOUR Senator(s)

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

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

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

[Essay Begins]

Employment Credit Checks Equal Class Genocide

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[Essay Ends]

State-by-State NPR Media Outreach - Ongoing

2010-06-19T16:18:00.000-07:00

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

NPR Media Outreach

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

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

Step-by-Step How To:

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

1) Find your state via the link above

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

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

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

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

[Sample Letter]

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

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

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

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

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

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

[End Sample Letter]

Perseverance and Perspective . . .

2010-06-13T09:25:00.000-07:00

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

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

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

Activity Request(s): Thursday - Media Outreach

2010-06-12T10:16:00.002-07:00

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

AOL

bryanmonroe@aolnews.com

. . .

espovich@aolmail.com

. . .

newsroom@aolnews.com

Subject Line: Message for Rachel Sklar

Dissent Magazine
inquiries@dissentmagazine.org

New Labor Forum
newlaborforum@qc.edu

The Militant
themilitant@mac.com

NY Observer
editorial@observer.com

Too Much
editor@toomuchonline.org

Extreme Inequality
chuck@ips-dc.org

Class Action
info@classism.org

Fair
fair@fair.org

The Raw Story
editor@rawstory.com

rsitips@rawstory.com

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

Political Wire
tips@politicalwire.com

CQ Politics
cqpolitics2@cq.com

Colorado Independent
dowilliams@coloradoindependent.com

jtomasic@coloradoindependent.com

Iowa Independent
editor@iowaindependent.com

Michigan Independent
michiganmessenger@gmail.com

New Mexico Independent
gdoland@newmexicoindependent.com

tjennings@newmexicoindependent.com

Huffington Post
huffpolitics@huffingtonpost.com

Activity Request: Wednesday - Media Outreach

2010-06-12T10:16:00.001-07:00

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

AOL

speechboy71@yahoo.com

. . .

newsroom@aolnews.com

Subject Line: Message for Alan Colmes

. . .

mara.gay@sphere.com

. . .

newsroom@aolnews.com

Subject Line: Message for Dana Kennedy

. . .

tammy.lytle@sphere.com

. . .

scottmartelle@gmail.com

. . .

michael.medved@aolnews.com

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

Crooks and Liars
crooksandliars@gmail.com

America Blog
americablog@starpower.net

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

Media Matters
mm-tips@mediamatters.org

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

The Daily Democrat
pamela@thedemocraticdaily.com

Common Dreams
editor@commondreams.org

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

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

Atlanta Progressive
matthew@atlantaprogressivenews.com

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

Zmag
zmag@zmag.org

chris.spannos@zmag.org

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

A World of Progress
kim@aworldofprogress.org

Alternative News
nunziarider@gmail.com

The Progressive Populist
populist@usa.net

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

The American Prospect
letters@prospect.org

The Daily Howler
bobsomerby@hotmail.com

Activity Requests: Tuesday - Media Outreach

2010-06-12T10:15:00.000-07:00

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

AOL

newsroom@aolnews.com

Subject Line: Message for JJ Helland

. . .

david.knowles@aolnews.com

Subject Line: Message for David Knowles

. . .

john.merline@aolnews.com

. . .

newsroom@aolnews.com

Subject Line: Message for Christine Riedel

newsroom@aolnews.com

Subject Line: Message for Martin Steinberg

. . .

newsroom@aolnews.com

Subject Line: Message for Andra Varin

. . .

mjarceneaux@gmail.com

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

USA TodayLetters to the Editor: editor@usatoday.com

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

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

NewsweekLetters to the Editor: letters@newsweek.com

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

Associated PressGeneral Questions and Comments: info@ap.org

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

United Press InternationalComments and Tips: tips@upi.com

Washington Independent

alowrey@washingtonindependent.com

mlillis@washingtonindependent.com

awiener@washingtonindependent.com

rhartman@washingtonindependent.com

Activity Requests: Monday, Media Outreach

2010-06-11T18:27:00.000-07:00

Employment Credit Checks Equal Class Genocide

2010-06-07T14:53:00.000-07:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2010-06-05T13:37:00.000-07:00

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

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

Thursday - Congressional Black Caucus Outreach

2010-06-04T13:17:00.000-07:00

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

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

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

[Sample Letter]

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

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

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

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

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

[End Sample Letter]

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

http://www.thecongressionalblackcaucus.com/

Wednesday - African American Media Outreach

2010-06-04T13:14:00.000-07:00

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

African-American Media Contact Points:

Prince George’s Post
pgpost@gmail.com

Insight News
INFO@INSIGHTNEWS.COM

St. Louis American
cking@stlamerican.com

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

Toledo Journal
toljour@aol.com

The Skanner
News@theskanner.com

seattle@theskanner.com

Dallas Examiner
publisher@dallasexaminer.com

Houston Forward Times
krichards@forwardtimes.com

Style Magazine
editorial@stylemagazine.com

Wisconsin Community Journal
teretha@communityjournal.net

Ebony
editors@ebony.com

tips@ebony.com

My Bortha
user-articles@mybrotha.com

American Legacy
apeterson@americanlegacymag.com

Black EOE Journal
Editor@BlackEOEJournal.com

Tuesday - African American Media Outreach

2010-06-04T13:12:00.000-07:00

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

African-American Media Contact Points:

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

BCNN1.com
bcnn1@bcnn1.com

Redding News
rob@reddingnewsreview.com

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

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

California Voice
sunmedia97@aol.com

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

SacObserver
whlee@sacobserver.com

SF Bay View
editor@sfbayview.com

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

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

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

Columbus Times
columbustimes@knology.net

Indy Recorder
james-recorder@indy.rr.com

brandon-recorder@indy.rr.com

Monday - African American Media Outreach

2010-06-04T13:08:00.000-07:00

Outreach: African-American Media Outlets

2010-05-30T06:37:00.000-07:00

Outreach: African-American Media Outlets
The media contact points beneath the following sample letter are just a start. Save your letters and we'll continue forward with this effort next week. Let's get be aggressive and hit this effort with big numbers of e-mails.

[Sample Letter]

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

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

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

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

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

[End Sample Letter]

Contact Points - We'll pick up this media outreach again, next week, so save your letters . . .

The Root
readerfeedback@theroot.com

Articles/submissions*
submissions@theroot.com

* Guidelines for submissions http://www.theroot.com/contactus

Ebony/Jet
tglover@ebony.com

African American News & Issues
http://www.aframnews.com/websitepublisher/contact-us.html

Afro American Newspaper
editor@afro.com

editor@afro.com

Atlanta Daily World
publisher@atlantadailyworld.com

adwnews@atlantadailyworld.com

Atlanta Tribune
kmines@atlantatribune.com

kwhittaker@atlantatribune.com

Baltimore Times
btimes@btimes.com

Bay State Banner
mbm@b-banner.com

hmanly@bannerpub.com

Chicago Defender
mhouse@chicagodefender.com

lransom@chicagodefender.com

rgillespie@chicagodefender.com

Columbus Post
pthornton@ColumbusPost.com

Final Call
http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/contactus/contactus.shtml

Ink News Online
editor@inknewsonline.com

Insight News
INFO@INSIGHTNEWS.COM

Jackson Advocate
jadvocat@aol.com

The Miami Times
scharite@miamitimesonline.com

Mississippi Link
publisher@mississippilink.com

editor@mississippilink.com

New England Informer
info@edofolks.com

neinformer@verizon.net

New Journal and Guide
njguid@gmail.com

New Pittsburg Courier
http://www.newpittsburghcourieronline.com/index.php?option=com_contact&view=contact&id=1&Itemid=84

People’s Voice Weekly
tonydmalone@yahoo.com

caclarkfrieson@msn.com

South Florida Times
http://www.sfltimes.com/index.php?option=com_contact&Itemid=3

Tennessee Tribune
editorial@thetennesseetribune.com

Tri-State Defender
editorial@tri-statedefender.com

Weekly Challenger
editor@theweeklychallenger.com

Weekly Press
Theweeklypress@yahoo.com

Westside Gazette
wgazette@bellsouth.net

Black Press USA
info@blackpressusa.com

Outreach: Non-Supportive Civil Rights Advocates

2010-05-29T07:46:00.000-07:00

Outreach: "Non-Supportive" Civil Rights Advocates
The civil rights groups and leaders provided via the contact points beneath our sample letter below, are batting a 100% zero, or very close to it, in regard to support for passage of HR3149. While we can't speak for you, we do speak for our perspective via the following sample letter. You look at the percentages and racial divide in workplace discrimination via employment credit checks. You go review the websites and priorities of the groups and individuals listed and make up your own mind. Write from your own perspectives and experiences . . . not ours. Ten minutes of website review and some googling and you'll find vitrually zero support for HR3149 and that has to change, so let's get started . . .

[Sample Letter]

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

While many want to minimize it as mere coincidence instead of racism and bigotry, the reality is that racial inequality in the workplace is now rampant once again. By easily adding a couple additional filters to credit checks (such as predominately black neighborhoods along with first and last names) and the result is that African Americans don’t work. The “Whites Only Need Apply” sign has simply been replaced with a “credit check required for employment” policy – Title VII doesn’t exist! As long as there is no sign in the window, the majority of the civil rights community appears to be blind to what quietly just happened in less than two decades.

If that were not true, HR3149: The Equal Employment for All Act, that would outlaw the practice of workplace credit checks, would be law already. From you there’s no push in the media, there’s no mention on your website and there’s no effort to protest workplace inequality for African-Americans? This is the reality in a nation that has a black president, celebrates MLKs birthday and each year commemorates the passage of the Civil Rights Act with nostalgic fervor instead of lamenting the death of Title VII?

In poll after poll, HR3149 is supported by 90 percent of Americans of all races and skin colors. However, a “divide and conquer” approach between the elite who have a voice and the have-nots without a voice is keeping the issue muzzled. The lines of division are not racial but socio-economic instead. Those with influence along with the political elite of all races could care less if “the people” are starved via workplace credit checks. If that were not the truth, HR3149 would now be law instead of being stalled by the millions in corporate dollars being paid out in PAC money. The money can also be found in foundations and funding specifically selected to muzzle voices. Americans from all racial backgrounds now see that money easily buys conscience and waters down passion.

While the percentages of “bad credit” may vary with Hispanics at 34 percent and whites at 27 percent, there is no racial divide between Americans impacted. There is however a growing division between the elite and those Americas being stomped under their boot of power and control. As a civil rights leader, isn’t it time that you reevaluate your position and support of HR3149? Well over half of black America is now locked out of the workplace and silence by you means that you stand with the elite and the corporations. Please stand with Americans of all backgrounds and skin colors and perform your charter to ensure equality in America. Restore Title VII to the Civil Rights Act by pushing through passage of HR3149 before the tide turns in November. Time is running out . . .

[End Sample Letter]

Contact Points . . . e-mail, call and write via snail mail. The time has come to command attention and only an aggressive across the board effort will work.

National Urban League

http://www.nul.org/contact-us

PH: (212) 558-5300

Snail Mail:
Mr. Marc Morial
President and CEO
National Urban League
120 Wall Street
New York, NY 10005

Southern Christian Leadership Conference

http://sclcnational.org/net/write.aspx?s=2607.0.12.2607

PH: 404.522.1420

Snail Mail:
Rev. Dr. Byron Clay
Interim President & CEO
S C L C
P. O. Box 89128
Atlanta, GA 30312

National Action Network

http://www.nationalactionnetwork.net/contact.html

PH: 212.690.3070

The Al Sharpton Show 877.532.5797

Snail Mail:
Rev. Al Sharpton
President
National Action Network
Crisis Department
106 W. 145th Street
Harlem, New York 10039

Rainbow Push Coalition

info@rainbowpush.org

PH: 773.373.3366

Snail Mail:
Rev. Jessie Jackson
President
Rainbow Push Coalition
930 East 50th Street
Chicago, IL 60615

Southern Poverty Law Center

http://www.splcenter.org/contact-us

Outreach: 2 Supportive Civil Rights Groups

2010-05-28T08:07:00.000-07:00

Outreach to the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and the Leadership Conference

[Sample Letter]

First let me thank you for your involvement and backing of HR3149: The Equal Employment for All Act. I’m part of a citizen activist group based primarily on Facebook with more than 3000 members and although we grow everyday, we know all too well that without the support of groups and organizations like yours, HR3149 doesn’t have a chance. Long before the Great Recession we’re in, “bad credit” in the African-American community was 48 percent. With the outrageous unemployment numbers now in black America, what do you think the percentage is now . . . 65 maybe 70 percent? The rate of 50+ percent of all jobs and 80+ percent of white collar jobs requiring an employment credit check is increasing at alarming rates?

While worthy of pride for Americans of all skin colors, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is now celebrated far too often as if it’s an end-all crowning accomplishment. Many people consider Title VII of the Act (that prohibited workplace discrimination on the basis of race and skin color) to be the top accomplishment achieved by the legislation. Except for an ever shrinking small percentage of black America, Title VII is now completely dead and non-existent due to the implementation of employment credit checks. While many want to minimize it as mere coincidence instead of racism and bigotry, the reality is that racial inequality in the workplace is now rampant. Adding a couple additional filters to credit checks (such as predominately black neighborhoods along with first and last names) and voila African Americans don’t work. The “Whites Only Need Apply” sign has simply been replaced with a “Credit Check Required for Employment” sign . . . 1963 is reality in 2010. As a result, the economic gains made by African Americans over the past several decades are eroding at a record pace. This is happening in a nation that has a black president, celebrates MLKs birthday and each year commemorates the passage of the Civil Rights Act with nostalgic fervor?

Just like 90 percent of Americans, you know it’s wrong and you’re officially backing HR3149 and we’re confident you’re doing what you can. The reality is that it isn’t and can’t be your sole focus, you have 100s of competing priorities, limited resources and there are only so many hours in the day. While a lot of things need to happen, first and foremost, the issue of employment credit checks and HR3149 needs much more media attention. Our little Facebook group via media outreach efforts has already delivered a significant amount of coverage and we’re confident that your efforts have delivered their share as well. Nonetheless, it hasn’t been enough to even scratch the surface of what’s needed to actually succeed. HR3149 is DOA until every candidate is being questioned about it and the media is reporting their answer. Virtually no one in America has even heard of HR3149. The recent House hearing a few weeks ago that included HR3149 received a single Bloomberg News article and a pick-up in three or four obscure publications.

The window for HR3149 is closing fast and time is not on our side. Our foes are formidable to say the least but at the moment we have the ballot box. The diverse groups supporting the legislation are never going to see the issue from the exact same perspective, have unified messaging or be dedicated 110 percent to getting this done, but collectively we can do far better than we’ve shown to date. The American people and most especially African-Americans deserve far better than what we’ve separately delivered to date. So we’re reaching out to you and we pray that you will answer the call. Let’s talk, let’s share, let’s organize, let’s innovate, let’s get energized and let’s prepare now for the huge fight we now know that's ahead. Shooting us and e-mail at hr3149@hotmail.com with your thoughts, plans, a high level overview of your efforts to date would be a great starting point. We’ll turn on a dime and support anything you have going and we have some ideas you might find intriguing You’re of course welcome to join our HR3149 Facebook group at: http://groups.to/h.r.3149 if you wish, but just joining groups as you know does nothing. A collective path is the only path to victory. We all have to step up now and do more . . .

[End Sample Letter]

Contact Points:

Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law

barnwine@lawyerscommittee.org

awiggins@lawyerscommittee.org

Leadership Conference

http://www.civilrights.org/about/contact_us/

Outreach to the NAACP

2010-05-28T05:59:00.000-07:00

Outreach to Civil Rights Groups and Black Media

2010-05-28T04:49:00.000-07:00

We’ve previously asked for group member volunteer(s) to head up this effort on an ongoing basis, but we haven’t yet had members to step-up. Shoot us a note if you can get more involved and contribute. (We need the same type of ongoing effort for organized labor groups as well.) Black Americans suffer the result of workplace credit checks at almost twice the rate of white Americans and per the EEOC, this constitutes racial discrimination. So where is the outrage, passion and support for HR3149 from civil rights leaders and black media? We don't see it, do you?

Therefore it's our obligation as a group to bring the issue to the forefront of civil rights leaders and black media in America as a show of solidarity and to move HR3149 forward to the benefit of all Americans. We’re rolling out an effort that will spill into next week to focus just on those groups, leaders and media outlets. So let’s get started . . .

A Turning Point or Swan Song?

2010-05-22T08:11:00.000-07:00

If you caught the news via our group wall or last week’s activity requests, you’re aware there was a proposed amendment to the Wall Street reform bill that would have outlawed employment credit checks. Our hunch was that it didn’t have much of a chance and we couldn’t have been more wrong! If you’re squeamish pardon the metaphor, but the amendment got clubbed like a baby seal! You can read the who and why in this week’s sample letter(s). In short, man’s inhumanity to man and pure greed knows no bounds. The good news is that A) we now know the size of the force we’re fighting B) we know that we have to mobilize our allies and bring more to the table and C) it’s time to stop playing games and grow our FB group into a real number.

Being slow to anger is a good trait, but if you’re not angered enough now to get involved 100% and recruit every American to the cause you can find, then you just don’t have right stuff. Sure the squashing of SA 3795 was about money and greed, but more than anything it’s about POWER and CONTROL of the people. The message the power brokers just sent was ‘we have the power and control and YOU don’t have the guts to fight.’ The age of ‘big brother’ has arrived and if the power brokers starve every man, woman and child in America via employment credit checks, they could care less. These people are PIGS! The question is, ‘do YOU really care?’ Not only do they own you and your family, but they own every future generation as well. If YOU don’t make a stand NOW to grow our numbers, send that extra e-mail and make that extra phone call they will own America forever with no force or laws to stop them. Employment credit checks exemplify the worst that exists within the heart of man. A ‘human’ that would starve a child with an employment credit check is not a human at all. This is not happening in some communist nation or third world country, this is happening in America and YOU and only YOU have the power to stop it . . .

We live in Washington, but before we got involved in this, even we were naïve. If you simply joined the group and are sitting there hoping and doing nothing else, there is a better chance that the tooth fairy will visit you tonight than you contributing to passage of HR3149. Time is running out and if we don't get this done before November our chances fall off a cliff. The time has come to rise up and get real so let’s get started!

Outreach to Allied Groups Backing HR3149

2010-05-22T07:24:00.000-07:00

[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 Allied Groups Backing HR3149

Just for the record, if you’ve been on this journey with us since the beginning, we never thought a Facebook group alone would get this done. That was never been more apparent than with the cold slap in the face that SA 3795 received this past week. The good news is that we’re far from being alone in this fight as evidenced by the 30+ groups and organizations you’ll find listed below that back HR3149. We simply have to give them a wake-up call by demonstrating our group numbers and passion. In the event you can find the time to make a few phone calls in addition to sending e-mails that will help as well. It political terms this is our effort to "motivate the base." So let’s get started.

[Sample Letter]

First let me thank you from my heart for your involvement and backing of HR3149: The Equal Employment for All Act. I’m part of a citizen activist group based primarily on Facebook with more than 3000 members and although we grow everyday, we know all too well that without the support of groups and organizations like yours, HR3149 doesn’t have a chance.

That was never more apparent than this past week when Senator Feinstein’s SA 3795, similar legislation to HR3149, was killed as an amendment to the Wall Street reform bill. Saying it was “killed,” according to our sources, doesn’t even begin to describe the carnage. It had barely been mentioned in the media and immediately, instantaneously the opposing forces rose up and ripped the amendment to shreds. From what we understand the opposing effort was an absolutely massive hourly siege of letters, phone calls, e-mails and arm twisting. Much of the mobilization you could watch take place via Google and the speed and precision with which they pulled trigger demonstrated a smooth, mobilized organization that was just waiting to strike.

Now get this, that’s the good news. Now here’s the bad news. As expected the big three credit bureaus and their background industry minions pounced, but the alarming news is that an existing organization of 20 “employer” groups that included the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers and the National Retail Federation, just to name three, clobbered every single Senator with a hand in SA 3795. We’re still trying to get the names of the other 17 truck drivers but just the license plates of those three culprits says all we and you need to know. If thousands of corpses from employment credit checks lined main street USA in every town in America, the big three credit bureaus and background check companies will continue to sell personal credit reports to employers of any American left breathing. Their greed knows no bounds and they have no conscience. The employers/power brokers meanwhile will never scrape bottom of having someone with good credit to hire unless our nation experiences a complete economic Armageddon. The irony is that these same people will send food and money to third world countries and condemn genocide and ethnic cleansing, but it’s ok to kill off the 48 percent of black Americans with bad credit? Not to mention 34 percent of Hispanics and 27 percent of Caucasians.
Somewhere around 100 million Americans have damaged credit already - well over 1/3 of the entire workforce. At least 25 million of our people are under or unemployed. More than 50 million children are starving and living below the poverty line. Between 8 and 11 million Americans have lost jobs and the economic tsunami that’s rising in Europe is heading our way. In this environment a father will drive his Mercedes out of the country club, drop his well fed child off at private school and then go to work at the credit bureau – to sell fellow Americans’ personal credit information to employers to ensure their children go hungry? All the while, no Hollywood celebrities speak out and no rock stars organize benefit concerts, just a nation of proud Americans . . . many of them in church on Sundays.

Just like 90 percent of Americans, you know it’s wrong and you’re officially backing HR3149 and we’re confident you’re doing what you can. The reality is that it isn’t and can’t be your sole focus, you have 100s of competing priorities, limited resources and there are only so many hours in the day. That exact same reality is true for our Facebook group and the 30 or so groups and organizations pushing for and backing HR3149. No one is faulting you, nor is anyone casting any blame. You may already be doing all you can do, but together one single hour found becomes 31 hours and those hours grow exponentially through networks and members. If that single hour is not found here and there throughout the weeks and very few months left, HR3149 is DOA if not passed before the November election. That’s the reality . . . the media tried to strike up the band in March when a couple census jobs were added and can’t wait to claim “problem solved” so they can cancel any reporting on workplace discrimination due to damaged credit. It’s an ugly blight upon the free enterprise system and covering Dancing With the Stars if much more fun.

While a lot of things need to happen, first and foremost, the issue of employment credit checks and HR3149 needs much more media attention. Our little Facebook group via media outreach efforts has already delivered a significant amount of coverage and we’re confident that your efforts have delivered their share as well. Nonetheless, it hasn’t been enough to even scratch the surface of what’s needed to actually succeed. HR3149 is DOA until every candidate is being questioned about it and the media is reporting their answer. Virtually no one in America has even heard of HR3149, but they can all name at least one of Tiger Woods mistresses? The recent House hearing a couple of weeks ago that included HR3149 got one Bloomberg News article and a pick-up in three or four obscure publications. Jobs and the economy are not the focus of the political class or the corporate owned “free press” in American and without HR3149 there is no jobs rebound!

Although we have some expertise within our group, we’re not the experts. Nonetheless, we believe that 98 percent of winning the HR3149 battle is simply a matter of media exposure and coverage. Just the money spent on one single Super Bowl ad could get it done. Instead, we have at least 31 different organizations and groups. Collectively that’s more than enough to make HR3149 the news instead of Tiger Woods.

The window for HR3149 is closing fast and time is not on our side. Our foes are formidable to say the least but at the moment we have the ballot box. Our diverse groups are never going to see the issue from the exact same perspective, have unified messaging or be dedicated 110 percent to getting this done, but collectively we can do far better than we’ve shown to date. The slaughter that SA 3795 took was embarrassing, humiliating and pathetic. Our efforts were a joke! How many e-mails, letters and phone calls did you produce? The American people during the second worst economic disaster in our history deserve far better than what we’ve separately delivered to date. So we’re reaching out to you and we pray that you will answer the call.

Let’s talk, let’s share, let’s organize, let’s innovate, let’s get energized and let’s prepare now for the huge fight we now know that's ahead. The opposition tipped their hand and we've seen their cards so let’s use it. Shooting us and e-mail at hr3149@hotmail.com with your thoughts, plans, a high level overview of your efforts to date would be a great starting point. We’ll turn on a dime and support anything you have going and we have some ideas you might find intriguing You’re of course welcome to join our HR3149 Facebook group at: http://groups.to/h.r.3149 if you wish, but just joining groups as you know does nothing.

In closing, we freely admit that we’re NOT the experts, YOU are. However, it doesn’t take an expert to view what happened with SA 3795 to see that HR3149 has no chance whatsoever without a major collective effort from all of us working together. The writing appeared on the wall last week and if you read it you’ll find the time and resources to do more and we’ll hear from you soon. A collective path is the only path to victory. We all have to step up now and do more . . .

[End Sample Letter]

Contact Points for Our HR3149 Friends and Allies

The time has come to go the extra mile, in addition to e-mails, google some of the these groups and make a phone call. Share your personal story and let them know just how important this issue really is. We have to have motivated passionate allies in order to win, its just that simple.

AFL-CIO (Select “Questions about the AFL-CIO” option)

http://www.aflcio.org/siteguides/contactus.cfm

Asian American Justice Center

knarasaki@advancingequality.org

lcampbell@advancingequality.org

Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO

http://www.cwa-union.org/pages/contact_us

Consumer Action

http://www.consumer-action.org/index.php/forms/outreach_contact/

Demos

hmcghee@demos.org

cgibson@demos.org

Legal Action Center

lacdc@lac-dc.org

lacinfo@lac.org

National Association of Consumer Advocates

ira@naca.net

NCRC

jtaylor@ncrc.org

tmiller@ncrc.org

National Consumer Law Center

consumerlaw@nclc.org

National Employment Law Project

nelp@nelp.org

National Employment Lawyers Association

nelahq@nelahq.org

dlenhoff@nelahq.org

National Fair Housing Alliance

nfha@nationalfairhousing.org

National H.I.R.E. Network

lacinfo@lac.org

National Organization for Women

http://www.now.org/comments.html

National Partnership for Women and Families

info@nationalpartnership.org

dailyreport@nationalpartnership.org

National Women's Law Center

Info@nwlc.org

Privacy Rights Clearinghouse

https://www.privacyrights.org/contact/Beth+Givens

https://www.privacyrights.org/contact/Paul+Stephens

Unite Here

tsnyder@unitehere.org

http://www.creditcatch22.org/contact/

United Professionals

http://www.unitedprofessionals.org/contact-up-2/

U.S. Public Interest Research Group

https://www.uspirg.org/about-us/staff/contact-gary-kalman

https://www.uspirg.org/about-us/staff/contact-andre-delattre

http://www.uspirg.org/about-us/staff/contact-Lisa-Gilbert

Women Employed

info@womenemployed.org

Push in Senate for SA 3795 Amendment . . .

2010-05-15T05:49:00.000-07:00

Ask Your Members of Congress to Support Pritzker Purge from Board

2010-05-07T19:28:00.000-07:00

Ask YOUR members of Congress to Urge Obama to Purge Pritzker and Support HR3149 (and just introduced SA3795)

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]

While reading a Chicago Tribune article (linked below) an alarming relationship came to light that causes me great concern. Penny Ptitzker, Chair, TransUnion sits on the President’s Economic Recovery Board. With TransUnion among the big three credit bureaus directly responsible for much of the 25+ million Americans suffering from under and un-employment this board position reeks of impropriety and cronyism. All the credit bureaus are profiting wildly from selling American’s personal credit reports to employers and all three use millions of marketing dollars to encourage the workplace discrimination practice. As documented in the linked article, Pritzker and TransUnion take it even further than that, however, with underhanded backroom arm twisting, “lobbying,” and manipulation of legislators.

Myself and millions of other Americans are questioning whether HR3149: The Equal Employment for All Act stalled in the House (and just introduced SA3795) is due to our President’s personal friendship and long-time relationship with Penny Prtzker, Chair, TransUnion who led his campaign finance team and raised millions of dollars for his campaign. To have Pritzker on his Economic Recovery Board smacks in the face of justice and workplace equality. When the President promised “Change We Can Believe In” and Speaker Pelosi promised to “drain the swamp” the American people expected it to be done, however, hundreds of thousands of dollars in credit bureau PAC money are buying votes in Congress and the House Committee on Financial Services to keep the legislation stalled.

No support for HR3149 (and just introduced SA3795) from the President and little from Congress as a whole lead the American people to believe money talks and “the people” be damned. 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 an Economic Recovery Board and no support whatsoever to date for HR3149 (and just introduced SA3795) looks nothing short of horrible, cold and callous. It looks even worse to African-Americans who have “bad credit” at a 48 percent rate and Hispanics who have a 34 percent rate (27 percent for Caucasians).

Congress can’t talk jobs and the economy without very publicly supporting HR3149 (and just introduced SA3795) and calling for Pritzker’s removal from the President’s Economic Recovery Board. I ask that you stand with the American people who are suffering by the millions by supporting HR3149 (and just introduced SA3795) and urge the President to purge Pritzker from his Economic Recovery Board.

Link to Chicago Tribune Article on Pritzker and TransUnion
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-0429-credit-checks-transunion--20100428,0,5056644.story?page=1

[End Sample Message]

Majority & Minority Leaders: House and Senate, RE: Pritzker

2010-05-07T18:44:00.000-07:00

A Letter to Speaker of the House and Minority Leader and the Senate Majority and Minority Leader Asking them to Reach Out to President Obama and Call for Pritzker to be Purged from Economic Recovery Board

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]

While reading a Chicago Tribune article (linked below) an alarming relationship came to light that causes me great concern. Penny Ptitzker, Chair, TransUnion sits on the President’s Economic Recovery Board. With TransUnion among the big three credit bureaus directly responsible for much of the 25+ million Americans suffering from under and un-employment this board position reeks of impropriety and cronyism. All the credit bureaus are profiting wildly from selling American’s personal credit reports to employers and all three use millions of marketing dollars to encourage the workplace discrimination practice. As documented in the linked article below, Pritzker and TransUnion take it even further than that, however, with underhanded backroom arm twisting, “lobbying,” and manipulation of legislators.

Myself and millions of other Americans are questioning whether HR3149: The Equal Employment for All Act stalled in the House (and just introduced SA3795) is due to our President’s personal friendship and long-time relationship with Penny Prtzker, Chair, TransUnion who led his campaign finance team and raised millions of dollars for his campaign. To have Pritzker on his Economic Recovery Board smacks in the face of justice and workplace equality. When the President promised “Change We Can Believe In” and Speaker Pelosi promised to “drain the swamp” the American people expected it to be done, however, hundreds of thousands of dollars in credit bureau PAC money are buying votes in Congress and the House Committee on Financial Services to keep the legislation stalled.

No support for HR3149 (and just introduced SA3795) from the President and none from the majority or minority leaders in Congress lead the American people to believe money talks and “the people” be damned. 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 an Economic Recovery Board and no support whatsoever to date for HR3149 (and just introduced SA3795) looks nothing short of cold and callous. It looks even worse to African-Americans who have “bad credit” at a 48 percent rate and Hispanics who have a 34 percent rate (27 percent for Caucasians).

Congress can’t talk jobs and the economy without very publicly supporting HR3149 (and just introduced SA3795) and calling for Pritzker’s removal from the President’s Economic Recovery Board. I ask that you stand with the American people who are suffering by the millions by supporting HR3149 (and just introduced SA3795) and urge the President to purge Pritzker from his Economic Recovery Board.

Link to Chicago Tribune Article on Pritzker and TransUnion
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-0429-credit-checks-transunion--20100428,0,5056644.story?page=1

[End Sample Letter]

Ask Obama to Purge Pritzker and to Support HR3149 (and just introduced SA3795)

2010-05-07T18:07:00.000-07:00

URGENT ACTIVITY REQUEST: ACT NOW!!!

2010-05-05T18:49:00.000-07:00

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/hearing/financialsvcs_dem/hrfi_050510.shtml

Wednesday May 12, 10:00 a.m.

Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit to hold hearing on Use of Credit Information Beyond Lending Issues and Reform Proposals that will include HR3149: The Equal Employment for All Act. This is the prelude hearing/discussion to what we've all been working toward for months and months. It just got sprung to us, so we have to shift gears and react NOW and into the weekend and next week. Bottom-line we want the hearing to get national coverage and exposure. We cobbled together the following quick draft media outreach letter and national media contact list in order to get this moving quickly. Please Act NOW! and stay tuned . . .

Media Outreach for Hearing Coverage

[Sample Letter]

On Wednesday May 12 beginning at 10:00 a.m., the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit is holding a hearing on the Use of Credit Information Beyond Lending Issues and Reform Proposals that will include HR3149: The Equal Employment for All Act. This hearing and in particular HR3149 warrants your coverage because more than 100 million people are impacted and more than 25 million Americans are currently under or unemployed. In America today, you don’t work with damaged credit due primarily to the recession because 50% of all jobs and 80% of all white collar jobs require Americans to submit a personal credit report in exchange for the right to work. It’s wrong and it’s being perpetrated by the big three credit bureaus just to make a buck.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars in credit bureau PAC money have been funneled into Congress and this committee in particular. The votes have been bought and the hearing will be a kangaroo hearing without your bright lights shinning upon the committee for all the world to see. The preliminary hearing to this one was a joke. No reporters, no cameras and zero national exposure. The three credit bureaus were given the floor and free reign to spew their vile propaganda and only one person was there to speak for “the people.” Without your cameras and reporters this hearing will be a repeat performance of corporations stomping upon the will of 90% of America that demand HR3149 be passed now!

Please don’t allow a repeat performance. Please perform the highly esteemed role that the free press in America has performed so valiantly over time by covering this hearing from gavel to gavel and exposing the PAC money buying votes within Congress and this committee. Without you, “we the people” and HR3149 don’t have a chance of success. I humbly urge you to please stand up for and represent the people of America that are being pummeled by the sale of their personal credit reports to employers in order to fund the corporate coffers and pure greed of the big three credit bureaus.

Information on the hearing is linked as follows:
http://www.house.gov/apps/list/hearing/financialsvcs_dem/hrfi_050510.shtml

End Sample Letter]

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May 3, 2010 Press Release (Copy)

2010-05-01T13:11:00.000-07:00

Contact: hr3149@hotmail.com
J. Romero, 702.878.2625
FB: http://groups.to/h.r.3149/

Working America Calls for Obama to Purge TransUnion Chair from Board

May 3, 2010, WASHINGTON, DC: With more than 25 million Americans struggling with under/unemployment attempting to stand upon their financial feet again, TransUnion Chair, Penny Pritzker is sitting on President Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board. Chicago-based 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 marketing workplace discrimination and selling Americans’ personal credit information to employers.

“With Pritzker on the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board, his efforts are woefully misguided and doomed to failure, says HR3149 advocate Jacquelyn Romero. “Employment credit checks are a core cause of joblessness in America and impact more than 100 million citizens. With Pritzker on this board with an open door to the White House, HR3149 that would outlaw the practice of employment credit checks is doomed along with any hope of getting a job in America.”

Regardless of political party, allowing Pritzker (predatory lending purveyor via failed Superior Bank) to profit from workplace discrimination and sit on a presidential advisory board for economic recovery ‘spits in the face’ of justice and equality in the workplace. Instead, our President along with all Democrats and Republicans need to support passage of HR3149: The Equal Employment for All Act so America can get back to work. That’s not going to happen with Pritzker within the White House walls and Congress lapping up credit bureau PAC money. Wall Street’s greed and no government oversight tossed millions into the street and Pritzker is 100% committed to keeping them there. The trillion dollar economic stimulus plan that oiled political palms passed overnight, but a FREE absolutely certain to work jobs fix for millions is stalled?

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 and freedom and the percentage of employers deploying these credit checks and the 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 prevails to provide even more money to buy Washington (instead of following the will of 90 percent of the American people that support HR3149) there will be no economic recovery for millions. We call upon our President to stand with “the people” instead of credit bureau greed by supporting HR3149 and asking for Pritzker’s resignation from this board effective immediately.

ABOUT: The HR3149 Political Action Group is a grassroots team of citizen political activists from all 50 states with one sole focus - passing HR3149 NOW. We receive no funding whatsoever from any individual or political party and are 100% non-partisan.