Fwd: Money and Democracy Update

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Date: Sun, Mar 4, 2012 at 08:27
Subject: Money and Democracy Update

an e-newsletter about the movement to curb corporate influence in politics and restore our democracy Issue #99 • March 4, 2012 "Money and Democracy Update" is Public Citizen's weekly e-newsletter about the intersection of money and politics. It is part of our ongoing campaign to track the results of — and ultimately overturn — the U.S. Supreme Court's reckless decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which allows for-profit corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money to support or attack political candidates. We'll update you regularly with select news stories and blog posts, legislative developments and ways to get involved. Stunning Statistics of the Week: $9.4 million: Amount the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) gave to nonprofit groups in 2010, including some that bought ads to influence the midterm elections $4.5 million: Amount PhRMA gave in 2010 to American Action Network, a conservative group $26 million: Amount American Action spent on ads in the midterms Super PAC Tuesday coming Voters in early primary states have already been flooded with negative ads, much of them paid for with corporate money. With Super Tuesday coming up early next week, voters in 10 more states are being exposed to the torrent of corporate-funded negativity. To promote long-term solutions, Public Citizen's Democracy Is For People campaign is joining forces with our allies and concerned citizens like you. We're re-branding next week's contests with the sadly accurate hashtag #SuperPACTuesday. In the long-term, we'll be using the hash #Democracy4Sale. Learn more. Follow @RuleByUs on Twitter and lend your creativity to the effort! More than 46,000 urge Congress to strengthen, pass STOCK Act More than 46,000 people this week called on Congress to reinstate the transparency requirement for political intelligence activities in the "Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge" (STOCK) Act, and to pass it. The 46,000-plus people signed a Public Citizen petition, which we delivered to top congressional leaders. Shareholder resolutions on political spending on the rise Shareholder resolutions about corporate money in politics are on the rise, a new report shows. Political spending proposals now make up nearly a third of the 349 social and environmental proposals, up from a quarter of the 360 proposals filed this time last year, according to the Proxy Preview 2012 report, issued by As You Sow. If it walks like a duck and coordinates like a duck ... Campaign finance law says that candidates cannot coordinate with independent groups working on their behalf. But candidates and super PACs share consultants in what The New York Times discovered is a tangled web of interconnections that raise questions about how separate the candidates' operations really are. Chambers war over ads Local chambers of commerce in Montana and Virginia are distancing themselves from ads being run by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The national group is pouring millions of dollars into ads to sway results of 20 congressional races. But not everyone thinks that's a good idea. The Missoula, Mont., chamber says one ad is counterproductive, while the Virginia chamber issued a statement emphasizing that it is a nonpartisan group. Constitutional amendment advances in Massachusetts, Vermont Massachusetts state lawmakers, advocates and activists gathered this week before a state legislative committee to show support for a state resolution calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling. Meanwhile, next week, people in approximately 50 towns in Vermont will vote on resolutions supporting an amendment. Super PAC humor Brian Williams and Jimmy Fallon "slow-jam" the news of Obama changing his stance on Super PACs. It's worth a look. Dollars and Cents (even more news bites): ... Arizona lawmakers are trying to eliminate that state's clean elections program ... ... ProPublica has put together a list of the 10 super donors to Super PACs ... ... GOP presidential contender Rick Santorum claims to be a Washington, D.C., outsider. But the work he did after he left Congress would indicate otherwise ... ... More Montana news: Montana Common Cause is proposing a ballot initiative that would establish that corporations are not people with constitutional rights ... ... The Campaign Legal Center is asking the Federal Election Commission to investigate an ad run by a Mitt Romney-supporting super PAC — an ad originally aired in 2008 by Romney's campaign ... Visit DemocracyIsForPeople.org to learn more!

Break up Bank of America

There's no way around it. In its current form, Bank of America, poses a grave threat to our economy.

It is massive, complex and unstable – too big to manage and too big to regulate. And its assets are equal to roughly one-seventh of the U.S. gross domestic product.

If Bank of America goes down, it will take a sizeable chunk of our economy down with it.

Please join me in telling the financial regulators to break up Bank of America.

Go to http://action.citizen.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=9386

Fwd: Not your normal email

Corporations should not be trusted to do the right thing, because that is not their purpose, and because they consistently do the wrong thing.

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Date: Mon, Feb 27, 2012 at 17:05
Subject: Not your normal email

This email is not a normal email. This email is not going to ask you to do anything. It's long. It talks about big-picture strategy, not just today's latest corporate tactic.

The conventional wisdom in online activism is that we shouldn't send emails like this.

But the fight to improve the treatment of workers in Apple's supply chain is going to be a long, hard one – and it's going to be fought on the shifting sands of PR spin, against one of the most sophisticated corporate media apparatuses in history.

So we think it's important for the entire SumOfUs community (all 240,000 of us!) to take a step back from the day-to-day and examine how the fight has unfolded, both behind the scenes and in the PR war being waged in public since we first started campaigning a month ago to get Apple to address the rampant violations of workers' rights throughout its supply chain.

How this all started

Like many of you, at the beginning of this year we had only a vague idea that there might be something rotten in Apple's supply chain. We had heard about the suicides at Apple factories, but not much else.

After reading the New York Times' exposé and listening to the This American Life episode in January, we started to learn more about how miserable life can be in the massive dystopian industrial complexes where Apple's products are made.

As Apple consumers ourselves (most of our staff owns at least one Apple product), we wanted to act.

We contacted partners in China who investigate Apple's factories, interviewing workers and former workers. We heard from relatives of Apple workers, thanking us for getting the word out. Like the letter we sent out last week from the pair of former workers, we were able to put faces to the statistics, and that motivated us to keep organizing to win improvements in workers' lives.

Apple responds

Since the New York Times and This American Life reports and the launch of our campaign, Apple has gone on a charm offensive, hiring the so-called "Fair Labor Association" to inspect its factories and giving Nightline an exclusive, supervised tour of Foxconn, Apple's largest supplier. Meanwhile, Foxconn announced a pay raise and hired Burston-Marsteller -- the PR firm that lobbied for Big Tobacco and helped corporations re-brand after the the likes of the Three Mile Island nuclear disaster, the Tylenol poisonings, and the massive Bhopal chemical spill.

While disingenuous, these actions show that the company is listening, that it takes us seriously and wants to maintain its image. But Apple's moves so far are classic "early stage" corporate responses to a campaign, where a company wants to do the minimum effort to make people forget about the problem, without spending any real money on problems that by definition require considerable money to solve.

For example, Foxconn has raised wages as a PR move before – only to immediately offset worker gains by raising the cost of its dormitories and cafeterias. The truth is, Foxconn can't afford to truly raise real wages for its workers because Apple refuses to let its suppliers earn a substantial profit – Apple had an astounding 44% profit margin last quarter, while Foxconn earned a meager 1.5% profit.

As for the supposedly "independent" Fair Labor Association, who Apple has hired to "investigate": It is both funded and controlled by the very corporations it's supposed to be monitoring and has a long track record as a PR spin machine rather than an effective watchdog for workers' rights. In his first few days in China, before even the pretense of interviews with workers, the head of the FLA gave glowing reviews to the press simply on the basis of guided tours conducted by Foxconn executives. He even asserted that the suicide cluster that prompted Foxconn to put up its infamous suicide nets must have been due to "boredom," as if workers were leaping from buildings for a cheap thrill.

Journalists fall for these traps all the time. So the next time you hear a positive story about Apple's alleged steps forward in the press, remember that they may well have been suckered by Apple's massive PR machine. If Apple makes any serious moves in response to our pressure to improve workers' lives, we'll be sure to confirm it with people on the ground and let you know!

Keeping up the fight

Thus far, we have been remarkably successful at getting the truth of what's going on in Apple's factories out to the media. Thanks to each and every one of you who signed, called, wrote and delivered petitions yourselves, this issue is front and center with Apple, and it's not going away. Thanks to the credibility of a petition signed by over 120,000 people, our campaign has been featured in Forbes, the Washington Post, the BBC, Le Monde and Taren was interviewed on Olbermann. We even latched onto a silly facebook meme to help get the word out about our campaign!

Three weeks ago, we delivered our petition (along with another 250,000 signatures from Change.org) to six Apple stores on four conditents. Then just last week, we held a rally outside Apple's Annual General Meeting of shareholders to keep this issue in the news, and attempted to deliver your petitions directly to Tim Cook. Around the same time, hundreds of you stopped by your local Apple store to take the issue directly to Apple employees where it matters most -- its retail stores. Many of you were told by managers at those retail stores that they'd been told by Apple's HQ not to accept our petitions.

This is how victories are won -- Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, is crossing his fingers and hoping that this goes away quietly, that people forget about Foxconn, and that the workers once again become faceless statistics. What they don't yet understand is that we aren't going to forget.

Our basic demands

In the fight for better working conditions in the tech industry's supply chain, Apple is the 800-pound gorilla. They are the largest public company in the world, with a centralized supply chain and a commitment to a perfect final product. They have $100 billion sitting in the bank, meaning they can afford to ensure the people who make their products are treated humanely. Yes, other companies are also guilty of poor working conditions, but none has the ability to change the working conditions for millions of workers like Apple does. If Apple demands change, that change will ripple throughout the industry.

That's why we're demanding Apple make a few concrete changes, like ensuring factory inspections are conducted regularly -- and unannounced in advance to management -- by genuinely independent workers' rights groups. We want to see an end to illegal amounts of forced overtime, and a commitment to paying workers a living wage (before overtime is factored in). We believe employees should benefit when Apple profits from their work. And we want Apple to put in place real sanctions with teeth for suppliers who violate its code of conduct.

For consumers, the additional costs will be negligible. Apple currently spends $10 on manufacturing costs -- including labor costs -- for each iPad, and $8 for each iPhone. Meanwhile, it makes hundreds of dollars of profit off each device, which has helped it achieve a market capitalization bigger than the GDP of all but 19 countries. The main difference for consumers will be a longer delay in product roll-out, as the most grueling conditions currently occur when Foxconn workers are cranking the latest iPad or iPhone. The questions is not whether you would be willing to pay more for your iPhone, but whether you could wait a few months longer to ensure that the people who make it are treated like human beings.

The way forward

Apple provides excellent customer service and cares deeply about its brand – but is also one of the most secretive corporations in the world and has built an organizational culture capable of blocking out the most intense outside criticism.

Our job, as consumers, is to continue to keep the pressure on until Apple decides that the risks inherent in the status quo – the risks to its brand, its staff morale, and its loyal customer base – are higher than the costs of taking real action to improve workers' lives. That's what's worked in past campaigns like this, and it's what will ultimately lead to victory in this campaign.

It will be a long fight, but it's well worth fighting. If we can change the way the largest corporation on the planet treats its workers in the era of globalized supply chains, it will set a precedent that will reverberate globally for decades. Together, we're already forcing Apple to pay attention – and we're going to keep on fighting.

Thanks for reading, and for fighting with us,
Taren, Kaytee, Claiborne, and Emma – the tiny SumOfUs team, working with you to take on the biggest companies in the world.

 

P.S. Haven't read enough yet? Here are some more articles and resources to check out.

In These Times - Apple turns to the Larry King of Sweatshop Scandals
SACOM (Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior) video - The truth of the Apple iPad behind Foxconn's lies
Mike Daisey's Blog (Mike is the guy behind the This American Life story that brought all of this to light initially)

SumOfUs is a world-wide movement of people like you, working together to hold corporations accountable for their actions and forge a new, sustainable path for our global economy. You can follow us on Twitter, and like us on Facebook.

End Unfair Oil Subsidies

Oil companies benefit from massive tax breaks that cost the U.S. billions in lost revenue.

An overwhelming majority of Americans want the oil industry, which posts staggeringly high profits, to pay its fair share.

But every attempt to close tax loopholes for Big Oil is met with ramped-up, industry-led lobbying efforts in Congress and million-dollar PR campaigns to scare the public into thinking a repeal of oil subsidies means higher gas prices.

Support President Barack Obama's plan to raise $38.7 billion in additional taxes from the oil and gas industry over the next 10 years.

Join me in supporting this plan:
http://www.citizen.org/end-unfair-tax-breaks-big-oil

Fwd: Radical assault

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Date: Thu, Feb 23, 2012 at 10:29
Subject: Radical assault

Women voters outnumber men by millions. We need to let them know about the GOP's war on women, so we can finally put a stop to the attacks. Can you help raise $175,000 to fight back? Chip in $5

Dear MoveOn member,

Women voters outnumber men by millions.¹ Maybe Republicans should have thought of that before launching "the most comprehensive and radical assault on women's health in our lifetime," according to House Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi.²

Republicans are challenging President Obama's plan to provide free contraception coverage to women through their health insurance.³ And on Friday, House Republicans passed another bill stripping all federal funding from Planned Parenthood, which would block access to vital breast and cervical cancer screenings.⁴ Their actions will cost the lives of countless women if we don't stop them.

We've proved we can do just that, by working with progressive allies to prevent devastating funding cuts to Planned Parenthood in the past.⁵ But with Republicans clearly turning women's health into a social wedge issue this election, we need to tell the millions of women voters just what's at stake—their health, their lives, and their choice—with a multi-part campaign in partnership with our friends at Ultraviolet.

Our creative team is ready to shoot a hard-hitting TV ad to kick off the campaign, but we need to have the funding ready to go. Can you help raise $175,000 to stop the GOP's war on women's health?

Yes, I'll chip in $5.

Republican attacks on women's health are almost too many to mention, but here are some of the lowlights:

• 'Let Women Die' Bill. House Republicans passed a bill that would allow hospitals that receive federal funds to deny patients access to abortion procedures, even if such a procedure is necessary to save a woman's life.⁶
  
• Contraception. Just last week, Republican Congressman Darrell Issa chaired a hearing on President Obama's plan to provide contraception coverage to women, but blocked all testimony from women's health advocates.⁷
• Redefining Rape. In a bill to prevent taxpayer funding for abortions, House Republicans tried to redefine rape as "forcible rape" only, which would exclude statutory rape and women who are drugged or verbally threatened.⁸
• Forced Ultrasound. Republicans in the Virginia legislature have just passed a bill requiring women to have an invasive vaginal probe ultrasound before they're permitted to have an abortion.⁹
  

These attacks won't stop until those who lead them are made to pay a political price. If we tell women about the GOP's war on women's health, we can make Republicans pay that price. Can you contribute $5 to fight back against the GOP's war on women's health?

http://pol.moveon.org/donate/waronwomen.html?bg_id=hpc5&id=36071-19148747-IMcf0gx&t=3

Thanks for all you do.

–Elena, Amy, Laura, Carrie, and the rest of the team

P.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has announced that the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee will convene to hear from one woman whose testimony was blocked by Congressman Issa, but Republican Dan Lundgren is refusing to allow her testimony to be recorded for public view.¹⁰ Click here to donate $5 and help make women's voices heard on women's health.

Sources:

1. "Gender Differences in Voter Turnout," Center for American Women and Politics, November 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=271386&id=36071-19148747-IMcf0gx&t=5

2. "Pelosi: GOP Offers The 'Most Comprehensive And Radical Assault On Women's Health In Our Lifetime,'" Think Progress, February 10, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=271387&id=36071-19148747-IMcf0gx&t=6

3. "Republicans to Continue Effort to Block Obama Contraceptive Rule," Bloomberg Businessweek, February 14, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=271412&id=36071-19148747-IMcf0gx&t=7

4. "Planned Parenthood Funding Blocked In House Vote," Huffington Post, February 18, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=271388&id=36071-19148747-IMcf0gx&t=8

"The GOP's 10 Most Extreme Attacks On A Woman's Right To Choose An Abortion" Think Progress, December 27, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=271220&id=36071-19148747-IMcf0gx&t=9

5. "Komen decision illustrates political battle over Planned Parenthood," NBC Politics, February 3, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=271389&id=36071-19148747-IMcf0gx&t=10

6. "House GOP Proposes So-Called 'Let Women Die' Bill That Lets Hospitals Deny Life-Saving Care," Think Progress, October 12, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=271390&id=36071-19148747-IMcf0gx&t=11

"The GOP's 10 Most Extreme Attacks On A Woman's Right To Choose An Abortion" Think Progress, December 27, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=271220&id=36071-19148747-IMcf0gx&t=12

7. "Rep. Darrell Issa Bars Minority Witness, a Woman, on Contraception," ABC News, February 16, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=271406&id=36071-19148747-IMcf0gx&t=13

8. "Legislative proposal puts abortion rights supporters on alert," The Washington Post, February 1, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=271391&id=36071-19148747-IMcf0gx&t=14

9. "Anti-abortion bills spark heated debate in Virgina," CBS News, February 15, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=271410&id=36071-19148747-IMcf0gx&t=15

10. "House Democrats To Hear Birth Control Testimony From Woman Rejected By GOP," The Huffington Post, February 21, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=271407&id=36071-19148747-IMcf0gx&t=16

Want to support our work? We're entirely funded by our 5 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.

Fwd: Lobbyists are picking our pockets!

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Date: Wed, Feb 15, 2012 at 11:00
Subject: Lobbyists are picking our pockets!

As the deadline nears for health insurance companies to return nearly $1.4 billion to consumers for wasting our money, the lobbyists have moved in to stop it. Two bills have surfaced in Congress to undermine our rebates, putting most of the money we deserve right back into insurance company pockets! We're not going to let the lobbyists have their way. And we need you, and anyone you know who's concerned about skyrocketing health insurance costs, to join us. Tell Congress: Hold the health insurance companies accountable. It's our money! One of the most pro-consumer rules in the national health reform law is aimed squarely at how insurance companies spend our money. If an insurance company spends more than 20 percent of our premium dollars on their CEO salaries, paperwork, marketing and sales costs, we get a rebate, or lower rates. The deadline for the first round of rebate checks is August 1. And it's estimated insurers owe 9 million Americans nearly $1.4 billion! That's a REAL incentive for companies to tighten their belts and get costs under control – just like the rest of us are having to do.  We're launching a nationwide campaign to support this common-sense rule in health reform and prevent it from being gutted by lobbyists and others. If you've ever been frustrated by a health insurance company that seems accountable to no one, now is the time to speak out. Send your message now! It's time consumer voices drown out the lobbyists! This is shaping up as an epic battle, because we know the insurance companies don't want to give our money back. Please take action, and stay engaged with us as we continue to fight for value in health insurance. Sincerely, DeAnn Friedholm, PrescriptionforChange.org Consumers Union, Policy and Action from Consumer Reports 1101 17th Street NW, Suite 500 Washington, DC 20036

Fwd: Money and Democracy Update

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Date: Fri, Feb 10, 2012 at 18:48
Subject: Money and Democracy Update

an e-newsletter about the movement to curb corporate influence in politics and restore our democracy Issue #96 • February 10, 2012 "Money and Democracy Update" is Public Citizen's weekly e-newsletter about the intersection of money and politics. It is part of our ongoing campaign to track the results of — and ultimately overturn — the U.S. Supreme Court's reckless decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which allows for-profit corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money to support or attack political candidates. We'll update you regularly with select news stories and blog posts, legislative developments and ways to get involved. Stunning Statistics of the Week: Ten thousand dollars: The amount people had to raise to participate in a "policy roundtable" at a Washington, D.C., fundraiser for GOP presidential contender Mitt Romney this week Twenty-five hundred dollars: The amount people at the event were charged for having their photo taken with Romney One thousand dollars: Price of admission to the reception Strange but true: Jack Abramoff makes a splash at Public Citizen Yes, yes, we know, it was very strange. Notorious ex-superlobbyist Jack Abramoff at Public Citizen?! It happened this week, and oh boy, did Abramoff's appearance make a splash. Read some of the coverage and watch the video. 25,000 people say: Obama, fix the FEC A petition on the White House website calling for President Barack Obama to nominate new commissioners to the deadlocked Federal Election Commission (FEC) has garnered 25,000 signatures – enough to prompt the administration to respond. Obama reverses stance on Super PACs Putting pragmatism over principle, President Barack Obama has reversed his stance against using Super PACs to benefit his race and is now encouraging donors to give to a Super PAC that is backing his re-election campaign. Reaction has been swift and negative. "The president's engagement in the Super PAC arms race virtually ensures we will witness the nastiest campaign in memory," Public Citizen President Robert Weissman said. But Obama is for a constitutional amendment President Barack Obama supports a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the U.S. Supreme Court case that said corporations can spend as much as they want to influence elections. This is according to a blog post by Jim Messina, Obama's campaign manager. House GOP leadership weakens STOCK Act What a sorry – but telling – display. The Republican leadership's weakening of legislation banning congressional insider trading reflects its commitment to the financial industry interests that do not want anyone to know about the trading activities they engage in – activities that are based on insider knowledge gleaned in the halls of Congress. The House bill, which doesn't prohibit trading by these political intelligence consultants, must be reconciled with a stronger Senate version, which does. Take two: DISCLOSE Act is reintroduced A new DISCLOSE Act has been introduced in Congress. Sponsored by U.S. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), this version would require more timely disclosure of donors by Super PACs, extend disclosure requirements to other groups that make political expenditures and currently evade disclosure altogether, and require ads to include the identity of major donors. You may recall that the original DISCLOSE Act was killed by the GOP in 2010. Dollars and Cents (even more news bites): ... Nothing like winning to boost fundraising. GOP presidential contender Rick Santorum raised one million dollars in the 24 hours after he won contests in Minnesota, Colorado and Missouri ... ... Montana's Supreme Court says the state's ban on corporate spending in elections will stay in force while the challengers' effort to seek review by the U.S. Supreme Court remains in the works ... ... Harold Simmons, the Texas billionaire who helped pay for the infamous Swift Boat attack ads, has poured more than eight million dollars in the past six months into groups supporting GOP presidential contenders Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry, as well as American Crossroads, a Karl Rove co-founded PAC ... ... Voters in the District of Columbia are one step closer to seeing a measure on the November ballot that would ban corporate donations to city candidates ... ... As if things weren't weird enough, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has released a tongue-in-cheek video that promotes the DISCLOSE Act by taking digs at comedian Stephen Colbert for his Super PAC activity. One of her lines: "I hear he doesn't even like kittens" ... Visit DemocracyIsForPeople.org to learn more!

24 hours to stop Keystone XL

We have 24 hours to stop the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

The Senate could vote as early as Tuesday on a deal that would greenlight construction of the pipeline. After President Obama rejected Keystone XL last month, many Senators are rushing to resurrect it in order to protect their friends, Big Oil. As you read this, the oil industry is tightening the screws on the remaining Senators they need to get this thing passed.

Please join me in signing the petition urging Senators to block any efforts to revive the dangerous Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

Sign here:http://action.citizen.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=9509

Stop unwanted Internet tracking of children!

Today Americans across the nation are writing and calling their members of Congress with a simple request: Stop Internet companies from secretly tracking children online!

If you can lend your voice to this important national effort, take a moment to send an email now by going to Consumers Union's website.

It's been 13 years since Congress passed an Internet privacy bill for kids, and the law hasn't kept pace with technology. Today kids' encounter secret tracking cookies planted in their computers, smartphones that watch their locations, and targeted ads and marketing while they're online.

This bipartisan bill would update the law to give parents the tools they need to opt their kids out of this tracking and marketing. Please join me by adding your voice of support today.

http://bit.ly/A7l1Ch