Workshop participants in Charlotte, NC discuss how Wall Street is burning democracy, and how to put out the fire!

“Don’t Burn Democracy!” BBQs are designed to support existing or new local organizing with mini-grants for food, space, and copies of materials.

Groups are working on a broad range of issues from local greening initiatives to anti-war panels. But they do have one thing in common: a desire to resist Wall Street’s greed and unite to define and reclaim true democracy. This is the kind of organizing that lasts beyond a mere election cycle, and that is the kind of long term, local organizing we need!

Here’s how some of the participants are using our “Don’t Burn Democracy” mini-grants:

“The Green Wei sponsors monthly sustainability chats and a co-host collaborator is Occupy Newark. Our meetings are all themed now, as this helps to incentivize our contacts to engage more around the social justice issues we are promoting awareness of. Free food is a great incentive for getting people out and helps build our community.” – Kimi W., New Jersey

“Groups and people I work with in St. Petersburg FL have been successful with multiple issues (Awake Pinellas. Occupy St. Petersburg, Sierra Club. Hands Across the Sands, etc.). However, there is need for organizing in the northern part of Pinellas County…  Materials, funds and networking via GE would help make [planned] events a reality. I am an unpaid volunteer and receive no financial support from organizations I volunteer with so every small amount goes a long way.”  – George R., Florida

TAKE ACTION:

Interested in hosting a Don’t Burn Democracy BBQ in your community?

Email hillary@globalexchange.org to request a packet of materials including Elect Democracy stickers, infosheets, sample agendas and discussion ideas, and more.

Politicash 2012 makes it easy to see exactly who’s funding our presidential candidates, drawing back the curtain on even the most mysterious super PAC (political action committee) donors.

Global Exchange is proud to partner with MapLight on the release of this new PolitiCash 2012 app, an invaluable tool for tracking money in politics. So download your free app today and follow the campaign and Super-PAC money behind the presidential race.

Get real-time updates on campaign cash   ( both traditional campaign contributions and Super-PAC spending)…

…and the surprising totals.

TAKE ACTION:

• Download Politicash 2012 today and demand accountability! It works with the iPhone, iPad, or Android.
• Use the app to share data with friends (via Facebook & more), plus the app makes it easy to autotweet lawmakers to let them know you’re keeping an eye on who’s bankrolling their election campaigns.

-Street Heat: marches and protests demanding accountability and justice.
-Cop Heat: more militarized ‘free speech zones’ than I’ve ever seen before, ever, all at once.
-Wall Street Heat: lobbyists and campaign money burning democracy as usual.

Street Heat
“What a field day for the heat… a thousand people in the street… singing songs and carrying signs.” -Buffalo Springfield

Well, forty years later, the song strikes a chord- what a hot field day indeed! About a thousand protesters attended Charlotte’s March on Wall Street South on Sunday and several hundred others braved weather from Hurricane Isaac in Tampa to be heard at the conventions for the two major parties.

Of all the myriad problematic issues that impact communities of people living in the U.S., a common cry for money out of politics was loud and clear. It seems more evident than ever that the plutocracy of rule by the 1% is unsustainble for our communities and our planet. Protestors are calling for an end to greed and business as usual and a change in how people relate to each other: respect, mutual support, and peace.

United by both our unique differences and our shared determination to be heard and to create a better world, we spent our time marching and learning from one another and shared strategies of what’s working around the country in our efforts to build resilience. Our demands aren’t selfish or unreasonable; they are practical for the survival and health of this country.

Miami Tampa Heat

Well, we made important demands from within our ‘free speech zones’ that is. The police presence was ‘over the top’ in the opinion of a passerby flight attendant who watched the march from downtown. I must say I agree.

Something about a rightfully-angered civil society provokes an increasingly militarized response, but this cordoning off of protest to small ‘free speech zones’ and martial-law style patrolled parades diminish the visibility – in fact it invisibilizes – the many passionate cries for justice that should be heard in any healthy democracy.

Though apparently trying to keep a lower-than-usual profile, lobbyist-hosted soirees sure do attract the rapt attention of delegates, but what about the rest of us?  With Charlotte and Tampa both spending over $50 million in taxpayer dollars on ‘security’, it became clear that suppressing citizens from peacefully voicing legitimate concerns about the political process is very much a focus of this ‘security’ spending. P.S. Arresting peaceful environmental activists and using exorbitantly high bail to keep people behind bars instead of organizing? Not so cool, Charlotte P.D. Not so cool.

Wall Street is (really) Burning Democracy
While far far away on the West Coast, artists were burning a wooden replica of Wall Street, I was in Tampa and Charlotte giving workshops on how Wall Street was Burning Democracy. From homeless activists in Tampa’s Romneyville to schoolteachers who came to protest in Charlotte, it’s very clear that every single one of us can see how our communities are suffering when Wall Street uses it’s undue influence through record spending on elections to make policies in Washington keep up Wall Street’s profits at the expense of the rest of the country.

Our workshops focused on breaking out into groups so that we all had space to discuss in-depth how Wall Street impacts our lives AND to share how people are standing up to reclaim and protect democracy and their communities. It was a great opportunity to gather activists from all over the country to share, support, and strategize. We also found great potential hosts for October’s “Don’t Burn Democracy” BBQ events! Don’t forget to apply by September 15. The fact of the matter is that things are getting worse… but our resilience is getting stronger. The national dialogue and framing has shifted to include language about the 99%, about corporate greed and it’s consequences, and about what needs to change. We are making a difference, it just isn’t going to happen as fast as a burger pops out a drive-through window. Change takes time… and it takes all of us.

Let’s Put Out the Fire!!
The odds may feel slim, but don’t get burnt out- we can still make a difference. Even though it was hot hot hot, it was pretty darn cool to see so many people who are active in making change all around the country. From resisting foreclosures to fighting for accessible education, (im)migrant rights, and peace, we have a lot of friends with lots of common dreams. More and more of us are fighting to make those dreams real.

We see a small slice of that outside the RNC and the DNC, check out Global Exchange’s photo album to see everyone’s inspiring messages and demands! And we saw a lot of media listening.

No matter where you are or what you are doing, more people are listening than ever. Get out there and be heard! If money in politics is your pet peeve (it’s mine!) than use our legislative scorecard (most recently covered in the Huffington Post!) to find out how much Wall Street money your Senator or Representative received… and like Virginia Lee in Salt Lake City, write an op-ed about it if you want things to be different. Thanks again for everything you do, and thanks to all of the members of Global Exchange who helped me get to Tampa and Charlotte to organize and contribute to our movements for justice!

So… what do you think Paul Ryan’s industry loyalty rate was in our Legislative Scorecard?

Maybe you guessed it: 100%!

Congressman Paul Ryan
Credit: Creative Commons/Gage

That means on the bailout, Wall Street reform, free trade agreements, credit card regulation, and health care, Paul Ryan’s votes matched Wall Street’s lobbying position 100% of the time. Wow.

According to data from MapLight and Center for Responsive Politics, Paul Ryan also accepted over $3.2 million in campaign contributions from the Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate sector for his Congressional races, a number that is now likely to go up- way up.

Take Action:

Find out how your representatives voted (and how much Wall Street $$ they received) in Elect Democracy’s recent report and legislative scorecard.

Global Exchange intern Lily showcasing the GEMS membership card next to Fundraising thermometer

Mid-summer has arrived and the thermometer is inching up.  No, not the temperature here in San Francisco, but our fundraising thermometer is inching up towards our goal to raise 100 new GEMS (Global Exchange Monthly Sustainer.)

We need YOU to help us bring it up to 100 by the end of the summer!

GEMS: Helpful for social justice, easier for you!

When you become a Global Exchange Monthly Sustainer  you help Global Exchange create the foundation to move quickly and effectively with a known set of resources.

When we know what will be coming in, we can spend time planning effective and useful campaigns rather than trying to figure out how to raise money for a great idea.

And it is easier for you— no searching for the checkbook, stamp and envelope or credit card.  No wondering about how much you can afford this month. It is simple and easy to make a monthly commitment (as much as you can afford).  Just sign up on this secure page.

What’s in it for you?

By simply becoming a GEMS, your one-time action enables you to contribute throughout the year to important social justice work. Here’s some of what you will be supporting:

• In the heat of this summer your support will make you part of bringing two bus loads of victims of the failed Drug War in Mexico, called the Caravan for Peace with Justice  and Dignity, to share their stories all along the US- Mexico border ending in DC with a Global Day of Action Against the violence.
• • You’ll be part of building a movement to recognize the Rights of Nature as the only way we can prevent climate chaos and protect our beautiful planet Earth. 

  (Sidenote: If the Rights of Nature is important to you, consider joining Global Exchange with Vandana Shiva on the upcoming Reality Tour to India called Rights of Seeds, Rights of Nature.

• You’ll be on the front lines in Charlotte and Tampa demanding that the FIRE  (Finance Insurance and Real Estate sectors ) stop spending $1331 per minute trying to influence the outcome of our democracy. 

New “Meet the F.I.R.E. Sector” report for new GEMS now through end of August

*Limited Time Offer: Become a GEMS by the end of August and we’ll send you the latest full color report: “Meet the Fire Sector: How Wall Street is Burning our Democracy.”

This brand new nonpartisan report contains not only extensive research tracking Wall Street’s investment in political power, but also analyzes exactly how Wall Street has secured ‘industry-loyal voting practices’ of Congress using whopping amounts of money. And right now we’re giving away color copies to all new GEMS!

Building people-to people ties to resist injustice, take action and envision alternatives is what we do best. With a strong monthly foundation from a robust GEMS program we can do just that. Will you join us?

—

JOIN US TODAY. BECOME A GEMS!

This woman did.

So did this guy.

Yep, her too. They’re all Global Exchange Monthly Sustainers!

According to Wall Street, it’s worth approximately $4.2 billion. That’s how much the Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate (FIRE) sector has invested in political influence via campaign contributions and lobbying over the past six years.

That’s $1,331 dollars spent every minute since 2006 to buy political influence.

Today, Global Exchange is releasing a ground-breaking new report: “Meet the F.I.R.E. sector: How Wall Street is Burning Democracy.”

This nonpartisan report contains not only extensive research tracking Wall Street’s investment in political power, but also analyzes exactly how Wall Street has secured ‘industry-loyal voting practices’ of Congress using whopping amounts of money.

Using our new legislative scorecard from the report, you can trace how legislators from your district voted on key issues such as the bank bailout, Wall Street reform, free trade agreements and more. Not only that, but you can also see for yourself how much money they received in campaign contributions from the F.I.R.E. sector, and their ‘industry loyalty voting rate.’

There are many complex factors that impact how legislators vote, but corporate sponsorships shouldn’t be one of them.

Legislative Scorecard Graphic Credit: Global Exchange www.globalexchange.org

It is up to us to reclaim and protect democracy.

Knowing is half the battle. So please, help us spread the word. Use the Facebook and Twitter buttons to forward this legislative scorecard to family and friends. Ask them to take a look and let the numbers speak for themselves.

Remember, we’re not telling you who to vote for. We’re asking you to follow the money. Our goals are not to influence the outcome of one election, but to spark dialogue about accountability & transparency, and stop Wall Street from burning our priceless democracy.

TAKE ACTION:

• Check out our “Meet the F.I.R.E. sector: How Wall Street is Burning Democracy” report and scorecard
• Would you like a free color copy of the report? Become a Global Exchange Monthly Sustainer (GEMS) and we’ll mail you a copy;
  
• Leave a comment below:How might you or your community use these tools?

Last week, we were honored to host a panel with speakers from Code Pink, Oil Change International, and Public Citizen at the legendary Busboys and Poets in Washington DC.

Panelists from left to right: Rae Abileah from CODEPINK, Karen Showalter from Oil Change International, and Aquene Freechild from Public Citizen.

The speakers joined Global Exchange to compare notes on how undue corporate influence impacts the ability of these groups to carry out their positive missions, and share inspiration about how people are standing up to protect and reclaim democracy.

Global Exchange convened a dedicated group of activists and members to strategize about challenging corporate money in politics beyond the issue silo in which our organizations often carry out much of our work.

By speaking openly and sharing stories, we can collectively gain a more full understanding of two things: a) what’s at stake with the increasingly corporate-dominated political atmosphere and b) what’s working to take the power back.

One new tool we’re excited to share with you is our just-released legislative scorecard.

Since the Elect Democracy campaign is focused on getting the F.I.R.E. money out of our democracy, we conducted extensive research to show how members of the Senate Banking, Senate Finance, and House Finance committees voted on key issues such as the bailout, Wall Street reform, healthcare, credit card regulation, and free trade.

We compiled not only an easy-to-reference voting record, but also included data that traces how much F.I.R.E money each Congressperson received in campaign contributions, and a percentage rate to the F.I.R.E sector lobby on each bill. It is stunning to see just how much money Wall Street is pumping into our political system. How much money are committee  legislators from your district taking from the F.I.R.E. sector? Find out.

During the panel, each of our speakers shared some of the raw numbers of corporate campaign donations and lobbying coming  from the F.I.R.E. sector, war profiteers, AIPAC, oil companies, fossil fuel industries, and other sectors to foster an environment in which regulation and even plain legal accountability are difficult to achieve.

The speakers also discussed how the revolving door of industry insiders rotating into political office and back out into industry have become the new norm. A panel attendee from Occupy Monsanto gave another example of revolving door politics in the January 2012 appointment of former Monsanto vice president Michael Taylor to be Senior Advisor to the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration.

Though the stakes are high and the corporate pockets deep, there are still many forms of resistance bubbling up all over the country.

Dozens of groups will be mobilizing at the upcoming conventions and other events to challenge corporate ‘sponsorship’ of Congress. Through organizing protests, boycotts, days of action, and non-violent direct action, organizers are taking strong, collective action to confront and stop everything from foreclosure evictions to fossil fuel subsidies.

This increasing rancor has significant political ramifications during and beyond election season.  Several states (including California) along with dozens of towns, cities, and counties are standing up in favor of a constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling and perhaps extend an amendment to further curb corporate abuse of our political system. That would be a good start!

Another lesson from the panel: it is increasingly important for our organizations to amplify our message and get our (shocking) facts and tools about money in politics as far out into the public sphere as we can. As the tentacles of greed squeeze tighter, the numbers of people ready to take action and stand up for real democracy increase proportionally. It’s going to be an exciting rest of the year.

Since we were in Washington DC, we decided to meet up with our friends from CODEPINK and do a mini ‘Reality Tour’ of Washington DC and follow the money around town. Below is a sampling of our photo album documenting what we found.

Note: Unfortunately, our panelist from 350.org couldn’t make it due to illness. Hope you feel better soon, Jason.

TAKE ACTION: Leave a comment or tweet to @ElectDemocracy about how much democracy is worth to you: be creative! There are no wrong answers except ones that start with a $….

Have you signed our petition yet telling Wall Street that our democracy is NOT for sale? For those who haven’t yet, please take 10 seconds today to stand up for democracy and tell Wall Street to back off! Our goal is to get 10,000 Signatures by July 4th.

Between 1998-2008, the finance sector spent $5,178,835,253 buying power and influence in DC. Once in office, bought-and-sold legislators support and approve corporate-drafted policies that whittle away at our country’s social safety nets and vital programs and instead fund big bank bailouts that end up as big boss bonuses.

The largest campaign contributions to Congressional candidates of both parties consistently come from the Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate industry (the FIRE sector, which includes big banks).

These are the very corporations that promote deregulation in favor of casino capitalism, that foreclose on the homes of veterans and families, chain students to five-figure student debt, lobby against affordable healthcare, profit from war and push harmful international free trade agreements. We must sever the finance sector’s stranglehold over our own democracy.

FIRE (Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate) industry campaign contributions are consistently the largest of any US sector. Source: Center for Responsive Politics

This year’s election is in danger of being bought-and-sold by big banks once again. So far, the FIRE sector has spent $253,290,163 on the 2012 election, and we are just getting started. It is up to us to stop corporate money from drowning out the needs of the 99%.

TAKE ACTION

Visit our Take Action page: You can make a difference by joining us and taking action to Elect Democracy: various ways to get involved are listed on our Take Action page;

Sign and Share Petition: Tell top-contributing banks and FIRE-sector money mongers, “Our Democracy is NOT for Sale!” Please, sign and share this petition to help us reach 10,000 signatures by July 4th!

Image: Occuprint

How exactly do you ‘lose’ $2-6 billion dollars?

Gambling? Addiction? Memory Loss?

Unfortunately for JPMorgan CEO & Chairman Jamie Dimon, the public hasn’t forgotten the nauseating numbers tossed around during the fiscal crisis that began in 2007 and resulted in a $700 billion taxpayer-funded bank bailout in 2008. So we weren’t very happy to hear JPMorgan Chase announced last week that the finance giant had suffered a Britney Spears moment and “oops!” lost somewhere between $2-6 billion on risky trading.

Five years ago, few of us outside the rule-twisting world of finance would have twitched if someone goofed up and lost big bucks. But these days, when it comes to “too-big-to-jail banks”, the 99% is very wary. Now when the public hears news about big banks squandering enormous quantities of money through risky trading and reckless bets, we brace ourselves. We wonder if we will be told once again that we have to foot the bill for another bailout to JPMorgan and watch our hard-earned tax dollars funneled into big banks while CEOs put their feet up and rake in bailouts, tax cuts, and bonuses.

After all, this is the same JPMorgan that received $94.7 billion in bailout money four years ago and went on to lobby even more heavily after receiving bailout funds.

When we give the big banks big bailouts, taxpayers are actually funding a coup of our own democracy.

JPMorgan Chase spent $5.4 million on lobbying in 2008, $7.6 million lobbying in 2011, (and just last week approved a $23 million dollar pay package for CEO & Chairmen Jamie Dimon). Besides investing lobbying cash to get a big chunk of the bailout, JPMorgan Chase also continues to rail against the exact type of regulation that would have prohibited the type of reckless trading that nicked somewhere between $2-6 billion off its tally sheet last week.

Image Credit: DrMarty, www.nowpublic.com

In 1933, following the stock-market crash of 1929 that precipitated the Great Depression, the Glass-Steagall Act was enacted in order to protect our economy by separating investment and commercial banking activities. Glass-Steagall was repealed in 1999, not to the chagrin of JPMorgan, which had spent millions over decades of lobbying for a repeal of the legislation.

Turns out, some rules aren’t made to be broken. Last week’s OOPS moment has sparked several lawmakers calling for resuscitating Glass-Steagall and for Jamie Dimon to step down from his Board Member position at the Federal Reserve.

But JPMorgan didn’t stop at defeating Glass-Steagall. Since the Glass-Steagall repeal ‘victory’ in 1999, CEO Jamie Dimon has become the poster boy for banksters whining about the ‘oppression’ of regulation, throwing money at Washington almost as often as he throws tantrums about having to play fair and follow rules.

Now, the Wall Street bulls have been working to gut the newest piece of rational regulation: The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Obama signed Dodd-Frank into law in 2010, promising us “There will be no more taxpayer-funded bailouts. Period.” Unfortunately, we still aren’t safe from Wall Street’s crazytrain. Matt Taibbi’s recent article details the “The Slow Painful Death of Dodd-Frank” and cites none other than JPMorgan’s CEO and chairmen Jamie Dimon as one of the bulls leading the charge against Dodd-Frank and other efforts to regulate a reckless Wall Street.

“Ever since the start of the banking crisis in 2008, Dimon has been arguing that more government regulation of Wall Street is unnecessary. Last year he vehemently and loudly opposed the so-called Volcker rule, itself a watered-down version of the old Glass-Steagall Act that used to separate commercial from investment banking before it was repealed in 1999, saying it would unnecessarily impinge on derivative trading (the lucrative practice of making bets on bets) and hedging (using some bets to offset the risks of other bets).” –Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich

Risky trading on derivatives is exactly what lost JP’s $2 billion. That’s a lot of crow to eat. But good ol’ Jamie doesn’t think twice about it. At the JPMorgan Chase shareholder meeting last week (yep, the same one where his $23 million pay package was approved), Jamie said, “It is time to admit mistakes… and move on.” Easy for you to say, Jamie. You’re not the one paying for JP’s “mistakes”, bonus boy.

As long as big banks dispatch lobbyists to write policies and then bankroll election campaigns so those in office sign those policies into law, we the 99% will continue to be prohibited from having the ability to regulate these money mongers. We need to take the keys away from those who are driving our economy into the ground.

So, speaking of designated officials, you may be surprised to hear this (or not) but many of our officials in Congress are actually literally invested in JP Morgan’s success: dozens of members of Congress are JP Morgan shareholders.

According to OpenSecrets.org data, which is based on personal financial disclosure forms filed by all members of Congress for the year 2010 (disclosure forms for 2011 were due this week, but aren’t yet publicly available), 15 Democrats and 23 Republicans owned shares in JPMorgan Chase worth a total of between $2.1 million and $3.8 million.

Do you see a conflict of interests here?

Are legislators effectively clear-minded enough to regulate an industry when that industry is making them millionaires? Does this personal investment impact their approval of policies that protect big banks at the expense of a safe market? Even without the personal bottom line, big banks fund Congressional dependency on the finance sector through campaign contributions and revolving door lobbyists.

JP Morgan Chase spent $7.6 million on lobbying in 2011, hiring 13 lobbying firms and 48 lobbyists. And 12 of its 14 in-house lobbyists are former congressional or government officials. Fact & Photo Credit: First Street Research Group.

JPMorgan made over $6 million in campaign contributions in the 2008 election. The corporation has already dished out over $1 million this year, and the party is just getting started.

As long as this corporate coup of our democracy continues, the finance sector will continue along, unfettered, in burning the economy to feed its greedy fire. It’s time to Elect Democracy instead of corporate puppets so that we can stand up to Wall Street bullies and protect the rest of the country from the finance sector’s erratic behavior.

Take Action!

Want to keep up-to-date on facts about corporate greed? Follow @electdemocracy on Twitter.

Hillary Lehr: Elect Democracy Campaigner, Global Exchange