We’re writing because you recently signed a petition to fire Bank of America’s CEO, Ken Lewis. Today we have a critical opportunity to turn up the pressure.
Next week, Bank of America’s shareholders will meet in North Carolina to decide whether to fire Lewis, whose failed leadership has lost the bank billions of dollars.
But the most powerful shareholder won’t be represented. Taxpayers–you and me–are the single biggest shareholder in Bank of America, thanks to the massive bailouts of the bank.
Luckily, our friends at the Service Employees International Union are going to make sure our voices can’t be ignored. They’re collecting “taxpayer proxy cards” and will deliver them directly to Bank of America next week.
Can you show your support for firing Lewis by filling out a proxy card right now?
Under Ken Lewis’ leadership, Bank of America built a business model based on taking advantage of customers, pushing dangerous financial products on them, and burying them in more and more debt. And it’s us–the taxpayers–who are paying the price.
Lewis needs to get the boot so new leadership can take Bank of America in a new direction. That’s the only way we’ll recoup our investment and the only way we’ll get our economy back on track.
Please fill out a taxpayer proxy card today so Bank of America’s shareholders get the message loud and clear that Lewis needs to be fired.
Thanks for all you do,
–Daniel, Eli, Tanya, Ilyse and the rest of the team
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.
Move on has a interesting way of showing the distaste of the current issues with AIG.
No need to get rough, get virtually rough!
But in all seriousness, the 165 million is absurd. There are levels of Tomato throwing…as through more you learn more about AIG and what happened with all that dough.
Doh! We need to have more strings when lending money. Can’t we just use the same contracts they make Joe-the-Plummer fill out when he is trying to get his first unsecured credit card. This is Credit we are talking about.
Here’s the Moveon letter for you read for your selves:
Dear MoveOn member,
Y’know, the AIG million-dollar bonuses being paid out with our taxpayer money got me mad enough to, well, throw something.
So MoveOn member Kris Khoury helped us whip up a game that does just that! It’s called “The Great AIG Tomato Toss,” and it’s oddly addictive. We should stop throwing money at the people who ruined our economy–and start throwing (virtual) tomatoes. Play it here:
It’s a fun game, but it’s got a serious purpose: to get the outrageous AIG bonus money back. When you play the game, you can also sign our petition to demand the return of the bonus money. The more people who play the game, the more signatures we’ll be able to deliver to congress. 300,000 of us have signed already, and we’re shooting for 400,000.
So check out the game, pass it on, and then sign the petition if you haven’t already. Together, we’re going to get some justice from the people who played a role in creating this whole financial crisis in the first place–even if it that call for justice starts with a single, juicy, digital tomato.
Thanks for all you do.
–Daniel, Marika, Patrick S., Peter and the rest of the team
This email showed up yesterday. I know I have been slow with the general updates, but the news was making me a bit crazy. On the advice of a family member I took a news sabbatical, and am now only slowing getting back to paying attention in more detail.
Ok here is newsletter:
Sign the petition Dear MoveOn member,
Think oil companies should pay their fair share of taxes? So does President Obama.
In his budget, the President has proposed cutting billions of dollars in unfair subsidies and tax loopholes for oil and gas companies, to help pay for critical priorities like clean energy and green jobs.1 After all, they don’t exactly need the help: ExxonMobil made a record profit of $45.2 billion last year.2
But Big Oil is already fighting back. Like other corporate special interests, they’re lobbying heavily to gut Obama’s budget. The American Petroleum Institute has announced plans to fly top executives into Washington to help save their tax breaks.3
And they’ve got a lot of friends on Capitol Hill, thanks to millions in campaign contributions over the years. So we’ve got to be louder than Big Oil, and remind our elected representatives that they work for us, not ExxonMobil. Click here to sign our petition:
The petition reads: “Congress should stop the giveaways and tax loopholes for oil and gas companies–and invest in green jobs and clean energy instead.”
President Obama has a bold vision for switching America to a clean-energy economy and putting millions of people back to work in good, green jobs.
His proposed budget is full of important provisions to make it happen: investing in wind and solar power, retrofitting buildings to make them more energy-efficient, and helping working families cope with rising energy costs.4
To help pay for it, oil and gas companies need to start paying their fair share in taxes. For years, they’ve been receiving generous subsidies–and taking advantage of loopholes that let them avoid paying royalties from drilling on federal lands and in the Gulf of Mexico.
Unsurprisingly, the industries that make their profits from producing and burning oil, coal, and natural gas are spending millions of dollars working to undermine the president’s plans for a clean-energy economy.
So we’re organizing a massive grassroots campaign to get his back and take them on. Can you help out by signing our petition? Click here:
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. ________________ PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.
In recent days, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has been promising to “put an end to the reckless conduct,
corruption, and unbridled greed that have caused a crisis on Wall
Street.” This is an interesting development for McCain, who
before this week was a champion of deregulation.
In 1999 Congress passed the Financial Modernization Act, which allowed banks, insurance companies and investment houses to merge. Many experts point to it as one of the causes of our current financial crisis. At the time, Byron Dorgan was one of the few senators to speak out strongly against the legislation. Looking back, his predictions in 1999 seem prophetic and, looking forward, his views raise more questions about the $700 billion bailout plan.
Feed.TheHungryHead.com
