Meet The Foreclosed Grandmas Facing Federal Charges For Protesting ‘Too Big To Jail’
Seven women were arraigned Tuesday in Washington, D.C., on federal charges of “unlawful entry” stemming from last month’s homeowner sit-ins at the Department of Justice and a lawfirm called...
Seven women were arraigned Tuesday in Washington, D.C., on federal charges of “unlawful entry” stemming from last month’s homeowner sit-ins at the Department of Justice and a lawfirm called Covington and Burling. Protesters targeted Covington for its revolving-door relationship with a government that’s failed to prosecute Wall Street. When Lanny Breuer stepped down as head of DOJ’s criminal division this winter after Frontline revealed him as the primary culprit in the government’s apparent ‘too big to jail’ approach to foreclosure fraud, Covington provided him a new professional home. It’s also provided a moniker for the group formally charged on Tuesday: the “Covington Seven.”
The women face one of three different legal paths, their attorney Mark Goldstone told ThinkProgress. The charges bear a maximum penalty of six months jail time and/or a $1,250 fine. While a small fine is more likely to be the outcome, Goldstone said, that would come with a conviction on their permanent records. The women might be able to escape conviction provided they are not re-arrested and they do not return to Covington and Burling premises.
After their arraignment, members of the Covington Seven told ThinkProgress why they’d gotten involved.
Sherry Hernandez of Los Angeles told me her Countrywide mortgage ballooned after just four months, with her monthly payments jumping by $800. Her family decided to get a different loan and get out of the suddenly-unaffordable Countrywide mortgage, since they knew they had notarized paperwork showing their loan did not carry penalties for paying it back early. “But they held us to this prepayment penalty we didn’t agree to,” Hernandez said, which “raised our payment trying to get out of the predatory loan by $75,000 more.” Countrywide was the largest subprime lender, and implicated in much of the ugliest financial conduct of the housing bubble and bust. Yet a few years after it was bought by Bank of America, a firm called PennyMac sprang up, run almost entirely by Countrywide alumni. The Hernandezes sued Countrywide successfully, but meanwhile the second loan they’d taken out to replace the predatory one had been sold off…to PennyMac. “PennyMac has foreclosed,” Hernandez said. (PennyMac declined to comment on an individual case, citing privacy laws.)
Asked what she wanted to her message to be on the day she attended the sit-in, Hernandez chuckled. “Oh I have the perfect line. It’s the line they used on us when our hands were cuffed behind our backs, the seven little grandmas: ‘If you don’t arrest them, they’ll just do it again.’”
Deborah Castillo of St. Louis came home from voting on Election Day of 2012 to find an eviction notice on her front door. Castillo, 60, had seemed well positioned for her financial future just a few years earlier, with a good handle on her own mortgage and an investment property nearly paid off. “I had a two-family flat that was $3,000 from being paid for,” Castillo said, “but I had to refinance that in 2005 to help pay for the medical bills for my son, who’s schizophrenic.”
“That was my so-called nest egg, that was our security. And so I had to refinance that, unfortunately with Countrywide.” The same year, Castillo’s daughter contracted bacterial meningitis, and Castillo took 9 months away from her phone company job to care for her daughter. When the balloon payment hit, Castillo couldn’t keep up. Her husband lost his job amid the economic downturn, compounding their struggles. Just a few years on from nearly owning their “nest egg” rental property, Castillo found herself drawing down retirement savings to make ends meet.
And then, in the middle of the loan modification process, US Bank foreclosed on the Castillo family home. “[They] sat on the paperwork,” Castillo told ThinkProgress. The bank refused to accept payments while the modification was pending, yet charged Castillo penalties for missed payments. “Their lack of processing my document on time allowed them to put me in foreclosure,” she said. With eviction pending, Fannie Mae sought and won a $17,000 judgment against Castillo “for being in my home illegally.” (A representative of US Bank officially declined to comment, citing policy against discussing ongoing litigation.)
Castillo is clear-eyed about the culprits in her case. “Something can happen to you in life, no matter what, that can cause you to get into a bind,” Castillo said. “But US Bank, they’re not losing.” Thanks to bailouts, “there was no reason for the banks to settle or work with people, because the government guaranteed that they would win, that they would not be left holding the bag.” And now, with the initial crisis that sparked the government aid to the financial sector, no one in Washington was doubling back to address the paperwork rigmarole that the bailed-out companies used to boot the Castillos from their home. That’s how Castillo ended up getting handcuffed in the Covington and Burling lobby. “We wanted to get someone’s attention. And unfortunately, doing it the legal way through the court is not getting their attention,” she said.
“I worked my ass off to help [President Obama] get elected,” said Castillo, whose volunteer work for the 2008 campaign earned her the photo-op at right. “And now I want him to work his ass off to keep not only me in my home, but everybody else. Because he didn’t get there on his own. I don’t think he’s forgotten, but he needs to put his foot up somebody’s ass and make them remember, we helped put them there.”
Castillo, Hernandez, and the other five, whose stories reflect the same themes of deception and bullying, have to choose how to respond to the unlawful entry charges prior to a July court date. But whichever path each decides to walk, they’ll face more punishment than any of the companies involved in these wrongful foreclosures have faced. “The charges are much harsher for those that sit in front of a doorway than those who steal billions of dollars, force people out of their homes, wreck the economy, and wreck people’s lives,” Goldstone, their lawyer, said. “It demonstrates there’s two systems of justice.”
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Freedom To Thrive: Criminalization, Policing, and Mass-Incarceration: Interview with Jennifer Epps-Addison - Audio
Freedom To Thrive: Criminalization, Policing, and Mass-Incarceration: Interview with Jennifer Epps-Addison - Audio
Listen to a discussion with Jennifer Epps-Addison about The Center for Popular...
Listen to a discussion with Jennifer Epps-Addison about The Center for Popular Democracy's new report, Freedom To Thrive: Criminalization, Policing, and Mass-Incarceration.
Big Demand for NYC Municipal ID Cards
Aljazeera America - January 14, 2015, by Wilson Dizard - New York City’s municipal identification card, launched Monday, quickly became a...
Aljazeera America - January 14, 2015, by Wilson Dizard - New York City’s municipal identification card, launched Monday, quickly became a hot ticket, with thousands of residents eager to receive one lining up at distribution centers across the city — a volume that prompted city officials on Wednesday to start processing card applications by appointment only.
The nation’s largest city joins a handful of other municipalities — from San Francisco to Mercer County, New Jersey — that in recent years have issued their own ID cards to make life easier and safer for large populations of undocumented immigrants and anyone else in need of identification. Available free of charge to anyone 14 years or older in New York City, the cards also provide discounts at businesses and free access to some of the city's museums.
“It’s something good they should have done a long time ago," Alice King, 46, originally from Trinidad but a Brooklyn resident for the last 15 years, told local news site DNAInfo.
Based on its size alone, New York City’s program could become a model for municipal IDs in other U.S. cities, civil liberties advocates say. There are about 500,000 undocumented immigrants in New York City.
“It remains to be seen, but I think the intended effect is that New Yorkers will have a lot easier time accessing city services and being part of the economic life of the city,” said Emily Tucker, senior staff attorney with the Center for Popular Democracy, an advocacy group that published a report in 2013 hailing the use of municipal ID cards across the nation.
So far, nine U.S. municipalities issue ID cards, with most in the San Francisco or New York City metropolitan areas. Washington, D.C., has a version as well. Other cities — including Chicago and Phoenix — are looking into launching similar programs.
Supporters of municipal IDs, which were piloted in 2007 in New Haven, Connecticut, say that issuing the cards to undocumented residents fills a gap left by a lack of immigration reform in Congress.
They also say the IDs make everyone safer by allowing such residents to no longer be afraid to report crimes against them or others to police. Without identification, many undocumented immigrants fear risking deportation by speaking to authorities.
In New York City, police say they will accept the cards as an adequate form of identification, which Tucker said will “make interactions with police smoother.”
“Now police can issue a summons instead of arresting a person without ID for something like an open container violation, instead of taking them to the precinct to spend a night in jail,” she added.
The cards can help undocumented residents do simple things like open bank accounts, rent apartments, board flights and access medical help — tasks made far more difficult or even impossible without identification.
“We’ve heard of school districts where parents without ID are not able to pick up their kids from extracurricular activities,” said Layla Razvani, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union. “These parents are part of the community.”
Still, not everyone supports municipal ID programs. Their most vocal opponents argue that by issuing cards, municipalities are flagrantly disobeying federal laws that prohibit illegal immigration, aiding the undocumented by providing IDs to people who can’t prove they’re citizens.
“We don’t know who these people really are. We have to take their word for it. It makes it more difficult to enforce federal immigration law,” said Ira Mehlmann, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a group that opposes the continued presence of undocumented immigrants in the U.S.
“They say it’s to stop them [undocumented immigrants] from being treated like second-class citizens. It’s an oxymoron. They aren’t citizens. They don’t have a legal right to be in the country,” he added.
Mehlmann particularly fears that undocumented residents could exploit municipal ID card programs to carry out acts of violence. Although he could not point to a single instance of a city ID being used in the commission of a crime, he said, “the fact that nobody with one of these IDs has committed a terrorist act yet doesn’t mean it doesn’t pose a threat.”
The New York Civil Liberties Union has also expressed skepticism about the city’s municipal ID program, wary that authorities might misuse the information provided by undocumented residents who are some of society’s most vulnerable.
NYCLU spokeswoman Jen Carnig said that the cards could make life easier for people but that police don’t have to provide the same level of probable cause to access the municipal IDs as they do for regular driver’s licenses. She credited the city with saying it would inform people whose information police have accessed, but she argued that the protections should be as strong as they are for citizens.
“No one should be subject to having their personal documents accessed by law enforcement or become subject to an investigation based on a hunch, and it’s possible that could be the case for some people,” she said.
Source
Duggan on the Donald
Duggan on the Donald
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS: National Federation of Independent Business President Juanita Duggan, fresh off her secret special-interests meeting with Donald Trump last week, has some advice for...
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS: National Federation of Independent Business President Juanita Duggan, fresh off her secret special-interests meeting with Donald Trump last week, has some advice for downtowners scratching their heads about how to interact with the unconventional campaign: Treat it like any other. "We’re doing what we would do with any campaign: asking questions and letting them know our agenda," she told PI. "It was an extremely substantive meeting with the candidate himself. That speaks for itself."
A4A's Nick Calio, the only other known attendee, wasn't available for comment, according to a spokesman. (Both Duggan and Calio contributed to Jeb Bush's campaign, for the record.) Other major trade groups, including the Chamber of Commerce, API and the National Association of Manufacturers, weren't invited. The New York Times reported that Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), who's advising Trump, invited people for whom he has “great respect.” Trump's spokeswoman didn't answer a request for comment.
MACK'S BACK: Connie Mack, the former Florida congressman who recently left Levick, registered to lobby for DCI Group on behalf of Puerto Rico bondholders. Mack declined to specify which investors, but he previously worked for DCI on behalf of hedge fund BlueMountain Capital Management on its dispute with the island commonwealth. DCI Group is the grassroots/"AstroTurf" specialist that The New York Times said helped coordinate a lobbying campaign purportedly comprising retiree bondholders.
Mack criticized the current bill on Puerto Rico's debt, telling PI it features an unconstitutional stay and a "bailout in the form of a super Chapter 9."
NO DEAL: Pharma giants Pfizer and Allergan have called off their $160 billion merger after Treasury released new anti-inversion rules Monday, Pro Tax’s Bernie Becker reports. Pfizer was planning to move its legal address to Ireland, and the deal would have been the largest in a series of mergers allowing companies to take foreign addresses, reducing their tax bills. Conservative groups, including Americans for Tax Reform and 13 others, have called on Treasury Secretary Jack Lew to address the issue through tax reform instead of regulations. http://politico.pro/1S241li
— Roberti Global, Tarplin Downs & Young and Ogilvy Government Relations lobbied for Pfizer on inversions, and SKDKnickerbocker was also advising the drugmaker. Van Heuvelen Strategies represents Allergan on international taxes.
STATUS UPDATES:
— The Center for American Progress named Liz Kennedy its new director of government and democratic reform, after having served as counsel and campaign strategist at Demos, working on voting rights, money in politics and corporate accountability, among other issues.
— Rob Hill, who most recently directed the field efforts at the Small Business Administration, joins Precision Strategies as the director of mobilization and campaign management. The firm also hired Sam Libowsky from Starcom MediaVest Group as principal for paid media and Nathaniel Lubin, Obama campaign veteran and former White House director of the office and digital strategy, as of counsel, focusing on paid media and digital strategy.
— Vernessa Pollard and Veleka Peeples-Dyer were named co-leaders of McDermott Will & Emery's expanded FDA practice. Pollard came over from Arnold & Porter last month, and the firm is planning to add at least three more lawyers to the group this year.
NEW BUSINESS: Cassidy & Associates is now lobbying for Patagonia on coastal resiliency, infrastructure, clean water and watershed restoration. The lobbying firm also signed Delmarva Group, the law offices of Eugene Vamos, Geos Institute, Osen LLC, Parts Life and Steadman Philippon Research Institute.
— McBee Strategic Consulting started a partnership with government and public affairs firm Tendo Consulting in London.
GRAY AREA: The House Ethics Committee will not conduct a full investigation into allegations against Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.), POLITICO’s John Bresnahan reports, after the Office of Congressional Ethics found several potential violations. Grayson has been accused of receiving compensation from a hedge fund and other entities he controlled while in Congress. Though the committee will continue to review these allegations, it is not required to act further. Grayson, who is running for Senate, has accused his primary opponent, Democratic Rep. Patrick Murphy, of instigating OCE’s probe, and has called for an investigation of OCE and its congressional staff. http://politi.co/1PTKdc4
COMING ATTRACTIONS: Chuck Schumer, the incoming Senate Democratic leader, will be introducing former Sen. Blanche Lincoln for her award at the Bryce Harlow Foundation dinner later this month. Former House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp, now with PwC, will be introducing the current chairman, Kevin Brady. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) will deliver a special tribute to the late Bryce Harlow. There will also be taped tributes expected to come from a prominent U.S. ambassador, top congressional leaders and a former president.
— Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) hosted a book-signing party for her daughter Stefany's book, "Ellie & Coach," at the townhouse of 3 Click Solutions' Patrick Murphy. The book celebrates her daughter Ellie's struggle with diabetes with the help of her family and service dog. Attending were Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.).
KASICH'S CASE: Allies of Gov. John Kasich will hold a large meeting this afternoon to brief supporters and donors, reports POLITICO’s Anna Palmer. The event will be headlined by Ohio Sen. Rob Portman. Also slated to attend: Kasich senior strategist John Weaver, Republican operative Charlie Black and Bob Rusbuldt, co-chair of the governor’s steering committee and head of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America, and more, in the American Trucking Association’s townhouse. http://politi.co/1RE1ED2
COACH LUNTZ: After Republican polling firm Luntz Global, founded by consultant Frank Luntz, asked CEOs across the country about their views on traditionally left-leaning policies, they found that the majority supported raising the minimum wage, increasing paid parental leave requirements and increasing paid sick leave, BuzzFeed's Cora Lewis reports. Managing Director David Merritt has since coached business lobbies, like the Council of State Chambers of Commerce, on how to reconcile these differences. But left-leaning advocacy groups, like the Center for Popular Democracy, say business lobbies are ignoring their members' views. http://bzfd.it/1SPBhJq
ON THE HILL: The Alzheimer’s Association is bringing more than 1,200 people, it's largest-ever fly-in, to the Hill to share their personal stories and ask Congress for increased funding for medical research around the disease, and to pass the HOPE for Alzheimer’s Act. They have more than 450 meetings scheduled. Retiring Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) will receive the Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and Sens. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) will each receive a Humanitarian Award.
DOCTOR, DOCTOR: Doctors for America, the American Medical Association, American Public Health Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and 137 other groups are calling for Congress to provide the CDC with funding for research into the causes of gun violence and how to prevent it, reports Pro Health Care’s Dan Diamond. http://politi.co/1QmvbhP
MEMORIAM: Cindy O'Malley, a government affairs counselor at K&L Gates, died March 30. She was a Robert Davis (R-Mich.) and House Armed Services Committee alum. Services have been scheduled for 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 9, 2016 at St. Ann Catholic Church in Arlington, Va. In lieu of flowers, the family asks for contributions to either American Cancer Society or the Girls & Boys Club-Camp O'Malley in Grand Rapids, Mich.
NEW PAC REGISTRATIONS:
Brand New Congress (Non-Qualified Non-Party, Unauthorized)
Florida Voters Project (Non-Qualified Non-Party With Non-Contribution Account, Unauthorized)
NAFSA PAC (Non-Qualified Non-Party, Unauthorized)
I'm Bringing Sexy PAC (Independent Expenditure-Only Committee, Unauthorized)
My Vote Matters Now
JOINT FUNDRAISING COMMITTEES:
Emily Cain Victory Fund
Future Focus
Kennedy-Sinema Victory Fund
NEW LOBBYING REGISTRATIONS:
Armory Hill Advocates (formerly known as Rawlson Policy Group): PANTHERx
Arnold & Porter LLP: Rebiotix, Inc.
Capitol Connections, LLC: Florida Aquaculture Association
CapView Associates LLC (doing business as CapView Strategies): Pfizer Inc.
Cassidy & Associates, Inc.: Delmarva
Cassidy & Associates, Inc.: Geos Institute
Cassidy & Associates, Inc.: Law Offices of Eugene Vamos
Cassidy & Associates, Inc.: Osen LLC
Cassidy & Associates, Inc.: Parts Life, Inc.
Cassidy & Associates, Inc.: Patagonia
Cassidy & Associates, Inc.: Steadman Philippon Research Institute
CG Technologies Inc.: Torch Technologies, Inc.
Lincoln Policy Group: American Trucking Association
Lincoln Policy Group: Cognizant Technology Solutions
Lincoln Policy Group: National Park Hospitality Association
News Corporation: News Corporation
The Ickes and Enright Group, Inc.: Deaf Professionals Arts Network
Third Dimension Strategies, Inc.: Computer Science Education Coalition
NEW LOBBYING TERMINATIONS:
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld: PhRMA
Hannegan Landau Poersch Advocacy, LLC: Delaware North Companies Travel Hospitality Services, Inc.
Law Offices of George Harris, LLC: City of Dothan
By ISAAC ARNSDORF
With help from Cogan Schneier and Brianna Gurciullo
Source
For Many Americans, the Great Recession Never Ended. Is the Fed About to Make It Worse?
When the Federal Reserve considers raising interest rates on July 28—and then again every six weeks after—MyAsia Reid, of Philadelphia, will be paying close attention. Despite holding a bachelor’s...
When the Federal Reserve considers raising interest rates on July 28—and then again every six weeks after—MyAsia Reid, of Philadelphia, will be paying close attention. Despite holding a bachelor’s degree in computer science, completing a series of related internships, and presenting original research across the country, Reid could not find a job in her field and, instead, pieces together a nine-hour-per-week tutoring job and a 20-hour-per-week cosmetology gig. The 25-year-old knows that an interest-rate hike will hurt her chances of finding the kinds of jobs for which she has trained, and earning the wage increase she so desperately needs.
A Fed decision to raise interest rates, expected sometime this year, amounts to a vote of confidence in the economy—a declaration that we have achieved the robust recovery we need. “We are close to where we want to be, and we now think that the economy cannot only tolerate but needs higher interest rates,” the chairwoman of the Federal Reserve, Janet Yellen, told Congress during a July 15 policy briefing.
But for many millions of Americans, the recovery has yet to arrive, and for them, a rate hike will be disastrous. It will put the brakes on an economy still trudging toward stability; stall progress on unemployment, especially for African-Americans; and slow wage growth even more for the vast majority of American workers.
The general argument for raising interest rates is that it will prevent wage costs from pushing up inflation. However, there is no data suggesting price instability; nor is there any indication that wages have risen enough to spur such inflation. For the overwhelming majority of American workers, wages have stagnated or even dropped over the past 35 years, even as CEOs have seen their compensation grow 937 percent. During the same period, wage gaps between white workers and workers of color have increased, and black unemployment is at the level of white unemployment at the height of the Great Recession. Meanwhile, the labor-force participation rate is less than 63 percent, the lowest in nearly four decades, suggesting that many Americans have simply given up looking for work.
Yellen has herself often urged the Fed to look at the broadest possible employment picture. Yet, during her recent congressional testimony, shedownplayed the Fed’s ability to address racial disparities, saying that the central bank does not “have the tools to be able to address the structure of unemployment across groups” and that “there isn’t anything directly that the Federal Reserve can do” about it. She cited, rightly, a range of other factors, including disparate educational attainment and skill levels, that contribute to economic and social disparities between racial groups. But she also glossed over the importance of the economic environment in shaping workers’ unequal chances.
One defining metric in shaping workers’ chances is the unemployment rate. A high unemployment rate facilitates racial discrimination. When there are too many qualified job candidates for every job, employers can arbitrarily limit their labor pool based on unnecessary educational requirements, irrelevant credit or background checks, or straightforward bias. A tight labor market, by contrast, makes it much harder for employers to succumb to prejudices and overlook qualified workers simply because of bias. When the number of job seekers matches the number of job vacancies, African-Americans, Latinos, women, gays and lesbians, injured veterans, and formerly incarcerated workers finally get their due in the workforce.
The late 1990s, when unemployment was at about 4 percent, bear out this thesis. During that rosier era, black unemployment was 7.6 percent, and the ratio of black family income to white family income rose substantially.
As the guardian of monetary policy, the Federal Reserve has a number of tools for encouraging a tight labor market, and one of those tools is to keep interest rates low. By keeping rates low, the Fed creates a hospitable environment for job growth by lowering the borrowing costs for consumer and business spending—including hiring new workers. By contrast, raising rates deliberately suppresses spending by consumers and businesses. In the process, it slows job growth, holds down wages, and unnecessarily maintains racial disparities.
With so many workers still struggling, there is no need to cut off this recovery prematurely. Inflation remains below the Fed’s already-low 2 percent target, unemployment and underemployment are too high, and wage growth and labor-force participation are too low. In fact, the Fed should be doing everything within its power to keep nudging the recovery forward for the workers still caught in the slipstream of the Great Recession.
The Federal Reserve should not raise interest rates this week, nor when it meets again six weeks after that. It should not raise rates at all in 2015. Doing so would cause tremendous harm to the aspirations and lives of tens of millions of working families, and would disproportionately hurt African-Americans.
MyAsia Reid knows the difference that a full-employment economy can make. She is ready to participate in the economic recovery. And she will be watching as the Fed decides whether to hold to a strategy of strengthening the recovery or pursue a new strategy that jeopardizes her chances and her community.
Source: The Nation
NYC Public Advocate Urges JP Morgan to Divest From Private Prison Firms Tied to Trump Agenda
NYC Public Advocate Urges JP Morgan to Divest From Private Prison Firms Tied to Trump Agenda
Public Advocate Letitia James called on JP Morgan Chase to end its relationship with two private prison companies that she asserted are profiting from President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigrant...
Public Advocate Letitia James called on JP Morgan Chase to end its relationship with two private prison companies that she asserted are profiting from President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigrant enforcement agenda.
Read the full article here.
One Day Before GOP Debate, New Report Highlights Ties Between Prominent New Yorkers and Anti-Immigrant Groups
One Day Before GOP Debate, New Report Highlights Ties Between Prominent New Yorkers and Anti-Immigrant Groups
Note: Photos and Video of Protest available upon request.
New York, NY (10/27/15)—Today, the Center for Popular Democracy Action (CPDA) and the Make the Road Action Fund (MRAF) ...
Note: Photos and Video of Protest available upon request.
New York, NY (10/27/15)—Today, the Center for Popular Democracy Action (CPDA) and the Make the Road Action Fund (MRAF) released a new report, “Backers of Hate in the Empire State,” highlighting the ties between several prominent New Yorkers and the nation’s largest anti-immigrant network, which has fueled the anti-immigrant rhetoric being deployed in the Republican primary contest. Immigrant New Yorkers gathered outside a midtown diamond business connected to Barbara Winston, one of the individuals identified in the report, and called for candidates and other organizations to dissociate themselves from these xenophobic New Yorkers. They then marched to Trump Tower, picketing outside both buildings with chants of "No to Hate!" and "Sí se puede!" (Yes, We Can!).
The “Backers of Hate” report (download here) finds that, while New York is home to over 4.3 million immigrants from all corners of the world, the state is also home to wealthy New Yorkers who are funding and supporting an entire network of anti-immigrant organizations. Such organizations have fed the hateful rhetoric that current GOP presidential candidates are using—and will likely deploy again in tomorrow night’s debate.
Maria Rubio, a member of Make the Road Action Fund and Brooklyn resident, said, “These New Yorkers should be ashamed of supporting groups that have promoted the anti-immigrant rhetoric and organizing across the country that has become central to the Republican debates. The money and connections of a wealthy few have strengthened these fringe groups, that say terrible things about immigrants and prevent us from being able to live in peace with our families. But make no mistake: immigrants and Latinos are watching, and there will be a heavy political price for politicians that follow the lead of the Barbara Winstons of the world.”
Ana María Archila, Co-Executive Director of the Center for Popular Democracy Action, asserted: “The type of hate that these New Yorkers are spewing should have no place in New York State. The vast majority of New Yorkers support a pathway to citizenship and policies that welcome immigrants, while Barbara Winston and the others are working to vilify immigrants, undo birthright citizenship, block immigration relief for immigrant families, and insinuate their anti-immigrant attitudes into mainstream politics. Barbara Winston, Henry Buhl, and others are using their money and connections to advance a hateful agenda that not only hurts immigrants but frays the fabric of our entire society."
Elva Meneses, member of New York Communities for Change, affirmed, “I’m here to demand that these millionaires and billionaires stop supporting hateful organizations that say terrible things about immigrants like me and try to make our lives miserable. Instead of thinking fighting for opportunities for everyone, these wealthy New Yorkers are supporting hate as they trying to block immigration reform and immigration relief for undocumented immigrants. We call on all politicians and organizations to stop taking their dirty money immediately.”
“Backers of Hate” identifies five key individuals and the Weeden Foundation as key New Yorkers who are financially backing the work of anti-immigrant groups long associated with well-known white nationalist John Tanton. These groups include the Federation of American Immigration Reform (FAIR), which provides the political infrastructure for this anti-immigrant network and has been identified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center; the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), a so-called think tank that continuously produces faulty statistics utilized by the anti-immigrant network; NumbersUSA, which serves as the watchdog of the network, and; Keeping Identities Safe (formerly the Coalition for A Secure Driver’s License). In recent months, Donald Trump, Carly Fiorina, and other GOP candidates have sought to mainstream the hateful ideas and false “facts” about immigration promoted by the Tanton network of organizations, fueling an ugly national debate that has also led to violent attacks against immigrants in different parts of the country.
Note: Photos and Video of Protest available upon request.
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www.populardemocracy.org
The Center for Popular Democracy promotes equity, opportunity, and a dynamic democracy in partnership with innovative base-building organizations, organizing networks and alliances, and progressive unions across the country. CPD builds the strength and capacity of democratic organizations to envision and advance a pro-worker, pro-immigrant, racial justice agenda.
Activists Call on Fed Chief to Focus on Struggles of Citizens
The China Post - November 16, 2014 - In a rarity for a U.S. central bank chief, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen met Friday with activist groups calling for a...
The China Post - November 16, 2014 - In a rarity for a U.S. central bank chief, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen met Friday with activist groups calling for a fairer economic recovery and a more transparent Fed.
About 20 representatives of community and labor organizations met with Yellen for an hour in the meeting room of the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee, the activists said.
The groups were banded together as “Fed Up: The National Campaign for a Strong Economy,” lobbying Yellen and her team to orient Fed policy to boost employment and wages.
In addition to Yellen, Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer and board members Lael Brainard and Jerome Powell participated in the meeting.
“We had a very good conversation,” said Ady Barkan, representing the Center for Popular Democracy.
The activists presented their views about conditions in the economy to the Fed officials and “they listened very carefully,” Barkan said.
Yellen “asked people questions about their personal experiences in the economy,” he added.
The coalition gave the Fed officials a list of six proposals to make the central bank more transparent and democratic.
“The economy is not working for the vast majority of people,” Barkan said.
“The Federal Reserve has huge influence over the number of people who have jobs, over our wages ... and yet we don't have discussion and engagement over what Fed policy should be.”
Wearing T-shirts emblazoned with “What recovery?” the activists criticized the Fed's isolation from the general public.
“Our wages are on a flat line for 30 years,” said Anthony Newby, director of Minnesota Neighborhoods Organizing for Change, which wants the Fed to give interest-free loans to cities so they can create jobs in infrastructure projects.
With two regional Fed bank presidents preparing to step down — Charles Plosser for the Philadelphia Fed and Richard Fisher at the Dallas Fed — the coalition is pressing for a transparent process for selecting their successors.
The Philadelphia Fed said on its website Friday that the executive search firm it hired has set up an email address to receive inquiries in the interest of helping the bank “in a broad search for its next president.”
“Philadelphia has hovered around eight percent unemployment for all of 2014; in the black community it's over 14 percent,” said Kati Sipp, head of Pennsylvania Working Families and a “Fed Up” activist.
“We want the Fed to spend some time in the neighborhoods where regular working people live.”
Source
Fed Up Coalition Complains About Jackson Hole Room Cancellations
Fed Up Coalition Complains About Jackson Hole Room Cancellations
A group of activists planning to attend the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyo., has filed a complaint with the National Park Service, the...
A group of activists planning to attend the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyo., has filed a complaint with the National Park Service, the Department of the Interior’s Inspector General’s Office and the Justice Department after the conference hotel canceled the group’s room reservations.
The Center for Popular Democracy’s Fed Up Coalition said in an Aug. 9 letter that it booked 13 rooms in May at the Jackson Lake Lodge for its members for the nights of Aug. 24, 25 and 26. Last month, the lodge informed the group that their reservations had been canceled because of a “computer glitch,” according to the letter.
But the lodge didn’t cancel the reservations for other guests who booked after Fed Up did, said the letter written by Ady Barkan, campaign director of Fed Up, a left-leaning group that has lobbied for more diversity among Fed officials and more openness about the selection of regional Fed bank presidents.
“It is very hard for me to interpret the Company’s actions as anything other than a specific targeting of the Fed Up coalition,” he wrote in the letter.
Mr. Barkan said the group booked rooms at other hotels farther away from the conference, which will make it difficult for activists to attend events.
The Jackson Hole conference draws central-bank officials and economists from around the world who gather near the Grand Tetons to discuss monetary policy.
Fed Up members have been attending the conference for the past two years to urge Fed officials to hold off on raising interest rates, arguing that higher borrowing costs will slow economic growth and hurt low-income households. The group’s members often hold events and rallies near Fed events, wearing their signature green T-shirts.
A spokesperson for the Jackson Lake Lodge didn’t return a call for comment. Kathy Kupper, a spokeswoman for the National Parks Service said the lodges are run by independent contractors who are responsible for their day-to-day operations.
Mr. Barkan said he was writing the letter “to file a formal complaint regarding improper and potentially illegal behavior,” by the company.
By David Harrison
Source
Activist Ady Barkan says despite loss in Arizona, every seat is up for grabs
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Activist Ady Barkan, who is fighting ALS, is starting a new fight - to get people to vote. He’s asking people to “Be A Hero” and vote for candidates who protect healthcare. Ady tells Ali Velshi...
Activist Ady Barkan, who is fighting ALS, is starting a new fight - to get people to vote. He’s asking people to “Be A Hero” and vote for candidates who protect healthcare. Ady tells Ali Velshi that with all the challenges he faces that if he can get out and vote, everyone can.
Watch the video here.
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