Hundreds gathered yesterday in Chicago to mark the one year anniversary since the historic election of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States.  However, the anniversary event was not organized to lavish praise on our President, but to push him to act on the promises of his campaign.

“We need an America where we not only bail out the banks, but bail out the people on the bottom. People need good jobs and need to live in their homes without being foreclosed on,” USAction President William McNary said. “This is an America that should work for all of us.”

Last year’s election gave us a glimpse of the power of an organized, passionate grassroots base fighting for progressive change.  But as the health care fight has shown this is an elusive power that the progressive community must make sustainable to move legislation on the Hill.

Too many look to President Obama for this sweeping change, but Obama himself has echoed FDR’s famous “go out and make me do it” sentiment. So in the end it is on us, the people, or as President McNary says in the video below,

“Barack said ‘Yes WE can, not yes I can’. We’ve come far but we’ve got far to go.”

As the economy sheds more jobs, as more families lose homes, and as the legislative slate ahead of us gets more - not less - challenging, progressives all over the country have to be prepared to fight the powers that be for the change we seek in our country.

A new report - Putting the Pork out to Pasture- issued today by True Majority highlights the link between pork barrel defense projects and campaign contributions. The report shows connections between powerful weapons manufacturers and contributions to members of the House Appropriations Defense Sub-Committee.

The report documents that more than 18 members of the subcommittee have inserted more than $355 million in earmarks into the last defense spending bill on behalf of their campaign contributors. Those contributors, in turn, donated $1.3 million to members who sponsored their earmarks.

“It’s unconscionable that the public servants charged with spending our money to keep America safe appear to be trading billion-dollar weapons contracts for cold, hard campaign cash,” said Matt Holland, Pentagon Budget Campaign Director of USAction/TrueMajority.

The most recent example of the battle to eliminate funding for outdated weapons systems is ongoing in Congress. Despite a veto threat, Pentagon opposition, and serious reliability problems, Congress has repeatedly voted to spend between $500 million and $1.75 billion to keep manufacturing the F-22 fighter jet.

“Weapons like the F-22 do not make us safer, but they do make weapons manufacturers rich. And when those same corporations are spending millions of dollars on our Congress – the public has a right to know, and get outraged,” said Holland.

USAction/TrueMajority’s half a million members have pledged to keep pressure on the Appropriations Committee by running broadcast ads and bringing constituent pressure to bear in the home district of any member who continues to spend billions on unnecessary weapons while larding their campaign war chests with money from weapons builders.

To read the entire report click here.

An amendment to a military spending bill introduced Monday would remove $1.75 billion dollars of spending for an additional seven, excessively costly, F-22 Raptor fighter jets, and effectively terminate their production. Sen. John McCain (R.- Ariz) and Sen. Carl Levin’s (D- Mich.) amendment comes with the backing of President Obama, who declared he will veto the military spending bill unless funding for the F-22s is removed. 

Opposition to funding the F-22 program comes not only from politicians and their constituents, but from the military itself. Air Force Secretary Michael Donley, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates have all declared their support of terminating the F-22 fighter jet program. Mr. Donley and Gen. Schwartz explain that: “because of budgetary pressures, the F-22 decision “has increasingly become a zero-sum game,” and that therefore, ‘buying more F-22s means doing less of something else.’

The “budgetary pressures” which Mr. Donley and Gen. Schwartz refer to result from the extreme costliness of the F-22, which has never been flown in combat and was designed three decades ago to use in combat against the Soviet Union. The Washington Post describes that the F-22 currently confounds typical military spending trends in that,

“While most aircraft fleets become easier and less costly to repair as they mature, key maintenance trends for the F-22 have been negative in recent years, and on average from October last year to this May, just 55 percent of the deployed F-22 fleet has been available to fulfill missions guarding U.S. airspace, the Defense Department acknowledged this week.”

At present, the cost of producing the jet is $351 million and flying the jet for a single hour costs a ghastly $44,000!

Calls to cut funding for the F-22s have been complicated by some representatives’ concerns that cutting the F-22 program would result in unnecessary job losses for the 25,000 employees who manufacture F-22s. However, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates disputes the 25,000 employment figure, stating that, as planned, the F-22 program is currently figured to decline over the coming years to employ only 13,000 persons by the year 2011. Additionally, speaking to those who will lose their jobs if production of F-22s is terminated, Sen John McCain declares:

“Our sympathy is with them. We will do everything we can to provide job opportunities, including in the defense industries across this country. But we cannot argue that we should spend taxpayers’ dollars for weapons systems simply to create or keep jobs.”

A senate vote on the amendment is scheduled to come up shortly, so contact your Senators and urge them to stop funding on the wasteful F-22s and invest instead in America’s future! To send your Senator this handy F-22 hologram card as well, click here.

The media’s coverage of the economic recovery package was nothing short of abysmal. Not only were Republican talking points and outrageous claims by conservative media repeated as fact, but the debate on the Sunday shows and cable news was virtually devoid of policy.

The New York Times reports that the Obama Administration will limit bank executive salaries, who receive federal bailout dollars, to $500,000.

This is such exciting news!  According to the New York Times:

Executives would…be prohibited from receiving any bonuses above their base pay, except for normal stock dividends…

Executives at companies that have already received money from Treasury Department would not have to make any changes. But analysts and administration officials are bracing for a huge wave of new losses, largely because of the deepening recession, and many companies that have already been to the trough may well be coming back.

What a shocker!  The original bailout bill didn’t solve the recession?  Banks would be willing to go through the rigmarole of filling out the two-page bailout application form ALL OVER AGAIN?!?!

Conservatives will talk about how this policy will limit bank executives’ incentive to “do a good job” therefore further damaging the economy.   I have three things to say to that:

1. Bank execs didn’t do a good job when they were making $500 MILLION a year.
2. I know nurses, firefighters, and police officers who are damn good at their jobs, are responsible for people’s lives, and don’t even touch the $500K tax bracket.
3. There were lines around the corner yesterday to get a free breakfast at Denny’s — I don’t think so many people have ever been this hard up for a free “Grand Slam.”  But seriously, families that once donated to food banks are turning to them for support and due to increased “food insecurity” food banks are running out of supplies.

A little proportion is in order; what are we for – giving money to bank executives who think they’re entitled to a taxpayer handout?  Or are we for an economic recovery that creates jobs and directs cash back to states and local control?

The Senate is debating a Jobs and Economic Recovery bill right now, they could vote on it TOMORROW.  Call your Senator TOLL-FREE TODAY at 866-544-7573 and tell them to support an economic recovery plan for ALL of us!

Let us know how your calls go by posting in the comments section below.

TARP

• Yesterday, over 70 “good government” advocacy organizations sent a letter to Congress demanding more bailout transparency. The groups include an interesting mix of non-partisan, progressive & conservative groups.

• Today, POGO provides a simple break down of Sen McCaskill, very important Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program of 2008 (SIGTARP) bill with clarifies the Neil Barofsky’s powers and authority to provide TARP oversight.

• Yesterday the Economist View identified contra-dictory recommendation to banks from the Federal Reserve but Baseline Scenario thinks we should give the Fed some slack.

Auto Industry

• The AP reports that a deal to spend $15 billion on emergency loans for struggling U.S. automakers could see a House vote Wednesday and be enacted by week’s end.

• Today Robert Reich argues that Congress can bypass concerns about irresponsible corporations (a.k.a. the moral hazard argument) if they require automaker stakeholders to provide $2 from every $1 of taxpayer money received. Reich also persists that the Treasury should halt all Wall Street bailouts because of its inability to move credit markets and basic inequities.

Housing

• In yesterday’s House Oversight Committee hearing, Chairman Waxman asked Freddie Mac’s former CEO, Richard Syron, why he fired the top credit-risk officer after he recommended that the company stop purchasing loans with no income or asset requirements.  Fannie Mae also faced fierce questioning about why they ignored a 2005 internal PowerPoint presentation that recommended sticking with safe but lower earning markets rather than play the volatile subprime market.

• Yesterday Robert Reich asked if the (non)effort to help distressed homeowners may court a populist backlash.

Markets

• Phil Mattera explains that the labor dispute at Chicago’s Republic Windows & Doors is an example of how enforcement of labor laws, union advocacy, worker activism are key to winning clean energy jobs.

• For the first time ever, the Treasury sold four-week T-bills at an interest rate of zero percent, adding additional pressure to the frozen credit market.

• Charles Schwab advocates overturning the FEC’s 2007 repeal of a Great Depression era trading rule intended to eliminate short sale manipulation.

For Fun

• Guess who said it: Rod Blagojevich or Tony Soprano?

Bailout Updates

• BailoutSleuth.Com reports that the Treasury had not denied a single bank’s TARP application. Instead the regulatory bodies are encouraging likely-unqualified banks to withdraw from the application process, creating another barrier for assessing how the money is being used.

American Auto & Manufacturing Industry

• The Washington Post sums up what we know about the auto industry bailout legislation. A vote could come as soon as tomorrow however Sen. Levin said that identifying votes to approve an auto bailout is, “a complicated question.”

• Senator Shelby confirms Levin’s concerns by bringing up the F-word – filibuster – on Fox News.

• The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, allows public corporations to claim a new tax benefit of up to $30 million, however “poor” Chrysler is the only Detroit automaker ineligible for this tax incentive. OpenCongress.Org explains that Congress inserted clever (sneaky?) language that omits any specific corporations’ name, yet specifically remedies Chrysler’s tax woes.

Numbers You Can Use

• Pro Publica has updated their list of banks known to have received bailout money.

• Taxpayers For Common Sense has complied comprehensive biographies of banks who have received bailout money.

• MSNBC has posted a US unemployment rate timeline.

Fun with Economics

• An NYU grad student has found a new market indicator that does a better job explaining the timing of Brittney’s new album than stock market fluctuations.

• Corporate shareholder advocates take note: PETA is bulking up its stock portfolio by taking advantage of low stock prices and gobbling up meat company shares (sorry, had to say it).

Jeff Blum
Executive Director, USAction

On November 5th, I watched Congressman John Lewis giving his reaction to President-elect Barack Obama’s amazing victory. He said that he was jumping up and down, saying “Hallelujah”. And then he wept.

I had the same reaction – and I imagine many of you did also. Later that night, as the giddiness receded, Obama stood up and gave the speech of this new generation:

“I know you didn’t do this just to win an election and I know you didn’t do it for me. You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime - two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century.

Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us. There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their children fall asleep and wonder how they’ll make the mortgage, or pay their doctors bills, or save enough for college. There is new energy to harness and new jobs to be created; new schools to build and threats to meet and alliances to repair.”

Obama’s next words channeled the greatness of Dr. Martin Luther King, echoing the daily bread of our organization:

“The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America - I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you - we as a people will get there.”

This is USAction’s agenda. This is what we fight for every day. This is what we are ready to address – starting now - with the President-elect, with the new Congress, and most importantly, with you. We have already have plans begun planning our campaigns around quality, affordable health care for all, economic recovery legislation, a clean energy economy and responsibly ending the war in Iraq.

Today, I have more hope than I have had in decades of public service. Hope in the American people, hope in our future, and a renewed energy to take on the challenges facing us today. Today, I am ready to make my mark on this moment of history.

Check out these two videos of speakers at Georgia Rural Urban Summit’s September 26th protest and press conference in front of Cigna, Aetna, and Kaiser Permanente in Atlanta. First is Cathy McClure, a supporter of HCAN who a few years ago took the initiative to found VoteHealthCare.org, speaking about her family’s terrible experiences with insurance companies.

Next check out State Rep. Roberta Abdul-Salaam speaking passionately about the need for affordable, quality health care for all Americans. We need more like her!

If you’re in Atlanta, come to our next action. Sign up at

The following three shows/articles provide a comprehensive, explicit and clear overview of how we got to this point in the credit crisis.

60 Minutes
Length: 12 min
A Look at Wall Street’s Shadow Market: How Some Arcane Wall Street Financial Instruments Magnified Economic Crisis

This American Life
Length: 1 hr, organized into four acts (If you are strapped for time just listen to the conclusion, it’s helpful to watch the 60 Minutes article first for background)
Another Frightening Show About the Economy

The Hill
Length: 2 pages
With bailout passed, lobbyists look to get in the game