A certain GRUS blogger did City Year many, many years ago, and saw on City Year’s Facebook page that Usher was wearing a City Year jacket in his new video.

So I watched the video and saw that one of the very first shots is of Stand For Peace, the weekly anti-Iraq War vigil* that’s been going on at Colony Square in Atlanta since the lead-up to the war, and the people in that shot are Veteran for Peace Bob Goodman(on the right) and Brian S. Sherman of WRFG 89.3 FM (on the left). And then Bob Goodman gets a close-up. Peace activists as rock stars!

Atlanta Activists in Usher Music Video!

*Major players in Stand for Peace are WAND Atlanta, Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition, Grandmothers for Peace, Veterans for Peace, International Action Center, and Georgia Rural Urban Summit. (If we’ve missed someone, let us know.)

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).

USAction’s President William McNary kept the crowd energized with his call to action at the very end of the Realizing the Promise forum.

Ebony recaps Mr. McNary’s call to action on the forum’s blog:

[T]he three things we need to do when returning to our communities. They are as follows -

1) Organize

2) Organize

3) and, uh… Organize

If you happen to forget the last step, please refer to step 1.

Or find your nearest USAction state affiliate to learn about local organizing opportunities.