Word on the street is that Sens. Paul (R-KY) and Boxer (D-CA) are nearing completion on a transportation infrastructure bill that would raise revenue from -- wait for it -- a massive corporate tax amnesty. Oh, right, they call that a repatriation holiday now when our government allows corporations to bring back the money they've stashed overseas -- which they've stashed overseas in order to avoid paying their fair share of taxes in the first place, mind you -- at a reduced rate, this time 8%, instead of the standard 35% rate. I can't wait for the moment Mr. Paul says the low rate isn't such a big deal because 8% isn't that much lower than the 12% big corporations pay on average -- thus inadvertently refuting the right's claim that our 35% rate is a job-killing, economy-killing injustice. But you can call your Reps and Senators (using the tools in the upper left-hand corner of this page) and tell them to make corporations pay their fair share, instead of promulgating gimmicks that induce more tax avoidance. Even dedicating the tax amnesty to necessary spending is too high a moral price to pay.
Meanwhile, the Philadelphia City Council begins mulling a paid sick leave bill today, and Moms Rising helps you tell the Council to pass a strong paid sick leave bill. Which they've already done, you may recall -- they passed paid sick leave bills in 2011 and 2013, only to see them vetoed by nominally Democratic Mayor Michael Nutter; City Council missed overriding his 2013 veto by one vote. But things have happened since then -- more and more CEOs know now that paid sick leave helps their bottom line, and President Obama called for a national paid sick leave bill in his most recent State of the Union address. As we speak, some 40% of the city's workers can't get paid sick leave, meaning that when they get sick, they must choose between foregoing a day's pay (and perhaps losing their jobs) or going into work and getting their co-workers and their customers sick. Of course the city's big corporations (cough Comcast cough) complain that small businesses can't handle the cost, but what of the cost of firing and retraining workers, or the cost of lost business because a customer gets sick at your shop or restaurant?
Finally, our political class seems determined to turn the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau into a puppet agency of Wall Street. What, they can't wait until Scott Walker becomes President, and he does that on his own? Seriously, I shudder to think that politicians hate the CFPB because the law mandates it to put the interests of consumers and borrowers ahead of the interests of banks, and not just because banks are approximately the least popular corporations in America these days, but also because politicians seem to care more about ensuring the sugar flows into their campaign accounts than they do about doing their job, which is to serve the people, all of whom are consumers and borrowers sooner or later. Hence Americans for Financial Reform helps you tell your Congressfolk to protect the CFPB and thus protect American consumers and borrowers from being wronged by big corporations. The CFPB has done a lot of good work -- on foreclosures, payday lenders, debt collectors, and the like -- and has much more good work to do. But only if we fight for it.
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