You might deduce, from how quickly the House passed H.J.Res. 111 last month, that H.J.Res. 111 is a horrible bill -- and you'd be right! H.J.Res. 111 is yet another "resolution of disapproval," this one aimed at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent rule preventing banks from putting forced arbitration clauses in customer contracts -- a rule that hasn't even taken effect! It's like all this Congress can do is "disapprove" of, and destroy, good works. And the banksters are all lined up to tell you that you should have the "choice" of arbitration (how is a forced arbitration clause about "choice"? You figure it out) and that arbitration payouts are on average larger than class action payouts. Oh, but we already know what to say to that: you win less than 10% of the time when you go to arbitration with a corporation, meaning that ore than 90% of all customers win, on average, zero dollars. And corporations can take you to arbitration, and they win more than 90% of the time there, too -- and customers pony up over $7,000, on average. Got $7,000 lying around? If you're like most people, you don't. So call your Senators and tell them to reject H.J.Res. 111, lest they be perceived as lawmakers who only care about banksters.
Meanwhile, the International Labor Rights Forum helps you tell the Colombian government to investigate Alberto Román Acosta González's murder and protect other Colombian trade union leaders as if, you know, they were citizens with rights and stuff. Mr. Acosta was president of his local agricultural workers union, largely representing sugar cane workers. Remember back in the day, when sugarcane workers simply died after working two or three years in the fields? Things are slightly better now for sugar cane workers -- they make a little less than $200 monthly, nearly twice the poverty line in Colombia, but they also work 14-hour days to get there. And clearly someone doesn't want them to get any more than that, since two gunmen shot Mr. Acosta to death while watching his son play soccer. Well, that'll teach a man to be there for his family! I sure hope I don't need to ask the question: does being a labor leader justify the death penalty? Sugar cane workers deserve all the good pay and decent working conditions they can get as members of a civilized society. Some folks will actually respond, even now, BUT THAT WILL HIKE TEH PRICEZ OF TEH SUGARZ!!!! But that might be a cue for those of us with First World Problems to eat less chocolate and more fruit.
Finally, if you've missed previous opportunities to tell your Congressfolk to oppose H.R. 1697/S. 720, the Israel Anti-Boycott Act, then CREDO still helps you do that. Both H.R. 1697 and S. 720 enjoy broad bipartisan support in Congress, which should tell you that they do not, in fact, enjoy broad bipartisan support among the American people, who are, by and large, rather skeptical that we should just do whatever Israel tells us to do. But S. 720 has also had one high-profile defection, that of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, who withdrew her sponsorship after being confronted about the matter at a townhall. I shudder to think that encounter will induce her, also, to stop meeting with her constituents, though I'd be happy to be wrong. But these bills don't imitate various efforts to deny state funding to organizations associated with the Boycott/Divestment/Sanctions (or BDS) movement, efforts I find distasteful but not unconstitutional -- these bills would actually put you in jail and/or assess steep fines for associating with the BDS movement. That's not only unconstitutional, but it should make you wonder whether Israel really has the moral high ground, if it needs this much help.
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