BAILOUTS MUST PROTECT WORKERS AND TAXPAYER DOLLARS
ACTION ONE: CALL YOUR SENATORS
SAMPLE SCRIPT FOR WYDEN AND MERKLEY:
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code]. I am calling because…
Congress should support individuals and small businesses facing financial ruin in this crisis. That money will go right back into our economy. But any bailouts for industries and large corporations must protect workers and curb greed. Please enact Sen. Warren’s 8-point plan to make sure taxpayer funds don’t benefit the top 1% at the expense of the rest of us. (See Background for the 8-point plan.)
CALL SENATOR MERKLEY
CALL SENATOR WYDEN
ACTION TWO: CALL YOUR HOUSE REPS
Not sure who your U.S. Representative is? Find out here.
SAMPLE SCRIPTS FOR REPRESENTATIVES:
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code]. I am calling because…
Congress should support individuals and small businesses facing financial ruin in this crisis. That money will go right back into our economy. But any bailouts for industries and large corporations must protect workers and curb greed. Please support Sen. Warren’s 8-point plan to make sure taxpayer funds don’t benefit the top 1% at the expense of the rest of us. (See Background for the 8-point plan.)
CALL SUZANNE BONAMICI (OR-01)
CALL GREG WALDEN (OR-02)
CALL BLUMENAUER (OR-03)
CALL PETER DEFAZIO (OR-04)
CALL KURT SCHRADER (OR-05)
ACTION THREE: WRITE LETTERS TO VOTERS
Indivisible Oregon is supporting letter-writing actions using Swing Left tools to contact voters in “super states.” Find an opportunity near you or organize one yourself: https://swingleft.org/events.
BACKGROUND:
We all believe in saving money for a rainy day. But corporations too big to fail don’t live by that rule. They use profits to buy back stock,give big bonuses to executives and increase dividends to shareholders.
Now Trump is floating a massive package that includes $50-$100 billion in airline and industry relief. In the past five years, the 4 largest airlines made huge profits. They spent $39 billion of that buying back their own stock. Now they don’t have enough money to last three months. They asked Congress $60 billion, half in grants. We say no. We like Elizabeth Warren’s plan. Any funds to rescue industries should stipulate:
- no grants; just loans with interest payments
- no more stock buybacks, ever
- $15/hour minimum wage
- use federal funds to keep people working
- 3-year ban on dividends and executive bonuses
- keep collective bargaining agreements
- at least one seat on the board for workers
- shareholder approval for all political spending
- CEOs must certify compliance and will face criminal penalties for violations.
It’s gotten so bad that even Trump’s proposal sets limits on executive pay. But we need more guardrails. And we need politicians who will curb corporate greed and protect working families.
