UPDATE 11/27/17 The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is under attack. Last Friday, Director Richard Cordray stepped down. Following secession protocol that was set up by Congress, Deputy Director, Leandra English became the Acting Director. In an unprecedented move, Donald Trump appointed his own Acting Director of the CFPB, OMB Director, Mick Mulvaney. Now the bureau has TWO DIRECTORS and it is up to the courts to decide who will run the CFPB until a new permanent director is appointed and approved by Congress. We stand with Acting Director, Leandra English and applaud her for her years of dedication to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau fights for students and student loan borrowers. The CFPB has returned nearly $12 billion in relief to over 29 million Americans wronged by big banks, credit card companies, and predatory student loan servicers. Supporting students and student loan borrowers is central to The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s mission. For years, families dealt with the impact of a dangerously deregulated student loan industry. As a result, more than 43 Million Americans are buried under $1.4 Trillion worth of student debt. Unchecked student loan companies caused families major hardships forcing them to carry the burden of college costs for life. Fortunately, the CFPB is an independent federal agency dedicated to holding these companies accountable. The CFPB is the first line of defense for defrauded borrowers. Recently, the Bureau filed three lawsuits against Navient, the nation’s largest student loan servicer, accusing the corporate giant of countless abuses - including overcharging borrowers and ruining the credit scores of veterans. The CFPB also shut down illegal student debt relief companies and challenged the deceptive practices of for-profit colleges, like ITT Tech. To date, millions of dollars in relief have been returned to those impacted by these predatory businesses. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau continues to take important strides to defend students - we must do our part to defend the CFPB. We believe it is extremely important to level the playing field for ALL consumers. Student loan borrowers depend on the CFPB to ensure that their interests are defended against bad actors in the student loan industry. We urge Congress to oppose any efforts to weaken the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and its critically important role and to reject any attempts to unseat their effective Acting Director, Leandra English who has been a powerful advocate for students and consumers everywhere. All Americans, including more than 43 million with student loans, must be able to count on a strong, independent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The 3 main sources of federal tax revenue are individual income taxes, payroll taxes, and corporate income taxes. Almost half of all federal revenue comes from individual income taxes. The State of California contributes the highest amount of tax revenue to the federal government out of every state in the union. California is also one of the least dependent states for federal funding. California gives more than it receives. This is not a partisan issue as all citizens of California benefit from and are reliant upon federal funding. Please join us in protecting our funds from being confiscated by the federal government.

#DeleteUber was just a start. We control the vast majority of the consumer economy--which is the last and final check and balance on power in the country. Let's put companies on notice, profiting from political neutrality will no longer be an option.

Puzder would be a disaster for American workers. I am a former W2 employee now working 2-4 part-time consulting jobs and trying to raise 2 daughters. This means I have no job security, worker's comp, paid sick leave, vacation pay, health insurance benefits, retirement, and am not eligible for unemployment. Puzder would cut the safety net for workers even further.

On Feb 3, Trump signed an Executive Order that will lay the groundwork to gut Dodd-Frank, the law passed after the financial meltdown to stop Wall Street from stealing our money, and put in safeguards to prevent another crisis. Dodd-Frank created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). When the banks steal our money, the Consumer Bureau fights to get it back. Under the protection of Director Richard Cordray, they’ve returned over $12 billion dollars to more than 29 million Americans conned by their financial companies. Trump also plans to sign an Executive Order delaying the Conflict of Interest rule. Before this rule, Wall Street was stealing $17 billion a year from Americans saving for retirement through hidden fees. Because so many advisers are not required to put their clients first, millions of Americans end up putting their money into high-commission investment products that benefit the so-called “advisers” at their clients’ expense. The cost of such conflicted advice can add up to tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars for a single worker or retiree. Trump is letting the former #2 at Goldman Sachs, Gary Cohn, take an ax to financial reform put in place to protect our country’s financial stability and our pocketbooks. We cannot let Wall Street and predatory lenders write the rules. Tell Congress you will not stand for a rollback of Dodd-Frank and the Conflict-of-Interest rule.

President Trump just proposed a 20% import tax on all items from Mexico. The US receives 69% of our vegetables and 37% of our fruit from Mexico according to the USDA. Imposing any tax on food will make it prohibitively expensive for most Americans. This is an issue of food security - All people are entitled to a secure food supply. Tell the White House no tax on Mexico.

Anti-worker politicians have filed a bill that will gut Iowa's collective bargaining laws for public sector workers. That means teachers, nurses, firefighters, police officers, and other public workers will have fewer health care benefits, more wage cuts, and no say about safety and working conditions on the job. We’re calling on our legislators to oppose this bill. Now is the time to take a united stand against extremist attacks on our workers. Add your name to the petition calling on the Iowa Legislature to oppose this bill and leave public sector collective bargaining intact.

Campus workers in Tennessee are under attack. Governor Bill Haslam's Administration has quietly launched a scheme to outsource facilities management for every public building in the state, including colleges and state universities! The plan impacts prisons, state parks and National Guard armories, too, which adds up to roughly 10,000 working people! The pay and benefits of these workers, including custodians, landscapers, electricians, and maintenance staff, would be threatened in order to "reduce operating costs." In the past, outsourcing has proven to be detrimental to working conditions and to the quality of service provided, and has not been proven to be a worthwhile investment of Tennesseans’ hard-earned tax dollars. Governor Haslam has stated that individual schools, including UofM, SWCC, and UTHSC, will have the opportunity to "opt out" of this outsourcing plan this spring semester. President David Rudd of the University of Memphis has promised the UofM will opt out. However, we need him to say that publicly, and President Tracy Hall of SWCC, and Chancellor Steve J. Schwab of UTHSC must speak up as well. We also call on the University of Memphis Board of Trustees to take a stand against the outsourcing. Over the last year and a half, thousands have protested, spoken out, called-in, written columns, and passed student and faculty resolutions in opposition to privatization, but Governor Haslam continues to move ahead with this unpopular plan. As students, faculty, alumni, staff, and concerned citizens, we care about what happens to our campus workers. With this petition, we appeal directly to each head of their institution to listen to what the university and greater Memphis community is saying: NO OUTSOURCING! For more information please follow: https://www.facebook.com/TNisNOTforsale/

We've been on strike at Momentive Performance Materials in Waterford, NY since November 2 to save good jobs and stop Wall Street greed from destroying our community. Stand with us! Our jobs have been good jobs for decades, but hedge fund billionaires are trying to destroy them to line their own pockets, hurting working families. One of the billionaires who has been driving down our standard of living is Stephen Schwarzman. And Schwarzman isn't just any Wall Street billionaire - he chairs President Donald Trump's “Strategic and Policy Forum," which is supposed to help create good jobs. Surely if Schwarzman really cares about preserving and creating good jobs in places like Waterford he should stand with us to stop the pay and benefit cuts, support good jobs and put working people before Wall Street greed. Please sign the petition.

Hours after he was sworn in, Donald Trump's first executive order was an attack on middle-class homebuyers. This first presidential action--a direct attack on the American middle class--blocked the scheduled 0.25% reduction in mortgage insurance premiums issued by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA)--effectively raising the annual taxes for a $200,000 mortgage by an average of up to $500. For some middle-class families just starting a 30-year mortgage, this could have added up to more than $15,000 in savings over their lifetimes.

For more than a year, Governor Haslam has been pushing a plan that he devised -- without the input of Tennesseans or the oversight of the legislature -- to outsource the facilities management of public universities, state parks, prisons, and more. If implemented, this plan would dramatically change the way that UT and other universities across the state are run and impact the lives of thousands of state employees. Tennessee has a concerning history with outsourcing. Deals with Jones Lang LaSalle, Enterprise, and other corporations have been steeped in controversy and have cost taxpayers millions of dollars under Gov. Haslam. And when custodial services at Tennessee Technological University were privatized, many campus workers were fired and those who kept their jobs saw their pay and benefits slashed. In the end, outsourcing at TTU didn’t lead to substantial cost savings -- and what they did save came directly at the expense of campus workers. And we already know what outsourcing looks like at UTK. Our custodial services were outsourced until 2012, when administrators made the intentional decision to bring those services back in-house. Dave Irvin, Associate Vice Chancellor for Facilities Services, said at the time that in-house services would lead to “increased service, better cleaning and more responsiveness to the needs of the university” and “better wages, benefits and continuing education opportunities” for employees. It took us two years to transition out of this outsourcing on our campus. Why would we return to something proven to be the wrong choice for UTK now, just two years later? If our facilities management is outsourced again, several vital campus programs and services could eliminated, including: - Sustainability and recycling programs (including the public recycling drop-off) - The turf management team for Neyland - Master planning, which ensures we construct a cohesive campus environment - The STAR group (Special Team to Assist Research), which helps recruit researchers to UT and support them while they’re here - Priority HVAC upkeep for student housing, classrooms, and research facilities - A 65 percent overall cut of the current supplies and operations budget for facilities services Governor Haslam has claimed that individual schools, including UTK, will have the opportunity to opt out of this outsourcing plan next semester. With this petition, we appeal directly to UT President Joe DiPietro, incoming UTK Chancellor Beverly Davenport, and the UT Board of Trustees to listen to what students, campus workers, and community members are saying. Over the last year and a half thousands have protested, spoken out, written columns and passed SGA resolutions in opposition to this plan. We hope that this petition demonstrates what they have been saying all along: that Tennessee is not for sale. Sources: http://bit.ly/2ipHG3M http://bit.ly/2ilAzWP http://bit.ly/2jBBDqF http://bit.ly/2joSvS5 http://bit.ly/2jcIM3F

The messaging opportunity for the Democrats to begin to convince Trump voters that Democrats represent blue collar workers' interests lies with opposition to an anti-worker Labor Secretary. If the Democrats want to win in the midterms; this is the matter they should emphasize. And we should not accept a labor secretary with no record of supporting workers.