Signature needed: Trump is trying to destroy Sen. Warren’s consumer protection agency

Tell Congress: Don't let Trump destroy the CFPB Petition to Congress: "Block and resist any attempt by Mick Mulvaney and Donald Trump to destroy the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau by changing its structure or funding." Add your name: Dear Katy, Sen. Elizabeth Warren's Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is the one Wall Street watchdog completely devoted to protecting Americans from the predatory and abusive financial industry. So of course Donald Trump wants to destroy it. Trump's agent of destruction is Mick Mulvaney, the interim director of the CFPB, who previously tried to eliminate the agency he now heads. And Mulvaney just asked Congress to radically restructure the CFPB to put it under Trump's thumb, setting up a massive fight.1 CREDO members stood with Sen. Warren to fight for the creation of the CFPB and to defend it, and now our voices are needed once again. Tell Congress: Don't let Trump destroy the CFPB. Click here to sign the petition. Mulvaney has called the CFPB "a sick, sad joke" and requested a budget of $0 for the entire agency.2 Mulvaney has already curtailed the CFPB's desperately needed payday lending rule, giving a massive handout to predatory and exploitative payday lenders who intentionally trap people in cycles of debt with interest rates in excess of 300 percent.3 Now, his official report to Congress asks legislators to make major changes to the watchdog's structure. Mulvaney wants Trump to have more power over who leads the agency and to force the agency to beg right-wing Republicans for funding instead of having an independent funding base from the Federal Reserve. Also on Mulvaney's wish list is giving Republicans in Congress veto power over any new rule that watchdog puts out.4 His overall goal is to remove the political independence that the agency's creators, like Sen. Warren, thought so essential to it being able to fight Wall Street. We can't let that happen. Tell Congress: Don't let Trump destroy the CFPB. Click here to sign the petition. If you want to know why Donald Trump and Republicans are so desperate to destroy the CFPB, just take a glance at its record: In less than six years the CFPB extracted $12 billion from corporations and returned it to a total of 29 million defrauded Americans. Most of that money was paid in large sums, as in 2015 when the agency forced two debt-buying companies — Encore Capital Group and Portfolio Recovery Associates — to pay $79 million in refunds and penalties to tens of thousands of people the companies had fleeced. The CFPB has also engaged in policymaking, issuing new rules for home-mortgage lenders in 2013 that took aim at banks' pattern of intentionally lending money they know borrowers can't repay, at high interest rates. In 2016, the agency also instituted new guidelines for payday lenders in an attempt to stop loan sharks from targeting desperate people boxed out of traditional financial services due to debt and bad credit.5 CREDO members and progressive allies have successfully defended the CFPB in the past, but now we are needed once again. We cannot let Trump give Wall Street a massive victory. Tell Congress: Don't let Trump destroy the CFPB. Click below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/mulvaney_cfpb?t=8&akid=28347%2E12967895%2E6-uRpp Thank you for speaking out, Josh Nelson, Co-Director CREDO Action from Working Assets Add your name: References: Bess Levin, "Trump official lays out point-by-point plan to screw over consumers," Vanity Fair, April 3, 2018. Meagan Day, "The Bankers' Coup," Jacobin, April 2018. Levin, "Trump official lays out point-by-point plan to screw over consumers." Day, "The Bankers' Coup." Ibid. Share on Facebook Post to your wall Tweet this Post to Twitter © 2018 CREDO. All rights reserved. This email was sent to katy63.kelso@blogger.com. To change your email or mailing address, please click here: https://act.credoaction.com/me/update/?t=20&akid=28347%2E12967895%2E6-uRpp To unsubscribe, please visit our subscription management page at: http://act.credoaction.com/cms/unsubscribe/unsubscribe/?t=22&akid=28347%2E12967895%2E6-uRpp

Sign the petition: Betsy DeVos is siding with predatory debt collectors

Tell Betsy DeVos: Stop helping student debt collectors Petition to Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos: "Stop siding with shady student debt collectors over Americans with education debt and fire any senior officials with financial ties to debt collection agencies." Add your name: Dear Katy, Billionaire Betsy DeVos' Department of Education has picked sides in the debate over predatory and abusive student debt collectors – and sided with the collectors instead of students. Journalists recently acquired a new internal Department of Education memo arguing that the department should protect student debt collection agencies from state laws that are more aggressive than federal ones. Last year, DeVos' team announced it would sabotage the efforts of Sen. Warren's Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to crack down on debt collectors.1 On top of it all, a group of senators just raised concerns that DeVos' number-three employee might have lucrative financial ties to a major debt collector.2 Even diehard red states are taking action against debt collectors. Sustained pressure right now could shame DeVos and make her think twice about continuing to turn her back on students. Tell Betsy DeVos: Stop helping student debt collectors. Click here to sign the petition. The stories are shocking: debt collectors making more than 50 harassing calls per week, assigning wrong or inflated fees, seizing the wrong amount from tax returns, illegally removing people from debt deferment programs and threatening people with credit score damage to make a quick buck.3 A bipartisan group of 26 state attorneys general, including some from deep-red states, wrote DeVos last year warning her against siding with an industry that engages in these abusive practices. In many cases, states have instituted more stringent rules than the federal laws or are pursuing legal action. This new memo, in contrast, takes the side of debt collection agencies and argues that they should be protected from aggressive state approaches.4 The memo comes on the heels of what one law professor called "a radical change" – DeVos' decision to hamstring the CFPB's work by refusing to share data or cooperate in overseeing student debt collection.5 DeVos is making it clear that she cares more about debt collection profits than the toll of their abusive methods on people who invested in an education. Tell Betsy DeVos: Stop helping student debt collectors. Click here to sign the petition. Just recently, four senators — including progressive champion Sen. Elizabeth Warren — sent a letter to the Department of Education's ethics officials expressing concern that Acting Under Secretary James Manning may have revolving door financial conflicts of interest. In a prior stint in government, Manning let one debt collector avoid paying hundreds of millions in fines for lying to taxpayers. A different company later paid him handsomely for private sector consulting work, and he now oversees that same company and others owned by a long-time acquaintance and benefactor.6 In short, there are signs across the board that DeVos is dramatically shifting the Department of Education to side with debt collectors over students, even over the objections of some fellow Republicans. A focused outcry now could shame DeVos into holding off on any further handouts to this predatory industry. Tell Betsy DeVos: Stop helping student debt collectors. Click below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/devos_debt_collectors?t=8&akid=28346%2E12967895%2E8FidP- Thank you for speaking out, Josh Nelson, Co-Director CREDO Action from Working Assets Add your name: References: Cory Turner and Chris Arnold, "Education Department Wants To Protect Student Loan Debt Collectors," NPR, Feb. 27, 2018. David Halperin, "Senators Question DeVos Aide's Potential Conflicts of Interest," Republic Report, March 26, 2018. American Federation of Teachers, "Student debt horror stories go viral," July 8, 2015. Turner and Arnold, "Education Department Wants To Protect Student Loan Debt Collectors." Ibid. Halperin, "Senators Question DeVos Aide's Potential Conflicts of Interest." Share on Facebook Post to your wall Tweet this Post to Twitter © 2018 CREDO. All rights reserved. This email was sent to katy63.kelso@blogger.com. To change your email or mailing address, please click here: https://act.credoaction.com/me/update/?t=21&akid=28346%2E12967895%2E8FidP- To unsubscribe, please visit our subscription management page at: http://act.credoaction.com/cms/unsubscribe/unsubscribe/?t=23&akid=28346%2E12967895%2E8FidP-

Sign the petition: Stop the EPA's war on science

Tell Scott Pruitt's EPA: Stop your war on science The petition to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt and the EPA reads: "EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt's proposal to eliminate valuable data from the EPA's decision-making process will threaten public health and ultimately cost lives. Follow the guidance of the scientific community and do not adopt this disingenuous and harmful plan." Add your name: Dear Katy, Scott Pruitt wants to delete decades of landmark scientific research from the EPA's decision-making process. Trump's industry-friendly EPA administrator has proposed a dramatic change to the way the EPA handles scientific data. If he is successful, he will intentionally blind the agency to the well-documented links between pollution and public health. Pruitt's escalating war on science has a clear goal: ending the regulations that protect us from smog, pesticides, climate change and other dangerous threats to our health and the environment. Pruitt and the rest of the Trump regime are willing to risk human lives to make their friends a little richer. To fight back, we must stand up for science. Tell Scott Pruitt's EPA: Stop your war on science. Drop the plan to eliminate valuable research from the EPA's decision making. Click here to sign the petition. Pruitt's plan is sneaky. In the name of "transparency," he is proposing that when the EPA crafts regulations, it should ignore research studies that do not have publicly available data.1 The catch is that research on public health often includes confidential personal or medical histories, so researchers cannot ethically release this data to the public. If Pruitt's proposal had been enacted in the past, the federal government would have been unable to consider groundbreaking studies that exposed the health risks of leaded gasoline and fine-particle air pollution.2 If the government had ignored that science, many more Americans would have died prematurely. Scientists, not industry shills like Pruitt, should be the ones deciding which studies are valid. Qualified scientists can already obtain access to anonymized data from the EPA, so EPA studies have already been investigated, peer-reviewed and scrutinized.3 Instead of throwing out hallmark research, much of it funded by taxpayers through the EPA, Pruitt should be following the guidance of real scientific experts. Tell Scott Pruitt's EPA: Stop your war on science. Drop the plan to eliminate valuable research from the EPA's decision making. Click the link below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/pruitt-data/?t=7&akid=28333%2E12967895%2EQsf374 Thanks for fighting back, Brandy Doyle, Campaign Manager CREDO Action from Working Assets References: Juliet Eilperin and Brady Dennis, "Pruitt unveils controversial 'transparency' rule limiting what research EPA can use," The Washington Post, April 24, 2018. Trevor Nace, "EPA Chief Scott Pruitt: Delete Decades Of Science In The Name Of 'Transparency,'" Forbes, April 24, 2018. Add your name: Share on Facebook Post to your wall Tweet this Post to Twitter © 2018 CREDO. All rights reserved. This email was sent to katy63.kelso@blogger.com. To change your email or mailing address, please click here: https://act.credoaction.com/me/update/?t=17&akid=28333%2E12967895%2EQsf374 To unsubscribe, please visit our subscription management page at: http://act.credoaction.com/cms/unsubscribe/unsubscribe/?t=19&akid=28333%2E12967895%2EQsf374

Sign the petition: 1000-year-old trees are in danger

Tell Congress: Don't destroy America's largest national forest The petition to Congress reads: "The Tongass National Forest in Alaska is our largest national forest, home to some of the oldest trees in the United States, fragile ecosystems and protected species. Do not allow dangerous road building and old growth harvesting in the Tongass." Add your name: Dear Katy, Inside America's largest national forest, the trees are older than the United States itself, dating over 1000 years, but these ancient trees of the Tongass National Forest in Alaska could be all but decimated if Donald Trump, Republicans in Congress and the logging industry get their way. For years, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski – who some have called the "#1 anti-public land lawmaker" – has been pushing to substantially increase old-growth timber harvesting in much of the Tongass' 17 million acres, which would jeopardize natural habitats, infringe on indigenous rights and put an entire ecosystem at risk.1 Senate Democrats recently defeated a provision snuck into a government funding bill that would have opened up the Tongass for more logging, but Sen. Murkowski is not done fighting for short-term industry profits over the health of Alaska's wilderness.2 We must act now to prevent future attacks on the Tongass and protect this important national forest. Tell Congress: Don't destroy America's largest national forest. Click here to sign the petition. Located in the southeast region of Alaska, the Tongass National Forest is a 500-mile archipelago, which encompasses the world's largest temperate rainforest and is "home to five species of Pacific salmon, humpback and orca whales, otters, beavers, Alexander Archipelago wolves, plus some of the largest concentrations of brown bears and bald eagles found in the United States."3 Its old-growth trees store vast amounts of carbon – an estimated 10-12 percent of all of America's national forests – and play a critical role as "Alaska's first line of climate change defense."4,5 And local indigenous people, including the Tlingit and Haida, have lived in this region for centuries and rely on the forest's healthy natural resources for survival.6 Right now, the Tongass is protected by the "roadless rule," a critical moratorium enacted nearly two decades ago that blocks much-needed road building to access the millions of acres of old growth forests in the Tongass. For years, the logging industry and their Republican backers have attempted to repeal this critical rule but have been stymied in the courts, including by our allies at Earthjustice. Recent efforts could be given new life, especially with public lands foe Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke overseeing national forest regulations.7 It's only a matter of time before Sen. Murkowski and Senate Republicans again sneak poisonous provisions into future spending bills to destroy the Tongass. For years, Sen. Murkowski fought to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) for fossil fuel extraction, and she recently succeeded when she snuck an ANWR drilling provision into last year's Trump Tax Scam.8 We can not let Republicans ruin one more fragile ecosystem to benefit another failing extractive industry. Tell Congress: Don't destroy America's largest national forest. Click the link below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/save_tongass?t=7&akid=28312%2E12967895%2ElCLE3X Thanks for all you do. Josh Nelson, Co-Director CREDO Action from Working Assets Add your name: References: Jake Bullinger, "Lisa Murkowski, the #1 Anti-Public Land Lawmaker," Outside, Feb. 7, 2018. Earthjustice, "Earthjustice Statement on FY2018 Omnibus Appropriations Bill," March 21, 2018. Libby Stortz, "Stop attacking the Tongass," Juneau Empire, March 14, 2018. Dominick A. DellaSala, "The Tongass Rainforest as Alaska's First Line of Climate Change Defense and Importance to the Paris Climate Change Agreements," Forest Legacies. Women's Earth and Climate Action Network, "Alaska Indigenous Women to Senator Murkowski: End The Assault On Our Communities and Lands," HuffPost, Jan. 10, 2018. Krista Langlois, "Thanks to Trump, This Senator Finally Gets Her Chance to Decimate Alaska's Environmental Protections," Mother Jones, March 11, 2018. Earthjustice, "Federal Courts Uphold Landmark Federal Forest Protections Again," Sept. 22, 2017. Graham Lee Brewer, "Alaska is open for drilling," High Country News, Jan. 6, 2018. Share on Facebook Post to your wall Tweet this Post to Twitter © 2018 CREDO. All rights reserved. This email was sent to katy63.kelso@blogger.com. To change your email or mailing address, please click here: https://act.credoaction.com/me/update/?t=23&akid=28312%2E12967895%2ElCLE3X To unsubscribe, please visit our subscription management page at: http://act.credoaction.com/cms/unsubscribe/unsubscribe/?t=25&akid=28312%2E12967895%2ElCLE3X

Yosemite

Yosemite hotels belong to the American people, not a billionaire Trump donor Tell Delaware North Chairman Jeremy Jacobs: "Yosemite's Wawona Hotel and Ahwahnee Hotel were built in the 1800s and 1920s, respectively, and belong to the American people, not a private corporation. Drop your frivolous lawsuit against the National Park Service." Add your name: Dear Katy, When you think of Yosemite, you might imagine majestic waterfalls, ancient Sequoias and stunning cliffs. But you might not think about a greedy Trump donor suing the National Park Service (NPS) for $51 million. That's exactly what Yosemite is facing.1 Billionaire Jeremy Jacobs, the chairman of the concessions company Delaware North that recently lost its $2 billion contract in Yosemite, is suing the NPS for tens of millions of dollars to turn over naming rights of two iconic and beloved landmarks in the park, the Wawona and Ahwahnee Hotels. These hotels and their historic names belong to the American people and should not be held hostage by a bitter billionaire. We must speak out now and stand up for Yosemite. Tell Delaware North Chairman Jeremy Jacobs: Drop your lawsuit against the National Park Service. For 20 years, Delaware North had a contract to run concessions, lodging and food in Yosemite but recently lost its bid to renew to a competitor. In an act of spite, Delaware North sued the government in federal court for $51.2 million for breach of contract and violations of its intellectual property pertaining to the Wawona and Ahwahnee Hotels, claiming it owns the rights to these names. The NPS has temporarily covered the names of the hotels as litigation continues. It's absolutely absurd, but it's not surprising: Delaware North's billionaire Chairman Jeremy Jacobs – who has been called a "bully and a jerk" – and his family have a long history of greed and shady dealings.2 They strong-arm lawmakers with political donations – including over $165,000 to Donald Trump – to benefit their bottom line, secure tax breaks and grease the political wheels where their companies operate.3,4,5,6 HuffPost reports that Jacobs could profit from the repeal of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, as Immigration and Customs Enforcement opened an office in the same building as Delaware North's headquarters and hired "a former US Attorney who had just led the largest workplace immigration raid during the Obama administration."7 And some are even speculating that Jacobs could use the millions from his Yosemite lawsuit to sign a new player for the Boston Bruins, the NHL hockey team that he owns.8 Suing the NPS for millions to profit off the names of these two historic and iconic hotels is just another example of Jacobs' greedy, out-of-touch ways. We must pressure him to drop this ridiculous lawsuit and give back to the American public what is rightfully theirs. Tell Delaware North Chairman Jeremy Jacobs: Drop your lawsuit against the National Park Service. https://act.credoaction.com/sign/yosemite_lawsuit?t=7&akid=28282%2E12967895%2Epv-3xE Thanks for all you do. Josh Nelson, Co-Director CREDO Action from Working Assets Add your name: References: Megan Woolhouse and Janelle Nanos, "Iconic names at Yosemite are subject of $51 million trademark battle," The Boston Globe, Jan. 16, 2016. Sean Gentille, "Jeremy Jacobs spent $625K on horse crusade before NHL lockout," Sporting News, March 26, 2013. Neil A. Lewis, "THE 1992 CAMPAIGN: Campaign Finances; Being Governor Helps Clinton Raise Money at Home," The New York Times, April 27, 1992. Frank Phillips, "Jacobs family, owner of TD Garden and Bruins, gives $13,000 to Walsh," The Boston Globe, April 26, 2017. Matt Ufford, "Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs is awful," SB Nation, March 26, 2013. Gin Armstrong and Derek Seidman, "Immigration Protest Targets Concessions Magnate & Trump Donor Jeremy Jacobs," LittleSis, Sept. 8, 2017. Donald Cohen, "Ending DACA Means More Profit For These Corporations," HuffPost, Sept. 13, 2017. Paul Altmeyer, "Boston Bruins Owner Jeremy Jacobs Suing Yosemite," Causeway Crowd, Jan. 15, 2016. Share on Facebook Post to your wall Tweet this Post to Twitter © 2018 CREDO. All rights reserved. This email was sent to katy63.kelso@blogger.com. To change your email or mailing address, please click here: https://act.credoaction.com/me/update/?t=23&akid=28282%2E12967895%2Epv-3xE To unsubscribe, please visit our subscription management page at: http://act.credoaction.com/cms/unsubscribe/unsubscribe/?t=25&akid=28282%2E12967895%2Epv-3xE