Unions to Wall Street: back off ( lobbying against EFCA)

[Enrique]

http://thehill.com/business--lobby/unions-warn-wall-street-to-back-off-2009-02-11.html

A key labor coalition that backed President Obama during the election last year is calling upon the financial-services industry to back off lobbying against organized labor’s top legislative priority this year.

In a letter Tuesday, Anna Burger, chairwoman of Change to Win, asked the Financial Services Roundtable to cease all lobbying against the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) and expel any member company that is lobbying against it and has received bailout funds.

“At a time when the industry must devote every effort to economic recovery, it is shameful that the Financial Services Roundtable makes lobbying against the right of workers to organize a legislative priority and, worse yet, is using taxpayer-financed TARP subsidies to do so,” Burger writes in the letter, referring to the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

The Financial Services Roundtable, which represents many of the banks that received federal bailout money, did not respond in time for this article.

(...)

In her letter, Burger scolds not only the Roundtable but two of its member companies — the Principal Financial Group and Bank of America — for lobbying against the legislation. Both financial institutions have applied for or received bailout funds from the federal government to recover from the Wall Street crisis.

Legislation that would ban any companies from using bailout funds for lobbying activities is pending in the Senate. The bill is sponsored by Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine).

Burger’s letter was copied to the two most senior lawmakers overseeing the financial-services industry overhaul, Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.).

[drm604]

1. Damn straight!

There's no way they should be using working people's tax dollars to lobby against them.

[rpannier]

2. There's no way they should be using that money for anything BUT

getting their house in order

[DCKit]

4. And saving our homes.

Preventing the banks from taking full advantage of current loan terms and raising rates (shortsightedly and causing many to lose their homes) is going to take an act of Congress.

They'd better get on it. The ongoing, usury rise in CC fees alone is going to cause a lot of people to go under. When mortgage payments double, as well, it's going to cause no end of personal financial collapse.

[wroberts189]

3. Thanks for all that fight for us. nt