VOTERS FOR PEACE & PETITION

I have been asked to forward this widely, and this is as widely as it gets for me:

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PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY September 23, 2008 Dear Peace Voter, I am taking the unique step of writing to you from the Campaign for Fresh Air and Clean Politics, the parent organization of Voters for Peace, True Vote and Climate Security. The proposed bailout being considered in Washington, DC requires people to work together to stop it and replace it with a program that is transparent, protects the interests of the American people and requires that those who profited from the high risk financial speculation pay the cost of the clean-up. The bailout needs to be part of the revitalization of the U.S. economy not a blank check for big banks. I just got off a conference call with more than 100 organizations from the peace, environment, labor, economic, civil rights and civil liberties communities. We are all coming together around a message of "Stop the Bailout." A panic has been put in place that is causing a stampede toward a questionable solution. The bailout is being proposed without any transparency. Americans do not even know why the bailout is needed or what financial institutions deserve taxpayer support. And, the solution put in place has no independent oversight by Congress or the Judiciary - in fact, the bill specifically says that no judicial review of decisions is allowed, stating: "Decisions by the Secretary [of the Treasury] pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency." There is nothing in the bill that would prevent the misuse or even theft of hundreds of billions of dollars. The bill essentially requires us to put blind faith in the Bush administration, especially Treasury Secretary Paulsen, the former CEO of Goldman Sachs who made hundreds of millions profiting from the financial industry. We need to act now to slow Congress down and stop the panic. Please take three steps: Click here and send an email to Congress. The email tells Congress not to be panicked into a stampede of taxpayer giveaways to reckless financial interests; urges Congress to first determine what the underlying problem is and develop a specific solution to it; and then, it urges that those who profited from three decades of reckless finance be required to pay for the clean-up. Finally, it seeks an economic development plan that rebuilds the foundations of the U.S. economy - which in fact are not sound. Call Congress now and urge your representatives to stop the bailout. Call 202-224-3121. Send this email to everyone you know. This is the moment when people need to come together and demand accountability from Congress, the administration and the financial institutions seeking a bailout. If you would like to be kept informed about activities responding to the bailout please let me know by clicking here. We have been stampeded into war, undermining of civil liberties and now into undermining the U.S. economy. If we stand together we can stop the stampede and bring sense to the economy and make it work for the American people rather than big banks. Sincerely, Kevin Zeese Executive Director P.S. I will be on the Marc Steiner Show on WEAA, 88.9 FM in Baltimore today. You can hear the show live at 5:00 on the radio or on www.weaa.org. Or you can hear a podcast on the Center for Emerging Media, www.CenterForEmergingMedia.org.

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