Letters: A Step in the Right Direction
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Hi Bill,
Thanks to you we're making progress.
Over the past couple of weeks, NJPIRG online activists like you
have joined the hundreds of thousands of people across the country who signed
petitions, wrote letters and made phone calls urging AIG to withhold big
bonuses until it can pay back every cent of the $180 billion in
taxpayer bailouts it received.
With your support, U.S. PIRG's Ed Mierzwinski and Nicole Tichon were at the Capitol fighting to get the bonuses revoked and -- more importantly - working for greater accountability and oversight of the big banks and insurance companies that caused this mess.
Late last week the U.S. House passed a measure to recover the vast majority of bonus money given to employees of companies receiving taxpayer bailouts. Then, on Monday, the news broke that some of the AIG executives had voluntarily given back their bonuses.
That's a step in the right direction.
But even as you sent e-mails to AIG, many of you asked us about our plans to prevent the need for future bailouts.
In the next few weeks we'll have the chance to get at one of the core causes of America's financial problems: The influence of powerful interests on the political process.
Later this week I'll tell you about steps we can take to make sure that political contributions from AIG and others in the financial sector -- a half million dollars in 2008 to members of Congress -- don't sidetrack efforts fo reform in Washington, D.C.
Sincerely,
Allison Cairo
NJPIRG Executive
Director
[email protected]
http://www.NJPIRG.org
P.S. Thanks for your continued support. Please feel free to share this email with your friends and family
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