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The Progressive

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A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
RootsAction
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Tax Wall Street -- For Jobs!

What better way to finance good green jobs for millions of unemployed Americans than to tax the Wall Street juggernaut that created this economic disaster in the first place?

That's not just a good idea -- it could be the law. The "Full Employment & Training Act" (H.R. 870), just introduced by Congressman John Conyers, is a brilliant legislative remedy for two ills that afflict our society -- massive unemployment and speculative profiteering that keeps widening the gap between the rich and the rest of us.

WASHINGTON

What better way to finance good green jobs for millions of unemployed Americans than to tax the Wall Street juggernaut that created this economic disaster in the first place?

That's not just a good idea -- it could be the law. The "Full Employment & Training Act" (H.R. 870), just introduced by Congressman John Conyers, is a brilliant legislative remedy for two ills that afflict our society -- massive unemployment and speculative profiteering that keeps widening the gap between the rich and the rest of us.

Please help us gather co-sponsors for the bill by signing our letter to the Progressive Caucus.

Two weeks ago, we said it was time to flip the script on Wisconsin with a Robin Hood Tax on Wall Street - now Congressman Conyers has introduced this bold proposal for full employment funded by a Wall Street Transaction Tax.

The law would make the Wall Street speculators behind the economic disaster pony up to create jobs: whether teaching children, making homes energy efficient, caring for the sick or rebuilding neighborhoods.

We can create a society with plentiful jobs and equitable taxation. And H.R. 870 is a good place to start. But we need more members of Congress to cosponsor and loudly endorse the bill.

Unlikely to get through Congress? Sure -- if we don't fundamentally reframe the national debate. That means going where few elected officials, especially President Obama, have dared to tread.

Jobs are a human right . . . and no one has a right to rip off our society to make themselves filthy rich through speculation and fraud. It's time for Wall Street to pay.

"If this financial crisis taught us anything," Obama declared on the night he was elected president, "it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers." But in 2011 we have a thriving, even bloated Wall Street -- while many can't find a job.

The 21st century Full Employment & Training Act is an idea that will work for all of us. Please sign this letter to the Progressive Caucus. And pass this message along to your friends.

RootsAction is dedicated to galvanizing people who are committed to economic fairness, equal rights for all, civil liberties, environmental protection -- and defunding endless wars. We mobilize on these issues no matter whether Democrats or Republicans control Washington D.C.

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