Followers of the Rootstrikers movement, which is dedicated to getting money out of politics across the country, are taking action on Sunday, May 19, to expose corporate spending in politics. The plan is for activists to head to grocery stores, department stores and shopping malls and use the BizVizz mobile app to help get out the word that some of the most popular products sold in those stores are made by companies that pour millions of dollars into buying elected officials.

Last week, Walmart said it would speed up its plan to hire returning military veterans that it had announced in January. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka says Walmart’s latest move “is more about public relations than honoring our heroes.”

We owe it to our returning veterans to make sure they are treated as the heroes they are, rather than as symbols used to ‘greenwash’ Walmart’s eroding brand. After facing enemies abroad, is an $8.81 an hour part-time job the best we can offer returning veterans?

A new report from the Institute for Policy Studies and Campaign for America's Future shows that the CEOs who run the 90 corporations in the '"Fix the Debt" coalition, which advocates for cuts to earned benefits like Social Security while reducing tax rates for, well, themselves, accept massive subsidies from the U.S. government. The amount they have taken in subsidies ranges from a possible low of $953 million to a possible high of $1.6 billion. The AFL-CIO's Executive PayWatch covers related issues.

A new Bloomberg article notes that the CEOs of the Standard and Poor's 500 corporations make 204 times as much money as their own employees. The article highlights the most extreme disparity in the S&P 500, where former J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson received a total compensation package 1,795 times that of former fashion jewelry saleswoman Rebecca Gonzales in 2011.

Payday lenders can trap working people in a never-ending cycle of debt. Big Banks also have gotten into the business by offering “deposit advance” loans. For years, consumer advocates have been calling on regulators to rein in abusive payday loans, which often charge interest at more than 300% per year. These exorbitantly high interest rates drain money from low-income communities.

Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) issued a statement today, responding to the sale of the iconic Twinkies brand.
 
In response to Metropoulos & Co. CEO C. Dean Metropoulos' statement to The Wall Street Journal that the company will not hire union workers when reopening four former Hostess Brands bakeries, BCTGM International President David B. Durkee issued the following statement on behalf of all BCTGM members:

Wall Street wrecked the economy, and banks are still refusing to work with people who are trying to stay in their homes. The Campaign for a Fair Settlement, along with other partners, is calling on President Obama to champion an agenda that would:

1. Hold bankers accountable for their crimes.

2. Keep people in their homes by resetting their mortgages.

Current laws in the United States allow corporations to use offshore havens to avoid paying their taxes and, if it's up to many in Washington, the problem will only grow larger, particularly if the so-called "territorial" tax system is passed. The details of the use of such tax havens were discussed in a conference call with Campaign for America's Future, Americans for Tax Fairness and Citizens for Tax Justice.

You don’t often read headlines about environmentalists joining forces with coal miners. Environmentalists want to shut down coal plants that pollute our air and water, while miners understandably fight to keep and defend the jobs that the coal industry provides. Between these two forces, there sometimes appears to be little common ground.

The Masters of the Universe on Wall Street would have us believe that they have attained their exorbitant wealth because of superior intellect and work ethic. Yet, time after time, they prove to us through behavior that could generously be described as ethically challenged that, in fact, they have not become Masters of the Universe by being smarter or harder working than the rest of us.