Politics is far more than an election or one candidate. A group of unions and activists have banded together to fight for agenda that restrains Wall Street.

Capitalizing on populist anger toward Wall Street, a coalition of more than 20 labor unions and activist groups on Tuesday launched a new campaign to reform the financial industry.

The group, Take On Wall Street, plans to combine the efforts of some of the Democratic Party’s biggest traditional backers, from the American Federation of Teachers and the AFL-CIO to the Communications Workers of America. The group says it will aim to turn the public’s lingering anger at the financial sector into policy initiatives that could change the way that Wall Street works.

Among its biggest targets will be doing away with a law that allows private equity managers to pay lower taxes through something known as the “carried interest loophole.” These managers receive a share of profits for any gains they create for their clients, and this income is treated as long-term capital gains and taxed at a lower rate.

“We know that because of this loophole that there are many hedge fund and Wall Street millionaires that pay a lower tax rate than truck drivers, nurses, [and] teachers,” said Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), who has introduced several pieces of legislation targeting Wall Street in recent years and is a supporter of the new coalition.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2016/05/24/the-occupy-mo...

Here is their agenda. You can sign their petition (and no doubt get on their email list) at the link below.

PETITION TO CONGRESS:

The big banks are bigger than they were before the 2008 crisis, and CEOs and Wall Street money managers continue to benefit from obscene tax loopholes that cost us billions.

Stand up to Wall Street. To build a financial system that works for Main Street and working families, not just Wall Street billionaires, Congress should adopt the following agenda:

Close the carried interest loophole that lets billionaire Wall Street money managers pay lower tax rates than nurses or construction workers.

Create a Wall Street speculation tax that would discourage short-term bets and generate billions in new revenue to make college affordable, invest in our infrastructure, and create jobs in our cities.

End "Too Big to Fail" by breaking up the big banks – making them smaller, simpler, and safer.

Stop subsidizing million dollar CEO bonuses by ending the CEO pay tax loophole.

End predatory lending and also expand access to fair consumer banking services through "a public option" like postal banking.
We call on every member of Congress to co-sponsor and urge passage of this agenda.

https://takeonwallst.com/

“We are going to make this an issue in congressional races. No one will be able to run from this,” said Richard L. Trumka, president of the labor union AFL-CIO. People are saying “that they are fed up with Wall Street writing the rules.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2016/05/24/the-occupy-mo...