Yesterday the Washington Post reported that UnitedHealth Group--the nation's biggest health insurance company--is urging its employees to lobby the Senate against health care reform proposals that would hurt the firm's bottom line: profits.

UnitedHealth Group reportedly sent 75,000 of its workers an email alleging that "government-run health care" will force "millions of Americans" to drop their current coverage--and asked recipients to take action to put a stop the public option.

Here's an excerpt from one of the form letters the insurance group 'suggests' its employees write and send to their senators:

Form Letter No. 2 to Senators (No public option, tougher consumer penalties)

[...] "I am concerned that the health care reform bills currently being considered by Congress will not effectively ensure affordable and sustainable health care options for all Americans. Government-run health care will result in millions of Americans not being able to keep their current coverage and will lead to unintended consequences of higher premiums and less choice.

"In addition, I am disturbed by proposed legislation that will lead to increased taxes, less affordable coverage, and reduced benefits. Recent analysis from economists and experts has shown that these bills will lead to increased health care costs and premiums for most Americans. When testifying before the Finance Committee on the impact of these increased taxes recently, the Director of the independent, nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said, "Our judgment is that that piece of the legislation would raise insurance premiums by roughly the amount of the money collected."

"As many have said, now is the time for health care reform, and I believe that there is a way to effectively modernize the system. While I am writing to you as an individual, and the opinion I express is my own, I work at UnitedHealth Group...

AMERICAblog had only this to say of the emails leaked by Consumer Watchdog: "conflict of interest much?"

Dr. Toni Lewis, president of The Committee of Interns and Residents of SEIU Healthcare, joined 149 other doctors for an event in the Rose Garden with President Barack Obama on Monday. The President re-iterated that doctors, who see patients daily, are some of our strongest supporters of reform, because they see first-hand the damage caused by our broken system.

Concurrently, 20 CIR/SEIU doctors descended on Capitol Hill in their white coats to thank their members of Congress for supporting comprehensive health care reform. They came from chapters in Massachusetts, New York, Florida and California with one clear voice: doctors support health care reform this year, because our patients can't wait.

The doctors attended a "National Grand Rounds" in Union Station - a panel discussion for physicians and medical students on what is and is not in the health reform proposals moving through Congress. For 45 minutes, they witnessed in a lively discussion moderated by Dr. Arthur Kellermann, the Associate Dean for Health Policy at Emory University School of Medicine and a former co-chair of the Institute of Medicine's Committee on the Consequences of Uninsurance, and had their questions answered by policy staff from the White House Office of Health Reform, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Afterward, CIR/SEIU residents spent the afternoon on the Hill, advocating for real reform that will make a difference for their patients and in the safety-net hospitals they work in. They also took the opportunity to present the Congressional staffers with posters based on the ad which had previously run in Roll Call, attesting to the support of half a million doctors for health care reform.

$1.4 million dollars per day.

That's how much the health care industry is spending to lobby against President Obama's health care reform plan, according to the Washington Post. They know they don't have the support of the American people, so they've resorted to buying their way into the debate with record amounts of spending on lobbying and political activities.

And now that Congress is moving on a specific legislation, our opponents are redoubling their efforts. We need to be there to meet them head-on.

Will you make sure the true voice of the majority is heard? Call Congress and tell them to support a plan that makes health care affordable for everyone: 1-800-603-SEIU (7348)

As SEIU members, our calls are especially important right now. Industry lobbyists may have deep pockets, but they can't talk about health care the same way we can. They don't understand what it's like to live this crisis every day - and to have our family members, our friends, and our neighbors struggling to provide decent care for themselves and their loved ones, too.

We get it and we need to make sure Congress gets it, too. Call your member of Congress right now: 1-800-603-SEIU

Today, SEIU is coordinating thousands of calls across the country in support of a plan for affordable health care. I hope you'll take 5 minutes to be a part of it by calling 1-800-603-SEIU and telling your member of Congress to fix health care now.

P.S. - After your call, you can let us know how it went by filling out our brief report back form: http://action.seiu.org/page/s/hcreportback. We'll use the information from your reports to help plan the next stages of our campaign.

As you can see, Susie Young has really enjoyed her time here in DC as a grassroots lobbyist.

Meet Susie Young, one of the amazing grassroots lobbyists who has spent the last few months fighting the good fight with SEIU here in D.C. "This has been one of the best experiences of my life," says Susie of her time spent as a GRL. "I have always enjoyed politics and watch a lot of CNN, MSNBC, and C-SPAN, but it is different and a lot more exciting to be a participant."

Read what Susie has to say about her experiences lobbying for healthcare reform, from the perspective of a front-line caregiver:

"Healthcare reform has been the primary focus since I have been here. I have attended all the Senate hearings on healthcare reform chaired by Senator Baucus, and also a couple of hearings in the House, and met with many of our senators and representatives. There is a common thread that both Democrats and Republicans agree on. In the healthcare reform bill, both sides feel there needs to be prevention and wellness and more community centers especially in rural areas. Both sides also agree that we need to address the shortage of primary care physicians, and eliminate pre-existing conditions.

"Unfortunately, here the two sides do not agree on the public option plan. One of the best arguments for the public plan is that it would give competition to the private plan. There are states that only have one private insurance company - like Maine - and if there was competition with a public plan, it would drive costs down.

"One of the reasons for the high costs is chronic and long-term care. During the hearings, it was mentioned that 5% of Medicare patients use 50% of the money. High re-admission rates to hospitals are also a big problem. Addressing long-term care and chronic conditions must be part of healthcare reform.

"Home care can be part of the solution. Washington is a leader in serving people in home- and community-based care, and I've been able to tell my story from a home care workers perspective. Over the years, I have kept my clients in their home. When I see a medical problem, it is addressed immediately. My clients have chronic conditions and I know if there were no home care services, then there would have been different outcomes. There are many states where home and community based care is not an option or where there are waiting lists. This must be addressed as part of healthcare reform.

"When Congress went home for the Memorial Day recess, the grassroots lobbyists traveled to Virginia to help with local events. We spoke with everybody. We waved signs. We knocked on every single door. If they were walking in the streets, we stopped them. If they were driving, and at a four-way stop, we approached them. I was walking down the street, wearing my purple SEIU healthcare shirt, and carrying flyers and a clipboard. A lady in a van stopped and wanted to know if this was about healthcare. She pulled over and had a great healthcare story to tell.

"So many people have healthcare stories or they know someone who is suffering because they lack access to healthcare. They want to share their stories, and are willing to come to events and write letters to their senators. They want to participate. There is a real movement happening around healthcare. I can feel it, but the best part is that you really feel for the first time, healthcare is within reach. It is an awesome feeling to give people Hope. The grassroots lobbyists have been working so hard on the Hill, and it felt good to be out in the streets!"

(This letter is reposted from SEIU Healthcare 775NW's website)

Read more blog posts written by SEIU Grassroots Member Lobbyists here, here and here.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce really stepped in it this week.

The multi-million dollar corporate group flew in hundreds of CEOs and other businesspeople to pressure your senators into doing nothing to help working people. But boy, did it not go well for the U.S. Chamber.

Two of their priority senators both issued public statements after meeting with the U.S. Chamber saying that they are open to debate on labor law reform - exactly what the U.S. Chamber is fighting against.

Let's seize this opportunity. Write to your senators now and let them know that they should stand with working people, not the greedy CEOs represented by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The U.S. Chamber is backed by some of the biggest corporations in America. Now they're spending millions of dollars to stop corporations from being held accountable.

This week the U.S. Chamber placed a newspaper ad in Washington, DC riddled with lies, hypocrisy, and misconceptions about the Employee Free Choice Act. In short, they're fighting to make sure only greedy CEOs can have contracts - and that working people can't.

But the U.S. Chamber's CEO lobby day went so poorly that we a chance to push back and make clear to the senate that working people need help - and they need it now.

Send your message to the Senate now.

Thanks for all you do.

From the moment they flew people to Washington, DC to lobby against the Employee Free Choice Act, things were just not going the Chamber of Commerce's way...

From bringing a major labor law violator to lobby on behalf of (wait for it...) labor law reform, to getting caught in a lie by Sen. Feinstein, this can't be how the Chamber wanted their lobbying week to go.

TERRIBLE: As one of their main lobbyists on labor law reform, the Chamber of Commerce brings to Washington... a major labor law violator.

One of the Arkansas business leaders that the Chamber flew in was Michael Keck of St. Vincent Health System, where multiple unfair labor practices have been filed against management. (As an executive, Michael is "management.") It took St. Vincent nurses more than 3 years to get a union contract, during which time the National Labor Relations Board had to step in at least twice.  Read the full TPM piece here.

HORRIBLE: The Chamber claims that Sen. Dianne Feinstein no longer supports Employee Free Choice, and is promptly smacked down...by Sen. Feinstein. After a local California Chamber group met with Sen. Feinstein, they put out the word that she was changing her position; she did not support the bill. The only problem? It was flatly untrue. In response, Sen. Feinstein issued this clarifying statement:

"A statement has been put out mischaracterizing my position on this bill. The truth is that I am working to find common ground between the needs of both business and labor in order to reach a bipartisan solution. I believe we must find a way to protect the privacy of individual workers so that they may elect whether to form a union free of intimidation."

The same day, Sen. Johnson came out in favor of Employee Free Choice.

According to Wednesday's Argus Leader, Sen. Tim Johnson told a delegation of South Dakota business leaders Wednesday that he would vote to bring a controversial labor bill to the Senate floor for debate. "His decision to vote to consider the Employee Free Choice Act is a blow to local and national business groups, which have lobbied strenuously against the measure," wrote the Leader. It's "very significant," acknowledges the state Chamber president.

NO GOOD:  According to a Maine small business owner: The US Chamber of Commerce doesn't speak for small businesses any more than Burger King speaks for cows.  In response to a statement by the US Chamber of Commerce that Small Business owners oppose the Employee Free Choice Act, Mainer Ben Wootten said: "The US Chamber of Commerce doesn't speak for small businesses any more than Burger King speaks for cows. While the Chamber works overtime to represent the narrow interests of bloated, wealthy corporations, our nation's small businesses are struggling simply to keep their doors open.  We need common-sense measures like health care reform and the Employee Free Choice Act to help small business owners control costs and ensure that their employees feel truly invested in the long-term future of their workplace."

VERY BAD: Backed into a corner, they're now making misleading claims about the Employee Free Choice Act in a new ad. Many people saw the misleading and hypocritical ad the Chamber of Commerce placed in Roll Call and Politico yesterday. The fact is that -- when it suits them -- companies use binding arbitration all the time. In March of this year, the Chamber called Consumer Arbitration, "Fair, Inexpensive, and Unbiased."  But when it comes to creating a contract that works for workers, companies often refuse to negotiate a first agreement, or use stall tactics and gimmicks to delay the process for years.  Sixty-two percent of workers who form a union lack an agreement one year later and companies refuse to even negotiate in good faith in over 28% of cases.

This week, hundreds of RNs flooded our nation's capitol, many of us with several decades of experience in patient care. We left our families and communities because this year - 2009 - is the year that Congress can finally fix our broken health care system. And it can't happen without nurses.

On Wednesday, I joined with hundreds of nurses to lobby members of Congress about the issues we face at the bedside. As nurses, we're able to speak to issues the general public doesn't know about--understaffing, mandatory overtime, nurse training and education and more.

The National RN Day Of Action on May 13th turned out to be an incredible display of unity for all nurses and the patients we care for. While we were on the hill, we heard from staffers who'd received calls into their offices from nurses the following week. (See SEIU Blog post, "On National Nurses Week, We're Calling a Code On Our Healthcare System")

Thanks to your calls, Congress knew that nurses had an important role to play in health care reform. It was history in the making and I'm so excited that I had the chance to be a part of it!

Below are photos taken of the event: www.flickr.com/photos/valuecarenurses/

Janelle Manigault is a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) at St. Petersburg General Hospital (HCA) and a Vice President of SEIU Healthcare Florida's Health Systems Division.

Hundreds of nurses from SEIU, CNA and UAN convened in Washington, DC today for a national RN day of action. Nurses attended a morning full of workshops and panels on issues such as building the national nurses movement and banning mandatory overtime, before proceeding to a mid-day march and rally in Upper Senate Park to emphasize the need for comprehensive health care reform.

From the rally, the nurses headed to Capitol Hill to advocate for their larger legislative agenda, which includes increased quality of care, healthcare that's accessible to all Americans and the need to pass the Employee Free Choice Act to strengthen the ability of nurses and other employees to fight for improved patient care standards.

Speakers for the event included CIR/SEIU Healthcare president Dr. L. Toni Lewis, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), who announced she would introduce a bill addressing items on the national nurses legislative agenda including minimum nurse-to-patient ratios, whistle-blower protections and increased funding for RN education.

Right now, Colorado CEOs are flying to Washington, DC to march on the offices of Colorado Senators Michael Bennet & Mark Udall. The CEOs - accompanied by corporate lobbyists - will demand that our senators refuse to level the playing field for Colorado's workers.

These CEOs are perfectly content with more of the same for our economy. They don't want to see our senators vote for the Employee Free Choice Act because they know it will help working people.

We need to stand up and tell our senators to focus on what matters. Senators Bennet and Udall should listen to workers, not CEOs, about how to fix our broken economy.

Click here to email your senators and ask them to support the Employee Free Choice Act.

Even before the recession began, middle class families were in trouble. Now faced with mounting unemployment rates, lost job hours and income, and no retirement security, we need to tell Senators Udall and Bennet to stand up for working people and support the Employee Free Choice Act.

That's why you need to write Mark Udall and Michael Bennet right now to let them know that Colorado needs the Employee Free Choice Act. If the Employee Free Choice Act becomes law, more Coloradans would be able to negotiate for health care and benefits, putting an extra $237 million per year in the pockets of working Coloradans, money that will help boost the economy.

In these times, that's the kind of boost that everyone could use.

Please write Michael Bennet and Mark Udall right now. We need an economy that works for everyone, not just CEOs.

Despite efforts by the Financial Services Roundtable (FSR)--the lobbying organization for banking and financial industries--to keep the location of their spring meeting secret, a group of spirited protesters found them yesterday in Washington, D.C. at the luxury hotel Park Hyatt in Georgetown.

"How did they get in here?" That's what the woman staffing the FSR spring meeting wanted to know. She and meeting attendees like Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf were clearly agitated and miffed when they realized that a group of outraged taxpayers entered the posh hotel where the meeting was being held.

Dressed in black with shirts that read "Bailout Watchdog Team" and name tags that read "Taxpayer," the spirited protesters marched into the hotel like they belonged there. And seeing how FSR members have taken more than $203 billion in bailout money as TARP recipients, it seems like the taxpayers who found the "secret" meeting place had every right to be there.

But that's not how FSR saw it. They freaked out when the crime scene tape went up and the giant eviction notice was delivered to the FSR lunch area, along with hundreds of pink slips for the bank executives who have gotten bailouts while taxpayers keep getting sold out. The protest caught the attention of financial executives.

Throughout the lobby, hallways and restaurant, you could hear guys in suits chattering about the "Bailout Watchdog Team" and crime scene tape. When last seen, CEO Stumpf was engaged in an animated discussion with the FSR staffer in charge of making sure that the security team showed the taxpayers to the door.

FSR had originally planned to hold its spring meeting at the Ritz-Carlton Beach Resort in Naples, FL, that includes three miles of white-sand beaches, a 51,000 square-foot spa, golf course, three pools, and six restaurants; where rooms start at $530 per night. What changed their minds into moving the meeting to an 'undisclosed location' in Washington, DC, you may be wondering. The answer: labor coalition Change to Win found out about the bank CEOs' plans to meet in Florida on the taxpayer's dime to continue to push their anti-worker agenda and wasted no time blowing the whistle on FSR's egregious misuse of U.S. taxpayer's bailout funds.

Change to Win chair and SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger wrote a letter to FSR President and CEO Steve Bartlett, in which she outlined why the meeting was a bad idea and urged him to reconsider. Here's a quick excerpt:

Any private use of taxpayer funds to influence the political process, whether by individual TARP recipients or the industry association they fund, raises serious questions. But partisan political activity by the Roundtable and its members with respect to Employee Free Choice crosses the line and constitutes an indefensible abuse of taxpayer money. It violates the intent of Congress, conflicts with Obama Administration policies prohibiting government contractors from using federal funds to oppose union organizing and throws a body blow to the working men and women who are paying for the bailout and whose economic security has already been ravaged by the excesses of your members.

The Roundtable's decision to move their three-day meeting-whose invitees included Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., FDIC chair Sheila Bair, and SEC chair Mary Schapiro-made in response to Burger's letter was first reported in the Los Angeles Times.

There are a plethora of problems with the lack of transparency in lobbying, with one of the most prominent being that lobbyist disclosure laws only require that lobbyists report back on which branch of government or department they've met with. They don't have to list who they met with, what bill or issue they discussed, or even what position they are taking towards the aforementioned bill or issue.

Timothy Geithner's first act as Treasury Secretary was to restrict contact between lobbyists and Treasury officials "in connection with applications for, or disbursements of," TARP funds. However, these rules do not address the larger problem that firms receiving millions of TARP assistance continue to lobby against the interests of hard working taxpayers. TARP recipients spent $114 million on lobbying last year as the financial crisis emerged. In total, bailout recipients that continued to spend money on lobbying spent over $14 million dollars over the three month period of October to December 2008---all this right as the TARP funds were being distributed.

Dave Johnson, a fellow at the Commonwealth Institute, gives some detail about the political activities of these corporations:

"TARP recipients are currently lobbying against compensation caps at companies receiving TARP, against increasing bank regulation - and even against increased oversight of the use of TARP funds in the TARP Reform and Accountability Act! They are also lobbying against the Arbitration Fairness Act, the Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act, the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act and the Helping Families Save Their Homes in Bankruptcy Act, Credit Card Holders Bill of Rights and the Stop Unfair Practices in Credit Cards Act!"

Rather than focusing on paying the American people back, these bailout corporation are instead using their resources to lobby against measures that would improve the lives of their new investors--us.

When the CEOs of eight bailed out banks went in front of Congress to answer questions about how they used hundreds of billions in taxpayers' money in early February of this year, Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis admitted he thinks it's in "the best interest" of Bank of America to spend money lobbying against economic recovery legislation like the Employee Free Choice Act. This legislation allows a majority of workers to decide if they want a union, which results in increased income and benefits for working people---thereby enabling them to make their credit card and mortgage payments.

Since that time, a number of other TARP recipients including AIG, Citigroup and Burger King have followed Bank of America's path to oppose the Employee Free Choice Act. This really should be a no-brainer: if you're receiving massive taxpayer subsidies, you shouldn't be able to turn around with that money and actively lobby against measures that would improve the lives of very same people that work within the company and other hardworking Americans struggling to keep afloat.

Dave Johnson spells out how this kind of lobbying may have contributed to our country's economic downfall:

"Use of corporate funds to influence our government is a larger problem than just this current misuse of TARP. In fact, this BofA and other companies' use of TARP funds to oppose the Employee Free Choice Act supports an argument that the current economic crisis is a result of corporate lobbying. A corporate-funded assault on government has resulted in de-legislation and deregulation, enriching a few at the expense of the rest of us, while eroding the foundations of our economy and our democracy. Now the public has been harvested in one scheme after another, plundered for every dollar as incomes stagnated, debt skyrocketed and savings fell. Consumption fell off the cliff as the work- and debt-load tapped out people's ability to participate in the economy. The resulting crisis has led to taxpayer dollars propping them all up."

In his address to state legislators today, President Obama renewed his administration's commitment to enforce much tighter lobbying disclosure for recovery funds, saying "these are unprecedented restrictions that will help ensure that lobbyists don't stand in the way of our recovery." This is a step in the right direction, although implementation of these restrictions will be the key to real change here. Americans need an enforceable guarantee that companies receiving billions from taxpayers will not lobby or otherwise influence legislation.

New analysis of lobbying disclosures shows that the corporate lobbying effort against the Employee Free Choice Act is being waged largely by industry trade associations and front groups rather than by individual companies. (PDF of this report here)

Indeed, when several of the companies that have been active against employee free choice have come under criticism, they have been quick to issue statements to distance their firms from any anti-worker position.

At a time when a majority of the public favors the Employee Free Choice Act and millions of Americans are struggling while high CEO pay and corporate bonuses persist, it appears that companies are reluctant to be out front themselves against a measure that would ensure workers the freedom to gain a voice on the job for improvements.

Instead, the dirty work is being done primarily by eight business associations that are together waging a massive assault against the bill while most of their member companies keep their own names clean.

Industry associations take the lead

• The following eight trade associations were among some of the biggest spenders in lobbying against the Employee Free Choice Act in 2008: U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers, National Restaurant Association, Food Marketing Institute, Financial Services Roundtable, Business Roundtable, Retail Industry Leaders Association, and American Hotel and Lodging Association.
• Yet the officers of these associations have largely remained silent on Employee Free Choice. Out of 37 companies which hold leadership positions on the boards of the eight industry associations above, only 8 have ever independently lobbied on the Employee Free Choice Act and representatives from only 11 have made statements on Employee Free Choice.
• Even more striking, less than 4% of the more than 1,500 companies associated with the eight industry associations have ever independently lobbied on Employee Free Choice.
• While individual companies outspent trade associations in lobbying against the Employee Free Choice Act and other pro-worker legislation in 2007, in 2008 trade associations surged ahead, filing lobbying expenditure disclosures which mention Employee Free Choice totaling $141 million ⎯ $36 million more than individual companies.

Individual companies take cover

Burger King
"Burger King Corp. (BKC) believes unions serve a purpose in some workplaces and a number of its guests, vendors and franchisees have positive union membership experiences. BKC is not anti-union. BKC and its franchisees serve a diverse consumer base and, therefore, aim to remain neutral on political issues." (Source)
⎯ Statement issued February 20, 2009 after report, video, and protests exposed efforts by Burger King to defeat the Employee Free Choice Act and shed light on other poor employment and consumer practices at the fast food company. Burger King is a member of the National Restaurant Association and the National Retail Federation.

Principal Financial
"Contrary to incorrect reports issued today, The Principal Financial Group has not taken a position on the Employee Free Choice Act, nor do we plan to take such a position. The Principal represents the interests of millions of employees and hard working Americans who participate in its employee benefit plans; as well as 35,000 employer clients, 42,000 retirement plan sponsors and its own 15,000 employees. ... We have been a frequent advocate on issues of critical importance to unions and the financial services industry, such as civil rights and pension plan funding."
(Source)
⎯ Statement issued on February 24 after Change To Win Chair Anna Burger sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner asking that Principal Financial not be considered for federal TARP money given the company's lobbying disclosures showing $2.4 million in federal government lobbying expenditures in 2008 across many issue areas, including employee free choice. Principal is a member of the Financial Services Roundtable.

McDonald's
"We regret our internal effort to keep our franchisees informed on all aspects regarding this legislation has been leaked to the press and mischaracterized as an anti-union campaign. This was not our intent. McDonald's is not engaged in an anti-union campaign. In fact, we pride ourselves on being the restaurant organization for all people -- especially during tough economic times like these. As such, we try to not take sides in political issues, because we know our customers come from all walks of life, and represent diverse opinions and backgrounds."
(Source)
⎯ Statement issued on December 22 after reports leaked that McDonalds Corp. had urged its franchisees to "contact your U.S. senators and representatives to oppose" the Employee Free Choice Act.

Key facts that may be contributing to the companies' strategy to oppose employee free choice through trade associations and distance themselves

• Today average CEO pay is 344 times higher than average pay for workers. In 1980, CEO pay was 42 times higher. In other words, the average CEO today takes home as much in one day as the average worker is paid in a year.
• By next year, median household income is projected to drop to a level lower than it was 10 years ago.
• 73% of adults favor passage of the Employee Free Choice Act (Hart Research Associates, 12/08)

Lobbying Machine
At-a-glance numbers on the combined lobbying forces of the Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers, National Restaurant Association, Food Marketing Institute, Financial Services Roundtable, Business Roundtable, Retail Industry Leaders Association, and American Hotel and Lodging Association:

• Spent $138.4 million on lobbying in 2008 ($258,000 per member of Congress). All 8 groups lobbied against the Employee Free Choice Act.
• Hired 44 lobbying firms in 2008 (359 total lobbyists including both firms and association lobbyists).
• Used at least 34 different front groups and/or affiliates to push their agenda.
• Lobbied on hundreds of bills last year (The Financial Services Roundtable alone lobbied on 91 different bills; the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's lobbying disclosures fill 641 pages).
• The five associations with PACs gave 82% of their PAC contributions to Republicans from 2000 to 2008.

* PDF copy of report here

On Wednesday, CEOs of eight bailed out banks went in front of Congress to answer questions about how they used hundreds of billions in taxpayers' money.

While in front of Congress, Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis admitted he thinks it's in "the best interest" of Bank of America to spend money lobbying against economic recovery legislation like the Employee Free Choice Act.

That is not acceptable. Companies that receive tens of billions in taxpayer money should not be allowed to lobby against policies that would help out millions of taxpayers in this tough economy.

Watch this video about Bank of America using taxpayer money to lobby against the Employee Free Choice Act, then encourage Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner to set lobbying restrictions on bailed out banks.

In these tough times, we need policies that will help working families and pump more money into the economy. Bank of America even admitted in an internal memo that the Employee Free Choice Act will lift wages and benefits.

Yet CEO Ken Lewis says it's in his "best interest" to fight what his company called "a defacto wage and benefit increase" for consumers.

It does not make sense to give Bank of America $45 billion from taxpayers and allow them to turn around and fight our economic recovery efforts.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner recently did the right thing by imposing restrictions on bailout banks from using money for corporate jets and excessive executive pay. We're encouraging Secretary Geithner continue that progress by saying banks with government bailouts can't spend money on lobbying.

Watch this video about Bank of America's fight against economic recovery and sign our petition to Secretary Geithner:

With your help, we can make our economy work for everyone again.

Pictured, from left to right: Theo Jackson, Mike Kingsbury, Dana Graham, Thurman Johnson, Toni Piechowski, Cheryl Moon, Jerry Thompson, Rebia Mixon.

Nine SEIU members and workers from key states across the country have relocated to Washington, DC for a three-month long stint as a grassroots lobbyist on Capitol Hill.

This week, members are heading to Congressional offices to represent the working people in their state, and impress upon staff the importance of the economic stimulus bill (which is currently in conference). They also praised legislators for passing SCHIP and the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act with cards and personal face-to-face thank you's.

The current cohort of SEIU member lobbyists will be followed by a second wave this summer, continuing through August. Each member will be speaking to lawmakers about creating change that works for their families and communities--affordable healthcare for all, the freedom to form a union, and an economy that works for everyone--not just those at the top.

Each of these people have traveled far from their homes and their families to tell their story. Whether they were fired for trying to form a union, have recently retired, or struggle to afford healthcare for themselves or their families, these workers are sharing their stories so that Members of Congress understand what it's like to be a worker today. We'd like to introduce you to a few of these wonderful people each week, starting with Theo Jackson and Mike Kingsbury.

Mike Kingsbury is an RN hailing from Denver, Colorado and will be one of our regular guest bloggers. He's been an active member of the Nurse Alliance of Colorado for many years and also worked with SEIU on the Obama campaign.

Theo Jackson was a dedicated case manager--and a two-time Employee of the Month--at a substance abuse recovery center in Scotts Valley, CA before being fired for trying to form a union with SEIU Local 521. Theo's wrongful firing case is currently pending before the NLRB, and he is helping his colleagues continue to fight for a first contract. He was one of five workers to share his story last week at the Employee Free Choice Act rally on the Hill to urge Congress to support the legislation.

Stay tuned for updates, as our members report to us on what they're hearing about health care, the Employee Free Choice Act and restoring economic strength to Main Street.