Labor & Employment Law

Act Now: Tell House to Pass Badly Needed Jobs Bill

By James Parks

The U.S. House is poised to vote this week on a multibillion-dollar package of aid to states that would help America’s workers, promote U.S. jobs and provide a much-needed additional lift to our economy. Plus: The bill would make Wall Street pay for it.

The Promoting American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010 (H.R. 4213) would extend unemployment insurance (UI) and reduce COBRA payments for those out of work and fund summer jobs for young workers.

Take action now. Call 1-877-442-6801 today and urge your representative to vote for the bill.

Here’s how Wall Street would pay. For years, a tax loophole has allowed hedge funds managers and others on Wall Street to have their earnings taxed as capital gains instead of as ordinary income. In the case of some managers, that has meant more than $1 billion a year in tax-free earnings. The legislation would close this loophole, which has saved billions for mega-rich bankers while they drove our economy off a cliff and cost us millions of jobs and hundreds of billions of dollars.

Wall Street lobbyists on Washington, D.C.’s K Street are working hard to kill this bill and the vote will be close. Working people need this jobs bill. Millions of out-of-work families are relying on unemployment insurance just to put food on their table, and without the COBRA subsidy extension, they will be forced to go without health insurance.

Tell your representative that Congress must act now to protect these workers, promote U.S. jobs and do it by making Wall Street pay.

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on May 18, 2010 (boomark / email).