My apologies for duplicate postings. Tom Mathews, Sierra Club, Iowa Chapter Corporate Accountability issue chair Subj: Enron Update Date: 02-05-03 12:53:46 EDT From: [log in to unmask] To: [log in to unmask] Dear Citizens, We have good news and bad news. The bad news is that the few "Enron reform" bills that have passed in Congress to date are an insult to the word "reform." In April, the House of Representatives passed: 1) A pension bill (H.R. 3762) that would tighten a few rules governing 401(k) plans but make other rules worse for workers; and 2) An accounting bill (H.R. 3763) that would make a few cosmetic changes to rules governing the accounting industry but would punt most of the "reform" responsibility into the lap of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Better bills may be passed in the Senate with enough public pressure. But it will be a tough battle. The good news is that Enron has provided a concrete example for what many of us have been saying for years: corporations have too much power and their unregulated influence harms most citizens while benefiting a few. And while many wonderful nonprofit groups are working on campaigns to get corporations out of politics and bring democracy back to the people, they can only do so much. Without your voice on the grassroots level, these efforts will not go far enough. Elected officials need to be told over and over again that sham reform is not acceptable! So, let's let 'em hear it! Here are four concrete things that you can do: 1) Get informed: Visit Citizen Works' web site and sign up for the Corporate Reform Weekly, an e-mail newsletter to keep you in the loop on how legislators and activists are responding to Enron and what you can do to help. 2) Get on the phones with your elected officials and tell them that you are not satisfied with the legislation that has been passed so far in response to Enron. Tell them you want real reforms, not sham reforms. Tell them you want pension reforms that actually ensure a decent retirement for America's workers. Tell them you want accounting and securities reforms that truly eliminate the conflicts of interest that riddle the industries. Tell them you want reforms that enact real penalties for white-collar criminals who make millions through fraud while workers and investors lose everything. Tell them you want an end to foolhardy energy deregulation. Tell them you want a real crackdown on corporate tax-avoidance and meaningful protections for whistleblowers. 3) While you are on the phone, be part of the Give it Back campaign by asking your elected officials to give any Enron contributions they received back to the workers and shareholders who were burned by Enron's fraud. This is the first step in a long-term campaign to get corporations out of politics and get publicly-funded elections. 4) Keep talking. Tell everybody you know why the system needs to be reformed, why we need to get corporations out of politics. Write letters and op-eds for your local papers. Working together, we can build formidable momentum for corporate reform. By being silent, we accomplish nothing. IN OTHER NEWS: Citizen Works is forging ahead with creating a newsletter, Citizens Working. This won't be your ordinary newsletter. Instead of just writing about our work, like most nonprofits, we want to write about YOU. We want to hear what you are doing at the state and the local level, what great campaigns and actions you are working on. We want to share this information with other citizens and activists on this list to offer real, inspirational examples of how change happens at the local level. Please update us on your activities by e-mailing Lee Drutman at [log in to unmask] and you may well wind up in the newsletter. ON TELEVISION: If you work on toxics, green building, environmental, labor, health or corporate accountability issues: Don't miss BLUE VINYL, an entertaining and eye-opening documentary about the environmental and public health hazards of the world's second-highest selling plastic. The award-winning BLUE VINYL airs on HBO this Sunday, May 5, at 10 p.m. EST (after Six Feet Under). Citizen Works' Charlie Cray, director of the National Campaign for Corporate Reform, is featured. To learn more about the ongoing consumer and education campaign, see www.MyHouseIsYourHouse.org. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To get off the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: [log in to unmask]