[Peace-discuss] Sen. Barack Obama: Pro-consumer or pro-corporation?

[Rich]

--- Public Citizen Member Services <member at citizen.org> wrote:
Subject: Sen. Barack Obama: Pro-consumer or pro-corporation?
> 
> While Sen. Barack Obama has been heralded as "the future of the
> Democratic party," and a progressive force working for the good of
> average citizens, one of his initial votes has been terrible: his
> support for the regressive, corporate-backed class action bill that
> will
> deny many citizens their day in court to seek compensation for the
> harms
> they have suffered at the hands of corporate wrongdoers. In casting
> this
> vote, he ignored the urging of over 90 consumer, civil rights,
> labor,
> and environmental organizations that opposed the bill, and instead
> sided
> with the corporate lobbyists. Adding insult to injury, he then went
> on
> record and used industry-written talking points to justify his
> vote.
> 
> If he is to be a political force for the good, Sen. Obama must be
> held
> accountable by his constituents. That is what we are asking you to
> do
> with this alert. Specifically, we are asking you to: 
> 
> 1) Use the link below to send him a letter expressing your concern
> and
> outrage. Even if you have already sent him an email asking him to
> oppose
> the class action bill, we believe that sending him a second one
> questioning his allegiances is both helpful and necessary. 
> 2) Use the points contained below to send a letter to the editor of
> your local paper of choice - whether a small town paper or the
> Chicago
> Tribune or Sun. Sen. Obama needs to hear this cry raised loud and
> clear,
> and in as many venues as possible. 
> 3) Forward this message to all your friends and colleagues in
> Illinois.
> Mr. Obama needs to hear this from everyone. 
> 
> To send a letter to Sen. Barack Obama, please go to 
> http://action.citizen.org/pc/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=7027666
> 
> 
> For more information on Public Citizen, Please go to
> http://www.citizen.org/ 
> 
> 
> Sample Letter to the Editor 
> 
> Important Note: This draft letter is much longer than a letter to
> the
> editor should be, because it includes language and information from
> which you can choose. Please select from the ideas below to
> construct
> your own letter, and - MOST IMPORTANTLY - make sure to edit it to
> add
> your own thoughts, feelings and arguments. If the newspaper feels
> or
> somehow discovers that you are simply passing on a pre-written
> letter,
> they will not print it. 
> 
> To the Editor- 
> 
> I am writing to express my grave concern about the direction that
> Barack Obama has taken now that he has been elected to the U.S.
> Senate.
> 
> 
> A keynote speaker at the Democratic Convention and heralded as a
> new
> champion of average Americans, Sen. Obama is suddenly taking a
> sharp
> turn against consumer interests. I am speaking most specifically
> about
> the corporate-backed class action bill, which he voted for on
> February
> 10. 
> 
> Class action lawsuits have been used in recent years to hold
> accountable insurance companies that illegally raise customer
> premiums,
> automakers that knowingly install faulty engine parts that cause
> multiple injuries and deaths, and companies that make employees
> work
> overtime without pay. The purported "reform" bill was backed by
> industries such as tobacco, insurance, pharmaceuticals and guns.
> They
> spent millions of dollars lobbying for it because they know it's a
> way
> to restrict the legal rights of ordinary citizens to fight
> unscrupulous
> companies that sell unsafe products, rip off consumers, pollute the
> environment and employ unfair labor practices. 
> 
> So why was Sen. Obama, who claims to be a "strong believer" in
> class
> action lawsuits, casting a vote for corporations and against
> average
> citizens, despite the urging of virtually every consumer, civil
> rights,
> labor and environmental organization, all of which opposed the
> bill? 
> 
> Even worse, Sen. Obama then went on to use Republican and
> industry-written talking points to justify his vote, parroting
> their
> rhetoric about forum shopping and coupon settlements in his
> official
> statement, reprinted in the St. Louis Dispatch. Such problematic
> cases
> represent only a tiny fraction of class action lawsuits, and have
> been
> deliberately blown out of proportion. Why didn't Sen. Obama choose
> to
> speak out about the hundreds and hundreds of meritorious class
> action
> suits that have helped consumers, workers and ordinary citizens -
> most
> of whom will now be shut out of court by the new bill? 
> 
> I would say that Sen. Obama should study the issue more carefully
> before he votes, but I suspect that he knows exactly what he is
> doing -
> trying to safeguard his ability to raise money from the same
> businesses
> who supported this bill. He should be ashamed of himself. 
> 
> Sen. Obama is going to have to start making some hard choices about
> whether he really supports the people of his state, or the same
> corporate interests that seem to run Washington D.C. these days.
> Unfortunately his initial choices do not bode well. 
> 
> ### 
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> 
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