MNA RNs to join national effort Tuesday, will call for Robin Hood Tax (Page 105)

MEDIA ADVISORY
Media Contact: John Nemo, MNA, 651-442-7176 (cell) or john.nemo@mnnurses.org
WHO: Dozens of Minnesota Nurses.
WHAT: Gathering outside of JPMorgan Chase Bank, handing out water bottles and speaking to citizens as part of a national Robin Hood Tax awareness effort.
WHEN: 12:00 pm on Tuesday, June 19, 2012.
WHERE: Sidewalk area outside of JPMorgan Chase Bank, 225 South 6th Street, Minneapolis, MN.

MAJOR NEW CAMPAIGN FOR A ROBIN HOOD TAX ON WALL STREET LAUNCHES IN MINNEAPOLIS, ACROSS U.S. WITH CELEBRITIES, ECONOMISTS AND ACTIVISTS

Tax on Wall Street Transactions Could Raise Hundreds of Billions for Health Care, Education, and to Address Global Poverty

As JP Morgan Chief Dimon Testifies in Congress, Nationwide Rallies Call for Wall Street to Pay Fair Share Through Robin Hood Tax

Dozens of national organizations including National Nurses United and Health GAP, celebrities including Mark Ruffalo, Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello and Coldplay’s Chris Martin, leading economists including Jeffrey Sachs, former JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs executives and global leaders such as Desmond Tutu have joined together for an unprecedented coalition, calling for a “Robin Hood Tax” on Wall Street.

The Robin Hood Tax is a small sales tax, less than half of 1% — or 50 cents per $100 on trading in stocks, and even smaller assessments on bonds, derivatives and currencies, that could raise hundreds of billions in the U.S.

“Wall Street’s reckless speculation and risky deals caused our economy’s most devastating crash since the Great Depression, forcing millions of Americans to lose their jobs, their homes, and their pensions,” said Jean Ross, a Minnesota Nurses Association RN and co-president of NNU.  “Three years later, Americans on Main Street still struggle to recover from a crisis we didn’t create.  This is the way to start to turn it around.”

Mark Ruffalo, star of the current movie “The Avengers,” releases a video on Tuesday, June 19, calling on Americans to join the campaign.   He was joined in the video by Chris Martin and Tom Morello.

The Robin Hood Tax is aimed at high-volume trading, which today makes up a majority of all trades.   Experts say it will help place limits on the reckless short-term speculation that threatens financial stability—as with  JPMorgan Chase’s losing bet of $3 billion recently.  A Robin Hood Tax would also assist in curtailing speculation in essentials, such as food and fuel.

“In cities and towns across the country and around the globe, people are hurting,” said Matt Kavanaugh of Health GAP. “Millions have been pushed into poverty, our social safety net has been shredded, and the winnable fights to end AIDS, food insecurity, and environmental destruction lack the resources to succeed. By adopting the Robin Hood Tax in America, we could go a long way towards solving our nation’s, and our planet’s, most pressing concerns.”

As the Robin Hood Tax prepares to launch, members of Congress are questioning JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon about his bank’s massive trading loss and inquiring overall about the frenzy of speculative trading.   Over 1,000 leading economists have endorsed the policy behind Robin Hood, including Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz and Lawrence Mishel of the Economic Policy Institute.  Some type of Robin Hood Tax is already in place in more than 40 countries.

In 16 cities across the country, including New York City, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Minneapolis and Los Angeles, activists will call for a Robin Hood Tax in the U.S., rallying outside JP Morgan Chase branches on Tuesday at noon.

For more information go to www.robinhoodtax.org.