LANSING, MI – A new broad-based citizens coalition today called on the Senate to crack down on Wall Street banks, stop outrageous CEO bonuses and end bailouts by passing Wall Street reforms that protect families from financial practices that endanger people and the economy. Formation of Michigan Coalition for Wall Street Reform comes as the Senate today is expected to hold a key vote on whether to debate Wall Street reform.

“Michigan’s struggling families deserve reforms and protections that put Main Street first, not Wall Street banks and their lobbyists,” said Linda Teeter, Executive Director of Michigan Citizen Action. “Today the Senate must vote today to allow debate on Wall Street reform and begin holding Wall Street banks and insurance giants accountable. We must end the recklessness and greed on Wall Street that sent our nation into the worst recession since the 1930s.”

The coalition called for reforms that address the following:

• End future taxpayer bailouts for Wall Street banks;


• Protect the nation’s economy and jobs from future financial crises;


• Require banks to repay all $700 billion in taxpayer-funded bailout money;


• Stop outrageous CEO bonuses and schemes that reward reckless investments;


• Crack down on the financial scams, hidden fees and predatory lending that led to the economic crisis;


• Level the playing field for small businesses that follow regulations and the law;


• Establish a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency to watchdog and crack down on Wall Street abuses

The coalition has set up a web site at www.reformwallstreetnow.org and will be mobilizing people to voice support for Wall Street reform and to contact their lawmakers.

“Michigan families and small businesses play by the rules, and so should Wall Street,” said Christina Kuo, Michigan Director of Common Cause. “Taxpayers want our money back from Wall Street banks that put jobs and our future at risk. We deserve more accountability, more transparency and more protections from Wall Street banks that roll the dice on the taxpayers’ dime.”

With Senate Republicans threatening to block reforms by refusing to allow debate, the time is now to send a strong message to every member of Congress, said Phil Thompson, Michigan State Council President of SEIU.

“It’s unconscionable to allow big bank executives and lobbyists to kill Wall Street reform and reward the failed policies that crashed our economy, left 8 million Americans out of work, and required trillions in taxpayer-funded bailouts,” said Thompson. “Michigan’s workers and families deserve better.”

Progress Michigan Executive Director David Holtz said the new coalition will be rallying support for Wall Street reform until Congress passes a good bill.

“We will keep coming at it, and encourage the Senate to keep at it, until we get this done,” said Holtz. “Washington politicians who refuse to negotiate in good faith and block reform are choosing Wall Street over Main Street and the politics of obstruction over protecting Michigan’s families from predatory practices and bailouts. We can’t let them win.”

LANSING – Citizen’s watchdog group Progress Michigan unveiled a massive mobile billboard Thursday, April 15th, emblazoned with messages received from across the state telling the right-wing Tea Party why America works. From Traverse City to Detroit and everywhere in between, Michiganders responded to an online Progress Michigan survey, “What makes America great?”

The message was clear: on Tax Day, Michigan taxpayers are proud to invest in communities, neighborhoods and families through programs like Social Security, roads and infrastructure, health care and public education.

The winning submission came from Gussie Farris, a Grand Rapids resident who wrote, “I send my investment in my country, my state and my community every April 15th, and I do it with pride and appreciation for the privilege of living in this great democracy.” Farris said she felt compelled to set the Tea Party straight and tell the truth about the country her taxes support.

“The Tea Party rolls around the country invoking the Constitution and their right to free speech to trash the country that gave them those rights,” Farris said. “They’re entitled to their own opinion, but the rest of us aren’t going to sit silently by while they tell lies about our country.”

Progress Michigan executive director David Holtz said whether one likes paying taxes or not is less important than what paying taxes does for the country.

“Paying taxes isn’t anyone’s favorite activity,” Holtz said. “But without taxes, we don’t have roads, bridges, police, fire and the quality of life makes America great. Without taxes, there’s no one to make sure the restaurants we eat in are clean or that the medicines we buy are safe.

“That’s not big government, that’s the price of admission for living in a civilized society and a great country.”

After several high-profile events featuring prominent Michigan conservatives endorsing the Tea Party’s controversial, extremist message, Michiganders who believe in good public schools, vital state services and public investments are responding to Tea Partiers.

“The Tea Party complainers are driving to the Capitol on roads paid for with taxes, were educated on the right to protest by teachers paid with taxes, and will return home to neighborhoods protected by police officers and firefighters paid for with taxes,” said Holtz. “Where do they think the money comes from to support their American way of life? It comes from the taxes paid by hard-working Americans who today are sending a pro-America message to the Tea Party.”

Progress Michigan will provide to reporters and bloggers contact information for Michigan taxpayers who participated in the survey from ten communities across the state who agreed to talk with the news and online media about what makes America work and why the Tea Party anti-tax message is wrong. Media and bloggers seeking contact information should call Progress Michigan offices at 517.999.3646.

LANSING – Ratepayers will be forced to pay significantly more money on their energy bills if Consumers Energy builds a new coal plant in Bay City that regulators say is not needed and which thousands of citizens have opposed for years, a new report released today shows.

”With the introduction of new energy markets that have developed over the last five to ten years, coal has become less competitive and a riskier investment,” said Tom Sanzillo, senior associate at TR Rose Associates. “This report shows that if the Karn-Weadock plant is built, ratepayers will see an increase in their electric bills well beyond what is considered within the normal bounds of typical increases in Michigan.”

According to the report prepared by TR Rose Associates for the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club, Consumers’ proposed coal plant near Bay City will add up to a price increase of at least $33 per year to a ratepayer’s energy bill. Already, Consumers is increasing rates by 4 to 5 percent every year, adding around $30 to energy bills. Therefore, each year, ratepayers will see an additional $70 plus on their electric bills. If the proposed plant is built near Bay City, the cost of electricity at the plant will be about 45 percent higher than costs from Consumers’ existing operations.

In communities that have gone forward with the building of coal plants, ratepayers are already seeing an increase in their monthly bills. Recently, WE Energies in Wisconsin has announced a 41% increase in rates and in South Dakota and Wyoming, residents are facing a minimum 20% rate increase from Black Hills new coal plant.

“Residents in Michigan should expect to see a rate increase if Consumers Energy goes forward with building the Karn-Weadock plant,” said Sanzillo. “Not only will ratepayers have to bear the burden of the building of the plant, but they will see increases as carbon regulations are put in place, air quality rules become more stringent, and coal prices rise.”

The report also said major credit ratings agencies across the nation have warned that new coal plants are expensive and likely to be plagued by long term regulatory and financial problems. At least 127 coal plant projects have been canceled in recent years because energy planners, corporate leaders and public officials have refused to pass along these new higher costs and risks to ratepayers. Consumers Energy, however, appears to be willing to take the risk at the cost of Michigan ratepayers.

“At a time when the rest of the nation is moving away from coal and toward more renewable energy, this report is a stark warning that Michigan risks heading in the wrong direction,” said Mark Muhich, Jackson resident. “Consumers Energy should not play energy roulette with ratepayers’ money. Instead, the company should invest in energy efficiency and cleaner energy alternatives that will create jobs and help Michigan’s economy. ”

Consumers’ own internal documents, which were used in compiling much of this report, show that a shrinking customer base, high debt obligations, rising costs and other factors, including a nationwide trend away from coal, are all recipes that make Consumers Energy’s coal plant planned for Bay County a bad investment that will sock shareholders and ratepayers alike.

The proposed Karn-Weadock 930 MW coal plant is expected to cost $3.57 billion to install and hundreds of millions more every year to operate.

The full report, along with additional information on TR Associates and Tom Sanzillo can be viewed at http://www.sierraclub.org/coal/mi/downloads/Consumersrateimpactreport.pdf.

LANSING, MI—Citizens watchdog group Progress Michigan today called for an investigation by the Michigan State Police into the possibility that the Michigan Republican Party may have circumvented state campaign finance laws.

A report today from the Daily Caller, which broke the GOP bondagegate story, said wealthy Michigan Republican donors had given hundreds of thousands of dollars in 2009 to the Republican National Committee as part of an alleged scheme that may have circumvented Michigan laws limiting campaign contributions.

“We need an independent, full and complete investigation to find out if Republican officials in Michigan and nationally were part of a coordinated effort to avoid the $10,000 limit on campaign contributions under Michigan law,” said David Holtz, Executive Director of Progress Michigan. “Given that the two Michigan officials who are responsible for enforcing state campaign finance laws—Attorney General Mike Cox and Secretary of State Terry Lynn Land—are Republican candidates for office and have obvious conflicts of interest they should request that the Michigan State Police investigate these serious allegations.”

Under federal campaign finance laws, donors can give $30,400 a year to the Republican National Committee. Under Michigan law, the limit is $10,000 per year to the Michigan Republican Party.

According to the Daily Caller, 15 Michigan donors maxed out a total of $456,000 in contributions in late December to the Republican National Committee, which was reported to have then contributed $500,000 to the Michigan Republican Party in early 2010.

LANSING, MI – The news today that a shadowy right-wing extremist group is telling Governor Granholm to resign as part of a threat to dismantle our democratically elected government is outrageous and unacceptable. The actions of the people who have sent these letters need to be condemned by all Michiganders of good will. This is not just a threat against the governor, it is a threat to the ideal of our democracy. The fact that this is apparently a coordinated action involving several governors in several states is disturbing.

While there is no evidence yet that this coordinated extremist action involves anyone other that the group who signed the letter to the governor, the increasingly toxic language of the extreme right, the spitting and racial epitaphs, the use of cross hairs and bulls eyes to target elected officials and the dramatic growth of militias in Michigan is woven from the same cloth of hate. It’s past time to dial down the hateful rhetoric that is the thread connecting all of this and to hold individuals accountable for what they say and do.

Whether you are a conservative or a progressive, a moderate or a libertarian, if you believe in American values and democracy, when this type of threat occurs and when hate speech happens it needs to be condemned by all of us on the spot and unequivocally. Unfortunately, up to now this has not always happened and for some disturbed minds that kind of silence can mean assent.

LANSING & BAY CITY– Energy contractors will join partners of the ReEnergize Michigan! coalition at Michigan residents’ homes to conduct sample energy audits and unveil a new report which highlights job creation and cost saving benefits of strengthening energy efficiency programs in Michigan.

The report, “Expanding Michigan’s Energy Optimization Standard”, was prepared by Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance and studies the benefits an increased energy efficiency standard would have for Michigan’s ratepayers, families and workers.

ReEnergize Michigan! is a coalition of labor, consumer, citizens, faith and other groups fighting to build a strong energy future for Michigan.

SAMPLE HOME ENERGY AUDITS & REPORT RELEASE

LANSING

WHEN: Monday, March 29 @ 10:30 AM

WHERE: HOME: 228 West North Street, Lansing, MI

WHO: Sam Flanery – Building Science Academy, LLC

Lansing Building Contractors

Bill Kirk – Michigan League of Conservation Voters

David Gard – Michigan Environmental Council

BAY CITY

WHEN: Monday, March 29 @ 1 PM

WHERE: HOME: 1540 Park Ave, Bay City, MI

WHO: Sam Flanery – Building Sciences Academy, LLC

Bill McDonald – recently trained in energy efficiency

Susan Harley – Clean Water Action

Gayle Miller – Sierra Club

GREAT HOME ENERGY AUDIT VISUALS!

LANSING,MI – Citizens group Progress Michigan today called on Doug Rothwell, head of the CEO group pushing to balance the budget on the backs of state workers, to reveal if he gets any taxpayer-funded pension, health care and retirement as a former state worker himself. In 2001-2002, Rothwell was a state employee paid $262,000, more than his then-boss Gov. John Engler. In today’s money, Rothwell’s salary as a state worker would have been $318,000.