A new ad from AFSCME, SEIU and the NEA, this one It's a Wonderful Life-themed, pins House Speaker John Boehner as the bad guy in fiscal curb negotiations. The ad, backed by a six-figure buy, will run in the districts of Republican Reps. Rick Crawford of Arkansas, Mike Coffman of Colorado, John Fleming of Louisiana, Erik Paulsen of Minnesota, and Scott Rigell of Virginia, as well as on national cable.

"What will happen if House Speaker John Boehner gets his way on the budget?

Welcome to Boehnerville, where the rich won't pay their fair share; our children's educations will be cut; Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security will be put at risk; and the economic recovery would falter.

Call your member of Congress and tell them to stand up for middle-class families. Because in America, everyone deserves a wonderful life."

The ad launched yesterday and will run through the weekend.

And while your making those calls, don't forget to tell President Obama to take Social Security cuts off the table, in current and in future negotiations.

H/T Laura Clawson

Video streaming by Ustream

Update: 7:45pm EST: Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has reportedly signed the controversial bill banning mandatory union membership Tuesday night. As anger escalated among the estimated 10,000 protesters in Lansing, police donning riot gear arrived with pepper spray, which was used on at least one activist. Police also arrested two demonstrators, and surrounded the Romney State Office Building.

A few photos, and I'll have much more later...

Civil disobedience inside the Capitol rotunda earlier Tuesday.

"Owned by Dick DeVos"

Update 9:20am:

Michigan Avenue, now...

Update 9am EST:

Snyder, GOP leaders to unveil right-to-work legislation plans at 11 am.

Inside the Capitol...

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An amazing crowd in Lansing right now, as the march to the State Capitol building is about to begin! I'm sure there are thousands, but I sure couldn't make a guess from here in the heart of it all beyond that. So many people from outside Michigan here to stand with us in solidarity -- it's truly touching -- thank-you all! A few notes before I'm off:

For anyone wishing to donate pizza to everyone protesting at the Michigan Capitol building, please contact Cottage Inn Pizza at (517) 267-9000 and they will see to it that your order is donated to the hungry, winter warriors.

Email from Progress Michigan (517-999-3646):

"We’re opening our office as a pit stop during the rally tomorrow. If you’re in town, join us at 115 W. Allegan, Floor 7 (above the Biggby), to get warm, grab some hot cocoa, recharge your phone, log onto free WI-FI, and make a quick bathroom break."

Details on the day's events here.

Will update either here on via Twitter @DianeSweet whenever possible.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced today in a press release that it has recently moved its primary banking relationship to Amalgamated Bank, America's Labor Bank. The DNC will use Amalgamated Bank's cash management services to handle its day-to-day banking needs.

Amalgamated Bank was founded in 1923 by the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America so that workers, labor unions, and progressive organizations would be able to bank with an institution that represented their interests. Today, Amalgamated Bank's largest shareholder is Workers United, an SEIU affiliate.

In announcing the new alliance with Amalgamated, DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz said, "We are proud to join forces with Amalgamated Bank, an organization with a 90-year legacy of reflecting the values of our nation's middle class. Amalgamated and the Democratic Party share a common heritage of advocating for positive changes in our economy and society to help working men and women achieve their fair share of the American dream. Furthermore, at the DNC, we have a fiduciary responsibility to those who invest in our party; it is critical that we honor their efforts to strengthen our infrastructure and build our organization by partnering with an institution that shares our commitment to standing with America's working families and small businesses, who we believe are the backbone of our country."

A disabled woman whose home is in foreclosure was arrested Thursday night after attempting to deliver a payment at the home of a Wells Fargo executive while about 100 protesters supported her on the residential street. Ana Casas, who says she is close to eviction after the bank rejected a loan modification on her South Gate home, defied a city ordinance by going up to the front door and demanding to see Wells Fargo Chief Financial Officer Tim Sloan.

Via:

Police also allowed Ana Casas Wilson, who suffers from cerebral palsy and uses a motorized wheel chair, to wait 15 minutes at Sloan’s door with a mortgage payment on her foreclosed home. Casas Wilson, who has lived on the property for 27 years, said Wells Fargo has been unwilling to negotiate a loan modification although she is once again able to make payments after falling behind during a hospital stay.

About a dozen San Marino officers were joined at the scene by a handful of Pasadena police, while dozens of officers from Pasadena, South Pasadena, San Gabriel and Alhambra — many in crowd-control gear — waited on surrounding blocks.

Just before 8 p.m., about 90 minutes into the demonstration, police formed a line around the home, declared the assembly illegal and ordered the group to move 75 feet up the street.

Casas Wilson refused to go and was taken to San Marino police headquarters with the assistance of San Marino Fire Department paramedics.

“I’m doing this because people need to see what the banks are doing. It’s awful. It has to stop,” Casas Wilson told the Pasadena Sun. “When I was down and out in the hospital they took my house.”

In the video above from SGV News, the newscaster asks Ms. Wilson if she had anything she wanted to say to Wells Fargo, and she replied "They're going to burn in hell."

Not a good PR day for the bank.

The Tax Dodgers celebrated yet another record-breaking season at the headquarters of their sponsors, GE, Verizon, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America. The team was joined by their hula-hooping cheerleading squad, The Loopholes, and together, they will be personally thanking everyday New Yorkers for paying their taxes for them.

Members of the 99% gathered early in the morning in the five boroughs on Tuesday for planned Tax Day activities and protests. They spoke with people throughout the day as they dropped off their taxes in the mail about how they paid less taxes than corporations, and members of the 1% like Mitt Romney. They passed out information sheets about tax dodgers and talked to people as they walked by or into the post office.

Continue reading »

Occupy DC and several labor groups have plans for the Conservative Politial Action Conference (CPAC) that kicked off on Thursday:

Via:

Occupy DC calls the conference speakers “a who’s who of dastardly politicians” in an announcement posted Tuesday on its website. The announcement describes a “mission” organized by Occupy DC members along with the labor groups AFL-CIO, SEIU, National Nurses United, Metro Labor Council and OurDC to “Occupy CPAC” by creating “as much non-violent resistance as possible, and [making] this a conference the attendees will never forget.”

According to the announcement, the group is organizing protests to take place at noon and 5 p.m., which will coincide with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s speech. The group also plans a march from Malcolm X Park to the conference location, at the Marriot Wardman Park Hotel in Northwest Washington.

“CPAC will parade and attempt to perpetuate the radical right wing’s imperialist ideologies with keynote speakers, movies and banquets dedicated to pursuing its racist, sexist, patriarchal and exploitative agenda,” the announcement reads. According to the protest organizers, the conference aims to “glorify the role of money in politics.”

In a poster also available on the website, the group casts the high-profile speakers scheduled for the CPAC conference as “The Shady Bunch,” in a riff on the 1970s TV show “The Brady Bunch.”