In The News
Our view: Payday loan restrictions build support for interest rate caps
The Des Moines Register has asked Iowa CCI Action E.D. Hugh Espey to be a "featured writer" on their new A Better Iowa opinions page.
In this, his second piece, he calls on the Iowa legislature to follow the lead of five Iowa cities and enact an interest rate cap on predatory payday loans.
What’s at stake in the budget showdown
The outcomes of this year’s congressional and presidential elections are going to be critical in determining our nation’s future.
But - so will the two months that follow the Nov. 5 elections.
Latham’s check for millionaires
Last month, Representatives Latham and King joined nearly all Congressional Republicans in holding hostage a tax break for 98% of Americans - just so the richest 2% could pocket $160,000 more each year.
To demonstrate Latham's vote for the wealthy and big corporations, we'll be taking him a big 'ol giant check!
LTE: Trickle down economics hasn’t worked for 32 years
CCI Action member Julia Rendon lays out a very simple economics lesson - massive handouts to millionaires and big corporations doesn't create jobs and Put People First.
Read her letter to the editor in the Des Moines Register here.
LTE: Why I came to the fair to make a loud statement against Ryan’s plan
On Aug. 13, Rep. Paul Ryan came to the Iowa State Fair to make his first campaign speech since being selected as the Republican vice presidential candidate. He came with a lot of baggage. For months he has promoted a war on the middle class, the poor and our kids.
Ryan has several snake oil “cures” for the ills of our country. They include getting rid of Social Security. Instead, people could give their savings (if they have any) to the ethical bankers on Wall Street who would happily take it and “invest” it for you. If you get old and have no retirement money, try a shelter....
What in the world is “Taxmageddon”?
Congress and the Administration face a choice at the end of 2012 - what to do about "Taxmageddon"? Their action, or inaction, will have major implications for what our future economy will look like.
Learn more about it and what we can do to shift the debate at a series of workshops across central and west central Iowa.
Create jobs by raising minimum wage, report finds
More than 300,000 Iowa workers would get an average $560/year pay raise if a bill proposed by Iowa Senator Tom Harkin to raise the minimum wage to $9.60 over three years were passed into law, according to a new report by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a Washington D.C.-based think tank. Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement Action Fund (CCI Action) members call on President Barack Obama and his presidential contender Mitt Romney to prove they are serious about job creation and support the proposal on the campaign trail this fall.
read moreRyan’s policies aren’t “Iowa nice”
Salon.com publishes op-ed by CCI Action Fund Member Cherie Mortice, a retired public school teacher from Des Moines and an Iowa CCI Action Fund leader.
In it she explains why her and two dozen other CCI Action Fund members confronted the new GOP vice-presidential candidate at the Iowa State Fair this week.
Three questions to ask at the State Fair soapbox
The Iowa State Fair is here - and so returns the Des Moines Register's Soap Box. They've released the tentative schedule and all Iowa Congressional delegates and their challengers are slated to appear.
Be there to push them on issues you care about. Here are two questions to ask:
Members challenge Paul Ryan at State Fair soapbox
Today at the Iowa State Fair, where Mitt Romney famously uttered "Corporations are people, my friend," last year under fire from CCI members, CCI Action Fund members challenged Romney's running mate Paul Ryan at a candidate soapbox.
Ryan, in his first solo appearance as vice-presidential candidate, was confronted with a series of tough questions about his plans to balance the federal budget on the backs of middle and lower class Americans - questions he chose to ignore rather than address.
