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INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN TO RESTORE GLASS-STEAGALL
A Review of LaRouchePAC’s Week of Action
13 May 2013
The following article was written by Leandra Bernstein, Writer/Editor at LaRouchePAC.com, as a report on the Week of Action for a European audience. Throughout the week of May 7th, LaRouchePAC engaged in an intensive week of action, deploying into all layers of government to amplify the pressure on Congress to reinstate the Glass-Steagall Act immediately. In Washington DC approximately 80 activists from states along the east coast attended over 50 meetings with congressional offices, with about a quarter of those meetings attended by the senator or representative himself or herself. Beyond these prearranged constituent meetings, LaRouchePAC organizers delivered the most up-to-date materials to numerous offices, introduced constituents to members of Congress in the hallways and on the sidewalks, and—semper paratus—gave the fortuitous briefing to congressmen in the elevator, or in the cafeteria over lunch. Augmenting the activities inside, a team of LaRouchePAC organizers stood at the intersection of the House and Senate office buildings displaying a beautiful banner with the color-coded U.S. map, with 40 of the 50 states in a shade of blue indicating the level of state action on Glass-Steagall. The banner read: “National Week of Action to Restore Glass-Steagall. Pass HR 129.” It attracted staffers, congressmen, and visitors from out of town all asking, “What is happening in my home state?” Though many activists had come to DC for the first time, they were hardly impressed with the “beltway talk”; they came to Washington not to make friends, but to make history. One reported challenge was communicating the urgency of enacting Glass-Steagall now. On more than one occasion, an aide told activists that the congressman was holding back his support for Glass-Steagall because he wanted to wait for Dodd-Frank to take effect, or the Volcker Rule, or Brown-Vitter. A union organizer from New Jersey, responded by saying, “That is exactly the kind of **** we are tired of hearing,” reminding the aide that were it not for the unions, the senator would not have been reelected. He further explained how 75% of his union’s membership are unemployed because of what the senator is not doing. Many meetings were a wake-up call, reminding Congress of the conditions of life back in their districts, where Glass-Steagall is not a legislative choice, but a matter of life and death. While the state support for Glass-Steagall (resolutions in 18 states) is seizing the attention of members of congress, the impact of the appeals pouring in from across the globe is having an almost unspeakable effect. Throughout the week LaRouchePAC hand-delivered packages of over 13 appeals from ranking figures in Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Ireland, Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, Colombia, and Mexico—with more letters still coming. Describing the reaction to this international support for Glass-Steagall, one LaRouchePAC organizer said, “In every office their eyes got wide, and their faces just froze.” The current mission to reinstate Glass-Steagall in the U.S. was perhaps best represented at the Massachusetts statehouse in Boston, where LaRouchePAC organizers hoisted a banner referencing the famous words of John Winthrop: “The eyes of the world are upon us, Glass-Steagall or chaos.” LaRouchePAC is asking representatives at every level of government, and all men and women of courage to take responsibility for the nation by fighting to reinstate Glass-Steagall. Success in this fight will be a victory for both the United States and every other nation that follows suit in this policy. This is a shared battle for a shared victory. |