When Yanko Matias and Eluvia Lopez were threatened with foreclosure, they knew they needed to take action in a big way. That’s why, along with the organization New Bottom Line, they started a MoveOn Petition asking the U.S. Senate to end the months-long battle to confirm Representative Mel Watt as the new head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
In 2010, progressive champions in the Senate, including Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon, fought to pass the Volcker Rule firewall, which restricts high-risk trading by big banks. The firewall, which is meant to protect taxpayers if Wall Street’s bad bets blow up, was met with opposition from big bank lobbyists. That’s why Sen. Merkley started a MoveOn Petition telling Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to keep the so-called “JPMorgan Loophole,” which would blow holes in the firewall, out of the law.
The ingredients that go into cosmetics and personal care products aren’t regulated by the federal government—so it’s up to stores to protect their consumers from toxic chemicals in these products. That’s why Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner of MomsRising.org started a MoveOn Petition telling retail giant Target to ban poisonous chemicals from the store’s beauty and personal care aisles, expand their selection of safer products, and increase transparency about their progress in addressing safe cosmetics.
This year, the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act and dozens of U.S. states got busy introducing restrictive voting bills that would prevent poor, minority, and elderly voters from making it to the polls. Meanwhile, Massachusetts legislators were working to pass an election modernization bill that would allow online voter registration and early voting. That’s why Sara Brady of the organization MassVOTE started several MoveOn Petitions asking members of the Massachusetts General Court to stand up for the state’s voters and pass the bill.
When the Board of Education in Union, New Jersey, threatened to end the township’s highly successful Fall Academy program for local students, area resident Jeff Monge started a MoveOn Petition asking them to reinstate the Fall Academy.
The New York Times‘ tendency to report on budget numbers without contextualizing them was a problem—especially in light of the recent federal budget crisis. That’s why MoveOn member (and former staffer) Daniel Mintz and Robert Naiman of Just Foreign Policy started MoveOn Petitions to Times Public Editor Margaret Sullivan, asking her to institute a policy of always reporting budget numbers with percentages or comparisons.
In the midst of budget cuts to education in Philadelphia, schools were forced to lay off or cut hours for staff like teachers and school nurses. In October 2013, a student at one Philadelphia school suffered from an asthma attack that led to her death. If there had been a school nurse on campus that day, she might still be alive. This tragedy motivated Philadelphia parent Jesse Bacon to start a MoveOn Petition to Governor Tom Corbett, asking him to stop withholding $45 million of funding from Philadelphia schools.
Big news: Yesterday a deal finally emerged that would end the government shutdown and stop the U.S. from hitting the debt ceiling. This is a victory that MoveOn members helped create.
When news hit that Larry Summers, famed for helping to craft the policies that caused the recession, was the front-runner for chair of the Federal Reserve, Robert Naiman of the organization Just Foreign Policy, The Other 98%, and MoveOn member Aaron Camp created MoveOn Petitions telling President Obama to leave Summers out of the running.
We’re asking you to. Someone you know (maybe even you) will use this to change things. You have to make sure they see it. WATCH: