America’s Fastest-Growing Union Launches Global Campaign to Close Tax Loopholes for the Ultra-Wealthy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 4, 2008
1:33 PM
CONTACT: SEIU
Renee Asher 202-255-4251
asherr@seiu.org

America’s Fastest-Growing Union Launches Global Campaign to Close Tax Loopholes for the Ultra-Wealthy,

Puts McCain’s Links to Buyout Billionaires Front and Center

Comedian Lewis Black kicks off campaign with viral video

More than 10 million people targeted to organize in 25 countries

SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO - June 4 - As the worsening economy takes center stage throughout the world, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), joined by MoveOn.org and activists from 25 countries, launched a global campaign directed at world leaders and legislators to protest the special treatment and tax loopholes lavished on private equity firms such as industry powerhouse Kohlberg, Kravis and Roberts (KKR), whose risky debt-laden deals have contributed to the credit crunch and helped throw the economy into free fall.

Today, more than 10 million people worldwide will be asked to attend a demonstration in one of 100 cities and 25 countries July 17, and to sign a petition directed at legislators worldwide that says in part, “Support the fight to take back the economy and pledge to close tax loopholes that feed the greed of the buyout industry.”

Activists have already committed to staging actions in 100 cities in North America, Europe, Asia, and South America, including: Tokyo, Paris, New York City, Mexico City, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Houston, Dallas, Seattle, Kansas City, Mo., St. Louis, Menlo Park and Sacramento, Calif., San Diego, Orange County and Fresno/Bakersfield, Calif., Providence, R.I., Arlington/Reston, Va., Minneapolis- St. Paul, Salem, Portland, and Eugene, Ore., Albany and Syracuse, N.Y., Newark/Trenton, N.J., Buffalo, N.Y., Baltimore, Annapolis, Md., Tacoma, Olympia and Spokane, Wash., Chicago, Springfield, Ill., Indianapolis, Youngstown, Ohio, Orlando and Tampa, Fla., Harrisburg, Pa., Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New Haven, Stamford, and Hartford, Conn., Madison, Wis., Columbus, Ohio, Cincinnati, Toledo, Ohio, and Cleveland.

In the United States, voters will be asked to send a letter to John McCain about his ties to Kohlberg, Kravis and Roberts founder Henry Kravis. John McCain has said he does not support closing tax loopholes for hedge fund managers and buyout industry executives. Henry Kravis is a major fund-raiser for John McCain.

In addition to Henry Kravis, the McCain campaign has brought on two former lobbyists for KKR. Ken Mehlman, the former white house aide, and Akin Gump lobbyists who lobbied against closing the carried interest tax loophole, has been brought on the campaign as an unpaid adviser. Brian Ballard, a Florida lobbyist who lobbied on behalf of crisis plagued KKR Financial, is a national finance co-chair of the campaign.

Kravis made $51,000 an hour in 2006 by buying and flipping companies, often at the expense of taxpayers or workers who lose their jobs. Yet, despite his vast income, he can pay a lower tax rate on much of his huge investment profit than nurses and teachers pay on salaries of $50,000 per year. KKR spent more than two million dollars last year on lobbying, including lobbying to defeat legislation that would have closed a lucrative tax loophole for hedge fund managers and buyout kings such as Kravis.

Comedian Lewis Black kicked off the campaign with a short video, featuring original music by Radio 4, that takes on Henry Kravis and the special treatment and tax breaks that have helped to make him one of the richest people in the world while the income gap continues to grow. The video can be viewed at www.july17action.org.

The video focuses on Henry Kravis, founder of one of the biggest buyout firms in the world, and a major fund-raiser for John McCain’s presidential campaign. Kravis made hundreds of millions of dollars in 2006—which breaks down to about $51,000 an hour, every hour of every day—buying and flipping companies, often at the expense of taxpayers or workers who lose their jobs. Despite his vast income, he can pay a lower tax rate on much of his huge investment profit than nurses, and teachers have to pay on $50,000 a year. KKR spent more than a million dollars last year on lobbying, including lobbying to defeat legislation that would have closed a lucrative tax loophole for hedge fund managers and buyout kings such as Kravis.

The global economy has suffered recently as wages for most workers have either dropped or stagnated despite the soaring cost of food and gas. In the United States, years of free market economic policy have created the largest disparity in wealth since the gilded age.

“The responsibility to create a healthy world economy is shared by all,” said Andrew L. Stern, president of SEIU, “and that means companies like KKR have a responsibility that extends beyond making a few people rich.”

With 2 million members in Canada, the United States and Puerto Rico, SEIU is the fastest-growing union in the Americas. Focused on uniting workers in healthcare, public services and property services, SEIU members are winning better wages, healthcare, and more secure jobs for our communities, while uniting their strength with their counterparts around the world to help ensure that workers, not just corporations and CEOs, benefit from today's global economy.

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