Author: Administrator

New blog from the Policy and Advocacy team

Since the economic crisis, people everywhere have been calling for a major review of the way banks function in the world today. In a big step towards a Robin Hood Tax, the IMF (International Monetary Fund) has made substantial progress in redressing the balance between banks and the rest of society by calling for major taxes on banks and hedge funds.

But as well as taking from the rich, Robin Hood also gave to the poor. The IMF tax should not just be about saving money in case banks mess up again, it must also deliver hundreds of billions of pounds to help millions of people hit by the economic crisis here and abroad, and to fight climate change. Only then will it become a true Robin Hood Tax.

The IMF proposal

The IMF is proposing two taxes on banks and financial institutions.

They want a flat levy on all financial institutions to help insure against a future bank crisis. And they want a tax on the profits and incomes of banks and other financial institutions such as hedge funds to help pay for the costs of the current crisis.

The IMF proposed tax is not a transaction tax, which is what the Robin Hood Tax campaign has been calling for (0.05% on all transactions), it is a tax on profits and incomes of banks and other financial institutions.

The IMF did analyse a transaction tax. They said it was practical and that many countries already have them. But they concluded it was not the best way to repay the costs of the crisis and that further investigation of it was beyond the remit of the mandate given to them by the G20.

Fighting poverty and climate change

The IMF tax is a major step towards a Robin Hood Tax, but it fails on two counts. It’s not ambitious enough and makes no commitment to helping the poor and fighting climate change.

The Robin Hood Tax campaign is about instigating a tax on banks that will raise billions every year to help both the poor and the planet. We believe that a tiny tax of 0.05% on all transactions is the best way to achieve this.

However, if the IMF tax on profits can also raise hundreds of billions and be linked to fighting poverty and climate change we would be hugely supportive of it.

What are the politicians saying?

The parties in the UK all want to tax the banks – but the taxes they are talking about would only raise around 7 billion pounds each year. This wouldn’t raise any where near enough to fight poverty and climate change.

All three parties need to show much more ambition. They need to take fighting poverty and climate change seriously. A tiny tax on the banks could raise hundreds of billions of pounds, making a huge difference where it’s really needed.

Give and take

The IMF did not dismiss a transaction tax – they said it was practical, but favoured another kind of tax on profits and bonuses.

If this proposed tax delivers hundreds of billions of dollars for the poor both at home in the UK and abroad then it becomes as much a Robin Hood Tax as a tax on transactions.

Robin Hood was a champion of the poor. Banking and finance is the most profitable industry in the world. Since the crisis, banks have bounced back and made hundreds of billions of dollars of profit and still paid out huge bonuses.

And that is the point of the Robin Hood Tax campaign. Banks can afford to pay an ambitious tax, and whether it is the IMF proposal or not, we must see hundreds of billions of dollars raised from the banks each year used to help those who need it most.

Our thoughts and prayers go to all the families who have lost loved ones during the events that happened at the mine in Montcoal, West Virginia. As legislators from districts whose history and way of life have involved coal mining for decades, we are heartbroken to hear of the tragedy.

Like every coal mining region in the United States, our small towns throughout the state contain memorials from the various tragedies that have occurred here in Illinois. Our districts also have memorials dedicated to the fight for mine safety and miners’ rights.

As legislators, we know of the constant work required to keep our mines in Illinois safe and secure for the brave men and women who day after day go into the mine shafts to help bring energy to all the residents of Illinois and the nation. While we must remain vigilant as leaders to protect our workers, now is the time to hope and pray for the families affected by this disaster.

Subsidiary of Spanish industrial group proposes 1 billion Australian dollar solar power project

A subsidiary of a leading Spanish industrial group is proposing an ambitious solar power project worth 1 billion Australian dollars ($916 million) that will emerge as one of the largest of its kind in the world.

Cobra Energy, a subsidiary of the Spanish ACS Group, will reportedly build a 250-megawatt solar energy plant, possibly in three sites. One of the three sites will be located near Mildura in Victoria while two sites are being planned in Queensland.

Though the proposed power plant will only have a sixth of the power a standard coal plant produces, it will be one of the biggest solar thermal plants in the world when it opens.

The company has reportedly initiated talks with the local governments of Victoria and Queensland to finalize the location based on suitability, program requirements and support from the relevant state government.

“None of the numbers we have proposed so far have worried the state people we have spoken to so far,” said Alan Atchison, Cobra Energy’s Australian chief.

Cobra Energy also plans to enlist the help of local construction company John Holland for the project.

Other Spanish giants such as Abengoa Solar and Acciona, as well as United States-based BrightSource Energy, might also get involved in the project.

Solar flagship

Cobra Energy has not detailed how the project would be financed, but it was reported that it would seek the help of the Australian government’s solar flagship program, a 1.5 billion Australian dollar effort for solar thermal and photovoltaic technologies.

The solar flagship program is part of the Australian government’s Clean Energy Initiative which aims to boost the country’s clean energy sources with the help of 4.5 billion Australian dollars to build about 1,000 MW of solar power generation capacity. The government included this program in its national budget announced in May 2009.

Cobra Energy (Pink Sheets:CBNG) said it will bring to Australia its own base load power generation technology that has been used in projects in Andalucia and Extremadura in Spain.

Base load power generation enables solar power plants to continue generating electricity seven and a half hours after the sun has set. This is possible by using excess energy stored in molten salts during the day.

“If we’re going to have real progress in reducing emissions in Australia and a reliable energy system, it’s based on base load capacity. For our solar flagships we’re actually going to test whether we can prove up base load reliable solar energy in Australia under the government program,” said Martin Ferguson, Australia’s minister of federal energy and resources, as quoted in the Australian.

Australia wants to derive 20 percent of its energy from renewable energy sources by 2020.

Australia’s solar flagship program aims to develop a combined 400 MW of power, half of which will come from solar thermal and half from photovoltaic energy sources. Solar thermal applications generate electricity by using energy to boil water whose steam drives a turbine.

The program aims to subsidize the costs of building large-scale solar plants and promote the use of energy generated from solar power plants in the country, which is currently led by the wind power industry.

Solar power generation is more expensive than wind power generation but many see great promise in Australia’s solar capacity because of the country’s abundant sunshine.

The day after Governor Quinn’s FY2011 proposed budget address to the joint session of the Illinois House and Senate – Senate President John Cullerton sat down with Illinois Chamber of Commerce Vice-President of Government Relations Todd Maisch to discuss the Governor’s proposed budget.

 

 

 

Senate President Cullerton invites you to visit the Illinois Senate’s new website, http://www.Illinoischeckbook.com, which provides the public the resources members of the Illinois Senate have at their disposal to review and consider the budget. This site includes current budget bills, reports from General Assembly and external groups analyzing aspects of our economy and fiscal situation, and historic data on revenues and spending. Information will be updated on the site as it becomes available.

Springfield,
Illinois — State Senator Tony Munoz (D-Chicago) is sponsoring a resolution to recognize the Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System (ILEAS) as a consortium of local governments, whose interest is the protection of the citizens of

Illinois in times of crisis.

Springfield,
Illinois – Illinois State Senator Martin A. Sandoval (D-Chicago) spoke at a press conference yesterday in

Springfield promoting women’s heart health.  “Go Red for Women” Day provides an opportunity to give women an urgent wake-up call about the risks of heart disease.

“A recent study by the American Heart Association found that specifically minority women were less informed about the symptoms and causes of heart disease,” said Senator Sandoval, Co-Chairman of the Latino Caucus.  “This is a disease that effects our mothers, sisters and wives and we need to make sure we provide more information about stopping heart disease before it effects our daughters.”

While heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women in the

United States, women account for approximately 53 percent of the total heart disease deaths according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In fact, almost one in three women will die of heart disease. The latest statistics show more than 13,000 women in

Illinois died from heart disease in 2006.

SPRINGFIELD, IL- Leaders Cross and Radogno introduced HJRCA 56 and SJRCA 104 in their respective chambers today with claims the legislation will lead to a fair map for all Illinoisans. Redistricting Chair Kwame Raoul released the following statement today concerning the Republican’s redistricting reform proposal:

Focus on Grades 1 through 4 Date: February 23 or March 9, 2010 Location: Pennsylvania Department of Education Honors Suite, 1st Floor 333 Market Street, 8th Floor, Harrisburg, PA 17126 Registration 7:30-8:00 Starting/End Times: 8:00 AM — 4:00 PM BOTH WORKSHOPS ARE FILLED  PLEASE CHECK BACK OVER THE SUMMER FOR A FALL WORKSHOP

A new professional development workshop for teachers of grades 1^st through 4^th is being offered through the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Office of Environment and Ecology.  The workshop will cover living and nonliving systems (habitat, simple ecosystems, soil, etc.) adaptation, change over time, and real vs. make-believe.  The workshop will connect non-fiction reading books, manipulatives, integration techniques, and hands-on inquiry based activities written for this program to address the environment and ecology standards and the Science, Technology and Environment and Ecology Assessment Anchors.  Teachers will receive up to thirty non-fiction and 10 fiction reading books, puppets, two reading mats representing either the forest, pond or farm, a newly developed standards-based unit with lesson plans and activities.  Participants will also receive the newly developed national early childhood activity guides for Project Learning Tree and Project Wild. In total each teacher will take back to his/her classroom over $600 worth of materials for their students.

PLEASE NOTE: WORKSHOPS ARE LIMITED TO TEACHERS, GRADES FIRST THROUGH FOURTH, IN IU15.