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Minnesota activists deliver letter to Wells Fargo

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Uploaded by on Oct 11, 2011

90 South Seventh Street,
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Dear Mr. Kvamme,

We are writing to ask you to engage in a dialog about our shared future. Given recent events across the country, you are certainly aware that a huge number of Minnesotans and Americans have run out of patience with an economy that
delivers untold riches to the very richest, while undercutting the aspirations for a dignified and full and meaningful life to too many.

As leaders and spokespeople for an array of Minnesota's community, faith and labor organizations, we respectfully ask for a meeting with you or one of your senior executives—your national or Minnesota CEO, or another senior executive from Minnesota—to discuss a set of proposals to restore a measure of hope and fairness to our economy:

Pay your fair share. Stop draining our schools, hospitals and public services of revenue. Banks and financial institutions like yours have an obligation to pay your fair share to the society that allows you to prosper. We ask that you neither use nor advocate for off shore tax shelters or other loopholes that reduce your tax rate. The time is now for financial leaders to publicly indicate their willingness to contribute your fair share, too, so that programs like Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and crucial public services do not suffer further cuts. The time is now also to withhold political contributions from politicians and organizations that advocate these cuts.

Fix the foreclosure crisis. Despite many allegations of unscrupulous lending and unfair foreclosure practices such as "robo-signing," the major banks aren't doing enough to help homeowners get back on their feet. We call on major banks to: reduced principal for homeowners on the brink to current market value, engage in face to face mediationwith homeowners before foreclosure, and adopt other nationally-recognized best practices to end the foreclosure crisis.

Practice fair lending. An outsized share of high cost loans have gone to communities of color. These samecommunities now need access to mortgages and small business loans on fair terms. Help create jobs in Minnesota by
investing in small businesses, rather than sitting on huge cash reserves.

We need jobs, not cuts. We ask that you use your considerable political clout to advocate for policies that would rebuild our public infrastructure and provide jobs to chronically underemployed communities, including young people, African Americans and Latinos.

Stand by all your customers—including immigrant communities. Major banks should stop contributing to anti-immigrant politicians that tear apart immigrant families and also not invest in firms that lobby for and build private prisons

We ask for your reply to our invitation to a dialog this week—and look forward to hearing from you. You maycontact us collectively through Donna Cassutt, spokesperson for Minnesotans for a Fair Economy, at 612-859-2054,
dcassutt@mnfaireconomy.org.

Sincerely,

Donna Cassutt, Minnesotans for a Fair Economy
Steve Fletcher, Executive Director, Neighborhoods Organizing for Change
Doran Schrantz, Executive Director, ISAIAH
Julie Schnell, President, HealthCare Minnesota
Greg Nammacher, Secretary-Treasurer SEIU Local 26
Vernonica Mednez, Organizer, CTUL (Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en Lucha)

706 N. First Street, No. 110 - Minneapolis, MN 55401 • 877-823-3893 • info@mnfaireconomy.org

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