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Pirg
Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs) are a federation of U.S. and Canadian non-profit organizations that employ grassroots organizing and direct advocacy on issues such as consumer protection, public health and transportation. The PIRGs are closely affiliated with the Fund for the Public Interest, which conducts fundraising and canvassing on their behalf. History The PIRGs emerged in the early 1970s on U.S. college campuses. The PIRG model was proposed in the book ''Action for a Change'' by Ralph Nader and Donald K. Ross (author), Donald Ross, in which they encourage students on campuses across a state to pool their resources to hire full-time professional lobbyists and researchers to lobby for the passage of legislation which addresses social topics of interest to students. Ross helped students across the country set up the first PIRG chapters, then became the director of the New York Public Interest Research Group in 1973. The Minnesota Public Interest Research Group, found ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New York Public Interest Research Group
The New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) is a New York statewide student-directed, non-partisan, not for profit political organization. It has existed since 1973. Its current executive director is Blair Horner and its founding director was Donald K. Ross. NYPIRG is directed by a student-run and student-elected Board of Directors. Any issue that NYPIRG works on, or stance it takes, must be approved by its student board of directors. Smitha Varghese, student of Queens College, is the current chairperson of NYPIRG's Board of Directors. NYPIRG is one of the largest of the Public Interest Research Groups, which were inspired by Ralph Nader in the 1970s, and operate at the state level. After leaving Columbia University, former President of the United States Barack Obama worked at NYPIRG at its City College Chapter. NYPIRG works on a variety of socioeconomic issues such as college affordability, consumer protection, sustainable energy, government accountability, hunge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minnesota Public Interest Research Group
The Minnesota Public Interest Research Group (also known as MPIRG) describes itself as "a grassroots, non-partisan, nonprofit, student-directed organization that empowers and trains students and engages the community to take collective action in the public interest throughout the state of Minnesota. History MPIRG was incorporated on February 17, 1971. Students at the University of Minnesota collected 25,200 signatures that year to start the first MPIRG chapter in Minnesota and start the first PIRG in the nation. College students collected more than 50,000 signatures in all to start chapters at college campuses across the state. The motivating idea was for students to join together in collective action to advocate in the public interest, and to use the activity fees they collected from each school to support a staff of professionals that could train them to become powerful advocates in the public policy arena. MPIRG's unique strategy to mobilize students has led to a long lis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fund For The Public Interest
The Fund for the Public Interest is a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization that runs the public fundraising and canvassing operations for politically liberal nonprofit organizations that advocate for issues such as environmental protection, consumer safeguards and public health in the United States. FFPI was set up in 1982 as the fundraising arm of the Public Interest Research Group (PIRGs). The Fund has faced lawsuits and complaints over its labor practices. Name The Fund for the Public Interest was established as the Fund for Public Interest Research. It changed its name to the Fund for the Public Interest in 2008, but it is generally referred to as "the Fund". Operations The Fund runs canvass offices, as well as other citizen engagement activities such as educating voters about issues, building the membership bases for grassroots groups, supporting grassroots advocacy (such as petition drives or letter-writing drives), and fundraising. Local directors hire canvassers to rais ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
MASSPIRG
Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group (MASSPIRG) is a non-profit organization that is one of the largest of the state PIRG organizations. It works on a variety of political activities, including textbook trading on college campuses. They also provide internships and work study jobs for students on Massachusetts college campuses. Along with the Massachusetts Service Alliance, MASSPIRG helped create Massachusetts Community Water Watch, an organization that works specifically on environmental political. Student funding of MASSPIRG has been criticized at several schools, where students wish to see MASSPIRG funding cut. History The Public Interest Research Groups emerged at the behest of Ralph Nader who, during a college speaking tour, called on students to form political groups. Criticism and rebuttal The book '' Activism, Inc: How the Outsourcing of Grassroots Campaigns Is Strangling Progressive Politics in America'' by Columbia University sociologist Dana Fisher, is based ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Macalester College
Macalester College () is a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Founded in 1874, Macalester is exclusively an undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 2,174 students in the fall of 2018 from 50 U.S. states, four U.S territories, the District of Columbia and 97 countries. The college has Scottish roots and emphasizes internationalism and multiculturalism. History Macalester College was founded by Rev. Dr. Edward Duffield Neill in 1874 with help from the Presbyterian Church in Minnesota. Neill had served as a chaplain in the Civil War and traveled to Minnesota Territory in 1849. He became connected politically and socially. He went on to found two local churches, was appointed the first Chancellor of the University of Minnesota, and became the state's first superintendent of public education. In leaving the University of Minnesota Board of Regents he desired to build a religious college affiliated with the Presbyterian Church that would also be open to ot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Action For A Change
''Action for a Change. A Student's Manual for Public Interest Organizing'' is a 1971 book written by consumer advocate Ralph Nader with Donald K. Ross, Brett English, and Joseph Highland. The book serves as a manual for college students establishing Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs), and chronicles the formation of PIRGs in Oregon and Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to .... References 1971 non-fiction books English-language books Books about politics of the United States Works by Ralph Nader Works about community organizing {{US-poli-book-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lobbying In The United States
Lobbying in the United States describes paid activity in which advocacy group, special interest groups hire well-connected professional advocates, often lawyers, to argue for specific legislation in decision-making bodies such as the United States Congress. It is a highly controversial phenomenon, often seen in a negative light by journalists and the American public, with some critics describing it as a legal form of bribery, influence peddling, and/or extortion.Robert Reich, June 9, 2015, Salon magazineRobert Reich: Lobbyists are snuffing our democracy, one legal bribe at a time Retrieved May 30, 2017, "...This second scandal is perfectly legal but it's a growing menace ... the financial rewards from lobbying have mushroomed, as big corporations and giant Wall Street banks have sunk fortunes into rigging the game to their advantage...."Mike Masnick, April 12, 2012, Tech DirtIs Lobbying Closer To Bribery... Or Extortion? Retrieved May 30, 2017, While lobbying is subject to extens ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Financial Crisis Of 2007–2008
Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of financial economics bridges the two). Finance activities take place in financial systems at various scopes, thus the field can be roughly divided into personal, corporate, and public finance. In a financial system, assets are bought, sold, or traded as financial instruments, such as currencies, loans, bonds, shares, stocks, options, futures, etc. Assets can also be banked, invested, and insured to maximize value and minimize loss. In practice, risks are always present in any financial action and entities. A broad range of subfields within finance exist due to its wide scope. Asset, money, risk and investment management aim to maximize value and minimize volatility. Financial analysis is viability, stability, and profitability a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Recession
The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At the time, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded that it was the most severe economic and financial meltdown since the Great Depression. One result was a serious disruption of normal international relations. The causes of the Great Recession include a combination of vulnerabilities that developed in the financial system, along with a series of triggering events that began with the bursting of the United States housing bubble in 2005–2012. When housing prices fell and homeowners began to abandon their mortgages, the value of mortgage-backed securities held by investment banks declined in 2007–2008, causing several to collapse or be bailed out in September 2008. This 2007–2008 phase was called the subprime mortgage crisis. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform And Consumer Protection Act
The Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, commonly referred to as Dodd–Frank, is a United States federal law that was enacted on July 21, 2010. The law overhauled financial regulation in the aftermath of the Great Recession, and it made changes affecting all federal financial regulatory agencies and almost every part of the nation's financial services industry. Responding to widespread calls for changes to the financial regulatory system, in June 2009, President Barack Obama introduced a proposal for a "sweeping overhaul of the United States financial regulatory system, a transformation on a scale not seen since the reforms that followed the Great Depression". Legislation based on his proposal was introduced in the United States House of Representatives by Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) and in the United States Senate by Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT). Most congressional support for Dodd–Frank came from members of the Democratic Party; three Senate Republic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Union Dues
Union dues are a regular payment of money made by members of unions. Dues are the cost of membership; they are used to fund the various activities which the union engages in. Nearly all unions require their members to pay dues. Variation Many union members pay union dues out of their wages, although some unions collect dues separately from the paycheck. Union dues may be used to support a wide variety of programs or activities, including paying the salaries and benefits of union leaders and staff; union governance; legal representation; legislative lobbying; political campaigns; pension, health, welfare and safety funds and the union strike fund. The expenditure of dues is then authorized either by the local union meeting or by the elected leaders of a union. Dues are different from fees and assessments. Fees are generally one-time-only payments made by the union member to the union to cover the administration of ongoing programs or activities. One example is the initiation f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Credit CARD Act Of 2009
The Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act of 2009 is a federal statute passed by the United States Congress and signed by U.S. President Barack Obama on May 22, 2009. It is a comprehensive credit card reform legislation that aims "to establish fair and transparent practices relating to the extension of credit under an open end consumer credit plan, and for other purposes." The bill was passed with bipartisan support by both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Introduction and votes The Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights was introduced in the 110th Congress as in the House of Representatives by Representative Carolyn Maloney, a Democrat from New York and the chair of the House Financial Services Committee's Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit. The bill had passed 312 to 112 but was never given a vote in the Senate. In the 111th United States Congress, the bill was reintroduced as and on April 30, 2009, the House pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
