|
BLOCKING CRYPTO’S WISHLIST
|
Last year, the House passed the CLARITY Act, a bill that is a catastrophe for consumers and financial stability and a boon for crypto oligarchs, including the Trump family. But, with your help, we are fighting back and having an impact. Now, despite the industry’s overwhelming money and pressure, crypto legislation has stalled in the Senate and the chance of passage narrows by the day. This is due in no small part to our advocacy and partner engagement.
In recent months, we organized a growing coalition of groups to speak up about the risks of passing legislation written by the crypto industry that is designed to enrich them while enabling fraud, endangering families’ economic security, and threatening financial stability, and we raised the alarm about the Trump’s administration’s corrupt crypto ventures.
To learn more about crypto corruption and the Trump administration crypto grift, check out our recent press conference opposing the CLARITY Act, featuring Senators Chris Murphy, Jeff Merkley, and Chris Van Hollen, Co-Executive Directors from AFR and Indivisible, and actor/director Ben McKenzie. You can also check out our recent polling that shows most voters are concerned about crypto’s influence on our political system, our virtual town hall from March, and our interview with Ben McKenzie about his crypto documentary, Everyone is Lying to You for Money.
|
|
PROTECTING YOUR RETIREMENT FROM MUSK
|
Ahead of SpaceX becoming public on June 12, we sounded the alarm on the risks it posed to people’s retirement security. SpaceX went public at a sky-high valuation even though it lost over $4 billion in the first quarter of 2026, and it was set to be fast-tracked into the index funds that make up a large majority of everyday retirement savings.
Alongside the AFL-CIO and Ranking Member Maxine Waters, we fought back and made a difference! The S&P announced it would NOT change the rules for SpaceX, as it had been on track to do (and as others did). The millions of working people whose retirement savings are in funds that track the S&P 500 won’t be automatically exposed to losses in the likely event that SpaceX’s share price continues to fall. Natalia Renta, AFR Associate Director of Corporate Governance and Power, testified in the House on this and related issues, and also talked about next steps government and pension funds need to take to address the problem more fully.
|
|
FIGHTING PRIVATE EQUITY’S NEXT ROUND OF LOOTING
|
In March, the Department of Labor proposed a dangerous rule that threatens workers’ retirement savings by giving the private equity industry access to 401ks. This move wouldn’t just add more risk and complexity to working people’s retirement plans, but it would also represent a tremendous transfer of wealth from workers saving for retirement to Wall Street firms.
The proposal is essentially about using families’ savings to bail out private equity firms, which are struggling to unload underperforming investments. As we documented last year, despite industry claims, PE returns to investors have been in decline for the past 20 years, and a paper we put out this summer showed that retirement plans not invested in alternatives like PE performed better than those that were. We mobilized partners to oppose this rule, spread the word about the dangers of putting workers’ retirement savings at additional risk, and laid the groundwork for reversing this policy in the future.
|
Private equity has a long track record of slashing jobs and salaries, weakening worker protections, stripping assets of their value, and leaving communities with fewer choices for healthcare, housing, and more. Childcare is increasingly a favorite target. In fact, eight of the ten largest childcare companies are now owned by private equity.
The good news is that state and local leaders, organizations, and communities can take action to limit these takeovers. In partnership with National Women’s Law Center, Community Change, and Open Markets, we released a playbook on how to engage in those fights and build an equitable, affordable, and high-quality childcare system.
|
|
Congressional Voting Record
|
We released a new report and searchable database of every vote lawmakers made in the current Congress on financial regulation and Wall Street accountability. These bills erode consumer financial protections, empower Wall Street risk-taking and extraction, enable cryptocurrency corruption, and fund tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy while slashing vital safety net programs.
|
|
Climate Change and Insurance
|
Watch our explainer video on how climate change along with insurance hikes and withdrawals are exacerbating the housing affordability crisis, or take a look at our webinar on how to stop insurance companies from generating record profits while homeowners struggle to pay ever-increasing insurance bills. You can also read about why we should ban the use of credit scores in property insurance.
|
|
CFPB Abandons Mandate to Protect People From Discrimination in Credit Markets
|
We condemned the CFPB’s decision to eliminate key anti-discrimination protections. The decision is a step back for fairness and a direct assault on civil rights protections for women, people of color, older individuals, and other marginalized communities.
|
With partners in North Carolina, we released a report documenting troubling patterns of racial disparities in lending at Wells Fargo. Our data suggests that the bank disadvantages Black, Latine, and Asian families, while focusing on upper-income white communities. Borrowers of color in North Carolina are underrepresented compared to their white counterparts, are denied mortgages at a higher rate, and, when they are approved, are charged higher interest rates.
|
We are able to carry out this important work because of support from committed partners like you. We are grateful for any amount you are able to contribute.
|
|
