Take Action | The Nation

As John Nichols writes, the June 5 Wisconsin recall elections are nothing less than a "grassroots rebellion against the determination of Governor Scott Walker and his legislative lieutenants to destroy unions, slash public sector wages and benefits, cut education funding and tear open the social safety net."

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If Walker and his allies are removed from office, the results will be seen across the country as a rejection of the idea that cutting taxes for the rich while attacking unions and slashing services will somehow spur job growth. That's why The Nation is endorsing Tom Barrett for Governor of Wisconsin. A candidate whom Russell Feingold hails as “a lifelong progressive [who] stood with me in voting against the deregulation that led to the Wall Street crash, opposing the Patriot Act and reforming our system of campaign finance,” Barrett is well-known for getting people to work together, keeping lines of communication open and uniting disparate interests. Support and join Barrett's campaign today. 

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This Washington Post report details a tiny group of undecided Wisconsin voters who are now the center of extraordinary focus in a fiercely fought campaign that has become a national battle over worker rights.

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In this video, Rachel Maddow calls the Wisconsin recall the second most important election in 2012.

A weekly guide to meaningful action, this blog connects readers with resources to channel the outrage so many feel after reading about abuses of power and privilege. Far from a comprehensive digest of all worthy groups working on behalf of the social good, Take Action seeks to shine a bright light on one concrete step that Nation readers can take each week. To broaden the conversation, we’ll publish a weekly follow-up post detailing the response and featuring additional campaigns and initiatives that we hope readers will check out. Toward that end, please use the comments field to give us ideas. With your help we can make real change.

On April 21, David Barstow reported in the New York Times that Walmex, Walmart's largest foreign operation, had passed more than $24 million in bribes to politicians who could grease the wheels of its expansion in Mexico. After discovering the corruption, the retail giant's top mangement in the US moved to cover up the scandal. Barstow's expose, a triumph of investigative reporting, was well-timed for activists seeking to change the company as Liza Featherstone points out in The Nation. A call for resignations at the company is mounting , with the massive New York City Pension Funds, a Walmart shareholder, now on board.

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Among those leading the efforts to reform Walmart are company employees like Venanzi Luna, who created this petition calling for a change in leadership at America's largest retailer and a thorough and accountable investigation into Walmart's reported cover-up of bribery in its Mexico operations. Join her call and then share this post with family, Facebook friends, Twitter followers and your local media outfits. A new website—6degreesofwalmart.com—is also looking to change Walmart's behavior by targeting the company's political spending for right-wing causes, calling on the company to disclose its political spending and allowing citizens to directly challenge Walmart on political spending.

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Confronted with evidence of widespread corruption in Mexico, top Walmart executives focused more on damage control than on rooting out wrongdoing, this investigation by The New York Times found.

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In this video Luna explains why she's devoted so much time to working from within the company to improve her status as well as those of her Walmart colleagues.

A weekly guide to meaningful action, this blog connects readers with resources to channel the outrage so many feel after reading about abuses of power and privilege. Far from a comprehensive digest of all worthy groups working on behalf of the social good, Take Action seeks to shine a bright light on one concrete step that Nation readers can take each week. To broaden the conversation, we'll publish a weekly follow-up post detailing the response and featuring additional campaigns and initiatives that we hope readers will check out. Toward that end, please use the comments field to give us ideas. With your help we can make real change.

Storify courtesy of Media for the 99%, powered by The Media Consortium.

As The Nation notes this week, after successfully pressuring ALEC to pull back its involvement in social issues, liberal groups are launching the next iteration of their fight against the influential conservative legislative outfit. The good government group Common Cause is alleging that ALEC is running what amounts to a tax scam for some of America's largest and most well-known companies. In a whistleblower complaint filed with the IRS, Common Cause charges that ALEC's lobbying for "model" legislation is designed to boost the profits of its corporate members and is thus a violation of its tax-exempt status.

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Common Cause's tax filing focuses on ALEC's undermining of basic democratic practices: ALEC practices stealth advocacy; it writes bills for legislators, refines that legislation through task forces where its business members wield veto power, then quietly shepherds the finished "model" bills to passage. Their mission accomplished, ALEC’s business members reward the group with massive contributions – nearly $400 million from 2000-10, according to Common Cause. Help Common Cause expand its work on ALEC and contact the IRS on your own using this form which the Service set up for the public to register suspicions of organizations not complying with the tax laws. After you've weighed in, share this post with family, Facebook friends, Twitter followers and your local media outfits.

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This report from Accounting Today explains the legal basis for Common Cause's complaint to the IRS.

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This episode of The Young Turks shows how extensive and influential ALEC's lobbying has been.

A weekly guide to meaningful action, this blog connects readers with resources to channel the outrage so many feel after reading about abuses of power and privilege. Far from a comprehensive digest of all worthy groups working on behalf of the social good, Take Action seeks to shine a bright light on one concrete step that Nation readers can take each week. To broaden the conversation, we'll publish a weekly follow-up post detailing the response and featuring additional campaigns and initiatives that we hope readers will check out. Toward that end, please use the comments field to give us ideas. With your help we can make real change.