SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
"Union-busting, pollution, and bankruptcy aren't side effects of the private equity model: They are the model," said one campaigner backing the bill. "It's a smash-and-grab, plain and simple."
Less than a month away from the U.S. general election, over a dozen congressional Democrats on Thursday renewed their fight to "fundamentally reform the private equity industry" with a bill that Rep. Mark Pocan said "will finally hold these predatory firms accountable and protect workers from being plundered by corporate greed."
"It's long past time for billionaires and big corporations to stop gambling with hardworking Americans' and their communities' assets in service of corporate greed," declared Pocan (D-Wis.), who is leading the Stop Wall Street Looting Act with Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
"In Wisconsin, we've seen what happens when private equity firms like Sun Capital raid companies for their wealth and leave workers and communities to pick up the pieces," he noted. "When Sun Capital took over Shopko—a Wisconsin-based retail chain that had stood strong for more than 50 years—they drained it dry, buried it in debt, pushed it into bankruptcy, and abandoned roughly 14,000 workers."
"Private equity takeovers are legal looting that make a handful of Wall Street executives very rich while costing thousands of people their jobs, putting valuable companies out of Âbusiness, and in the case of healthcare, is literally a matter of life and death."
Warren's state is also dealing with fallout from the industry. As The Boston Globe reported Thursday, the legislation is "designed to rein in the growing power of private equity firms and limit the sort of leveraged buyout deals that led to the crisis at Steward Health Care, whose bankruptcy continues to roil communities in Massachusetts and seven other states."
The bill "was reintroduced in part as a response to the unfolding crisis at Steward, which before its bankruptcy was the nation's largest private for-profit hospital system," the newspaper noted. It follows the Senate's unanimous approval of a resolution to hold CEO Dr. Ralph de la Torre in criminal contempt of Congress for his refusal to comply with a subpoena to testify before a committee. Shortly after the vote—the first of its kind since 1971—he resigned.
"Private equity takeovers are legal looting that make a handful of Wall Street executives very rich while costing thousands of people their jobs, putting valuable companies out of Âbusiness, and in the case of healthcare, is literally a matter of life and death," Warren, a former bankruptcy law professor, said Thursday. "Our bill is designed to close loopholes and end incentives for private equity pillaging—and it will make sure what happened at Steward never happens again."
As a fact sheet from the sponsors details, the bill would make private equity firms responsible for liabilities including debt, legal judgments, and pension-related obligations; limit how much money they can extract from companies; close a loophole they have used to conceal assets from bankruptcy courts; implement various protections for workers and customers; increase transparency; impose guardrails for receiving public funds; and drive real estate investment trusts out of healthcare.
"From healthcare to housing, millions of Americans are seeing private equity take over companies with the promise of improving services, only to strip them for parts and hurt both workers and working families," said Jayapal. "It's time for Congress to take action to protect Americans from the dangers of private equity and corporate greed, and that's exactly what our Stop Wall Street Looting Act will do."
The legislation is backed by Reps. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Rick Larsen (D-Wash.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), and Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), along with Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), and Ed Markey (D-Mass.).
The bill is also endorsed by dozens of groups including the American Federation of Teachers, Americans for Financial Reform, Economic Policy Institute, Indivisible, National Employment Law Project, National Nurses United, Public Citizen, Service Employees International Union, Student Borrower Protection Center, Take on Wall Street, United for Respect, and Working Families Party.
"Union-busting, pollution, and bankruptcy aren't side effects of the private equity model: They are the model," said Porter McConnell of Take on Wall Street. "It's a smash-and-grab, plain and simple. That's why we are so pleased to see comprehensive legislation like the Stop Wall Street Looting Act introduced in Congress today. We created the loopholes in the law that allowed the private equity industry to thrive, and we can end them."
United for Respect co-executive directors Bianca Agustin and Terrysa Guerra stressed that "Wall Street private equity firms have proven themselves to be a parasite on workers, our economy, and American retailers by gutting companies for profit and driving mass layoffs. Holding billionaire profiteers accountable for the damage they do to our working families and communities is imperative to addressing growing economic inequality."
"The Stop Wall Street Looting Act will help close loopholes in our laws that for too long have allowed private equity to pillage companies and amass huge profits while workers lose their jobs and are left with nothing," they added. "United for Respect is proud to support this bill—and we need all legislators to join us in protecting workers and putting Wall Street on the hook for the havoc they reap."
While the bill is unlikely to go anywhere in the currently divided Congress, it's a clear statement from the sponsors where they stand, as early voting gets underway to determine the future of the Senate and House of Representatives as well as the next occupant of the White House—Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris or former Republican President Donald Trump.
"This egregious price-gouging hampers evacuations and undermines recovery efforts, while putting vulnerable residents in serious jeopardy."
The head of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and a group of Florida representatives said late Tuesday that the federal government must do more to crack down on airlines, hotels, and other companies taking advantage of emergency conditions brought by Hurricanes Helene and Milton to jack up prices and pad their bottom lines.
"Instead of making it easier for people to evacuate, airlines and hotels are exploiting a horrific situation to charge astronomical fares only the rich can afford—from over $600 for a single night in a Hampton Inn to over $1,000 for flights that usually cost around $100," Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), the chair of the CPC, said in a joint statement with Reps. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.), Darren Soto (D-Fla.), and Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.).
"Exploiting vulnerable people fleeing a deadly storm for higher profits is a new low," said the CPC members as Hurricane Milton barreled toward Florida as a monstrous Category 5 storm, fueled by record-high ocean temperatures made far more likely by the climate crisis. The hurricane is expected to make landfall in the Tampa area on Wednesday night.
The federal lawmakers' statement came amid a flood of price-gouging reports from Florida residents seeking to escape Milton's path. A spokesperson for Florida's attorney general said earlier this week that the office had received hundreds of complaints about price gouging, particularly for fuel and water.
"There were also scattered instances involving overnight accommodations, including one Airbnb listing of a 'room in Tallahassee' for nearly $6,000 a night," The Tallahassee Democrat reported Tuesday. The outlet noted that "during a storm-related state of emergency, state law prohibits price gouging for equipment, food, gasoline, hotel rooms, ice, lumber, and water needed as a direct result of the event."
The Biden Transportation Department, meanwhile, said it has "been in touch with airlines to get more information about the capacity and affordability of flights in the affected areas" amid reports of sky-high ticket prices. President Joe Biden said Tuesday that he is "calling on the airlines and other companies to provide as much service as possible to accommodate evacuations and not to engage in price gouging, to just do it on the level."
The Associated Press reported that "by midafternoon Tuesday on the East Coast, airlines had canceled more than 700 U.S. flights, compared with fewer than 200 cancellations on Monday and fewer than 100 each of the two previous days, according to the FlightAware tracking service."
Major airlines, including Delta and United, said they capped fares under the emergency circumstances, but people seeking last-minute tickets reported dramatically elevated prices. One woman trying to buy a one-way ticket to New York said prices more than tripled "in a matter of seconds" as she examined her options.
"There were prices even as high as $1,000 for one leg. So wrong! So wrong!" the woman told The Associated Press.
In their statement Tuesday, Jayapal and the Florida lawmakers noted that "in North Carolina and Georgia, while families try to recover and rebuild from the devastating impacts of Helene, there have been hundreds of similar incidents of bad actors price gouging residents on everything from groceries to gas to hotel rooms."
"This egregious price gouging hampers evacuations and undermines recovery efforts, while putting vulnerable residents in serious jeopardy," they said.
While welcoming the Transportation Department's efforts to monitor and prevent airline price gouging, the progressive lawmakers said that "we will need a whole-of-government focus" in the coming days and weeks "on protecting the people impacted by these disasters from predatory price gouging."
"Further action is still needed from the federal government to stop the corporate exploitation that impacts all areas of American life, whether at the grocery store or gas station," the lawmakers said. "We need a federal ban on price gouging, more stringent antitrust laws and enforcement, and for Congress to reassert its role and governing power in this space—something CPC is deeply committed to and actively engaged in."
"The use of the death penalty in the United States is one of the ugliest stains on our broken criminal justice system," said Congresswoman Barbara Lee.
Amid a wave of executions in Republican-led states—including Tuesday's lethal injection of Marcellus Williams in Missouri—progressive U.S. lawmakers and groups renewed calls to "abolish the death penalty."
Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), and Cori Bush (D-Mo.) were among those who took to social media to demand an end to capital punishment following Williams' execution.
"The use of the death penalty in the United States is one of the ugliest stains on our broken criminal justice system," said Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.). "It is disproportionately imposed against poor people and people of color. We must abolish it once and for all."
Williams, 55, was killed by the state of Missouri via lethal injection—a method known for botched executions—despite serious doubts about his guilt. The office that prosecuted him sought to have his murder conviction overturned and members of the victim's family pleaded for clemency.
"Sometimes injustice is so glaring that it leaves us struggling to comprehend how such events could happen in the first place," Bush said in a statement released after Williams' execution.
The congresswoman continued:
The deadly decision to execute Williams came despite urgent pleas from Missourians and people all across the country... who called for clemency. Gov. Mike Parson didn't just ignore these pleas and end Williams' life, he demonstrated how the death penalty is wielded without regard for innocence, compassion, equity, or humanity. He showed us how the standard of "beyond a reasonable doubt" can be applied selectively, depending on who stands accused and who stands in power.
"The state of Missouri and our nation's legal system failed Marcellus Williams, and as long as we uphold the death penalty, we continue to perpetuate this depravity—where an innocent person can be killed in the name of justice," Bush stressed. "We have a moral imperative to abolish this racist and inhumane practice, and to work towards building a just legal system that values humanity and compassion over criminalization and violence."
"Rest in power, Marcellus Williams," she added.
Williams wasn't the only one executed on Tuesday. Travis Mullis—a 38-year-old autistic man who murdered his infant son—was killed by lethal injection in Texas after waiving his right to appeal.
Last week, South Carolina executed Freddie Owens by lethal injection after Republican state Attorney General Alan Wilson brushed off a key prosecution witness' bombshell claim that the convicted man did not commit the murder for which his life was taken.
Although the number of U.S. executions has been steadily decreasing from 85 in 2000 to 24 last year, there is currently a surge in state killings, with five more people set to be put to death in three states by October 17.
On Thursday, Alabama is scheduled to kill Alan Eugene Miller using nitrogen gas, despite the inmate suffering severe mental illness. Miller was meant to be put to death in 2022; however, prison staff could not find a vein in which to inject the lethal cocktail and his execution was postponed.
That same day, Emmanuel Antonio Littlejohn is set to be executed by lethal injection in Oklahoma, even after the state's Pardon and Parole Board voted to recommend clemency.
According to a 2014 study, over 4% of people on U.S. death rows did not commit the crime for which they were condemned. The Death Penalty Information Center found that since 1973, at least 200 people who were wrongly convicted and sentenced to death in the U.S. have been exonerated.
"The only way to eliminate the possibility of executing an innocent person is to do away with the death penalty altogether," the advocacy group Human Rights First said Wednesday.