US Uncut, Citizens Worldwide tell Corporate Tax Cheats to Pay Up Bank of America Protest

3/26/2011; 10:30am-12:30pm; A highly trafficked banking center, San Francisco, CA

Do you think the government should collect up to $100 Billion that they lose every year from wealthy corporations dodging taxes and funneling much of their profits into offshore tax havens, or should they demand that the poor and working-class accept cuts to services, benefits, health care and decent education to pay for Wall Street's corruption and crisis? If you want your voice to be heard, join us for the upcoming action on March 26th against one of the most infamous tax dodgers - Bank of America.

Details of Action:

Location: Meet at the 24th St. Bart Station - street level / SW corner of Mission and 24 st. intersection - at 10:30AM (After we meet as a group and discuss our action plan for the day, we'll then visit the nearby bank)

Who: All ages show - Bring friends, neighbors, grandparents, teachers, union workers, students, and all others who want to demand a halt to these cuts in the name of a fair and just society where the right to work, education and the health of citizens are valued over profits.

Plan of Action: BAIL-IN / Protest Part 1 - peacefully disrupt business as usual inside bank (this will most likely temporarily close bank like our past action; We will leave when authorities advise us, so as to avoid arrest. Nobody was arrested and protest went smoothly during our previous action); Part 2 - street theater actions; Part 3 - inform and rally the public. (instructions and materials for direct action inside bank and collaborative theater piece will be provided. Details of this will be shared at the meeting location before we head to the bank.

Feel free to participate in 1 or all parts of the action. This will be a 100% peaceful protest to raise awareness and stand united against corporate tax dodgers and corruption. We encourage everyone to get involved, tell a friend and spread the word! Let's show the world that the people of San Francisco, from all walks of life stand together!

Bring: US Uncut posters; leaflets about US Uncut objectives (some will be available, but please make more if you can; Visit: http://www.usuncut.org/actions/howto for images and messages to print)

If you have a specific message about how these cuts are affecting you, teachers, education, unions, benefits, etc., we encourage you to share that message. Tax avoidance is a national problem that affects almost everyone. Letting the public know how the affects are being felt locally can help more people feel directly connected to the issue.

Brief US Uncut history, issue and message: US Uncut, based on a similar movement in the UK, is only 5 weeks old, but our numbers (15,000 fans on facebook and over 50 chapters across the US) show that people are ready to be active. This is a horizontal/decentralized movement; everyone's voice matters and everyone can help get this message out to as many people as possible.

Nearly two-thirds of US corporations don't pay any income taxes, instead opting to abuse tax loopholes and offshore tax havens. According to this study from the non-partisan Government Accountability Office, 83 of the top 100 publicly traded corporations that operate in the US exploit corporate tax havens. Since 2009, America’s most profitable companies such as ExxonMobil, General Electric, Bank of America and Citigroup all paid a grand total of $0 in federal income taxes to Uncle Sam. Tax havens alone account for up to $1 trillion in tax revenue lost every decade, money that could be invested in K-12 education, colleges, public health, job creation and hundreds of other worthy public programs.

Federal, state and local governments are all telling the public that they must continue to pay for this "crisis." It is time to stand up and say we have paid enough, and we will no longer pay for a crisis caused by corporate criminals who are not paying their fair share. We pay taxes and so should they. We're tired of BoA stealing money from the people that need it the most! Let's not forget who started this mess in the first place - the banks! They should pay, not our teachers, police men, and firefighters!

Follow us on FB: http://www.facebook.com/USUncutSanFrancisco

In Solidarity, US Uncut San Francisco team
Contact details
usuncutsf [at] gmail.com


Bank of America is Bad for America. Despite ruining the economy with their reckless greed, Bank of America consistently avoids any form of accountability to the American taxpayer. Bank of America pockets billions in profits and bailouts here, but pays $0 in American taxes.

If Bank of America alone paid their fair share of taxes, we could ‘uncut’ $1.7 billion in early childhood education (Head Start & Title I).

VS.
Bank of America is the #1 largest bank and the 5th largest corporation in our country, holding over $2.2 trillion in assets, and yet it pays less in taxes than the average American household. In fact, the federal government gave Bank of America $2.3 billion in 2009 while it made $4.4 billion in profits.

We pay our taxes, why don't they?
Citizens across the country are targeting Bank of America branches and peaceably but firmly demonstrating that they can't get away with such egregious tax-cheating.

Here is a fact sheet with sources provided by US Uncut DC.
Here are some talking points (doc).
Here is a downloadable press release (doc) you can hand to the media.

Some signage for BofA actions

Some chants for BofA actions
■Bank of America, Bad for America!
■Hey, hey, B of A, how many taxes did you pay? ZERO!
■I pay, you pay, why doesn't B of A?!
■Hey, hey, B of A, how many taxes off-shored today?!
■Move your money, switch your bank!
■B of A don’t want to pay, what they owe the USA.
■come up with some more? add them here
(Bank of America will continue to be US Uncut's main focus for nonviolent, creative demonstrations to maximize the public's awareness about how this tax dodger has imperiled an entire nation with its greed. If you have a story you're willing to share about how Bank of America's reckless banking schemes have affected you and your family, please send them to usuncut [at] gmail.com.)

US Uncut usuncut [at] gmail.com