(Great work by True Majority and the local grassroots. – promoted by David Dayen)
Hey Calitics members,
I’m sure many of you have seen the recent spate of stories about KBR on the front page of the NYTimes a couple days ago and the always fantastic coverage over at TPM At TrueMajority.org we’ve been really focused on the contractor accountability side of the War in Iraq and tomorrow are working with Sacramento for Democracy and the Sacramento Coalition to End the War to highlight CalPERS investments in KBR at their monthly board meeting.
About a month ago, we kicked off this campaign with a simple petition calling on pension funds and retirement accounts to hold KBR accountable for fraud waste and abuse. You can still sign the petition at: http://www.TrueMajority.org/St…
CalPERS, the public pension and retirement system in California is one of the biggest investors in KBR, owning over $25,000,000 in shares, so our California members went to work making over 200 calls in one day calling on CalPERS to divest from KBR. The calls had a great response and we received a wonderful grassroots suggestion in one of the reports.
Armando from Kensington, CA reported on his call:
I called just now, 10:56 a.m., and spoke with a young woman named, Jackie, she did not wish to give her last name to me, which is okay, but I did ask her to convey my concern, as a retiree member of CalPERS, that I heard learned that the company had assets with KBR. I asked to speak with the president of the Board, Ron Feckner, but was informed he and board were not present, but would be available during their board meeting week, June 16-19, in Sacramento. I suggest you get folks to call during that time. I am deeply concerned as a longtime member of CalPERS that my retirmenet funds are being used to underwrite KBR or any company that makes me complicit in the conduct of the war in Iraq, more than I already am as a taxpayer. I intend to talk to individual members of the board, especially the Investment and Investment Policy subcommittee. Thanks for alerting me.
Tomorrow, together with Sacramento for Democracy and the Sacramento Coalition to End the War, we will hold a press conference at 9:30 a.m. and we deliver the petitions to CalPERS at that time. The CalPERS board convenes at 9 a.m. Thursday at the Robert F. Carlson Auditorium, 400 Q Street, in Sacramento.
If you're in the Sacramento area, please be sure to drop by our event tomorrow:
http://sacramentofordemocracy….
http://www.sacendwar.org/node/234
http://www.indybay.org/newsite…
And spread the word. Investing public retirement funds in companies that commit fraud and war profiteering is bad for the country and a bad investment decision. The time has come to divest.