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Bank of America will pay $335 million to settle allegations of discrimination at Countrywide Financial Corp., the troubled lender it bought in 2008. Countrywide was the nation’s largest subprime lender and came to symbolize the real estate collapse that led to the nation’s economic meltdown. The Justice Department said Wednesday that the agreement is the largest fair lending settlement in the department’s history.

“If you were African-American or Hispanic and you went to Countrywide for a loan, and you were qualified, you likely paid more simply because of the color of your skin,” said Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez. People of color also were “far more likely to be steered into an expensive and risky subprime loan than a similarly-qualified white borrower.” Perez said more than 200,000 African-American and Hispanic victims are identified in the complaint and will receive compensation.

The abuses occurred between 2004 and 2007, the peak of the subprime borrowing craze.

When U.C. Berkeley student protesters refuse to leave the campus, the university resorts to having them forcibly removed by baton-wielding police.

According to The New York Times, last year General Electric (GE) made over $14.2 billion in profit, but paid NO federal tax. None. In fact, thanks to the millions GE spent lobbying Congress, we American taxpayers actually owed GE $3.2 billion in tax credits.

Now GE is slashing health benefits and retirement benefits for new employees among non-union workers and is expected to push unions to accept similar cutbacks, while its CEO, Jeff Immelt, gets a 100% pay raise.
What’s worse? Immelt now sits as chair of the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness (Jobs Council), representing corporate America to the President on matters like job creation and corporate taxation. That’s a slap in the face to every hardworking, tax-paying American—especially GE employees.

That’s why we’re teaming up with Russ Feingold and his new group Progressives United today to call for Immelt to go. Will you join the call?