6 N A T I O N A L N U R S E W W W . N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G A P R I L | M AY 2 0 1 5
NEWS BRIEFS
NATIONAL
I
n March, National Nurses United RNs
applauded the reintroduction by Rep.
Keith Ellison of the Robin Hood Tax,
H.R. 1464, which would raise about
$300 billion to fight poverty and fund press-
ing social needs such as expanding Medicare
to all, creating jobs, and fighting climate
change by levying a 0.5 percent tax on Wall
Street financial transactions. On April 8,
nurses in 25 cities around the country
commemorated the anniversary of Dr.
Martin Luther King's death by holding vigils
on a national day of action to call on their
Congressional representatives to cosponsor
and support the Robin Hood Tax.
"Today is an opportunity to continue Dr.
King's mission," said Millie Borland, an RN at
Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in
Oakland, Calif. "And for members of Congress
to declare their allegiance to the struggle for
economic justice. We are saying, 'Enough!'"
Economists estimate that a tiny
surcharge of no more than a nickel on every
$10 in trades of stocks, bond, and deriva-
tives—a tax that is proportionally smaller
than what most Americans pay for a pair of
shoes—could increase revenues by hundreds
of billions of dollars every year.
That revenue, in turn, can be redirected
from wealthy investors with surplus income to
poor and working-class Americans who don't
have nearly enough. Guaranteeing healthcare
for all, eradicating AIDS, providing student
debt relief, funding jobs at living wages,
making infrastructure repairs, and fighting
climate change are among the programs that
could be funded by this Robin Hood Tax.
RNs press Congress
for Robin Hood Tax
National day of action after bill reintroduction
RNs in 25 cities
lobbied their legis-
lators to support
the Robin Hood
Tax. From top left
clockwise across
all pages: Maine,
Michigan, New
York, Florida, Ohio,
Massachusetts,
Minnesota, Texas.
