US Robin Hood Tax Campaign launches

Q. What do you get if you mix rallies in fifteen cities, Mark Ruffalo, green masks on statues, a lot of tweets and some headlines?

A. A fantastic launch to what we hope (know) is the start of the brilliant Robin Hood Tax movement in the US.

The day kicked off with some mischievous merry folk creeping around New York long before the sun was up to mask some of the city's best known statues. By the time daylight arrived, everyone from Ghandi to Andy Warhol was wearing one of Robin's green masks and hats.

The focus then shifted to Washington DC, where dozens of AIDS activists, Jobs with Justice, National People's Action, and National Nurses United members lined the hallways outside Jamie Dimon's congressional hearing. The Robin Hood welcome party proved to be too much for Dimon who was secreted into the hearing through a back door. The assembled merry folk talked to members of Congress and whisper-chanted about the Robin Hood Tax. 

When don't let them off that easy: from the from the House of Representatives it was straight onto a rally where people from Occupy our Homes, National Organization for Women, Jobs with Justice, National Nurses United, and Health GAP gathered outside JP Morgan Chase corporate HQ. They asked if someone from the lobbying office would come down and answer whether they thought they could afford to pay more taxes. In a not unsurprising turn of events they didn't take us up on the offer.

As lunchtime rolled across the country, a series of rallies happened outside Chase banks in fifteen cities across the US. Spirits were high but underneath the masks, hats and green tights there was a serious message: We want a tax on Wall Street transactions to make sure Wall Street starts paying its fair share.

Alongside all this inspiring action, the merry folk back in our virtual Sherwood were working hard to make sure the media was listening to the banks, not the people.

Highlights include a blog from movie star Mark Ruffalo on the Huffington Post homepage, hitting the business section of the New York Times, a great round-up in the Guardian and a wonderful opinion piece from the National Nurses United's Executive Director, Rose Ann DeMoro. Check out what all the papers were saying >>

Now we need your help:

Tell your friends, family and colleagues about the campaign. We don't have millions of dollars, but we can reach millions of people. Whether you tweet, Facebook, email - however you communicate, please start spreading the word.

Please share the campaign video starring Mark Ruffallo, Tom Morello, Chris Martin, economist Jeffrey Sachs and ordinary people. We want everyone to see it.