In the USA, the hottest e-petitions include the following

1. Africa Needs Anti-Corruption Laws

Secret payments are allowing unscrupulous leaders to steal profits instead of fighting poverty!

· Target: European Leaders

· Sponsored by: ONE Campaign

Irresponsible multinational companies are lobbying hard against effective new European laws that would lift the lid on the trillions of dollars they pay to governments across Africa for their natural resources.

These secret payments allow unscrupulous leaders to pocket some of the profits instead of investing in vital services like schools, roads and health clinics that would benefit all citizens.
Take action today: Tell our leaders not to be swayed by corporate lobbying.

Europe needs strong laws that would help citizens spot corruption and ensure this money is used to lift millions of people out of poverty!

2. Support the "Buffett Rule"

President Obama believes millionaires shouldn't get more breaks than middle-class families.

· Target: President Obama

· Sponsored by: Obama for America

Middle-class families shouldn't have to pay a higher tax rate than millionaires and billionaires.

So President Obama has proposed the "Buffett Rule," which would require the wealthiest Americans to pay a tax rate at least as high as the middle class. Republicans are already calling this "class warfare," and they will fight this plan with everything they have.

But it's just common sense.

Take action today to tell the President you've got his back on this one.

Sometimes the body of a petition may be made up in the form of a letter of petition due to the rules of business correspondence, like

3. Stop Unfair Hiring Practices!

Petitioning: The U.S. Senate (+ 2 others)

Ban the use of Credit Report/Scores to determine employment.

Greetings,

I just signed the following petition addressed to: Members of Congress, House of Representitives, Department of Labor..

Ban the use of Credit Report/Scores to determine employment.
The three major credit agencies have used complicated mathmatical equations and "For Profit" methods to aid employers in screening-out citizens with less than perfect financial histories to label the unfortunate as "unreliable and untrustworthy." In reality, these scores are often riddled with flaws, are continuously unmonitored, and the sale of someone's personal financial history is simply unethical. An individual's private financial struggles does NOT and should NOT label that person as unworthy of consideration for a legitimate employment opprotunity. Most people who are looking for jobs are trying there hardest to repay their creditors, so why is it far to make it harder for someone to accomplish their goal based on a flawed numbers system? It should be illegal to deny employment to those based on race, religion, sex, CREDIT HISTORY, creed, etc.
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Sincerely,

[Your name]

Task 1. Study the local press or the Internet on the subject of business scandals or other issues of economic justice. Make up an e-petition on behalf of a customer to public bodies in Russian. Offer it to your fellow-student to translate it into English.

Task 2. Study the local press or the Internet on the subject of international business scandals or other issues of international economic justice. Make up an e-petition on behalf of a customer or a partner company to the International Economic Court in English. Offer it to your fellow-student to translate it into Russian.

Unit 6

National Economies