MORNING MESSAGE
It’s (Loan) Shark Week: Families are Biting Back!
The most dangerous predators aren’t on TV or at beaches – they're in Washington, D.C., where financial-industry sharks are in a feeding frenzy, menacing families with their support of the CHOICE Act in Congress. But this year, families are biting back!
It’s Shark Week, but the most dangerous predators this year aren’t on TV or at the beaches – they are in Washington D.C., where they are menacing families with the help of their chums in Congress.
From payday loan sharks to Wall Street bottom-feeders, financial predators of all shapes and sizes are descending on our capital to take a bite out of financial protections.
Over the past six months, we’ve seen these sharks swarm in a feeding frenzy on our rights. GOP-backed Trumpcare wants to destroy Medicare and Medicaid, and take health care away from millions of Americans.
The Trump administration’s proposed budget slashes funds for public housing, food assistance and protecting the environment.
Newly appointed Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is refusing to to forgive loans to students defrauded by for-profit colleges, while seeking to funnel millions of dollars into for-profit charter schools.
On issue after issue, the GOP, the president and his team prioritize corporate tax breaks and tax cuts for the wealthiest one percent.
Sharks Attack the CFPB
In their latest attack on everyday people, Trump’s corporate sharks have set their sights on our financial system’s lifeguard: the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
After Wall Street speculation nearly sank our economy in 2008, Congress created the CFPB to stand up for consumers and give them a voice – and some equal footing – in dealing with banks and lenders.
The CFPB is a lifeguard for families making financial decisions. The CFPB is there when a shark gets us in their jaws through trickery or fraud – coming to the rescue and a chance for justice.
It was the CFPB that uncovered Wells Fargo’s massive effort to defraud consumers by opening fake accounts. Since it began, the CFPB has returned $11.8 billion to more than 29 million consumers defrauded by big banks and financial companies.
The CFPB rescues shark-attack victims; they issue rules that protect consumers from unfair and deceptive practices. Rules created by the bureau have prevented foreclosures, reduced racial discrimination in auto lending and stopped abusive debt collection practices.
Last year, the CFPB began working on a rule to rein in the worst abuses of the payday loan sharks, an industry that traps more than 12 million Americans in a cycle of debt and desperation every year and strips billions of dollars from local communities. People’s Action members submitted more than 100,000 comments in support of a strong rule to the CFPB.
Last week, the CFPB issued a rule that would stop banks and credit card companies from forcing consumers into arbitration, a process rigged in favor of the big banks. Just hours after the CFPB issued its arbitration rule to ensure that consumers who are wronged can go to court to get justice, top Senate Republicans announced an effort to kill the rule.
Whose CHOICE?
In May, Texas Representative Jeb Hensarling, chair of the House Financial Services Committee, introduced the CHOICE Act, a Wall Street dream-come-true. The CHOICE Act would eliminate the CFPB’s ability to examine banks, credit reporting agencies, debt collectors and lenders to ensure they are following the law.
CHOICE would stop the CFPB’s rule on payday lending before it’s even issued. It would repeal the requirement that investment advisers act in the best interest of their clients, and allow banks to charge more for debit cards.
The same sharks that caused a worldwide financial crisis are circling again. They are determined to dismantle as many regulations and protections as they can.
They think they can take the lifeguard off the beach and go back to soaking working families. Consumer advocates, faith leaders and everyday people are standing up and pushing back.We are demanding that our government stand up for families and our financial future.
We are putting the Wall Street sharks on notice: This Shark Week, we are biting back.
Dems Pitch ‘A Better Deal’
Democrats launch economic agenda ahead of 2018 campaign. Politico:“Democratic leaders in the House and Senate will unveil a broad economic agenda Monday, hoping to unite the disparate wings of their caucuses and win back working-class voters who fled the party last year. The party’s messaging strategy is the culmination of months of internal meetings and polling after a disappointing 2016 election that left Democrats reeling and many complaining they had no message to offer the public other than being against President Donald Trump.”
Democrats say their economic agenda is ‘A Better Deal.’ WaPo:“Completely sapped of power in Washington, top leaders of the Democratic Party now believe that the best way to fight a president who penned ‘The Art of the Deal’ is with an economic agenda that they plan to call ‘A Better Deal.’… it is expected to focus on new proposals to fund job-training programs, renegotiate trade deals and address soaring prescription-drug costs, as well as other issues. It is also expected to endorse long-held Democratic principles, including “a living wage” of $15 per hour and already unveiled spending plans for infrastructure that would expand broadband Internet access into rural counties.”
Health Impasse
Senate healthcare bill appears headed for failure. The Hill:“Senate Republicans plan to vote this week on revised healthcare reform legislation, but a number of serious problems mean that the chances of getting that bill passed are slim to none. The latest wallop of bad news for Republicans came Friday when the Senate parliamentarian announced that key provisions of the revised bill would not pass muster under the special budgetary rules that Republicans are using to pass the legislation with a simple majority instead of 60 votes.”
Connecting McCain’s tragic diagnosis to Trumpcare ‘Is the Goddamn Point’. Common Dreams:“‘The personal hell that John McCain and his loved ones are walking through right now is the point of it all,” (Jon Pavlovitz) wrote Thursday in a blog post that started to go viral over the weekend… While acknowledging that McCain is one of the nation’s most recognizable political names and someone who holds a powerful position, Pavlovitz explains why his privilege and status exposes the inequality and shortcomings of a healthcare system that works for the haves, but not for the have nots.”
Universal health care would save $17 trillion. DailyKOS:“Health care costs in the United States are estimated to grow at an average annual rate of 5.6 percent from 2016 to 2025… If we apply this growth rate over 10 years, and add up the costs, our current healthcare system will cost $49 trillion. $49 trillion (current system) — $32 trillion (single payer) = $17 trillion in savings. Over a 10-year period, universal health care or a single-payer system would save $17 trillion. Yes, you read that right … universal health care would cost $17 trillion less over 10 years. A universal health care system would save us $1.7 trillion a year.”
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