“I tell you sure as I am sitting here, that if banking institutions are protected by the taxpayer and they are given free rein to speculate, I may not live long enough to see the crisis, but my soul is going to come back and haunt you [when it happens].”
Heather’s full post is about the link between unemployment and the need for financial reform, especially considering the current rate of unemployment in the country (9.7%) and the amount of money big bank CEOs have been awarding themselves in bonuses this year ($100 million at AIG alone).
The Senate is working on financial reform legislation and a parallel financial reform bill (HR 4173) passed the House late last year. That bill included a proposal to create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency, something consumer advocates and activists are fighting to have included in the Senate version. Click here to sign a petition asking your Senators to support the CFPA!
The same Wall Street CEOs who didn’t have the time to meet with President Obama in September made time today to meet with Congressional staffers who could help them in their billion dollar effort to derail financial reform, according to the Huffington Post.
We’ve long known that the big banks are using tons of money to lobby Congress in an attempt to prevent reform, even using bailout funds as they struggle to maintain the status quo. Now, they’re taking it straight to the legislative staffers who could be writing financial reform legislation, and “educating” these government employees about what they think needs to be done to fix the economy.
The article quotes one CEO as saying “…We want to support regulatory reform — the things that make sense.” But past events have shown that what “makes sense” to the banks includes continuing their current practices and refusing to modify mortgages, charging ridiculous ATM fees, and making it difficult for consumers to get out from under credit card debt. It appears to “make sense” for the banks to make all their decisions at the expense of consumers, but we think that the staffers would do better to learn their lessons from us, the American voters.
In the latest update from the “Move Your Money” campaign, we heard from Jamie Chase with the American Debt Relief Challenge. Her recent entry on the Huffington Post’s website focused on the amount of money that American consumers can save when they move their money out of the big banks and into credit unions.
The American Debt Relief Challenge helps credit unions and consumer work together to reduce their debt by making it easier for them to open credit union accounts and transfer their credit card debt into a more friendly loan with better rates. According to Jamie, some families who have made this switch save close to $200 a month in interest rates alone. That’s money that was going to fees, not helping them chip away at their principal. Overall, ADR Challenge has helped people save $20 million in potential interest fees by helping them move their money into more secure and more consumer friendly loans through local credit unions, and they’re still going strong.
For more information about the American Debt Relief Challenge, click here. For more information about the “Move Your Money” campaign, click here.
The internet is buzzing with financial reform news today. On one side (the pro-consumer side), there’s a New York Times op-ed from Paul Volker, former chairman of the Federal Reserve and current chairman of the president’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board. On the other side, there’s the anti-reform playbook put out by Frank Luntz and published on the Huffington Post today.
It’s important to look at both of these articles to see exactly how desperately reform is needed, and also to get an idea of what we consumer activists and advocates are up against.
Professor Elizabeth Warren was back on the Daily Show on Tuesday night to speak to host Jon Stewart about the dire need for financial reform in order to preserve the middle class and America’s financial security.
Warren, who has served as the TARP oversight chair since November 2008, said that real reform is being held up by the big banks, and if the decision is left to these CEOs, “Nothing, nothing will change. You know, I want to turn to these guys sometimes, and I want to say: what part of ‘we bailed you out’ do you not get? These are people who would not have their jobs because they would not have their companies.”
Heather Booth, Director of Americans for Financial Reform (our partner organization), has started blogging over at the Huffington Post. Her first post is about President Obama’s financial reform message in last night’s State of the Union address. She said:
“Last night…President Obama reinforced his ambitious agenda to fix the economy and enact financial reform, including measures to hold Big Banks accountable for their reckless actions that led to our financial crisis and the loss of millions of jobs:
[Pres. Obama:] The House has passed financial reform…And the lobbyists are already trying to kill it. Well, we cannot let them win this fight. And if the bill that ends up on my desk does not meet the test of real reform, I will send it back.”
Americans for Financial Reform has been working with Americans for Fairness in Lending and other consumer advocacy groups to build support for financial reform. As Heather says, “we can rein in the big banks and Wall Street – if we organize.” Become a part of the movement and write to your Senators today!
Remember October’s Showdown in Chicago? Thousands of concerned consumers rallied in Chicago at the site of the American Bankers Association convention to raise awareness for the need for better consumer protections from financial products.
Today, the Showdown continues in its new form as “the Showdown in America” and it could be coming to a city near you!
The latest Showdown event occurred today in Des Moines, Iowa. Local consumers rallied to ask their elected officials to stand up to the big banks, especially in the wake of the budget crisis in their state government and across the country. The Showdown organizers say that “these state budget deficits could be wiped out if the Big Banks ‘donated’ their packages (estimated to be about $140 billion) back to the states.”
If you want to get involved in the next Showdown event in your area, keep reading our blog and follow the latest actions of the Showdown in America.
Our friends at the Center for Responsible Lending have put together this short video full of alarming facts about the economic crisis and the need for financial reform.
What do you think is the most important number associated with this crisis? Leave a comment and let us know!
Americans for Fairness in Lending was recently quoted in this article from the Salt Lake Tribune regarding payday lending in Utah. The article focuses on HB 15, which would deal with some of the problems created by payday lending while ignoring the need to abolish these loans altogether.
The bill could potentially limit the number of times a loan could be rolled over and would allow borrowers to request payment plans, but does nothing to cap interest rates and permanently end the cycle of debt created by payday loans. Currently, 15 states and Washington D.C. have capped interest rates at 36% or less, and members of the military also have interest rates capped at this amount. In Utah, however, APRs can still reach 400 to 500 percent.
Recently, a financial industry lobbyist said that because Senator Dodd is retiring, he is now free to “dance with the special interests who brought him to the dance in the first place. Us, his loyal donors in the banking community.”
On the contrary, consumer advocates believe that Senator Dodd has a great opportunity to hold the bankers accountable now that he has no further need for their campaign contributions. He has a unique chance to cut his ties with the big bank lobbyists and show consumers that he has their best interests in mind.
Our friends at Public Citizen have put together a petition to make sure Dodd knows that consumers should be next on his dance card, and to tell him that we’re counting on him to cement his legacy as a consumer advocate by protecting Main Street – not dancing with Wall Street.
Heather Booth, from Americans for Financial Reform, has posted a new entry on the Huffington Post in which she wonders if the Senate is worried after this ghostly comment made by Paul Volker at a recent Banking Committee hearing:
The same Wall Street CEOs who didn’t have the time to meet with President Obama in September made time today to meet with Congressional staffers who could help them in their billion dollar effort to derail financial reform, according to 
In the latest update from the “Move Your Money” campaign, we heard from Jamie Chase with the American Debt Relief Challenge. 
The internet is buzzing with financial reform news today. On one side (the pro-consumer side), there’s a 
Heather Booth, Director of Americans for Financial Reform (our partner organization), has started blogging over at 
Remember 