Posts Tagged ‘congress’

Internet privacy gets Congress’ attention | MinnPost

“The real crisis is on Main Street: It all comes down to how credit card companies have treated consumers far too poorly for far too long. ” Credit madness | Star Tribune

Consumer Product Safety Bill Passes Congress | Consumer Law & Policy

“President enacts controversial measure that aims to help borrowers, bolster the housing market and provide a fail-safe for Fannie and Freddie.” Bush signs housing rescue law | CNN Money

Larry Lessig, who seeks to Change Congress by pulling out the special interest money that has eroded the public trust to a measly 9%.

“By the time the Senate returns next Monday from its July 4 recess, some 55,000 more homes will have entered foreclosure. And that’s hardly the full picture of the growing calamity. More than three million homeowners are currently at risk of default and millions more are expected to join them in the coming year as [...]

Press release from Americans for Fairness in Lending. Full release after the jump (it is not yet up on AFFIL’s website, so I cannot link to it).

I have a backlog of cool articles in my starred items folder in Google Reader. Here they are:

Good news from a debt-collection industry source: Collectors Face New Law in Colorado, and NY Considers Debtor’s Bill of Rights | Collection News
Countrywide CEO Gave Below Market Rate Loans To Senators From A Special “VIP Desk” | Consumerist
Subprime [...]

According to an Associated Press-AOL Health poll, over half of those with debt (i.e., everybody) reported some physical effects of debt-related stress, from muscle tension to migraines, all the way to ulcers and heart attacks.
That’s it, Congress, the credit crisis is now a national economic and health problem.
That’s it, consumers, pay off the debts and [...]

81% of Americans polled in a recent study commissioned by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce disapproved of mandatory binding arbitration. This is the corporation-friendly, tie-your-hands arbitration that is written into most of the consumer contracts we sign every day for credit cards, cell phones, etc.
So maybe it is time for Congress to get going and [...]

Last week, Ben Popken at Consumerist suggested that the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act in 1999 by a Republican Congress was a gift to Wall Street that encouraged banks to issue the sketchy mortgages that, failing spectacularly across the country, have dragged the economy into the toilet.

Congress finally allowed consumers to speak out on credit card industry abuses. Alpha Consumer’s Kimberly Palmer was there, and Consumerist has a good summary of the hearing. Now is a good time to write your senators and representative to ask them to support the bill.