Posts tagged as:

politics

48 hours left to save 1.7 million homes and $300 billion

April 28, 2009

The word from AFFIL’s Partners in Washington is that the Senate will vote on Thursday on judicial loan modifications. Lifting the ban on these court-supervised modifications would save 1.7 million homes and $300 billion in home equity for neighbors of families facing foreclosure. (For background info on judicial loan mods, see this previous post by [...]

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Congress thinks a 391% APR is a-okay

April 9, 2009

Last week, the House Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit held a hearing on H.R. 1214, the Payday Loan Reform Act. AFFIL and our Partners are calling this the “Payday Lender Protection Act.” It’s the first bill that AFFIL has ever officially opposed (PDF link). Unfortunately, the bill enjoys a lot of support and [...]

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America needs a consumer czar

January 16, 2009

Lots of consumer groups, bloggers, and tradmedia commentators are calling for the Obama administration to reinstate the White House Office of Consumer Affairs, a long-dead consumer advocate division of the executive branch.
Obama needs to do this. Consumers need someone in government looking out for their best interests, someone who can cry foul to the President [...]

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House passes bailout

October 3, 2008

It’s official. Both houses of Congress have now passed what must surely be one of the most pork-laden bills in U.S. history: the Wall Street welfare bill of 2008. Or the bailout, whichever you like. House passes bailout | CNN

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Bailout package: How the Minnesota delegation voted

September 29, 2008

This may be the first time in history that I agree with Michele Bachmann over Keith Ellison. Bailout package: How the Minnesota delegation voted | City Pages Blotter

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Consumers: We’re Mad As Hell And We’re Not Going To Charge It Anymore!

August 28, 2008

Consumers: We’re Mad As Hell And We’re Not Going To Charge It Anymore! | Consumerist

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Ohio Payday Lenders Caught Lying in Ballot Initiative Signature Drive

August 13, 2008

Ohio Payday Lenders Caught Lying in Ballot Initiative Signature Drive | Consumer Law & Policy

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Consumer Product Safety Bill Passes Congress

August 4, 2008

Consumer Product Safety Bill Passes Congress | Consumer Law & Policy

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Obama would ease bankruptcy for military, seniors, disaster victims; says McCain backs bankers

July 9, 2008

Obama would ease bankruptcy for military, seniors, disaster victims; says McCain backs bankers | StarTribune

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Special interests vs. you

July 2, 2008

At Public Citizen’s Watchdog Blog, Graham Steele & David Arkush point out the problematic tendency of the press to treat issues of civil justice as clashes of special interests. Insurance companies vs. trial lawyers. Doctors vs. trial lawyers. Debt collectors vs. trial lawyers.
Always somebody vs. trial lawyers. Not “insurance companies vs. patients” or “debt collectors [...]

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Consumer debt an issue for some of state’s congressional delegation, too

July 1, 2008

It’s not just Barack: Consumer debt an issue for some of state’s congressional delegation, too | MinnPost

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Angry Consumers Flood Federal Reserve Board with Complaints

July 1, 2008

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).

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Quick thoughts – superstars Barack Obama and Elizabeth Warren collide, plus new Democratic hypocrisy

June 13, 2008

Alright, maybe Elizabeth Warren isn’t a superstar to everyone. But she is the unequivocal rock star of the consumer movement. So it is totally appropriate that she’s now palling around with the most rockin’ politician since JFK. She appeared with Senator Obama Wednesday in Chicago to discuss credit cards, and I can only imagine the [...]

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Different crowd, same message

May 28, 2008

I recently had the privilege of attending a small conference at UMass/Amherst in honor of progressive financial guru Jane D’Arista. Details about the conference (The Political Economy of Monetary Policy and Financial Regulation) and about its sponsor, the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI), are available here.
Jane worked for a dozen years as a key [...]

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Is the consumer movement a “horseless headman?”

April 30, 2008

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Update: U.S. Senator Norm Coleman on the Financial Crimes Task Force

April 9, 2008

Maybe Senator Coleman reads this blog, maybe not. In either case, I just received a reply to my e-mail. While the Minnesota Financial Crimes Task Force is obviously a state organization, I wanted to alert my federal legislators to the newly-created void in mortgage fraud enforcement in case they wanted to address it at a [...]

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Update: Minnesota Senator Linda Berglin on the Financial Crimes Task Force

April 9, 2008

When I write about an issue I tag “consumer activism,” I usually try to start the activism myself. So when I reported that Minnesota’s Financial Crimes Task Force is shutting down its mortgage fraud investigations, I went and fired off an e-mail to my state and federal representatives.
Usually when I do this, the response is [...]

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Minnesota gives mortgage fraudsters a free pass

March 26, 2008

In case you have been living in a box for the last 12 months, mortgage fraud is a big problem. It is very hard, sometimes impossible to help the defrauded consumers, since fraudsters tend to refuse to cooperate in civil lawsuits, and judges are reluctant to compel them to do so. Uncollectible default judgments are [...]

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The remaining presidential candidates on consumer issues

March 25, 2008

We saw that the 2008 presidential candidates seemed generally uninterested in consumer issues when we examined their voting records. However, the three remaining front-runners have been devoting some rhetoric to issues like credit cards and the subprime mortgage mess. The Red Tape Chronicles put together a summary of the candidates’ plans to address consumer issues.
McCain [...]

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Congress doesn’t care about consumers

March 17, 2008

Or if it does, it is doing a pretty good job of hiding it. Last Thursday the House Financial Services subcommittee was ready to hear testimony of, among notable others, actual consumers concerning the Credit Card Bill of Rights proposed by Representative Carolyn Maloney. Unfortunately, it seems the committee members’ hypocrisy goes only so far, [...]

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