PASTICHE:
a compelling compendium
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| MONTANA SPECIAL ELECTION |
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| REGULATION ROLLBACK |
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| INVESTMENT |
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| BANKING |
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| LABOR |
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| SCIENCE |
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MOVIES
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| BOOKS |
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| WORDS MATTER |
"Tens of millions more (the 'poor peasants' of Mao Zedong's and other Communists' analyses) owned farms that were too small to be fully viable economically. These peasants perforce 'overemployed' the labor of their family members on their farms, while to earn extra cash they hired out their own labor at the busiest moments of the farm year, even though that was when they were most needed on their own land. Still, many had to sell their children or watch them slowly starve. With the surplus of poverty-stricken labor available, few of the wealthier farmers went to the expense of mechanizing the farm work, even when machinery and fuel were available. Nor did they invest much in draft animals, since the wages paid to a hired laborer per day were the same as the cost of a day's fodder for a single donkey. The man could be laid off when the need for him was over, but the donkey had to be fed and sheltered for the whole year, even when it was not being used." -- from The Search for Modern China by Jonathan D. Spence
Here at Americans for Financial Reform, we work day in and day out to make sure the big banks don't always get the last word – with the press, with regulators, and with legislators. We try to shine a spotlight on key decisions facing the bank oversight agencies and lawmakers, so more people can see what they’re doing and hold them accountable. And we work to build a chorus for reform, to push policymakers in the legislative and executive branches to stand up to Wall Street and adopt and enforce tough new rules.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is arguably the financial industry’s most effective watchdog. It has returned nearly $12 billion to 27 million Americans defrauded by the financial services sector, including payday lenders, credit card companies, and mortgage brokers. So it’s not surprising opponents are trying every trick in the book to throw a monkey wrench into the CFPB’s successful work in protecting consumers from their fraud and abuse. The financial industry’s friends in Congress recently held a farcical hearing about the “constitutionality” of the office. But as Congressman Keith Ellison rightly pointed out, “It’s not about the Constitution. That’s a subterfuge.” The mission of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is simple. In the words of Rep. Keith Ellison: “When financial firms rip you off, the CFPB gets your money back.” The brainchild of Senator Elizabeth Warren, it was created in the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2008 to ensure that banks and mortgage lenders could never again engage in the kind of unchecked fraud that helped create the Great Recession and put thousands of people out of their homes. In just a few short years, the CFPB has:
- Created new mortgage rules requiring lenders to verify borrowers’ income and ability to re-pay their loans, as well as discouraging teaser rates, JUMBO loans, and other so-called “exotic mortgages” that led to some of the worst abuses of the housing crisis.
- Forced Citibank to offer $700 million in compensation after deceiving customers into buying unwanted credit card “add-ons.”
- Uncovered Wells Fargo’s scam of illegally opening more than 2 million fraudulent accounts and forcing the company to pay a combined $185 million in fines.
With success like that, no wonder the financial services industry wants to hobble the CFPB. But we can ensure it can continue to do the necessary work of protecting American consumers. The GOP’s abandonment of its plan to kill the Affordable Care Act shows that when enough people like you speak up in defense of vital programs, opponents in Congress think twice.
NOTE: The news sources here vary. Not all sources have the same credibility, but in an effort to share some different perspectives, they are included here. This compendium itself cannot claim to be unbiased. Please take into consideration where these different perspectives originate in assessing their value. Thank you.
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