Economy

Help Us Bust the Banksters; Join Our New Campaign

by Lisa Graves — October 20, 2009 - 9:18pm
  • Topics: Economy

    • This week, the Center for Media and Democracy is launching its new campaign on the "Banksters" with a new companion website, www.Banksterusa.org, and a new portal in our online encyclopedia called the "Real Economy Project." We are so fortunate that Mary Bottari brought this much needed effort to demystify economic issues and spur people to take action to CMD, with the support of our founder, John Stauber, and our Board.

    I see this project as the beginning of a new phase in CMD's life of weighing in on crucial issues in the media and before Congress and trying to make a real difference in outcomes. In many ways, this new effort is a return to our roots and builds on CMD's long-standing mission to "inform and assist grassroots citizen activism that . . . promotes economic justice." At the same time, this effort really takes the gloves off in aiming at both the spin and the underlying policies that have undermined the promise of the American dream.

    Proposed CUNA Amendment Waters Down CFPA

    by PRW Staff — October 20, 2009 - 5:42pm
  • Topics: Corporations, Economy, Politics

    • Congress Daily reports today that the Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA), faces another serious challenge and this time from Wisconsin. Milwaukee Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Wis., appears close to getting her amendment adopted to exclude providers of credit insurance from regulation by the CFPA.

    This Is Going to Hurt: What Your Doctor Doesn't Say Can Cost You

    by Anne Landman — October 16, 2009 - 4:16pm
  • Topics: Economy, Ethics, Health

    • Insurance companies are hot targets right now in the debate over skyrocketing medical costs and health care reform. But there is another, little-noticed factor could also be sucking untold health care dollars out of our pockets, and it's one we seem loathe to address: the part that doctors themselves have in quietly pushing up the costs of our medical care. This is an area that is begging for closer scrutiny, and in which patients need more help.

    Put out the FIRE on Capitol Hill with a Consumer Financial Protection Agency

    by Mary Bottari — October 13, 2009 - 9:22am
  • Topics: Economy, Lobbying, Politics

    • October 14th, the Obama administration's principal piece of financial service reform legislation, the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, will be up for committee consideration in the House Financial Services Committee. The most important thing to know about the bill? It creates a new federal agency in Washington whose sole purpose is to protect consumers from the deceptive tricks and traps of the financial services industry. The most important thing to know about the committee reviewing the bill? It's on FIRE.

    Yes, Banks Have No Shame

    by Lisa Graves — October 10, 2009 - 12:54pm

    Joe Nocera of The New York Times asks "Have Banks No Shame?" in response to their opposition to new consumer protections proposed in the wake of the biggest bank bailout in history. In the piece, Nocera reports that Simon Baker, a former International Monetary Fund economist, calls the banks' opposition "unconscionable," stating:

    “They can’t pay what they owe!” he began angrily. Then he paused, collected his thoughts and started over: “Tim Geithner saved them on terms extremely favorable to the banks.

    Main Source: 
    The New York Times, October 9, 2009

    Government Watchdog Says Treasury and Fed Misled the Public on Bailout

    by Mary Bottari — October 6, 2009 - 7:16pm

    Rarely does the U.S. government crack down on itself for misleading the public, but in a refreshing turn of events -- that is just what happened this week in Washington, D.C.

    Dr. Evil and the Payday Loan Sharks

    by Diane Farsetta — September 22, 2009 - 3:12pm

    The Center for Economic and Entrepreneurial Literacy (CEEL) is one of lobbyist and serial corporate front man Rick Berman's "more recent creations," writes Daniel Schulman.

    Main Source: 
    Mother Jones, September / October 2009

    Banks to Bailout Government?

    by Mary Bottari — September 22, 2009 - 9:56am

    Steve Labaton of the New York Times reported that senior regulators at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) are seriously considering a plan to have the nation's "healthy banks" loan money to the government to replenish the FDIC insurance fund that protects bank depositors.

    Main Source: 
    New York Times, September 21, 2009

    Federal Judge Issues Blistering Decision on Failure of SEC to Police Banksters: Oscar Wilde Weighs In

    by Mary Bottari — September 15, 2009 - 10:33am
  • Topics: Corporations, Economy, U.S. Government

    • Likening the actions of the federal Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to those of Oscar Wilde's famous cynic "who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing," New York Federal Judge Jed Rakoff tossed an SEC settlement with Bank of America (BofA) out of court yesterday and ordered the parties to ready for trial. (Link to decision here.)

    As reported previously, the court was weighing the appropriateness of a $33 million fine the SEC levied against BofA for failing to notify shareholders about a massive bonus package paid to Merrill Lynch executives when BofA acquired Merrill in September of 2008.

    Because it failed to fully disclose the bonuses as required by law, BofA was fined by the SEC. But Rakoff delved into more fundamental questions. Merrill had just lost $27 billion and was on the rocks. BofA was given $40 billion in taxpayer funds to acquire Merrill and help cover the firm's losses. So where did the bonus bucks come from? As Rakoff put it: "To say now that the $33 million does not come directly from U.S. funds is simply to ignore the overall economics of the Bank's situation."

    On What Planet Does the Chamber Design Its Ads?

    by Diane Farsetta — September 8, 2009 - 3:04pm

    To "move the spotlight off the unpopular commercial banks and mortgage lenders that are the target of the legislation," the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is claiming that the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency will hurt butchers. "The economy has made it tough on this local butcher's customers," reads the Chamber's latest ad.

    Main Source: 
    Wall Street Journal (sub req'd), September 8, 2009
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