“If you mean to stick up for the little guy, and not stick it to the little guy, you don’t pick nominees from industry for agencies that should be protecting the public interest,” said Patrick Woodall, managing director for policy at Americans for Financial Reform.
“Almost all of the money that was spent in the elections came from a handful of wealthy donors from Silicon Valley,” said [Mark] Hays, [senior policy analyst] with American for Financial Reform. “They did not come from rank-and-file voters.”
“It means that people are going to be more vulnerable to an industry that is rife with fraud, abuse, market manipulation and cyber-breaches,” said Patrick Woodall, the managing director for policy at Americans for Financial Reform, which advocates for stronger financial regulations. “This is an industry that is extremely volatile, where people take big losses, where market manipulation by insiders is very prevalent.”
“Regulators need to catch up to the reality that the growth and concentration of the asset management industry has fundamentally reshaped how public companies — including listed banks — make decisions,” said Natalia Renta, a senior policy counsel at the Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund.
As landlords, private equity firms raise rents, impose new fees, skimp on property maintenance and pursue tenants more aggressively in court, the Americans for Financial Reform research noted. “The cumulative effect is a massive transfer of wealth from mainly low- and middle-income renters, who can’t afford the onerous barriers to homeownership, to some of the wealthiest men in America,” it said.
The climate threat is growing. So is the cost of protecting our homes from its damage. Two weeks ago, Hurricane Milton rapidly intensified in Florida, demonstrating the terrifying magnitude that climate change-fueled extreme weather events can reach. Across the country, the growing frequency and intensity of wildfires, hurricanes, and even thunderstorms will require a new approach to insuring homes and communities.