During the 2015-16 election cycle, Wall Street banks and financial interests spent more than $2 billion to influence decision-making in Washington, according to a report released today by Americans for Financial Reform. That total, derived from an exclusive data set, works out to more than $2.7 million a day.
The chairman’s opening move in this year’s budget debate might delight Wall Street, but it would make life harder and more dangerous for the rest of us. His plans would make it easier for big banks and predatory lenders to rip off their customers, and easier for Wall Street billionaires to crash the economy — again.
“…The digital economy should ensure consumers can access and use records about themselves, and that consumers can choose to authorize third-parties to access such data on their behalf to support their financial health and facilitate competition among financial services providers.”
“Consumer advocates pushed back against Mr. Trump’s statement. ‘Directory Cordray has been an effective and responsible head of the CFPB,’
said Lisa Donner, executive director of Americans for Financial Reform. ‘Under his leadership it has been accountable to the American people, delivering over $12 billion in relief for more than 29 million people, a publicly searchable complaint system, and rules of the road to make lending fairer.’”
“A U.S. appeals court in Washington on Thursday granted the CFPB’s request to reconsider an October decision that stripped Cordray of his job protection, which left him at the mercy of Trump and a pro-business Republican-led Congress… Also weighing in on behalf of the CFPB are Americans for Financial Reform, the Consumer Federation of America, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group and one of the bureau’s biggest proponents, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.”
“There is a clear and compelling public interest that Congress continue to support vigorous enforcement of laws that protect military families from wrongful financial practices… [T]he strong record of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and its Office of Servicemember Affairs underscores the need for Congress to resist efforts that seek to hamstring this work. Tampering with the agency’s authorities, structure, and independence would be harmful to military families and honest companies across the country.”
“’People know that financial companies were running amok, and that kind of behavior takes money out of people’s pockets and was the cause of a financial crisis,’ said Lisa Donner, executive director of Americans for Financial Reform. ‘President Trump campaigned on standing up to Wall Street, and I don’t think his voters are looking for putting Goldman Sachs even more in charge.’”
“With a single director at its head the CFPB is doing exactly what it is supposed to do. It has recovered $12 billion for over 29 million people. The only plausible reason to change it, after nearly 6 years of good work, is to stop that good work from happening. The banks and predatory lenders who are pushing this want to be able to abuse consumers with impunity. There is no good reason to enable them.”
“The Consumer Bureau’s continued progress on making financial markets fairer and safer confirms once again how important it is to have an independent and effective regulator with a consumer protection mission. The rule making prepaid cards fairer and safer is one more example of ‘unrigging’ the system for the American people, and it should be left in place.”
“[The CFPB] has been fulfilling its mission, without letting itself be cowed by Wall Street or captured by revolving-door insiders. That’s why it’s under attack, and why it urgently needs to be defended.”