Statement on House Financial Services Committee Passage of HR 10, the Wrong Choice Act
Today, the House Financial Services Committee approved HR 10, the so-called Financial Choice Act, on a straight party-line vote. We call it the Wrong Choice Act. The bill eviscerates the successful CFPB, which has returned $11.8 Billion to over 29 million consumers in less than six years. The bill repeals much of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act enacted to protect us after the 2008 financial collapse. Our statement is below.
Banks Cook Books To Promote Wrong Choice Act, Attack CFPB | Ed Mierzwinski
Today the House Financial Services Committee takes up the so-called Financial Choice Act, which we call the Wrong Choice Act, to repeal the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 and leave the CFPB an unrecognizable husk incapable of protecting consumers. Some 52 state bank associations urged support of the bill, based on a "cook-the-history-books" analysis of bank consolidation, which has not increased since 2010, even though they make the claim based on preposterous math.
Financial Choice Act: A Cruel Choice for the CFPB & Consumers | Ed Mierzwinski
UPDATED 4/25 with link to our letter to Congress. This week, on Wednesday 4/26, the House FInancial Services Committee holds a hearing on Chairman Jeb Hensarling's Financial Choice Act 2.0. It's a brutal un-do of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act that forgets, or ignores, the historical fact that reckless bank practices abetted by loose regulators wrecked our economy in 2008. A key goal of the proposal is to weaken the successful CFPB into an unrecognizable husk incapable of protecting consumers.
New report shows victims of aggressive tactics from medical debt collectors
A new U.S. PIRG Education Fund Report documents consumer complaints to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau about medical debt. Most complaints are about debt never owed, already paid, or not verified as the consumer's debt. The report demonstrates the ongong need to defend CFPB from speical-interest attacks.
Report | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Financial Reform
Medical Debt Malpractice
Millions of Americans are contacted by debt collectors every year over debt related to medical expenses. "Medical Debt Malpractice" is the latest (9th) in our series based on analysis of complaints in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's public complaint database. The report demonstrates that the CFPB is a critical agency protecting consumers against unfair financial practices and needs to be defended against special interest attacks.
Parents Beware - Many Toys Still Toxic, Hazardous
Dangerous or toxic toys can still be found on America's store shelves, Ohio Public Interest Research Group announced on Tuesday in its 24th annual Trouble in Toyland report.
Ohio PIRG Praises Space, Wilson For Health Care Vote
Today, following the historic House passage of health reform legislation this weekend, Ohio Public Interest Research Group hailed Representatives Space and Wilson for their votes for the bill.
Ohio PIRG Explains "Game-Changer" Proposal To Reinstate Federal Financial Laws As Pro-Consumer Floor
At the epicenter of the worldwide financial collapse was a lack of consumer protection that can best be remedied by establishing a "game-changer agency with only one job, protecting consumers" while simultaneously reinstating federal law as a floor not a ceiling of protection, according to Ohio PIRG Associate Manfred Mecoy.
Courts Recognize Bank Secrecy Must End; Does Congress?
The big banks that limped into Washington a year ago now march all over Capitol Hill with their lobbyists, fighting the financial and tax reform legislation at every turn. But the banks' big money doesn't seem to influence the way some judges have been ruling lately.
Ohio PIRG Consumer Program Director's Statement on Wall Street Bailout
Statement of Ohio PIRG Consumer Program Director Ed Mierzwinski on Final Passage of Wall Street Bailout Legislation Today