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Republicans in Senate Side with Wall Street; Eliminate Rule that Protected Main Street
Government at its purest exists solely to protect The People it serves. We elect officials to work on OUR behalf. It's been apparent for decades, but likely never more so, that the Republican Party works on behalf of corporate interests, their lobbyists and donors with zero regard for The People. They repeatedly take actions that harm nearly every living, breathing human being in our country yet millions of ignorant people continue support and enable them.
Republicans in the House and Senate have passed legislation multiple times this year attempting to dismantle the powers of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau which was created under the Dodd-Frank Act to help prevent another 2008 financial crisis and to protect consumers and investors. The CFPB has saved Americans almost $12 billion since it was created six years ago.
However, industry lobbying paid off when the Senate, who are the recepients of the pay off, overturned a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule on Tuesday night.
The Senate has voted to get rid of a banking rule that allows consumers to bring class-action lawsuits against banks and credit card companies to resolve financial disputes.
With Mike Pence casting the tie-breaking vote, the roll-back of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule banning restrictive mandatory arbitration clauses found in the fine print of credit card and checking account agreements passed 51-50....
The Republican-controlled House had already voted to rescind the rule... the measure also bars similar rules in the future.
[This will] further loosen regulation of Wall Street as the Trump administration and Republicans move to roll back Obama-era policies enacted in the wake of the 2008 economic crisis.
What was this rule exactly that was eliminated? It allowed We The People to band together in class action lawsuits to fight banks (Wells Fargo) who have committed widespread fraud or agencies such as Equifax who failed to protect the data of every person that's ever had a credit card.
The CFPB rule was aimed at giving consumers more power. Prior to the rule, the CFPB said companies could "sidestep the court system" by "forcing consumers to give up or go it alone." This allowed companies to "avoid big refunds, and continue harmful practices," the CFPB wrote in announcing the changes.
In a statement released shortly after the vote, CFPB Director Richard Cordray said it represented "a giant setback for every consumer in this country. Wall Street won and ordinary people lost."
There is an expected backlash to this vote against Republicans and banks.
Banks just scored a victory against disgruntled customers — and, in the longer term, against themselves.
Before the vote, the [financial] industry had been enjoying a respite from the wrath of Democrats and critics. Wall Street wasn’t even mentioned in the Democratic platform for the 2018 midterm elections. Instead, the party focused on big tech companies like Facebook, questioning whether they needed further antitrust regulations.
Bashing banks is also still in style among the populist base that elevated Trump to the presidency. The shrinking political target on the backs of banks is set to grow again.
Senator Elizabeth Warren called it “a giant wet kiss to Wall Street.” Clauses that keep customers out of the courts have caused reputational problems for Wall Street before, and will again.
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/24/business/senate-vote-wall-street-regulation.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/25/business/dealbook/banks-arbitration-rule.html