Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Tell your senator to protect consumer finance regulation! Don't kill the Consumer Financial Protection Agency!

Last month, the House of Representatives narrowly passed legislation to create a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency. This agency would police bank practices on credit cards and mortgages and establishes new regulations for derivative trading and for credit rating--both of which, when left to the banks to mis-manage, helped precipitate last year's economic collapse and bank bailout.

The bill is not a cure-all. After the financial industry spent $5 billion over the last ten years playing politics to dismantle regulation and oversight, it would be unrealistic to expect that this bill is anything more than the first step in the right direction.

But even this first step toward controlling the casino economy is now in danger, as the banking lobby takes aim at the bill in the Senate.

Today banking industry lobbyists and the US Chamber of Commerce will be visiting senators to encourage them to kill the bill.

Please call your senators today and tell them to support the Consumer Financial Protection agency. This is a bread-and-butter issue that they should stand behind--if they're representing their constituents and not the banks.

Remember, a call carries more weight than an email, but if you can't call, please click here--edit your email to reflect your views-- and make your voice heard!

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