Chicago - Jan. 24, 2020

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Trump Eviscerates Consumer Protections

By The Consumer Federation of America

On Friday the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a policy statement attempting to narrow the federal law that prohibits abusive financial acts and practices by banks, debt collectors, payday lenders, and other consumer finance companies.

In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis Congress enacted a statute that prohibits abusive acts or practices in consumer finance. Current federal law prohibits taking unreasonable advantage of consumers who do not have the ability to protect themselves or lack an understanding of the risks in complicated financial contracts.

"Today's policy statement attempts to rewrite federal law without authorization from Congress or a court order," said Christopher Peterson, director of financial services for the Consumer Federation of America. "The new policy statement fabricates a 'good faith' exception that lets businesses engaging in abusive practices off the hook for financial penalties when they claim violations of the law were unintentional."

The policy also imposes a new cost-benefit framework on law enforcement that will slow investigations and create an artificial barrier to protecting the public.

Continue reading "Trump Eviscerates Consumer Protections" »
Posted on January 24, 2020

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Political Odds

By The Beachwood Bookmaking Bureau

For entertainment purposes only. Including gambling.
Continue reading "Political Odds" »
Posted on April 1, 2019

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Can The Constitution Stop The Government From Lying To The Public?

By Helen Norton/The Conversation

When a person or agency backed by the power and resources of the government tells a lie, it sometimes causes harm that only the government can inflict.

Posted on January 14, 2020

Study: Lack Of Insurance Cause Of Survivorship Gap In Minorities With Cancer

By UIC

This is the first study to use statistical mediation methods and a large cancer registry database to quantify the extent that adequate health insurance is a factor in the stage of breast cancer diagnosis among a diverse population of women in the United States.

Posted on January 10, 2020

Entire Species Are Being Wiped Out

By Jake Johnson/Common Dreams

Ecologists say half a billion animals may have been killed by Australia's wildfires.

Posted on January 4, 2020

E-Mails Show Trump Administration Knew Migrant Children Would Suffer Mental Problems Once Separated From Their Families At The Border. Then They Ramped Up The Practice.

By Susan Ferriss/Center for Public Integrity via The Texas Tribune

A 10-year-old held in a shelter for two months was found on the floor, crying and holding his hand. "My hand hurts because I got mad about my case and I hit the wall," the boy said. A 12-year-old boy reported "suicidal ideations" after separation from an aunt and a cousin. A 9-year-old girl said her uncle was murdered by a local gang.

Posted on December 21, 2019

In Medical Billing, Fraudulent Charges Are Legal

By Elisabeth Rosenthal/Kaiser Health News

What I'm talking about here were the bills for things that simply didn't happen, or only kind-of, sort-of happened, or were mislabeled as things they were not or were so nebulously defined that I couldn't figure out what we might be paying for.

Posted on December 19, 2019

Affordable Mental Health Care Getting Even Tougher To Find

By Jenny Gold/Kaiser Health News

"We would never permit this for heart disease or cancer."

Posted on December 17, 2019

Grading Illinois' Economic Development Transparency: C-

By The Illinois PIRG Education Fund

"It's often easier for citizens to see when a state hands a company $50 for printer ink than when it hands a company a million dollars to relocate its headquarters."

Posted on December 12, 2019

E-Mails Show Water Contractor Knew About Lead Risk In Flint

By Jessica Corbett/Common Dreams

Executives at a water company contracted to assess the water system in Flint privately expressed concerns that residents "might be at risk of being poisoned by lead in their tap water."

Posted on December 11, 2019