Re:Buy a home, get a US visa, Senators propose
by dalke on Friday October 21, 2011 @06:11AM
(#3139152)
Oh, so some having _some_ consumer protection means there's strong consumer protection?
Please explain why the financial industry is so strongly against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; given that it will enforce laws that already exist. Why do credit card companies operate from the states with the weakest usury laws? Yes, the Supreme Court says it's legal, but why is there no federal cap on usury?
The only private recourse consumers have against bad business practices is a civil lawsuit, with the threat of high punitive damages. "Tort reform" wants to cap those damages, but promoters never suggest any alternative compensatory consumer protection. Why should I not interpret this as a reducing consumer protection?
Speaking of unions: Unions are a way for employees to protect themselves against bad business practices in the work place. (Whistle-blowing protection laws are another.) Many politicians want to break the unions, but offer no alternatives for employees facing those bad practices. Why should I not see this as politicians being aligned with business against employees?
How is it that the recent GAO Audit on "Major Conflicts of Interest at the Federal Reserve" found so many apparent conflicts of interest, and why weren't there policies in place to prevent that from happening?
Banking oversight over the last few decades (perhaps since the S&L crisis of the 1980s, but definitely in the last 10 years) has clearly not been enough to catch the numerous incidents of wide-scale fraud. These were already illegal, but where was the oversight, where are the investigations, and who is going to jail because of it?
Please explain why the financial industry is so strongly against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; given that it will enforce laws that already exist. Why do credit card companies operate from the states with the weakest usury laws? Yes, the Supreme Court says it's legal, but why is there no federal cap on usury?
The only private recourse consumers have against bad business practices is a civil lawsuit, with the threat of high punitive damages. "Tort reform" wants to cap those damages, but promoters never suggest any alternative compensatory consumer protection. Why should I not interpret this as a reducing consumer protection?
Speaking of unions: Unions are a way for employees to protect themselves against bad business practices in the work place. (Whistle-blowing protection laws are another.) Many politicians want to break the unions, but offer no alternatives for employees facing those bad practices. Why should I not see this as politicians being aligned with business against employees?
How is it that the recent GAO Audit on "Major Conflicts of Interest at the Federal Reserve" found so many apparent conflicts of interest, and why weren't there policies in place to prevent that from happening?
Banking oversight over the last few decades (perhaps since the S&L crisis of the 1980s, but definitely in the last 10 years) has clearly not been enough to catch the numerous incidents of wide-scale fraud. These were already illegal, but where was the oversight, where are the investigations, and who is going to jail because of it?