One of the key Senate Races this year is in MA between Scott Brown (I) and Elizabeth Warren. There are many compelling reasons to support Warren, because Scott Brown is the poster child for Bankster bought legislators. Most compelling, however, is Elizabeth Warren’s legacy that is helping all Americans.
This is why banks are so desperate to elect Mitt Romney and get rid of Dodd-Frank. One of the most effective parts of Dodd-Frank is the CFPB — thank you, Elizabeth Warren!
Today the CFPB announced that they have ordered American Express to pay $85 million in restitution to customers who were harmed by illegal credit card practices along with a $27.5 million dollar civil penalty.
Amex was very naughty, it seems. According to the CFPB, these were a few of their sins:
- Deceived consumers who signed up for the American Express “Blue Sky” credit card program: Consumers were sometimes led to believe they would receive $300 in addition to bonus points if they signed up for this American Express Centurion Bank program. But consumers who met the qualifications did not receive the $300. This violates federal laws prohibiting deceptive practices.
- Charged unlawful late fees: American Express Centurion Bank and American Express Bank, FSB billed late fees on certain cards based on a percentage of the debt in violation of the Credit CARD Act.
- Unlawfully discriminated against new account applicants on the basis of age: American Express Centurion Bank used a credit scoring system that treated charge card applicants differently on the basis of age. For a period of time, the bank did not fully implement the system for applicants over the age of 35. This violated the Equal Credit Opportunity Act because it requires credit scoring systems that take age into account to be properly designed and implemented.
- Failed to report consumer disputes to consumer reporting agencies: American Express Centurion Bank and American Express Bank, FSB failed to report the existence of certain customer disputes to credit bureaus, which is a violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
- Misled consumers about debt collection: All three of the American Express subsidiaries deceived consumers into believing there were certain benefits to paying off old debt. Consumers were wrongly told that if they paid off the old debt, the payment would be reported to credit bureaus and could improve their credit scores. In fact, American Express was not reporting the payments and the debts were so old that even if they had tried to report them, many of the payments would not have appeared on these consumers’ credit reports or affected their credit scores. American Express also told some consumers that a portion of their debt would be waived or forgiven if they accepted certain settlement offers. But for customers who applied for a new American Express card, the company was not really forgiving or waiving the debt.
To remedy this, Amex will pay customers the $300 they never received as a credit to their account, late fees charged improperly will be refunded, and remedies to those customers misled into thinking their debt would be forgiven will be put in place… [emphasis original]
Inserted from <Crooks and Liars>
If there is anything Banksters hate more than having to obey the law, it is being prevented from stealing from their customers. Scott “Bankster Boy” Brown wants to repeal Dodd-Frank and dismantle the CFPB. Of course this is a good reason to oppose every Republican. Republicans govern exclusively for the benefit of the 1% and corporate criminals. They do NOT represent YOU!
16 Responses to “A Reason to Support Elizabeth Warren”
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This is also the number 1 reason to support every Democrat running this year.
Let's give Pres. Obama 4 more years and really help him by giving him a majority in both the House and the Senate!
Amen twice, Patty!
OT: Just want to be on the record that WRT the "debate" between Warren & Brown moderated by David "Raps-with-Rove" Gregory – Gregory was, is and will remain a Horse's Patoot who shamelessly shills Repubican talking points.
http://twitchy.com/2012/10/01/moderator-david-gregory-declared-loser-of-brownwarren-debate/
http://www.alternet.org/election-2012/david-gregory-beclowns-himself-awful-performance-moderating-elizabeth-warren-scott
I saw a very short clip of Gregory going after Brown in the beginning and I thought he was going to go after answers. But he didn't even let Brown answer. That's one badger that definitely needs to be culled! I also saw where Brown again would not answer about supporting Rmoney, and his support for Scalia. I don't even think his backtracking to other justices was very "elegant" — an obvious "oops! I blew that one!" cover-up!
Hey Nameless, what is "WRT"? I've seen it a fair amount but haven't been able to figure it out.
WRT = With Regard To
There's a pretty comprehensive list of email, text & even standard abbreviations here:
http://www.netlingo.com/acronyms.php
Excellent info, Nameless. He was almost as bad as Lehrer.
Scott Brow;n is nothing more than a shill for the Banksters ; Send a truly well qualified woman to do the job!!
Give The President a House and Senate that will have his back!
Very well said, Phyllis.
Amen to that!
I am pissed off at Amex for a different reason – they refused to pay my travel insurance claim after I spent about a 100 hours on the phone with them and every time I called, they needed more info. So I'm into them for about $10,000 between the vacation I should have taken and the extra amount I had to pay for missing my vacation. Don't ever use them for travel insurance.
I'm sorry, Lisa. That stinks!
I'm not surprised that Amex would do that.
I would like to move to MA just to vote for Elizabeth Warren, she is the consumers best friend..
LOL! Calling the van? 😉
The American Express case is exactly why the US needs the CFPB and why Dodd-Frank MUST NOT BE REPEALED! As the CFPB is able to investigate more abuses etc, the respect for it amongst ordinary Americans will grow, and the financial industry may yet gain some credibility back, maybe! This is big bucks, but not as big as it should have been.
Sir Walter Scott had it right when he said "Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive." I wonder if American Express would agree?
The citizens of Massachusetts should be proud to have Elizabeth Warren in the Senate representing them.
Right on all three counts!