To: Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Dem. Rep. Fla. & DNC Chair
DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz Should Resign.
Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the Chair of the Democratic National Committee, has joined the Republican assault to weaken the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Why is this important?
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has created pending new regulations in order to protect Americans from payday loan sharks, companies that make enormous profits off of predatory lending, exploiting the poor and uneducated by advertising quick and convenient loans while downplaying the concomitant skyrocketing interest.
Wasserman Schultz is co-sponsoring a new bill that would push back the bureau’s payday lending regulations by two years. It would also let state laws on payday lending trump the federal regulations, falling back on so-called “states’ rights.” It calls for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to “adjust their payday lending rules to take into account actions Florida has already taken.” The DNC chair describes Florida’s state law as a “model” for payday loan legislation. In fact it is an industry-friendly law that will would effectively “gut the CFPB’s forthcoming payday loan regulations and harm all consumers. H.R. 4018 would limit the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) ability to protect all consumers against high-cost payday, car title and installment loans.''
The director of the Campaign to Stop the Debt Trap at Americans for Financial Reform says otherwise, calling Florida’s law “a sham” and pointing out that “it was backed by the industry.”
Leading consumer protection, civil rights and social justice groups overwhelmingly oppose the legislation. In December, 265 groups — including the Consumer Federation of America, the NAACP and the National Council of La Raza — sent Congress a letter “strongly urging” lawmakers to vote against the bill.
“This harmful bill would limit the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) ability to protect all consumers against high-cost payday, car title and installment loans,” the letter warns.
The legislation would also “allow abusive small-dollar lenders to go on doing business as usual if states enact laws similar to a Florida law, putting in place so-called ‘industry best practices,'” the groups wrote. “Instead of protecting consumers, H.R. 4018 and the industry-backed Florida law would do more harm to consumers.”
Wasserman Schultz is co-sponsoring a new bill that would push back the bureau’s payday lending regulations by two years. It would also let state laws on payday lending trump the federal regulations, falling back on so-called “states’ rights.” It calls for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to “adjust their payday lending rules to take into account actions Florida has already taken.” The DNC chair describes Florida’s state law as a “model” for payday loan legislation. In fact it is an industry-friendly law that will would effectively “gut the CFPB’s forthcoming payday loan regulations and harm all consumers. H.R. 4018 would limit the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) ability to protect all consumers against high-cost payday, car title and installment loans.''
The director of the Campaign to Stop the Debt Trap at Americans for Financial Reform says otherwise, calling Florida’s law “a sham” and pointing out that “it was backed by the industry.”
Leading consumer protection, civil rights and social justice groups overwhelmingly oppose the legislation. In December, 265 groups — including the Consumer Federation of America, the NAACP and the National Council of La Raza — sent Congress a letter “strongly urging” lawmakers to vote against the bill.
“This harmful bill would limit the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) ability to protect all consumers against high-cost payday, car title and installment loans,” the letter warns.
The legislation would also “allow abusive small-dollar lenders to go on doing business as usual if states enact laws similar to a Florida law, putting in place so-called ‘industry best practices,'” the groups wrote. “Instead of protecting consumers, H.R. 4018 and the industry-backed Florida law would do more harm to consumers.”