Action #1 – “NO” on S.2155 – Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act”
S.2155’s biggest giveaways go not to community lenders but to what a Senate aide dubbed stadium banks. “If you can get naming rights to a stadium, you’re not a community bank.”
“At the peak, Countrywide was originating one out of every five mortgages in the country,” said Warren. “And it’s smaller than some banks deregulated by this bill.” Warren added that the stadium banks deregulated in S.2155 received a total of $47 billion in bailout funds directly, and trillions more in loan guarantees and emergency Federal Reserve lending. “The bill says a $200 billion bank should be regulated the same way as a tiny community bank. That’s nuts, and extremely dangerous.”
Today, the Senate will convene at 4:00 p.m. to resume consideration of the S. 2155, the deceptively named “Economic Growth, Regulary Relief and Consumer Protection Act”. . The Leadership Conference, a civil rights coalition, opposes S2155 because it “would undermine one of our nation’s key civil rights laws and weaken consumer protections enacted after the 2008 financial crisis. “This bill guts key portions of the Dodd-Frank Act and would shield 25 of the world’s 38 biggest banks, such as Deutsche Bank and Santander from regulation and roll back key consumer protections.
The Congressional Budget Office released a report on March 5th, stating that this bill would INCREASE our federal deficits by $671 million between 2018-2027 and it would increase the probability of bank failures.Read the Leadership Conference’s letter of opposition here.
Read the Center of American Progress’ letter to Senator Mike Crapo, chairman of the US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs here.
Here are some of the banks that would benefit. Did you realize American taxpayers subsidized foreign banks like Deutsche Bank in the last financial melt-down?
Indivisible has put out an explainer page here. Here are the basic points.
- The bill puts us at risk of another crisis. It raises the oversight threshold from $50 billion to $250 billion, exempting 25 of the 38 biggest banks, many of whom received TARP bailout money, from regulation.
- It allow racial discrimination in mortgage lending to go unchecked
- It erodes critical consumer protections
- It started with good intentions to help community banks and consumers, but then lost its way as it was altered to help giants continue their unethical practices.
Check out if your Senator (12 Democrats signed on) got caught up in this here.
Action: Call your senators and tell them to strongly oppose this trojan horse of a bill that deregulates banks that have harmed our economy and will allow them to harm our citizens.
Minimal Script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I strongly oppose S.2155 – the “Economic Growth, Regulary Relief and Consumer Protection Act”. Please ask Sen. [___] to assist in creating a bill that actually lives up to its name.,
Minimal Script if the Democrats listed below are your legislators: I’m calling from [zip code] and I strongly oppose your support of S.2155 – the “Economic Growth, Regulary Relief and Consumer Protection Act”. It may have started with good intentions, but now it has become a gift for the largest banks that have repeatedly cheated American taxpayers. Walk away.
Sen. Bennet, Michael F. [D-CO]*
Sen. Carper, Thomas R. [D-DE]
Sen. Coons, Christopher A. [D-DE]
Sen. Donnelly, Joe [D-IN]*
Sen. Heitkamp, Heidi [D-ND]*
Sen. Jones, Doug [D-AL]
Sen. Kaine, Tim [D-VA]*
Sen. Manchin, Joe, III [D-WV]*
Sen. McCaskill, Claire [D-MO]*
Sen. Peters, Gary C. [D-MI]*
Sen. Tester, Jon [D-MT]*
Sen. Warner, Mark R. [D-VA]*
Contact your Legislator
Senator Feinstein: DC (202) 224-3841, LA (310) 914-7300, SF (415) 393-0707, SD (619) 231-9712, Fresno (559) 485-7430
and Senator Harris: DC (202) 224-3553, LA (213) 894-5000, SAC (916) 448-2787, Fresno (559) 497-5109, SF (415) 355-9041, SD (619) 239-3884
Other Rep./Senator Contacts: www.phoneyourrep.com
Action #2 – It’s PUBLIC SCHOOLS WEEK!
Call your representative and tell them how much you love your public schools.
Contact your Legislator
Rep. Julia Brownley: (CA-26): DC (202) 225-5811, Oxnard (805) 379-1779, T.O. (805) 379-1779
or Rep. Salud Carbajal: (CA-24): DC (202) 225-3601, SB (805) 730-1710 SLO (805) 546-8348
Which one is yours?: www.phoneyourrep.com
