Tell Congress: Don’t put economy at risk by deregulating banks

WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 31, 2017) — The “Financial CHOICE Act” — or, more accurately, the Wrong CHOICE Act — is a plan to deregulate Wall Street that would put consumers, investors, and the entire financial system at risk of another 2008 financial crisis. It would gut Dodd-Frank financial reform and weaken the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which protects consumers from unfair financial practices.

TAKE A STAND — We need to keep our wallets and economy safe by opposing the Financial CHOICE Act and any other assaults on Dodd-Frank and the CFPB. Watch this video, click here to send your U.S. Representative a message urging opposition to the Financial CHOICE Act, and then share this post with friends and family. This video was produced by WashPIRG, in conjunction with the Washington State Labor Council, Washington State Association of Justice, Statewide Poverty Action Network, and OneAmerica.

In just under six years, the CFPB has restored order to financial markets wrecked by weak regulation, unfair practices and bad financial products. And the young agency has already returned $11.8 billion to 29 million harmed consumers. The Wrong CHOICE Act would allow Wall Street banks to gamble again, turn back the clock on consumer protections, even getting rid of safeguards we had before 2008, risking the need for yet another taxpayer bailout.

Please watch and share the video above, and then TAKE A STAND by contacting your U.S. Representative about this today. Thank you.

ALSO in the Washington Post — Washington’s busy agenda is getting more so with bill to roll back Dodd-Frank (April 25, 2017) — Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex.), chair of the Financial Services Committee, is pushing forward with legislation to get rid of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act designed to rein in banks after the financial crisis. Hensarling faces opposition from not only Democrats and consumer groups but also big-bank CEOs. Several industry leaders have said they do not support gutting the law. “We have redesigned the way in which large financial institutions in this country function,” and reworking those regulations would add new uncertainty, Morgan Stanley chief executive James Gorman said recently. “I would not start again. That’s a terrifying thought to start again, because what’s going to replace it?”