Month: August 2018

Remember when the two worst words you could post on your Facebook feed was when a group of friends were talking about a party that you weren’t invited to and you plaintively asked, “What party?”

I’m starting to feel that way about my party, the Democrats. I’m a registered Democrat and have been since I started voting at age 18. I’ve supported its mission and values, and even agreed when Democrats and Republicans would agree on something important, even if neither party got everything they asked for in the deal. I’ve worked the polls as the representative Democrat and even spent 14 hours side-by-side with a Reagan Republican and we had a lovely day chatting and cross-checking voter rolls.

But lately, some Democrats have not represented the party well. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s statement last week that America was never that great is a prime example. I understand what he means; that we have a higher standard of ethical and moral behavior to live up to and we’re still working on that. And if he truly believes that, then the good governor should express that sentiment and urge Americans to do better at home and abroad. Instead, he gave a nice gift to the most demagogic person to sit in the White House, and the president took great advantage of it.

What Cuomo should have said was that the present administration was not going to make America great if it continued to allow polluters to pollute more, to relax clean air and water standards, to discriminate against LGBTQ Americans who want to join the military, to give massive tax breaks to corporations and the wealthy at the expense of the middle class, and to subvert American ideals as they relate to immigration and the treatment of children. In short, the focus needs to be on the behavior that he doesn’t want to see. Once you start labeling and questioning what on the surface is a broad claim, you’re going to get yourself into trouble. And he did.

It’s the same with those Democratic representatives and candidates who are calling for President Trump’s impeachment. Perhaps the Mueller investigation will uncover an impeachable offense, but to date the president has done nothing that is likely to lead to a broad swath of the electorate to support legal action against him. Democrats are only giving Republicans and Independent voters a reason to see this as more of a partisan issue than one that deserves their support. Plus, it makes Democrats look desperate and churlish.

Donald Trump has tweeted his little heart out, rampaged against immigrants, labeled the press as enemies and has questioned the country’s commitment to security in Europe. Despite all of that, a majority of people still do not support him or his agenda, support immigration and believe that we should be solid as a rock when it comes to NATO. Why, then, muddy the waters with impertinent and provocative statements that only give him something to fight against?

Democrats need to channel this anger and frustration into a message that resonates with voters on the issues above and affordable health care. But if the party runs on impeachment and other divisive issues, they will blunt their message and suppress some support that would otherwise come from moderates and independents.

For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives or Twitter @rigrundfest

What a fun game this is. The country elects Republicans who oppose government involvement in our lives, except for our private parts, favors businesses over people, and makes it easier for businesses to take advantage of us when we try to fight back. The game then continues when we elect Democrats to fix all of that.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – which was created in the aftermath of the Great Economic Blowup of 2008 – was supposed to monitor companies that wanted to take advantage of consumers and separate us from our money, which, if you want to be technical, is what every company wants to do. The issue is that most companies sell a product that, when used correctly, meets a financial, social or emotional need, or tastes pretty darn good. Those that sell products that just separate us from our money, make fraudulent claims or prey on unsuspecting consumers with questionable claims or practices need to be thrown out of the market place.

Until last year, the Bureau, which was still run by Obama appointees, was responsible for reclaiming billions of dollars from companies that did bad things, including credit card companies, lenders, regular banks, student loan purveyors, and other swamp creatures.

Now it’s not run by anyone remotely interested in overseeing consumer protection. In fact, many of the original rules have been neutered or rescinded, and the CFB is run by Mick Mulvaney, also the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Guess which job demands more of his time?

The results have been significant. The CFB is now looking to suspend examinations of lenders for violations of the Military Lending Act, which is supposed to protect military families from fraud and stuff.

And Betsy DeVos now wants to scrap rules that forced for-profit colleges to substantiate their claims about being able to get their students jobs that pay money and stuff. You remember the for-profit colleges like Trump University and Corinthian College, right? They were forced out of business because they took money and didn’t do…stuff…like give people the skills and knowledge to get jobs.
Now, I know that not-for-profit institutions of higher education couldn’t guarantee anyone a job, but that’s because their job is to…wait for it…educate their students, which most colleges do pretty well. But if your reason for existing is to get someone a job, then you’d better do quite well at that.

And this is just the beginning. Consumers and employees are already at a disadvantage because we have to agree to arbitration if we have a dispute with a company rather than being able to file class-action suits. Arbitration is stacked in favor of corporations simply because they run the system. It will likely not surprise you to know that this spring, the Supreme Court said that arbitration was constitutional because it would avoid costly and time-consuming litigation. As if costly and time-consuming were both so bad that they simply can not hold up under judicial or legislative scrutiny.

There’s also the repeal of the Fiduciary Rule, which said that financial companies had to put the interests of consumers ahead of commissions and sales goals. Imagine a company that fights against putting consumers first. Can you say, Wells Fargo?

As for pay-day lending, why that industry even exists is a tragedy. Workers should not have to get a loan that uses a paycheck as collateral. Employers need to pay their employees a livable wage and not make it necessary for them to saddle themselves with loans that have exorbitant interest rates. It’s outrageous that the alternatives in this list do not include demanding a wage that allows someone to live a decent life, or to be able to go to a regular bank and open or checking account.

It is certainly incumbent upon all consumers to educate themselves and to spend their money wisely. But when unscrupulous businesses can continue to operate in a market economy without government oversight, that’s a recipe for disaster.

For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives or Twitter @rigrundfest