What angers me most about Wall Street’s shady dealing and greed is that that they like to blame the national meltdown on their customers. You’ve heard their sniffy defense: People took mortgages they couldn’t afford, lied to lenders about their incomes and deserve whatever they got. The poor li’l ole mortgage [...]
I’ve praise the Senate financial reform bill here for imposing a fiduciary duty on stockbrokers. And I praised Maine Senator Susan Collins for wanting to extend that duty to brokers who sell to institutions such as pension funds and mutual funds.
Wow, did I ever speak too soon. Last week, Collins declared herself in favor of gutting [...]
Auto dealers are swarming Capitol Hill, asking their Senators to exempt them from scrutiny by the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency. They’ve already won an exemption from the House of Representatives. If the Senate gives them a free pass, too, it will hurt consumers, turn a blind eye to predatory practices, and violate the principle [...]