Defending Consumer Protections, Resisting Trumpcare, Saving Net Neutrality, and More

1. Defending Consumer Protections

Conservative attacks on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are nothing new. But things recently took a troubling turn, after the CFPB made it harder for banks to exploit customers through arbitration clauses in banking contracts. The banking industry’s friends in Congress want to keep tying consumers’ hands so they can’t fight abusive practices. Roosevelt Fellow Mike Konczal broke down what’s at stake in this fight on the Huffington Post podcast “So That Happened.” [Mike’s segment begins about 15:30 into this episode]

2. Betsy Is At It Again

The Obama administration enacted rules to ensure universities receiving federal funding had to meet certain standards, so that graduates were not being set up for unsustainable debt and limited prospects for gainful employment. Now the Trump administration and Secretary DeVos are trying to take those protections away. Roosevelt Visiting Fellow Rohit Chopra explains how this is part of a broader pattern for Secretary DeVos.

3. Save Our Internet

The Trump administration is plotting to scrap net neutrality, which ensures fair and equal access to the Internet for all, in a massive giveaway to telecomm CEOs. This week, millions of activists fought back.

4. If Trumpcare Fails, Thank the Resistance

With opinion polls showing that conservative plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act and cut Medicaid are deeply unpopular, grassroots resistance activists are leading the fight against them at congressional offices across the country.

5. The Road Forward for Progressives

The progressive movement is still struggling to develop an economic platform that appeals to a wide group of voters, including some of the white working class voters who supported President Trump. This debate is about to heat up. Max Ehrenfreund analyzed it in in the Washington Post and leaned on a column by Mike Konczal, which explained why Democrats need to take a side in the prevailing economic fight of our time.

What We’re Reading:

In The Nation, voting rights expert Ari Berman explains how the combination of cyber-attacks on election systems and conservative efforts to make it harder for lower income and communities of color to vote threaten our democracy.

Event:

On Tuesday, July 18^th, AFT President Randi Weingarten will be speaking at Georgetown University about how Wall Street fees threaten the retirement security of millions of Americans. Details and RSVP here.