The Great Debate
A year ago the federal government and 49 states completed a $25 billion agreement with the...
A year ago the federal government and 49 states completed a $25 billion agreement with the nation’s largest mortgage servicers to settle claims of “robo-signing” and unlawful foreclosure practices. President Barack Obama announced the creation of the federal-state mortgage securities working group in his 2012 State of the Union address. The nation seemed on the verge of transforming the way banks treat struggling homeowners ‑ particularly those with “underwater” mortgages, in which a homeowner owes more than the house is worth.
These promises, however, have yet to be fulfilled. The latest interim report on the national mortgage settlement is due out this week, and banks will likely again declare that it offers proof that they are fulfilling their obligations. But the communities hit hardest by the foreclosure crisis have yet to see any meaningful relief.
Time is running out to ensure that these communities receive their fair share under the settlement. But it is not too late to provide meaningful assistance. The settlement monitors need to demand greater transparency from banks, and they need to see that banks comply with the fair-lending requirements set out in the agreement. They also need to aggressively police the servicing reforms to ensure that all homeowners get a fair opportunity to save their homes.
This settlement was designed to begin a new chapter in the resolution of the nation’s foreclosure crisis. It provided much-needed funding for legal aid, housing counselors and other foreclosure prevention services. It also committed the banks to billions of dollars in consumer relief to help keep struggling families in their homes. Critics recognized that the settlement size was far too small to solve the entire housing crisis, but they hoped it could change the way banks deal with foreclosures.
Unfortunately, there is little transparency about how the banks are using this money. They have not provided any loan-level data to show which borrowers are receiving assistance.
Moreover, mortgage servicers have complete discretion over who receives help. Advocates fear the banks have been cherry-picking expensive loans that are deeply underwater to meet their settlement obligations quickly. This provides an important service for the borrowers in that category but little systematic relief for low- and moderate-income communities suffering the most from the foreclosure crisis.
The lack of loan transparency and the discretion vested in the banks also make it hard to ensure that settlement relief is keeping families in their homes. The last monitor’s report showed that more than half the “relief” cited by the banks came through roughly $13 billion worth of short-sale agreements ‑ in which a borrower sells his or her home for less than the value of the mortgage.
Short sales help borrowers resolve a foreclosure. But they do not keep families in their homes. The lender also profits more from a short sale than a foreclosure – hardly the kind of penalty commensurate with the settling of billions of dollars in legal claims.
Worse, there are anecdotal reports that banks are writing off worthless second liens without helping homeowners out of foreclosure with their primary lenders. The banks are taking credit for writing down billions of dollars in worthless second mortgages. But these write-offs won’t save a family’s home ‑ unless the primary loan is modified at the same time.
We need to do a better job of ensuring that future settlements ‑ and there are plenty of continuing investigations into the mortgage mess ‑ direct relief to the hardest-hit communities. Bank regulators at the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency have announced billion-dollar settlements to replace the botched Independent Foreclosure Review. They must pledge to do more to ensure consumer relief before letting lenders off the hook for improper foreclosures. Homeowner advocacy organizations like the Campaign for a Fair Settlement are pressing for such solutions.
Obama must also provide leadership. Last year he told the Democratic National Convention, “When a family can no longer be tricked into signing a mortgage they can’t afford, that family is protected, but so is the value of other people’s homes ‑ and so is the entire economy.”
He was right. Ending predatory lending, and lifting the hardest-hit communities up out of the foreclosure crisis, will help the entire nation.
It is time to fulfill that promise.
Source:
Activists Call for End to ‘Economic Racism’
The St. Louis American - March 12, 2014, by Rebecca Rivas - African-American residents are sick and tired of hearing about an economic recovery that does not apply to them, said Derek Laney, an...
The St. Louis American - March 12, 2014, by Rebecca Rivas - African-American residents are sick and tired of hearing about an economic recovery that does not apply to them, said Derek Laney, an organizer for Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment.
In St. Louis, the unemployment rates for the black community remains triple the rate of white residents, 14.1 percent for blacks compared to 5.7 percent for whites, he said. However, some economists claim that the economy is rapidly approaching full employment.
“Is there only one set of the population that matters?” Laney said. “And if they are all right, we’re all right? That’s something we can’t accept.”
On Thursday, March 5, activists attempted to ask James Bullard, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, those same questions. At noon, a coalition of community-based organizations, faith leaders, elected officials, labor unions and service organizations gathered in front of the St. Louis Fed in downtown St. Louis as a part of the national Fed Up Campaign (whatrecovery.org).
They pointed to a new report by the Center for Popular Democracy released this month that details the difficulties for African-American families to find living-wage employment. The report is titled, “Wall Street, Main Street, and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard: Why African Americans Must Not Be Left Out of the Federal Reserve’s Full-Employment Mandate.”
In response to the protest, a St. Louis Fed spokeswoman stated in an email to The St. Louis American: “We are aware of the protest at the St. Louis Fed and respect people’s right to protest peacefully.”
The coalition asked Bullard to prioritize full employment and rising wages for all communities. Laney said as the economy starts to recover, some are calling for the Fed to raise interest rates to prevent wages from rising – which would severely impact families still struggling to recover from the Great Recession. In mid-March, the St. Louis Fed and its leaders will meet to discuss policy. Laney said they hoped the action will help “shape those discussions.”
The report emphasizes that the Federal Reserve is responsible for keeping inflation stable, regulating the financial system and ensuring full employment.
“These mandates reflect the tension between the interests of Wall Street on the one hand and Main Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard on the other,” the report states. “As a general matter, corporate and finance executives want to limit wage growth – or, as they call it, ‘wage inflation’ – and to maximize their future profits from lending money.”
The report argues that in past decades, the Federal Reserve resolved this tension in favor of banks and corporations, intentionally limiting wage growth and keeping unemployment excessively high.
“The Fed’s policy choices over the past 35 years have led to increased inequality, stagnant or falling wages, and an American Dream that is inaccessible to tens of millions of families – particularly black families,” the report states.
Since the Ferguson movement began, many local and national leaders have emphasized the need to address the “structural racism” in the region.
“Economic racism cannot be delinked from racism by law enforcement and other governmental entities,” according to the coalition’s statement. “However, James Bullard has been silent on issues of economics and their impacts on communities of color in the region over the past seven months. Today, we are bringing these issues to his front door.”
Source
As debate heats up over interest rates, progressive movement mobilizes behind a pro-wages, racial equity agenda
Following the call, participants released the following statements:
Dawn O’Neal, teaching assistant and member of Rise Up Georgia:
Atlanta, Ga.
"When...
Following the call, participants released the following statements:
Dawn O’Neal, teaching assistant and member of Rise Up Georgia: Atlanta, Ga.
"When the Fed meets in Jackson Hole to discuss inflation, they will be almost 2,000 miles away from South DeKalb County. Here, the lines of people desperate for even a temporary job at the local work pool stretches around the block – those people include my husband. Together, despite our hard work and best efforts, we still struggle at the end of the month with health and household bills. That’s not just our story, but that of our neighbors and our community. For members of the Fed looking to slow down the economy, I’d invite them to come here to East Atlanta. It’s not easy to live here; for some people the economy means our very survival.”
Keesha Moore, intern, job seeker, and member of Action United: Philadelphia, Penn.
“I have been searching for employment for 7 months now. I am 36 years old and I have a family to provide for and a house to maintain. I know I’m not alone when saying that the way the economy is today my household needs dual income in order to maintain and stay afloat. In Philadelphia, mine is a story all too common: We need more jobs available and fair wages. I don’t think that people who do not live here or pay taxes here should be able to take our jobs away from us with the stroke of a pen. At Jackson Hole, we will remind them that our communities also deserve a say in this debate.”
Josh Bivens, Economic Policy Institute
“The recovery will never reach workers’ wages if the Federal Reserve prematurely slows the recovery. The Fed should at least keep short term rates low until we reach a genuine full recovery from the Great Recession. At a minimum, this means waiting until wage growth is consistent with the Fed’s overall inflation targets and the labor market is back to pre–Great Recession health. And since the pre-Great Recession labor market was likely not at genuine full-employment, we can probably be even more aggressive in that in letting unemployment decline.”
Ady Barkan, campaign director for the Fed Up at the Center for Popular Democracy
“Members of the Fed Up coalition across the country have rallied for a more inclusive Federal Reserve that prioritizes wages and promotes a recovery in all of our communities. Our members have shared their stories with regional Fed Presidents and informed them why raising the rates prematurely would be disastrous in our communities, where many are still mired in a Great Recession. In Jackson Hole, we will put a faces and stories within reach of the Federal Reserve. Before they can have a real discussion of raising interest rates and slowing the economy, they should understand first-hand who it would affect.”
The Fed Up campaign, anchored at the Center for Popular Democracy, will hold a number of teach-ins in Jackson Hole, Wyo. during the Federal Reserve’s symposium from August 27 to 29 to convey why it does not make sense to stop the recovery for America’s families. The teach-ins will be led by workers, economists, and Fed Up allies and will cover an array of topics like the Fed’s role in full employment, the intersection of Black Lives Matter and the Fed, the selection process for regional bank presidents, a historical look at inflation, and more.
###
The Center for Popular Democracy promotes equity, opportunity, and a dynamic democracy in partnership with innovative base-building organizations, organizing networks and alliances, and progressive unions across the country. CPD builds the strength and capacity of democratic organizations to envision and advance a pro-worker, pro-immigrant, racial justice agenda.
Kenny Leon on directing the Avengers-studded Our Town reading
Kenny Leon on directing the Avengers-studded Our Town reading
The one-night-only reading, which will benefit hurricane relief in Puerto Rico, takes place Monday night at the Fox Theatre.
...
The one-night-only reading, which will benefit hurricane relief in Puerto Rico, takes place Monday night at the Fox Theatre.
Read the full article here.
Lawmakers Split on Immigration Bill
Queens Chronicle - September 18, 2014, by Matthew Ern - Nearly three million undocumented immigrants could be granted amnesty if a controversial new bill is approved by the state Legislature and...
Queens Chronicle - September 18, 2014, by Matthew Ern - Nearly three million undocumented immigrants could be granted amnesty if a controversial new bill is approved by the state Legislature and signed into law.
The New York is Home Act would allow illegal aliens living in the state to apply for professional licenses, serve on juries, vote in local and state elections, and apply for driver’s licenses if they can prove they’ve been living in New York for at least three years and have paid taxes to the state.
The bill was introduced by state Sen. Gustavo Rivera (D-Bronx), although several other key Democratic lawmakers say they weren’t aware of it until the New York Post ran a story about it earlier this week. There is a companion bill in the state Assembly sponsored by Karim Camara (D-Brooklyn).
Several aspects of other pieces of legislation, like the DREAM Act, are included within the newly proposed bill. Such an all-or-nothing approach to immigration reform could potentially turn off some lawmakers and make the measure harder to pass than individual measures, like the driver’s licenses bill.
Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) said he takes issue with the fact that the bill would grant noncitizens the right to vote.
“Although I support the DREAM Act, I do not support many aspects of the New York is Home legislation such as allowing undocumented aliens the right to vote as well as other benefits reserved for American citizens,” Avella said.
For many officials, bills granting undocumented immigrants more specific rights must take priority over passing the New York is Home Act.
“As the sponsor of the New York DREAM Act, I am a firm supporter of expanding rights for all immigrants,” Assemblyman Fransisco Moya (D-Jackson Heights) said in a prepared statement. “My priority right now is making sure that the DREAM Act passes in 2015. The momentum behind the DREAM Act is building and almost all elected Democrats in the New York State Legislature now support it. Only once the DREAM Act is passed, can we begin to examine opportunities for additional rights expansions for New York’s immigrants through legislation such as the New York is Home bill.”
Assemblyman Bill Scarborough (D-Jamaica) said he is unsure if he could support all aspects of the New York is Home Act although he recognizes the need for some immigration reform.
“In general, we do need to help support these undocumented immigrants, especially the children who were brought here,” Scarborough said.
“My focus is on enacting the DREAM Act through either the budget or legislative process,” said state Sen. Jose Peralta (D-East Elmhurst), prime sponsor of both the DREAM Act and the bill that would allow undocumented New Yorkers the opportunity to obtain driver’s licenses.
“We came within two Senate votes of passing the DREAM Act a few months ago. The governor’s leadership and the support of editorial boards across the state have raised public awareness and understanding of the issue and generated the kind of momentum we’ll need come January to make the DREAM Act a reality in New York.”
Immigration rights groups Make the Road New York and the Center for Popular Democracy have come out in support of the bill.
“The bill really looks at the ways the state can take action to foster growth within immigrant communities,” Make the Road New York Lead Organizer Daniel Coates said. He argues that New York is home to many immigrants who contribute to the local economy and neighborhoods in a variety of ways and that the government should give back to them.
“Washington, DC has proven time and again that it’s incapable of any type of immigration action. States like New York with large immigrant populations need to step up and lead the national discussion,” Coates said.
Source: The Queens Chronicle
Activists Seek More Public Input in Fed President Picks
Wall Street Journal - December 11, 2014, by Pedro Nicolaci da Costa - A group of left-leaning activists is taking aim at the process for selecting the presidents of the Federal...
Wall Street Journal - December 11, 2014, by Pedro Nicolaci da Costa - A group of left-leaning activists is taking aim at the process for selecting the presidents of the Federal Reserve‘s 12 regional banks, saying it lacks sufficient transparency and public input.
Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser and Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher have announced they will retire next year and both district banks are conducting searches for successors. The two men have been critics of the central bank’s prolonged low-rates policies, saying they aren’t doing very much to boost employment or growth.
Federal law dictates the process for choosing the regional presidents. They are picked by a subset of the banks’ boards of directors, with approval from the Fed’s Washington-based board of governors. The regional bank boards include bankers, business executives and some community representatives, but directors from banks supervised by the Fed don’t have a vote in hiring the banks’ presidents.
Commercial banks that are members of the Fed system own the stock of their district’s reserve bank and elect most of its directors. Remaining directors are appointed by the Fed board in Washington.
The activist group, led by the Center for Popular Democracy, a national nonprofit organization, said it is in talks with the Dallas Fed about increasing transparency in its selection process and is planning a march in Philadelphia from Constitution Hall to the Philadelphia Fed on Monday. Members of the group plan to hold a press conference outside the regional Fed bank like the one they held in Washington in November, at which community members and leaders will tell some of their stories.
The appointments are “too important to be done behind closed doors, too important to be dominated by financial and corporate interests,” said Ady Barkan, a staff attorney at the center.
“We are concerned there is not going to be enough community and public engagement,” Mr. Barkan said. “Corporate and financial elites already have tremendous influence over monetary policy and interest rates. The Fed should also listen to the tens of millions of working families who are not experiencing a recovery.”
The Fed board, the Dallas Fed and the Philadelphia Fed declined to comment.
In response to the activists’ concerns, voiced during a conversation with Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen in November, the central bank has just published a new list of “frequently asked questions” about the regional president selection process.
Kendra Brooks, a member of Action United in Philadelphia, a community organizing group, said she and others have met with some officials at the Philadelphia Fed, but have yet to be granted a meeting they’ve requested with Mr. Plosser or received an answer to their offer to take top officials around local communities.
“We’re hoping we can push them a little harder about allowing a meeting or taking a tour of their communities,” said Ms. Brooks.
Her story is an all-too-familiar one in the Great Recession of 2007-09. Having lost a 15-year job as a program director at Easter Seals, a nonprofit that helps people with disabilities, Ms. Brooks, 42 years old, said it took her a year and a half to find work again—and she now makes just half what she used to. She also lost her home to a foreclosure.
Fed governors are appointed by the U.S. president, subject to Senate confirmation. They all are voting members of the central bank’s powerful policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee.
The New York Fed president is the vice chairman of the FOMC and a permanent voting member. The other 11 presidents vote on a rotating basis. The presidents run the regional Fed banks, which supervise the private banks in their districts. The presidents also move markets and influence Fed policy through their public remarks.
The center organized activists to appear at the Kansas City Fed’s exclusive annual conference in Jackson Hole, Wyo., in August. They argued the Fed should not start raising its benchmark short-term interest rate from near zero until the labor market improves more.
U.S. unemployment has fallen to 5.8%, historically elevated but much lower than postrecession peaks. Some policy makers worry that number masks pockets of weakness including a large number of workers who are only working part-time because they cannot find full time jobs.
Many investors and top Fed officials expect the first rate increase in the middle of next year.
Source
#Cville2DC marchers pledge to fight white supremacy in all its forms after 118-mile journey
#Cville2DC marchers pledge to fight white supremacy in all its forms after 118-mile journey
WASHINGTON — They kept a grueling pace.
More than 250 marchers completed a 118-mile journey from Charlottesville, Virginia, to the nation’s capital on Wednesday. A core group of faithful...
WASHINGTON — They kept a grueling pace.
More than 250 marchers completed a 118-mile journey from Charlottesville, Virginia, to the nation’s capital on Wednesday. A core group of faithful marchers walked a third of the length of Virginia, a former Confederate slave-holding state, to speak out against racial hatred.
Read the full article here.
New York Families Win $15 Minimum Wage
For Immediate Release
New York Families Win $15 Minimum Wage
Today, the New York Wage Board recommended a $15 minimum wage for fast food workers. In response the...
For Immediate Release
New York Families Win $15 Minimum Wage
Today, the New York Wage Board recommended a $15 minimum wage for fast food workers. In response the Center for Popular Democracy released the following statement:
“Today’s announcement is a testament to the strength of workers and community organizations committed to fight for what’s right,” said Tony Perlstein, co-director of campaigns at the Center for Popular Democracy. “Our communities are tearing down barriers that keep us from sustaining our families, and today we see the fruit of their labor. The fight for $15 is stronger, and workers limited to part-time jobs scored an important victory.”
“While today’s announcement benefits fast food workers, this moment belongs to everyone who mobilized to make this possible: the carwash workers, grocery store workers, retail workers, airport workers, recycling workers and many more. Their message was loud and clear: we are united for $15, part-time doesn’t pay, and we not stop until every worker has access to dignity and opportunity.”
“I am incredibly happy for fast food workers,” said Elva Meneses, a Laundry worker and New York Communities for Change member making $8.33/hr. “Their courage has inspired low-wage workers across New York. We are no longer afraid to stand up and fight for a living wage. The only thing I’m afraid of is to continue to be working full time and living in poverty. We hope that governor Cuomo doesn't forget about the rest of the low-wage workers and that we also win $15 in the near future.”
“Today’s victory happened because workers joined by the thousands to speak up at public hearings and rallies across the state,” said Paola Angel, a member of Make the Road New York. “We all deserve a fair chance to succeed, not a minimum wage that guarantees our continued poverty. Going forward, let there be no doubt: we will continue the Fight for $15 in Albany to ensure that all workers in all industries get a fair wage. This is be a critical step in a larger struggle for all of us.”
###
CPD works to create equity, opportunity and a dynamic democracy in partnership with high-impact base-building organizations, organizing alliances, and progressive unions. CPD strengthens our collective capacity to envision and win an innovative pro-worker, pro-immigrant, racial and economic justice agenda.
Labor Unions Will Be Smaller After Supreme Court Decision, but Maybe Not Weaker
Labor Unions Will Be Smaller After Supreme Court Decision, but Maybe Not Weaker
With the Supreme Court striking down laws that require government workers to pay union fees, one thing is clear: Most public-sector unions in more than 20 states with such laws are going to get...
With the Supreme Court striking down laws that require government workers to pay union fees, one thing is clear: Most public-sector unions in more than 20 states with such laws are going to get smaller and poorer in the coming years. Though it is difficult to predict with precision, experts and union officials say they could lose 10 percent to one-third of their members, or more, in the states affected, as conservative groups seek to persuade workers to drop out. Read the full article here.
JPMorgan boss: 'Trump is our pilot' even when we disagree
JPMorgan boss: 'Trump is our pilot' even when we disagree
Jamie Dimon, chairman and chief executive of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and one of the few big-bank bosses to keep his job after the Great Recession, will keep advising President Trump even when...
Jamie Dimon, chairman and chief executive of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and one of the few big-bank bosses to keep his job after the Great Recession, will keep advising President Trump even when they might disagree, Dimon told shareholders at the company's annual meeting at its Delaware Technology Center north of Wilmington.
"Trump is the pilot flying our airplane," and as "a patriot" Dimon will continue to serve on a Presidential advisory panel, even though he may not "agree with all his policies," he said during a shareholder question-and-answer session.
Read full article here.
1 hour ago
1 day ago