Sen. Sanders’ and Rep. Ocasio-Cortez’s Plan to Protect Consumers and Restrict Wall Street Greed

S 54 and positive in 54321 Hello, everybody hi everyone and I am delighted to be here with Congresswoman Alexandria a Casio Cortez who is introducing the companion legislation in the House and here is the bottom line and what we're dealing with this issue today that gets nowhere near the kind of discussion that it means Some of you may have noticed that there was a federal Reserve report that came out just a few days ago and what it said is that the bottom half of the American people 50 percent of the American people have almost Role in wealth got nothing in the Bank so if you got nothing in the Bank and you're living paycheck to paycheck guess what happens if a kid get sick? Guess what happens if your car breaks down Guess what happens if you have any kind of an emergency you gotta go to the Bank you gotta get money. You gotta borrow money and the way people borrow money today is through their credit cards and now we have a situation and this He is not just an economic issue It is a moral issue where you have Wall Street and credit card companies charging people outrageously high interest rates when they are desperate and they need money to survive You know Alexandria. I suspect you know this, but every major religion on Earth Christianity, Judaism Islam has condemned usually That's right because it is really disgusting I mean I don't know a better word is if somebody is Desperate and you say desperate you need money to take care of your children to feed your family well. I'm gonna lend you money but it's gonna be an outrageously high interest rates. That's. What Wall Street has done so right now You're, looking at a medium credit median credit card interest rate now of over 20 -, one percent that means half of the American people actually paying more than that. So if You're earning 10 bucks an hour now y'all gonna funny to take care of your family you're Being 2225 percent interest rates and then on top of that, what is not widely this discuss you gotta may see as you go to calls You got any large Department store and they say Hey get our credit card Well, you get that credit card But you don't know is You're gonna be paying something like 27 percent interest rates on their credit That's 27 percent Now. How much do the banks borrow money at they borrow money from the Fed at two and a half percent And then they charge people 1820 25 percent interest and here's. What is even uglier the poor More desperate, you are the higher the interest rates on no what Alexandra and I are proposing in our legislation is something that is not complicated It just takes us back to where we were a number of years ago And that is that no Bank in this country should have credit card interest rates of over 15 percent. So bringing back the concept of usually laws where people can. I try it with banks cannot try to get blood out of a stone previously You had States like Alabama, the charge maximum eight percent, Vermont, 12 percent Many States had maximum amounts of interest rates that credit card companies can charge But as a result of the Marquette decision back in 1980, I think essentially that was notified and we're gonna. Bring that back last point that I wanna make a little bit over that Alexandria is that an additional crisis, but part of this whole situation is that many port People don't have access to banking services That's right because the big banks are not worried about somebody who you know mix 10 bucks, and now they, Can't make enough money off of that So we have got to move toward universal banking through the postal system You got post offices almost every community in America They should be available to provide basic banking services so that people do not have to go into payday lenders which is a whole other story figures he can Wall Street discussing think about paid Led this charging people hundred hundred and 50 percent interest rate, so this is an important issue we just put something up on a social media. The other day we got 1500 people who called in to talk about what these high interest rates are doing to their lives Millions of people are experiencing this So this is an issue we need your help on that we did in the House when you know Senate let's get involve this passes Center absolutely and I think that this is you know when we talk about coming together to solve our problems as a country This is one of the best ways that we can come together These predatory loans and high interest rates impact rule communities They impact urban communities like those that I represent and And It's Funny, because you would think that in a densely populated community, like the Bronx or like Jackson Heights, that you'd be able to have a Bank on every corner but we actually see is that in poor and lower income urban communities There are way fewer banks per capita. You know there's. A There was a study that showed in Compton. There was one thing for every 25000 people back in 2006 miles from Brookings, and so it shows that It's, not just Access to capital, but just the ability to go somewhere and cash a check it can be very difficult, whether you're in a very rural part of the country or even in certain urban neighborhoods and you know we talk about payday lending and in New York we were really lucky in that. We've We worked very hard to outlaw payday lending in the state But what happens when when everyday banks start to charge higher and higher interest rates Essentially your credit card A payday loan and this is not anything radical because we had these laws for a very long time in Red States, we have em in Blue States. We have them in half of the United States had usury laws until 1978 when they were repealed and ever since then It's given a blank check for credit card companies and for big banks to charge extortion level interest rates to the poor and Reason this is a moral issue is because we should not be using People's misfortune and using people's income status as a basis for extortion And as a basis for predatory lending 15 percent by the way is a lot 15 percent interest is a lot so you can run a Bank You can continue to be profitable but to charge 3040 percent interest rates is no lesson extortion. I heard I heard from constituents in my own district People have to take Loan is connected to our our horrible state of health care in our into Maine state of Health care in the United States that I was just hearing from a constituent who had to take out a $40000 loan to pay for his mother's cancer treatments And they gave him the Bank act him over a 20 percent interest rates so that he could pay for his mother's cancer treatment So what happens he was paying. This was back in 2006 He was paying them Come in completely on time eight hundred dollars a month he was paying on this $40000 loan to keep his mother alive and when the financial crisis it he lost his job He was struggling to make payments and without telling him they sold his loan off to a different debt servicer They sued him in court He got no notice for it and then it wasn't until his wages were getting garnished that he found out that there was a settlement for him to pay $53000 on a $40000 loan of which he had already paid 28 thousand the keep his mother allowed to keep his mother alive and that is legal It is common in the United States of America but it is not normal and it is not humane and I should add that this year people in the United States will pay a hundred and 22 billion dollars in credit card interest and that is a 50 percent increase in just five years. So what you have got payday lenders which is beyond belief I mean that is just disgraceful beyond imagination but you got all these The three piece suit and now the new loan shock a hoodlums that we used to see in the movie and I see the movies that has cap if you don't pay back what we are well I don't know that they break camp, but now we'll take your home That's right Maybe something even worse Maybe pull the plug on your mom who needs medical treatment so let's be clear about what we're talking about we're talking about economic brutality we're talking about some of the most powerful people in the world People who make millions and millions of dollars a year and banks that make billions of dollars a year in profit and they see a real Santa and going after desperate people who because wages have been stagnant for four years cannot afford the basic necessities of life So today we're telling Wall Street and the payday lenders that enough is enough to growth task and disgusting behavior is not acceptable in America and we're gonna change it And this is an issue that impacts millions of people all over this country and I think a lot of people don't even know if they go into a store and they buy a refrigerator They don't know that they're paying 26 percent victory You know it goes It just goes to Know that all of these issues are connected and it all comes back to our pocketbook When we see these these corporations like Sears or like we saw with the bankruptcy of toys. R Us is that these private equity groups are taking over these everyday retail companies and they stopping companies that are retail and they start being essentially finance companies So It's, not It's, not a a Department store that sells you a credit card. It's, a credit card company that loses you into a Department store and That's. What Going on, I look at it, but That's true in other words, a very significant percentage of the profits of many of these departments was not involved in selling you. The product they're, getting significant interest rates when you charge to buy that product and that is just quite amazing Alright well, she got well, so I think It's It's also important to connect the Justice piece to this as well because we look at how all of these things stack up and add up They concentrate in rural poor communities and an urban communities and communities of color as well When you look at mortgages communities of color tend to pay much higher interest rates on their mortgages, and we see that as James Baldwin As James Baldwin said It's expensive to be born it stay on that point for everybody. Know what what she meant by that and That's a profound point If You're wealthy you have good credit might be learning a good income you go to the Bank. You can borrow money at a lower rate of grocery store in your community by food that is healthy and good But too much wanna buy a call you buy low interest rates if you're poor what happens if you're poor your interest rates are much higher You live in a food dessert so your average head of lettuce or your average You know bit of spinach is much more expensive than it is in other communities And all in all over and over again, you just think about I remember when I was waitressing and I had a checking account now with a lot of these corporate checking accounts before I had pulled my money out and enjoying the nonprofit one A nonprofit think what happens is that you need to keep a minimum of save $1500 in your Bank account for all 30 days of the month so that you don't get charged $25 for them I have the privilege of holding your money and so you're paying 25 bucks a month, just to keep your money in a Bank account and the average American has so many Americans have less than a thousand dollars in savings So this we're talking about the majority of of people that have incurred a $25 a month. charge to just keep your money in a checking account we're talking about even if you try to avoid that charge and you take your check to a check cashing place which is very common here in in my community you take it to a check cashing place they're charging you 10 percent just a person Sometimes 610 percent to get church a cash a check It is expensive to be poor and if you Can't afford you know a year ago I Didn't have health insurance a year ago. I was paying for all of my medicine and cash and what you see over and over again as much as these pharmaceutical companies say, Oh, we have these waivers and things like that It's if either you're paying upfront or you're paying with your time with the amount of bureaucracy That's given to you in order for you to get a fair shake and I think that What makes us so radical as people like to call her idea? So radical is that we think that some things are just wrong to make a buck off of and It's wrong to make a buck off of people's vulnerable. Most vulnerable Let me repeat that again Alexandra gave one example, I can give them In this country, today people paying 80 -, eight billion dollars on interest rates because of health challenges. So we are the only country on Earth, not to guarantee health care to all people somebody a family ends up in the hospital. You have a very good example you come out of the hospital for A hundred thousand dollar Bill for working class person. How you gonna pay that you don't wanna see your crack destroyed you borrow money you borrow money. It was a bit of interest rates and you become absolutely that happier not but a significant part of your income paying off the interest rates. Meanwhile your wages remaining second. This is why we are living in a culture with a rich becoming much richer and so Shortly just trying to claw their way out of the desperation, they say this is part of a bloody problem right yeah and I know I know that taken on Wall Street trust me I'll. Do it for a few years These people have enormous political influence over the Republican Party over the Democratic Party over the media that this is not an issue that has been significantly discuss how often when you turn on the TV, you see decision. We never see it in issue that impacts people so much it impacts when it comes to health care or even in my district, I represent Wreckers Island which is one of the most Little Jails in America and in New York State, we still have cash bail So what happens if your 15 year old son gets picked up because he's accused of jumping a turn style because he, Can't afford a metro card or if your kid gets picked up because someone said that another young man of color who look like him had allegedly run off with a backpack Well If you cannot afford your bail you get them to writers and if you have to resort to a loan to Get to afford to bail out let's, say your husband, Who's Who's, a primary income earner or because we're talking about time spent away from work when you're thrown in jail So if you have to take a payday loan or take or go to a bail bondsman because cash bail is another system where really our entire court system is a system where Justice is purchase everybody You say this is what she said This is when you stop and you think about people that Can't go on this is Somebody in the family gets arrested and they are alternatives that they're gonna stay in jail awaiting their trial for an unknown period of time. Exactly alright. That's a hole. We got all others. We got the 20 percent of the American people today are in jail because they can't afford okay So Mike says. Well, I gotta get my husband out of jail So wish you gonna go to get the money borrow the money in an outrageous payday. Linda got a husband out of jail as she falls family falls further and further into poppy and Definitely, I mean what this comes down to is the issue of greed which is permeating every aspect of our society. It is Wall Street It is the drug company. So often the job companies 10 of EM, made 69 billion dollars in profit last day. But you Can't afford the medicine that you need It is the insurance companies that pay their Ceos outrageous compensation packages You Can't afford health insurance You know it is the fossil fuel industry making billions of dollars as they destroy the planet bonobos This is useful, but I think focusing on Wall Street for a thought they are in the Middle of everything You've got six financial institutions in this country of assets of equivalent of 54 percent of the murders there controlling trillions and trillions of balance Okay So I really do appreciate Alexandra and working with me on this section, we got a call attention to it most importantly from a political point of view we need millions of people to stand up and just say this is disgusting This is outrageous This is a moral it cannot be allowed to continue Yeah, no I'm just thankful to be able to move this in both the House and the Senate It can be very challenging sometimes to find to find working partners. And I think that what we're really doing is setting out a vision of what a moral America looks like and what a moral economy looks like and that we can be a prosperous nation We can be one where working people are paid enough to live where you are where you are Health needs are covered where you can work 40 hours a week and survive All of this is possible but we just have to fight for it and That's really what this is What this is None of these ideas are not radical ideas that exist in many cases in countries all over the world who in America thinks that desperate people should be forced to pay hundred percent 200 percent interest rates on the borrow money. Nobody believes them but you got a lot of powerful special interests here who have enormous influence Congress over the Senate and That's. Why we have what we have in our job is to rally the American people But what I'm not radical? I guess, but just ideas to deal with Justice and dignity That's. Why absolutely alright what do we got guys? We got some questions coming in a couple One is as how to fight back against the big banks and their lobbyists to oppose this when they start cutting back on Capital Hill and in the States So the question was how do we fight back against the extremely powerful financial services lobby and big big Bank lobby when when this bill hits Chris I think one big one is do not under especially for us here on on the House side Do not underestimate the power of calling your member. People say it over and over again It's almost like your dentist telling you to floss but I'm telling you I see it firsthand. You know members really do respond to pressure and so when you call your member and say, Hey where are you on this bill? Can you Co sponsor it I believe that this is right. Can you put that in there it's something that That's really important and we will put up information to help you lobby and advocate for it because sometimes your member will push back. We'll say Well if we if we cap it out at 15 percent than no no poor person will get a loan That's. Maybe what they will tell you But what we can then say is a We should have a non for profit public option for basic banking services and we should be piloting this project through the US Postal Service or Any other number of ways and and also it's just based on the basic principle that this should not be a profiteering aspect of the country. We've had these laws before credit unions abide by them and guess what they were one of the only ones that Didn't need a bail out in 2008 and they're doing very, very well look Bad things happen in Congress because politicians assume that people are not paying attention or not prepared to fight back on this issue, you know pull out there What do you think that Wall Street should charge people 30 percent interest rates I doubt very many people think that they fit but ain't. Nobody knows about it and be Nobody is now in an organized effort to resist that and fight back So I Alexandria is point is exactly right stand up Fight back Get on the phone call Get on the telephone start emailing you know Want to organize around a local Bank and say you know talk about the greed of that Bank you can do that as well let's call attention to this issue, and once we do a millions of people rally around it we can win this thing Remembers one credit card rates, constable for as low as five percent what happened and how can we get back to our States can do their own thing The question is that was once a time where if you live in Vermont or lift in Alabama lived any place There was a limit to what the credit card companies could charge an interest that we usually loss and that was done away with essentially in 1980 by a Supreme Court decision that said that Banks could hold charters in South Dakota or Delaware We have the word, no interest rates, so they all did that and then essentially all of the limits on interest rates but notified and we got to where we are right now So essentially what we are doing is going around that decision and and here's the point to be made. It's. Not just that. We think 15 percent is a low interest rate This will give States the opportunity to go even lower than that Okay absolutely well, I'm just glad that We've had the opportunity to push the needle forward, and I think that, that this is really what we need and we need to continue the charge on advancing the ideas that are gonna define Not just the the Democratic or Republican agenda, but really define the country and what I love about big and ambitious ideas whether It's this or whether It's the Green new deal is that it forces the Republicans to change their agenda too Because this is us going on offense and for example, right now it is no longer a politically A politically terrible position to deny climate change. We've got Mitch Mcconnell on the record for the first time, saying climate change is real and manmade, and now we're gonna, get Republicans on the record, saying extraordinary interest rates are wrong and that we gotta do something about it That's. What we're gonna get Republicans on the record to do I'm Sorry I mean these ideas are ideas to the overwhelming majority of the American people believe it so it's. Not that their radical. What is radical is that you have a Congress that is so far out of touch of Americans People argue that health care is a right not a radical idea Most people don't think so the idea that you don't charge outrageous interface not a radical idea The idea that we have to move boldly to address climate change Not a radical idea alright But these guys will continue to get away with murder unless people stand up and fight back So that's the message that we can win this thing let's go forward together on it alright See ya thank you bye