“We are dealing with issues that cannot be solved without the nation spending billions of dollars — and undergoing a radical redistribution of economic power.”
“Because conservative economics doesn’t actually work. It is a faith based program untethered from reality. The numbers don’t add up and it is destructive to societies.”
“I love how so many folks on one hand acknowledge the reality of deindustrialization — but on the other hand completely discount it as a factor for poverty. Imagine if we could only survive by fishing for our dinner — and one day they came and drained the lake.”
“Most American workers earn less today than they did 40 years ago, adjusted for inflation, not because they’re working less hard now but because they don’t have strong unions bargaining for them.”
“The technocratic class is unlikely to do anything of note for the working poor’s living standards unless they’re forced to.”
“They have been professors, in the military — they have had good businesses, some people have Master’s degrees.”
“According to one multicity study, in a single week, nearly two-thirds of low-wage workers had, on average, 15 percent of their pay stolen by their employers.”
“Poverty rates for tipped workers are three times higher than for their non-tipped counterparts.”
“Everybody gets the motivation to look up to the 1 percent and say I want become one of those people.”
“The underpaid women who clean our homes and offices, prepare and serve our meals, and care for our elderly — earning wages that do not provide enough to live on– are the true philanthropists of our society.”
“Top-heavy, ‘1% recovery’ occurred at major state universities across the country, largely at the expense of students and faculty.”
“Allowing students to refinance their loans would put money back in the pockets of people who invested in their education.”
“There really is a difference between ‘exterminate the Jews’ and ‘tax the rich,’ even though both are imperatives comprising a verb, a definite article, and a noun.”
“If wages aren’t rising, then there’s still a lot of labor market slack no matter what the headline unemployment numbers say. And right now, wages aren’t rising.”
“Our turnover is lower, we can hire the best, they stay longer, and we can grow them into management.”
“This notion that temporary unemployment benefits provide people a reason not to return to work really needs to end because it is not supported by the data.”
“Nearly one in seven Americans are currently being pursued by a debt collector, but most of the debts being sought aren’t even owed.”
“A Federal Trade Commission study found that nearly one in five, or 40 million consumers, have had an error on one of their credit reports. Of those, nearly 5 percent or 10 million consumers had errors that would likely lead them to paying more for interest on a loan.”
“Under a settlement with the FTC, the operators of Goldman Schwartz, Inc., are permanently banned from debt collection and company owner Gerald Wright must surrender all assets, valued at $550,000, to pay restitution to consumers who were charged unauthorized late and attorney fees.”
“The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced it ordered Bank of America and FIA Card Services to pay $727 million in relief to the 1.4 million consumers harmed by practices related to the company’s deceptive marketing of credit card add-on products such as identity theft protection and programs that are supposed to help cardholders who lose their jobs.”
“The real affluenza is the failure of the rich to appreciate that their special privileges – such as the privilege of operating under what is, from a practical perspective, a substantially different justice system than everyone else – must come at a price.”
“Keep in mind that this was the guy who handed hundreds of billions of dollars over to banks with basically no strings attached, suddenly worried about fairness when homeowners get a break on their mortgage payments.”
“We know Kinder Morgan is using every trick in the book to push this pipeline through our community, but this takes the cake … proposing that a spill would actually be good for the local economy.”
“Citgo reaped at least a $1 billion from the deadly storage tanks, but its victims will see none of that, thanks to this … ruling from U.S. District Judge John D. Rainey.”
“Altogether, people of color in the U.S. breathe air with 38 percent more nitrogen dioxide in it than their white counterparts, particularly due to power plants and exhaust from vehicles.”
“I was willing to put my life on the line in the second world war, so putting my body on the line here is a small inconvenience.”
“Essentially the entire plot of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 … could have been avoided if Max’s employer, Oscorp Industries, complied with even the most basic workplace health and safety standards.”
“From my own experience, the ACA is everything it’s supposed to be and, in fact, better than it’s made out to be.”
“People were appalled at Social Security. They were appalled at Medicare when it came out. I think these major changes take some people aback.”
“Something less than 20. I don’t know if that something less than 20 is seven, or some other number. But to build two new ones, you’re talking seven to nine years to deliver, if we all decided today that we could do it.”
“A Billings woman sued over a $500 internet loan in which she was paying 800% to 1,000% interest. Montana caps interest rates for small-dollar loans at 36%. Over a six-month period, the woman paid LoanPoint USA more than $2,100, but still owed the original principle.”
“The standard argument is consumers really need this thing and that’s not true.”
“Can the debt collection industry be so careless as to continually harass the wrong individuals? The more you learn about how debt collection works, the more you’re surprised that they ever find the right target in the first place.”
“As part of the 2010 banking reforms, debit card users are now required to opt in to overdraft protection, meaning you must give the bank permission to let you spend more money than you have in your account. And even if you do choose to get overdraft protection, you can still later choose to opt out if you’re worried about over-spending and subsequently running up sizable fees for each transaction that takes you below a $0 balance.”
“How To Tell The FCC Exactly What You Think About The Proposed Net Neutrality Rule”
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