Contact: Bruce Mirken, Greenlining Institute Media Relations Coordinator, 415-846-7758 (cell)

WASHINGTON – The Greenlining Institute today applauded President Obama’s expected recess appointment of Richard Cordray as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Greenlining Institute Executive Director Orson Aguilar commented:

“President Obama did absolutely the right thing, and the senators who blocked Mr. Cordray’s confirmation all year in an attempt to weaken protections for consumers should be ashamed of themselves. Creation of CFPB as a tough, independent consumer protection agency was best thing to come out of the financial crisis, and no one needs that protection more than the communities we represent. Communities of color got hammered by predatory and dishonest lending, and we’re relieved that the cop on the beat we’ve needed for so long is finally able to get to work.

“What’s been frustrating in all of this is that a majority of senators supported Cordray’s confirmation, but a minority was able to block the Senate from voting. It’s time for the Senate’s leadership to address the growing misuse of the filibuster. It is simply undemocratic to require a super-majority for everything, and it’s not what the framers of the constitution intended.”

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THE GREENLINING INSTITUTE
A Multi-Ethnic Public Policy, Research and Advocacy Institute
www.greenlining.org

Contact: Bruce Mirken, Greenlining Institute Media Relations Coordinator, 510-926-4022; 415-846-7758 (cell)

Greenlining Institute Asks: Will the Zynga “Grinch” Steal San Francisco’s Christmas After Whopping Tax Breaks?

SAN FRANCISCO – After receiving millions in tax breaks from the city of San Francisco and on the eve of the largest Internet company stock offering since Google, Zynga hasn’t followed through on its promise to invest its wealth back into San Francisco’s communities, The Greenlining Institute said today.  Over the summer Greenlining shined a light on high-tech tax avoidance in its report, Corporate America Untaxed: Tax Avoidance on the Rise.
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Contact: Bruce Mirken, Greenlining Institute Media Relations Coordinator, 510-926-4022; 415-846-7758 (cell);

Misperceptions About Economics, Health, Discrimination May Skew Politics, Fuel Conflicts

BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA – A new analysis of some of the most definitive survey data available, to be released Dec. 12, finds a huge gulf in perceptions between black and white Americans on a wide range of issues, a gulf that may be contributing to America’s increasingly divisive politics.

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Contact: Bruce Mirken, Greenlining Institute Media Relations Coordinator, 510-926-4022; 415-846-7758 (cell)

Advocates Call Filibuster Unjustified, Bad For Consumers

WASHINGTON – The Greenlining Institute, the group that sounded the alarm about the subprime meltdown years before it became a crisis, today renewed its call for the Senate to approve Richard Cordray as head of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. An attempt to bring the nomination to a vote could happen as soon as Thursday.
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Contact: Bruce Mirken, Greenlining Institute Media Relations Coordinator, 510-926-4022; 415-846-7758 (cell);

Stall Tactic With Regulators Would Be Damaging to All, Greenlining Institute Says

BERKELEY, CALIFORNA – Communities facing harm from AT&T’s proposed takeover of T-Mobile watched with concern over the Thanksgiving weekend as the company publicly sparred with the Federal Communications Commission over the implications of AT&T’s Thanksgiving morning withdrawal of its merger application, including whether the FCC can proceed with its administrative law case.

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Contact: Bruce Mirken, Greenlining Institute Media Relations Coordinator, 510-926-4022; 415-846-7758 (cell)

Committee Members Who Refused to Accept Bad Deal Deserve Applause, Greenlining Institute Says

WASHINGTON – Instead of hand-wringing over the supposed “failure” of the congressional deficit committee, ordinary Americans should applaud committee members who refused to make a bad deal, policy experts at The Greenlining Institute said today.

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Contact: Bruce Mirken, Greenlining Institute Media Relations Coordinator, 510-926-4022; 415-846-7758 (cell)

Goal Could Be Achieved Without Cutting Vital Programs; “No Deal Better Than a Bad Deal,” Greenlining Institute Says

WASHINGTON – Deadlock among members of the congressional “super committee,” indicated in several recent news reports, may actually be the best possible outcome, policy experts at The Greenlining Institute said today.

The committee, tasked with finding $1.2 trillion in deficit reductions over the next decade, has reportedly considered substantial cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and other vital programs but relatively little in the way of new tax revenues.

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Contact: Bruce Mirken, Greenlining Institute Media Relations Coordinator, 510-926-4022; 415-846-7758 (cell)

Health Benefit Exchange Board Must Aggressively Target Underserved Communities

BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA – Populations most in need of health insurance and critical to successful implementation of the Affordable Care Act could be left behind unless California’s Health Benefit Exchange board moves aggressively to reach them, The Greenlining Institute argues in a report to be released this Thursday and presented at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ fall meeting on Friday.

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Contact: Bruce Mirken, Greenlining Institute Media Relations Coordinator, 510-926-4022; 415-846-7758 (cell)

Feds to Require Independent Investigations, Compensation For Losses Due to Wrongdoing

WASHINGTON – In a move that offers a chance for relief to potentially millions of foreclosure victims, the Federal Reserve Board and Office of Comptroller of the Currency announced this week that they will require independent reviews of foreclosures that may have been mishandled by two dozen leading mortgage servicers. Borrowers whose primary residence was in foreclosure during 2009 or 2010 and who suffered financially due to “errors, misrepresentations, or other deficiencies,” can receive compensation for their losses, whether or not a foreclosure was actually completed.

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Contact: Bruce Mirken, Greenlining Institute Media Relations Coordinator, 510-926-4022; 415-846-7758 (cell)

New Commissioners Could Reinvigorate Investigation Into Proposed Acquisition of T-Mobile

WASHINGTON –The announcement of President Obama’s two nominees to the Federal Communications Commission provides an opportunity to accelerate the FCC’s investigation of AT&T’s proposed acquisition of T-Mobile, the Greenlining Institute said today, urging the commission to look closely at claims made by AT&T regarding the deal’s impact on jobs.
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