The Huffington Post
by: Preeti Vissa

You hardly hear anyone in the media — not to mention any of the presidential candidates — talking about it, but the foreclosure crisis isn’t even halfway over with. And a good portion of what you may have heard or read about it is wrong.

Those are the disturbing conclusions of a report from the Center for Responsible Lending that got far too little attention when it was released in November. It’s worth looking at as we celebrate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who recognized that legal equality doesn’t mean much if it isn’t linked to economic opportunity. CRL’s report, “Lost Ground, 2011,” paints a picture of devastation that has disproportionately affected America’s Asian American, Latino and African American communities.

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The Huffington Post
by: Alex Brant-Zawadzki

Former Supreme Court Justice John Brandeis said it best. When it comes to political skull-duggery, “Sunlight is the best disinfectant,” he said.

On Sunday, Jan. 8, 2011, the old guard of San Francisco politics gathered in the Latino Room of the San Francisco Main Library to bring more light into the state’s political processes by kick-starting the campaign to support AB 1148, the California DISCLOSE Act. Hosted by the California Clean Money Campaign, the event included representatives from nearly every progressive political group in the city, from the Harvey Milk LGBT Club to the Older Women’s League to the SF Green Party to Progressive Democrats of America. All have united to try to minimize the impacts of the Supreme Court’s recent Citizens United ruling.

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San Jose Merucury News
By Steve Johnson

Acknowledging they haven’t done enough to ensure companies such as PG&E operate safely, state regulators are considering major changes in the way they approve utility rate increases to reduce the chance of another catastrophe like the 2010 San Bruno natural gas explosion.

But the idea — due to be hashed out at a California Public Utilities Commission workshop on Wednesday — could wind up boosting customer bills, some consumer advocates fear. It could also force the agency to do more checking on how utilities spend the money they get.

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MEDIA ADVISORY

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

FRESNO – Federal healthcare reform is already beginning to affect California, but many Californians know little about the changes that are coming, a problem that The Greenlining Institute is hoping to remedy with the next in its statewide series of town hall meetings, scheduled for Jan. 18 in Fresno.

The event is the latest in a series of town halls that Greenlining has held around California, with an emphasis on the needs of communities of color and low-income Californians. Experts will provide information about the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and solicit input from audience members about their questions and concerns as well as suggestions for effective implementation of the law in California.

WHAT: Town Hall meeting regarding California implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

WHO: Alexis Dennis, Health Fellow, The Greenlining Institute; members of the public

WHERE: Chicano Youth Center, 1515 Divisadero Street, Fresno, CA 93721

WHEN: Wednesday, Jan. 18, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

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

New York Times
By Aaron Glantz

Los Angeles Daily News
by: Orson Aguilar

The controversy President Barack Obama set off Wednesday when he made a “recess appointment” of Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was as predictable as it was beside the point. What the Beltway talking heads missed, as usual, was how important this is for real people.

The pundit class and cable news shouting heads focused, as always, on the sniping between Republicans and Democrats over legal technicalities and the implications for the 2012 campaign.

A shocking number of news stories quoted only politicians and Capitol Hill staffers. Consumers got mostly left on the cutting-room floor.

Those of us who represent vulnerable communities know better. We’ve met the victims of the practices CFPB was created to protect.

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Advocates say Cordray brings strong pro-consumer credentials to this important job.

Salem-News.Com
by: Tim King

(SALEM) – “Today I’m appointing Richard as America’s consumer watchdog,” U.S. President Barack Obama said today at Cleveland, Ohio’s Shaker Heights High School.

Richard Cordray, an American politician, is the former Attorney General of Ohio. President Barack Obama announced he would nominate Cordray to lead the United States Consumer Financial Protection Bureau today.

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Campaign Kick-Offs This Weekend in Oakland, Palo Alto, San Francisco With State Legislators and Local Officials

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

SAN FRANCISCO – The Greenlining Institute today endorsed Assembly Bill 1148, the California DISCLOSE Act, to improve funder disclosure on political advertisements. Authored by Assemblymember Julia Brownley (D-Santa Monica) and sponsored by the California Clean Money Campaign, AB 1148 will require the largest funders of campaigns to be clearly identified in political advertisements. Wealthy special interests often fund political advertising while hiding behind deceptively named campaign committees. AB 1148 would require that top donors be listed by actual donor name.

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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

The Recorder
by: Cheryl Miller

SACRAMENTO — Screenwriters could hardly have scripted a better start for Kamala Harris’ first year as attorney general.

The San Francisco district attorney limped into office after barely surviving a bruising 2010 general election. But the state’s new top cop worked quickly to establish her tough-on-crime credentials by barnstorming the state to appear with law enforcement leaders and groups — many of whom backed her Republican opponent — and to highlight drug and gang busts aided by her own Department of Justice agents.

She reached out to consumer activists who felt slighted by then-Attorney General Jerry Brown’s more cautious, go-it-alone approach. She also reinvigorated her office’s legislative advocacy after her predecessor shunned the role.

And, of course, Harris made a name for herself in her office’s mortgage fraud investigations. Her decision in September to pull California from multistate settlement talks with banks earned her major kudos from consumer groups — and the national spotlight.

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