Over the last few days the one and only thing that has gotten coverage from Cable and Network news is the NAACP/Tea Party/Shirley Sherrod/Breitbart controversy. In the midst of the hullabaloo something happened---you might have noticed it yourself if you were watching C-SPAN or cruising on HuffPost. Congress passed Wall Street Reform.
Yeah.
It is kind of a Big F*cking Deal (Love ya' Joe).
So I thought I might fill you in.
Over the fold---
Now that Wall Street Reform has passed, you might ask
"What does it mean for me?"
If you ask this to John Boner he might tell you
"EVERYONE IS DEAD!!!!!"
And if you ask someone like progressive David Sirota, you will get something like this:
But remember what Spinal Tap taught us: Just because the music is played at 11, doesn't mean it's good -- nor does it mean it's even music. It's the same axiom when it comes to legislative "reform" -- the volume of the celebration doesn't mean it's good, nor does it mean it's even "reform." In fact, it quite often means exactly the opposite -- volume is used to obscure, rather than amplify, a subpar product.
But the White House has now come out with a video explaining what exactly the Reform means for people like you and me (and maybe even Sarah Palin).
It is described as "A quick and simple animated explanation of how Wall Street Reform will work and what the strongest consumer protections in history will mean for you and your family."
(If you need a transcript...click on the video...it is available on Youtube).
Also, the White House has provided a "Top Ten" You might not know about what is in Wall Street Reform:
The Top 10 Things You May Not Know About the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act
Here are 10 aspects of the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act you may not know about -- the online attention-deficit version.
- Stronger protections for consumers against unfair credit card practices like rate hikes for existing credit card balances.
- Mortgage brokers will be prohibited from making higher commissions by selling mortgages they know consumers can’t afford.
- Free annual credit scores so people can stay on top of their finances. [Clarification: free credit scores are available if you receive worse terms on a loan because of something on your credit report, or if you are rejected.]
- No more taxpayer-funded bailouts. If a company can’t make it, it will have to liquidate.
- Greater input by company shareholders over how much a CEO gets paid. And companies’ compensation boards are now required to be truly independent.
- Brokers who offer investment advice will have to act in the best interests of their customers, not their own financial interests.
- Financial firms won't be allowed to grow so large that if one fails, it will affect the entire financial system.
- There will be one agency whose sole job is to make sure that consumers get the protections they deserve and to set clear rules to hold banks, mortgage companies, payday lenders, and credit card lenders accountable.
- Businesses can't be charged extra fees for debit card "swipe fees" that exceed the cost of processing transactions.
- You can learn plenty more here at WhiteHouse,gov or at financialstability.gov
Your welcome CNN, MSNBC..etc...