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US Treasury Cites Koch-Funded Research In Critique Of Consumer Protections 10/27/17👉 In a rare instance of one federal agency publicly attacking another, the U.S. Department of the Treasury issued an 18-page report 🤔 ibtimes.com/political-capi…

excoriating the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s proposed arbitration rule, which would prevent financial institutions from preventing class action lawsuits from customers via consumer contracts

In doing so, the department cited a paper co-authored by a George Mason University law professor who works for several campus centers heavily funded by the billionaire industrialist, free-market evangelist and far-right political donor Charles Koch.

Just one day after Treasury’s report was released, the Senate narrowly voted to strike down the rule, which took five years to create and would have gone into effect in 2018. Vice President Mike Pence, a close Koch ally, cast the deciding vote to break a Senate deadlock.

The House already voted down the arbitration rule this summer, and, as Trump is very likely to sign the bill, the rule will soon meet its end. That means corporations are free to force consumers into arbitration —

settling a dispute privately without the right to sue a company in court, participate in a class-action lawsuit or appeal.

Many of the lawmakers who voted down the arbitration rule have received boosts from the Kochs and their political network, both from direct campaign donations and independent election spending.

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