Thread by @fawfulfan

THREAD:

If you’re not shaking with fury about the @SenateGOP’s vote to kill the #ForcedArbitration rule, let me tell you why you should be.

1/ Forced arbitration is one of the most anti-consumer clauses you can find in a financial contract. It’s called #RipoffClause for a reason.

2/ Effectively, it means you sign away your right to sue that company, or join a class action, if they in some way injure or defraud you.

3/ Usually these clauses are totally one-sided. The company can sue YOU if you do something they don’t like. You just can’t sue THEM.

4/ Instead you have to go before a private “arbitrator” that the company itself gets to appoint. No conflict of interest here, right?

5/ You might not even get that. Some arbitration clauses force you to go to another city for the hearing, which for poor ppl is impossible.

6/ This is all a blatant violation of the Seventh Amendment, which guarantees the right to a civil jury trial in suits of common law.

7/ If you’re wondering “well why the hell is it legal then?” because the right-wing Supreme Court decided it is. latimes.com/business/la-na…

8/ Basically, SCOTUS thinks that giant corporations economically forcing poor people to waive a constitutional right is perfectly fine.

9/ Now, President Obama did everything he could to limit this practice via executive actions. But Trump has been rolling them back.

10/ In August, he eliminated a rule that bans nursing homes from forced arbitration if seniors are hurt or abused. npr.org/2017/08/21/544…

11/ But the biggest arena for forced arbitration is the financial industry. Banks, credit bureaus, and card issuers use it ALL THE TIME.

12/ This industry systematically commits fraud against servicemembers & vets, and forced arbitration protects them. nclc.org/images/pdf/arb…

13/ There are too many recent examples to count of large financial companies defrauding the public. Take Wells Fargo’s fake account scam.

14/ Wells Fargo opened millions of fake accounts in real ppl’s names, hitting them with illegal fees & autodrafts. fortune.com/2017/08/31/wel…

15/ Or here’s an even more outrageous one: after Equifax lost critical info of 145 million Americans to hackers, they tried to impose...

16/ ...forced arbitration on anyone who buys their fraud protection services. Only backed off after public outrage. articles.cleveland.com/business/index…

17/ It’s in this climate that @CFPB, which still has an Obama-appointed head, issued rules in July ending arbitration for financial corps.

18/ Every single consumer group supported these rules. Veteran groups supported them. Small community banks supported them.

19/ And get this: AFF, a group funded by the Koch brothers, did a poll and found 67% of Americans and 64% of REPUBLICANS supported the rule.

20/ Last night, @SenateGOP voted to repeal it.

21/ @SenateMajLdr held the vote at night. In the middle of the World Series. They brought @VP in to cast a tiebreaking vote.

22/ If you’re one of those people lavishing praise on @SenBobCorker and @JeffFlake: they voted yes.

So did McCain. Collins, and Murkowski.

23/ Why did they do it? It’s not just because big bank lobbyists are powerful, although of course they are. There’s one other reason.

24/ All the Republicans who bothered to stand up and defend this vote (which wasn’t many) kept saying the same words: “trial lawyers”.

25/ Republicans hate trial lawyers. Because they tend to support Democrats.

This vote was about cutting off their opponents’ donors.

26/ So let’s recap. First, a broadly popular financial regulator protects Americans’ constitutional right to sue in a court of law.

27/ Then, @SenateGOP kills that rule, screwing over scammed veterans & ID theft victims, because they want to starve trial lawyers of money.

28/ Oh, one last reminder: a majority of voters in 2016 did not vote for either Trump or @SenateGOP.

America sure is great again, huh?

END