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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
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