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Maureen Dowd on "Goldmine" Sachs and Other "Virtuous Bankers? Really!?!"

By Ed Mierzwinski - 11/11/2009 Maureen Dowd of the New York Times acts as Everywoman as she expresses the views of the vast majority of Americans who aren't Wall Street bankers in her column Virtuous Bankers? Really!?! (LINK) today: "As many Americans continue to struggle, Goldman, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase, banks that took government bailout money after throwing the entire world into crisis, have said they will dish out $30 billion in bonuses — up 60 percent from last year. The saying used to be, whatever happens, the lawyers win. Now, it’s whatever happens, the bankers win...And as far as doing God’s work, I think the bankers who took government money and then gave out obscene bonuses are the same self-interested sorts Jesus threw out of the temple."

ATMs: Not So Safe, Hacking Indictment and Guilty Plea in Georgia

By Ed Mierzwinski - 11/11/2009 On the same day that she announced (LINK to release) that two Romanian men had pleaded guilty to using ATM machine skimming devices to clone ATM cards to rifle Atlanta-area ATMs for fast cash, acting U.S. attorney for the Northern district of Georgia Sally Quillian Yates also announced (links to Associated Press and Christian Science Monitor) that she had "cracked a sophisticated computer hacking ring that stole more than $9 million within 12 hours last November, securing indictments against eight people from Russia, Estonia and Moldova." As we have previously reported, using ATM machines with secret PINs is not necessarily safe and despite bank claims to the contrary, victims of PIN-based fraud have not been negligent, not when ATM owners are allowing their machines to be jerry-rigged by thieves or bank software is so weak that Russian and Moldavian hacker-gangsters can "reverse-engineer personal identification numbers from encrypted data on the network." (link to Wall Street Journal, quoting the indictment today). Our previous blog explaining ATM PIN cloning and skimming (LINK).

PIRG statement: Dodd financial reform bill

By Ed Mierzwinski - 11/10/2009 LINK TO FULL STATEMENT OF U.S. PIRG CONSUMER PROGRAM DIRECTOR ED MIERZWINSKI: WASHINGTON , Nov 10--“Today, Senate Banking Chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT) proposed a draft of a comprehensive financial reform bill that includes a strong stand-alone Consumer Financial Protection Agency. It’s a major step and we intend to work with him, Chairman Frank in the House and the President both to strengthen their bills and fend off pernicious special interest amendments to weaken or delay final passage. Incredibly, despite the collapse of our economy due to a financial regulatory system that failed, passage of final financial reform to protect consumers, small investors and taxpayers still faces a gauntlet of special-interest lobbyists looking for exceptions and loopholes.” LINK TO DODD'S RELEASE AND THE DISCUSSION DRAFT (Danger, Will Robinson! 1,138 Page pdf!)

Dodd to introduce financial reform package today

By Ed Mierzwinski - 11/10/2009 Chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT) of the Senate Banking Committee has scheduled a noon news conference today to release his financial reform package. We expect that the bill will include a robust Consumer Financial Protection Agency. It will also likely establish a single federal financial regulator -- rolling together the rest of the regulators. However, it will not give the Federal Reserve more authority over systemic risk but pass that to a new risk council. Although ranking Republican Richard Shelby (R-AL) is against a stand-alone CFPA at this time; he stands with Dodd against giving the Fed more authority. Dodd has postponed his hearing on overdraft fees until next Tuesday LINK).

12 child fingertip amputations result in stroller recall

By Ed Mierzwinski - 11/10/2009 The CPSC and McLaren Strollers have recalled one million strollers (LINK) after "12 reports of fingertip amputations in the United States." Why did they need the extra 11? One wasn't too many? It will be interesting to see why it took so many incidents, since the law requires prompt reporting to the CPSC when a manufacturer learns of an injury due to a product hazard. "The stroller’s hinge mechanism poses a fingertip amputation and laceration hazard to the child when the consumer is unfolding/opening the stroller." Oh, the strollers were not cheap ($100-360), but were manufactured in...China.

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Ed Mierzwinski
U.S. PIRG Consumer Program Director
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