But BARNEY FRANK, whom bigots and other ignorant parent-fuckers love
to hate, is as usual on the side of consumers.

Like it, or him, or not, Repug losers!

-----------------
"Frank says overdraft protection should be 'opt-in'"

By Jeff Plungis
Sunday, November 1, 2009

Bank overdraft fees as high as $39 on debit card transactions aren't
"favors" for consumers if they haven't asked for them, House Financial
Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank said.

"We wouldn't be in a situation where we're considering legislation if
you would have had an opt-in regime from the beginning," said Frank (D-
Mass.), addressing the banking industry at a hearing in Washington on
Friday. "Don't do people favors without asking them."

Overdraft programs allow consumers to make purchases even if there's
not enough money in their accounts. Lawmakers have criticized banks
for enrolling customers in the programs, and charging fees, without
their consent.

Legislation under consideration in the House would prohibit financial
companies from levying more than one overdraft fee per month or six
per year, according to Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), who sponsored
the bill.

"It's not simply a question of how much money it is," Frank said.
"It's a sense that people's integrity and autonomy have been impaired
when you do this to them, and then you tell them you did it for them."

The House bill would make overdraft fees subject to the Truth in
Lending Act, requiring consumers' permission before enrolling them,
according a statement from Maloney. It would prohibit rearranging the
order in which transactions are posted, which can trigger an
overdraft. And it would require fees to be in proportion to the amount
overdrawn, so a $5 cup of coffee will not have a $35 fee, the
statement said.
Bills before both houses

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.)
introduced similar overdraft-fee legislation Oct. 19, saying that
"banks should not be trying to bolster their profits at the expense of
their customers."

Overdraft programs "maximize fees while jeopardizing the financial
stability" of customers, said Jean Ann Fox, director of financial
services at the Consumer Federation of America. Consumers don't apply
for them, and they're not warned at the point of sale when they're
about to incur a fee, Fox said. The median fee at the largest U.S.
banks is $35, Fox said.

"Rather than competing by offering lower costs and truly beneficial
overdraft products and services, many financial institutions are
hiding behind a smokescreen of misleading terms and opaque practices
that promote costly overdrafts," Fox said.

Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) said he avoided overdraft fees with a
credit line and asked if many of the problems could be eased with
consumer education.

Ending overdraft protection and letting checks bounce would lead to
"infinitely worse" consequences for people who don't have sufficient
funds, Bachus said.

"I'm not sure people appreciate that," Bachus said. "For people short
on cash, it can land them in jail."

Fees related to overdrawn U.S. accounts may rise to $38.5 billion this
year from $36.7 billion in 2008, according to research firm Moebs
Services Inc. in Lake Bluff, Illinois.
Bankers group objects

The legislation would require retooling that would raise the cost of
checking accounts, said Nessa Feddis, vice president and senior
counsel at the American Bankers Association in Washington.

Consumers have come to expect payments to go through to "avoid
embarrassment and inconvenience," Feddis told the committee. Most
consumers can easily avoid the fees by keeping track of their
balances, she said.

Customers are shifting to debit transactions from credit cards as
credit lines have been lowered and banks have closed inactive
accounts. Debit cards will be used in 60.2 percent of purchases in
2010, or about $40 billion, up from 58.2 percent in 2008, according to
the Nilson Report, an industry newsletter in Carpinteria, Calif.

Banks are relying more than ever on overdraft-fee revenue, said Eric
Halperin, Washington director for the Center for Responsible Lending.
The average overdraft fee was $29 in 2007, up from $16.50 in 1997,
Halperin said. In 2004, about 80 percent of banks denied debit card
transactions for insufficient funds. Now, 80 percent approve the
purchases and charge a fee, he said.

Overdraft protection in its current form "is neither a courtesy nor a
privilege," said Jim Blaine, chief executive officer of the State
Employees' Credit Union of North Carolina.

"It is a loan -- a very, very expensive loan," Blaine said at the
hearing. "Despite claims by proponents to the contrary, overdraft
protection is never the best nor the fairest choice for an account
holder."

-- Bloomberg News

[Alexis Leondis and Peter Eichenbaum in New York contributed to this
report.]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/30/AR200...

Here are the details of why the bankers need to be corralled
into a pen.

http://tinyurl.com/kodpet

"Life" expectancy in the U.S. was 43, largely because TB was the AIDS
of that era.

The good ol' days, eh?

"Life" expectancy in the U.S. was 43, largely because TB was the AIDS
of that era.
---TB I agree , aunt had that in early1900s  but
AIDS known in the 60s don't think so:  believe it came to light in the early
80s
up here in Maine, but than, Maine is 20 years behind everyone else.

The good ol' days, eh?

 - Don Klipstein (d...@misty.com)