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Washington DC – U.S.
Representative G.K. Butterfield delivered the weekly Congressional Black
Caucus (CBC) “Message to America” radio address Saturday, November 18.
Representative
Butterfield delivered the following remarks:
Hello, this
Congressman G.K. Butterfield from North Carolina First District speaking
to you on behalf of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Last week, America
voted to move our country in a new direction. Far too many Americans
are being left behind.
Corporate profits
are reaching record highs, but tens of millions of Americans find
themselves without decent paying hobs or basic health care. Budget
cutes for low-income housing, education, Medicaid, nutrition programs
and a slew of effective anti-poverty initiatives are also harming those
most vulnerable tin our society.
Even worse, current
policies allow unscrupulous companies to prey on the poor. Substandard
minimum wage, predatory credit and lending practices are providing
unchecked opportunities for these companies to build their fortunes on
poverty.
For example, it’s estimated that banks collect more than $10 billion in
fees for overdraft loans annually and much of that is collected from
low-income account holders. It’s a system of fees and short-term loans
that translate into annual interest rates which too often reach well
over one thousand percent. And, many consumers are often enrolled in
these high cost programs without consent.
It’s also estimated that abusive home lending practices are costing U.S.
consumer $9.1 billion annually. Other practices include everything form
high-cost lending to rent-to-own stores that charge two to three times
the retail cost of appliances, electronics and furniture. Other dubious
practices include tax refund anticipation loans, payday lending and
automobile title loans.
Regrettably, there are huge numbers of low-income Americans ripe for
unscrupulous companies to target. According to the U.S. Census Bureau,
more than 37 million Americans live in poverty, including 13 million
children and nearly 25 percent of all African Americans.
America is the
richest and most powerful nation on earth, but nearly a fifth of its
children go to bed hungry at night because their parents, many of whom
are working full time at minimum wage, still can’t make ends meet. And
when the ends fail to meet neat the end of the month, there is no
shortage of people willing to prey and profit on this desperate
population.
There are state
regulations and federal bills aimed at addressing some of these
problems, but many of these issues can and should be resolved with
stricter enforcement f existing federal laws.
In addition to the
needed enforcement, there must also be increased support for financial
literacy, credit counseling, community development and savings programs
for low-income people.
Anything short of
this is a failure of our government to live up to its responsibility to
protect our most vulnerable citizens. And, those who shrink from their
responsibility also become willing and unconscionable partners in the
practice of profiting on poverty.
As Congress moves forward under new leadership, it must move forward to
end the practice of practice of profiting on poverty.
This is Congressman
G.K. Butterfield for the Congressional Black Caucus. God Bless.
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