Protecting Banks: Today's News for October 25th

Axios:

Senate votes to nullify rule allowing class action suits against banks

The Senate has voted to nullify a rule allowing consumers join together to sue banks or credit card companies, with Vice President Pence breaking the tie. GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham and John Kennedy joined all 48 Democrats in voting no. The rule banned companies from using forced settlements in consumer disputes.

As the AP notes, the rule from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau "exposed banks to large class-action lawsuits. Supporters say that possibility would help ensure banks, credit card companies and other lenders treat consumers appropriately. The vote comes months after House action and reflects the effort of the Trump administration and congressional Republicans to undo regulations that the GOP argues harm the free market."

Allowing lawsuits harms the free market? Somebody needs to re-educate Republicans on what a free market is.

In other news...

New York Daily News:

Heather Lind accuses ex-Prez George H.W. Bush of sexual assault

An AMC actress claims that former President George H.W. Bush groped her from his wheelchair during a screening.

Heather Lind, who starred in “Turn: Washington’s Spies,” detailed her accusations in a lengthy Instagram post Tuesday, when she said she was “disturbed” after seeing a photo of President Obama with the 41st president.

“I found it disturbing because I recognize the respect ex-presidents are given for having served. And I feel pride and reverence toward many of the men in the photo. But when I got the chance to meet George H. W. Bush four years ago to promote a historical television show I was working on, he sexually assaulted me while I was posing for a similar photo,” Lind, 34, wrote.

“He didn’t shake my hand. He touched me from behind from his wheelchair with his wife Barbara Bush by his side. He told me a dirty joke. And then, all the while being photographed, touched me again. Barbara rolled her eyes as if to say ‘not again.’ His security guard told me I shouldn’t have stood next to him for the photo.”

...In a statement to the Daily News, the former President did not deny the allegations.

"President Bush would never — under any circumstance — intentionally cause anyone distress, and he most sincerely apologizes if his attempt at humor offended Ms. Lind," his spokesman said.

Really? He is going to use the "just kidding" excuse?

Didn't he use that excuse to justify new taxes?

Seriously, in other political news...

CNN:

Clinton campaign, DNC helped fund dossier research

Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee helped fund research that led to the now-infamous dossier of allegations about President Donald Trump and Russia, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.

The source said the law firm Perkins Coie, as part of its representation of the Clinton campaign and the DNC, retained the intelligence firm Fusion GPS and entered "into an engagement for research services that began in April 2016 and concluded before the election in early November."

The Washington Post was first to report the news Tuesday.

The newspaper, citing people familiar with the matter, said a lawyer representing the Clinton campaign and the DNC hired Fusion GPS, which in turn hired former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, whose research makes up the document. The Post said Perkins Coie lawyer Marc Elias retained the research firm in April 2016 as the GOP primary was winding down and Trump was increasingly likely to clinch his party's nomination.

CNN previously reported Fusion GPS's anti-Trump research was initially funded by anti-Trump Republicans during the GOP primaries, and Democrats began paying the research firm later on, after Trump became the presumptive nominee. The Washington Post reports that Fusion GPS hired Steele after the Democratic funding began and the general election picture grew clearer.

So let's get this straight: This false report wasn't generated by the U.S. government's intelligence community. It wasn't started or paid for by Republican opposition during the primaries. It WAS paid for by the DNC and the Clinton campaign JOINTLY.

It is crap like this that makes Trump look far better than he deserves. The Democrats have nobody but themselves to blame for the mess of the last election.