The proposed rules released by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) this morning marks a significant step towards protecting consumers of small-dollar credit products from unscrupulous and predatory practices that are responsible for compromising the financial well-being of millions of low- and moderate income borrowers. As a coalition committed to improving the opportunity for economic progress low‐ and moderate-income communities of color – The Asset Building Policy Network believes that vulnerable communities seeking to weather a short-term financial emergency should not be preyed upon, instead these communities should be provided with access to responsible and safe credit that does not put them into unwanted, long-term debt. The CFPB’s long-awaited proposed rules take an important, and much needed, step toward achieving...
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As the media sheds light on the senseless killing of one young black person after another, the inequities and structural barriers facing communities of color have come into sharp focus. Those events and countless others have served to remind the country of these challenges and have also reignited a much-needed conversation about racial equity, including the role public policy plays in social and economic outcomes for communities of color. With this in mind, the Asset Building Policy Network (ABPN) hosted a Capitol Hill Policy Forum last week that brought together a panel of local and national experts to discuss ways to close the racial wealth gap. As we noted in our recent infographic, the racial wealth gap we see today is responsible for the fact...
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In the aftermath of the Great Recession, the tragic loss of wealth, and the bailout of the big banks, our national government must continue to play a central role in the housing market to right previous wrongs, ensure access to all qualified borrowers, and keep the housing finance system afloat for future generations. The National Urban League’s Homebuyers’ Bill of Rights 2.0, proposed below, is a roadmap to help all Americans—with a targeted emphasis on African Americans and people of color—live the American Dream and attain wealth through homeownership. As president and CEO of the National Urban League, the nation’s largest historic civil rights and urban advocacy organization focused on economic empowerment, I lead a dynamic team of economic first...
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How much do you think the millionaires should get in public benefits to grow their wealth? If you answered less than $145,000…prepare to be disappointed. The Turn it Right-Side Up team is out with a new infographic using new data to illustrate just how much millionaires got from these upside-down tax programs compared to working families last year. Short version: this is how extraordinarily expensive and lopsided tax programs are actively growing wealth inequality every year. You’re helping end that. Good idea, unfair outcome. It’s not that these tax programs have bad overall goals. These tax programs are aimed at increasing savings and investments, boosting homeownership and higher education and strengthening retirement security. These are great goals—goals that we as...
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This article originally appeared on the Huffington Post. Most professional pundits have been stumped by the 2016 presidential primaries. The rise of a populist billionaire with no political experience as the leading Republican candidate and a democratic socialist as the main rival to Hillary Clinton has both the political establishment and the media establishment searching for answers. In my conversation with Algernon Austin, author of America is not Post-Racial: Xenophobia, Islamaphobia, Racism and the 44th President, we identified the racial and economic circumstances which has brought our nation to this point. In this discussion, Mr. Austin and I talked about how the election of President Obama did not bring forth a new era of harmonious relations between white Americans and...
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