Tag: Protecting Consumers, Taxpayers, and the Economy

Merkley: New Credit Card Law Victory for Consumers

Washington, DC – President Barack Obama today signed into law major reform legislation to curtail the abuses and deceptive practices of the credit card companies.  Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley, a co-sponsor of the Senate legislation and member of the Senate Banking Committee, attended the Rose Garden signing ceremony and issued

Merkley bill targets tobacco candy

WASHINGTON — Legislation the Senate is considering to regulate tobacco products under the Food and Drug Administration includes a measure that would mandate the study of a new product: tobacco candy. Made by the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., the lozenge-like Camel Orb is being test-marketed in Portland, Ore., Indianapolis

Merkley Joins Obama at Signing Ceremony of Housing Bill

  Washington, DC – Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley today joined President Barack Obama at the White House signing ceremony of legislation to address the mortgage crisis and assist families facing foreclosure.  This week, Merkley also launched a new webpage aimed at helping families stay in their homes. “The housing crisis

Merkley: Credit Card Reform On the Way

The U.S. Senate passed the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 today by a vote of 90 to 5.  Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley was an original co-sponsor of the bill and urged the White House to support strong protections for consumers. “Today’s vote in favor of credit

Merkley’s Bid to Rein in Credit Card Practices

When Jeff Merkley went down to Salem, as a junior member of the Oregon House minority, he found there was one subject he couldn’t touch even if he someday happened to become House speaker. “I tried to write a bill in Oregon,” he remembers, “and was told that states could

Merkley Introduces Two Bills to Promote Mortgage Transparency and Protect Homeowners

Washington, DC – Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley today introduced two pieces of legislation designed to protect homeowners from deceptive, unfair lending practices. The Transparency for Homeowners Act ends secret steering payments to brokers who lead homeowners into deceptive mortgages that they cannot afford over the long term. The Promoting Mortgage

Merkley Applauds Obama Endorsement of Credit Card Legislation

Washington, DC – President Barack Obama today met with executives of credit card companies and expressed his support for congressional efforts to strengthen credit card reforms through legislation.  Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley, a member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Development Committee, wrote to the White House earlier this

Merkley Calls for Swift Action to Address Record Foreclosures

Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley released the following statement Thursday regarding the announcement that the number of families getting a foreclosure notice in the mail is at its highest level in American history: “The already dismal foreclosure crisis in America is getting dramatically worse.  “The core of the

Fixing the damage to the American dream

There is nothing that characterizes the American dream better than owning your own home. Unfortunately, instead of strengthening homeownership as part of the American dream, we’ve allowed it to turn into the American nightmare. As a result, we’ve deeply damaged the foundations of Main Street and Wall Street. On Main

Merkley gives first speech in Senate

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., put the blame for the current housing crisis squarely on a failure of federal regulators in his first speech on the Senate floor Wednesday. “This fiasco is first and foremost the consequence of colossal regulatory failure,” said Merkley, tracing the history of deregulation

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