>> Americans are going to begin seeing the
$1,200 stimulus check in their bank accounts
this week.
That's only if they gave the IRS direct deposit
information when they filed their taxes.
Now, David Dayen over at American Prospect
has reported something pretty devastating
and disturbing about how banks can garnish
those stimulus checks in an effort to pay
debts that are owed by their customers.
The way that the stimulus bill was written
did not offer protections from the banks from
being able to do that.
So again, this is a scoop from the American
Prospect.
This is excellent reporting.
Keep in mind as we give you the details of
the story that the stimulus bill also known
as the CARES Act does offer 500 billion dollars
in bailouts for big corporations, but 450
billion of that money can be a leveraged into
$4.5 trillion.
So that's what the massive banks and the corporations
are gonna get, and then on top of that, they
can go ahead and take away what little crumbs
Congress gave us in this stimulus money.
So Dayen reports, the stimulus money may not
make it into the hands of those who need it
to pay bills, buy food or just survive amid
mass unemployment and widespread suffering.
Individuals might have to fend off their own
bank which has been given the power to seize
the $1,200 payment and use it to pay off outstanding
debt.
Congress did not exempt CARES Act payments
from private debt collection and the Treasury
Department has been reluctant to exempt them
through its rule making authority.
That means that individuals could see their
payments transferred from their hands into
the hands of their creditors, potentially
leaving them with nothing.
So I'll give you a potential scenario where
someone receiving this kind of money would
see it disappear from their bank account.
Lets say you're in a tight spot, you've been
in a tight spot.
We've been practicing social distancing for
quite some time now.
And maybe you were laid off and you weren't
able to pay your bills.
Many Americans actually do unfortunately rely
on over drafting money from their checkings
account.
So if this money, the stimulus money gets
transferred in to that same account that you've
done overdraft charges on well then the bank
can use that money to pay off your overdraft
charges.
It really is sick.
And the thing that's also frustrating is that
Congress, after writing this legislation the
way that they did, knowing that there wouldn't
be protections for the stimulus check, they
went to the Treasury Department and demanded
that the Treasury Department offer protections.
But the Treasury Department is run by Steve
Mnuchin, who absolutely did predatory maneuvers
in the housing market following the 2008 crash,
his bank One West Bank went ahead and did
fraudulent paperwork in order to foreclose
on people's homes.
So what makes anyone think, any lawmaker think
that Steve Mnuchin or the Treasury Department
under his watch would do anything to protect
average consumers, average Americans, and
prevent these big banks from taking that stimulus
money.
>> Yeah, it's like telling a shark, hey, watch
out, there's sharks in the water.
He's like, yeah, I know, I'm the one who put
them there.
I mean, he benefited from the worst kind of
deregulation for the banking industry.
He took advantage of that, crushed the little
guy, made money off of it.
What does our society do in a situation like
that?
We don't say, my God, what an embarrassment,
how shameful.
No, we celebrate him.
He made money!
He's so successful, wonderful.
And now he's the Treasury Secretary.
We put him in charge so that he can help other
bankers rip you off.
So Ana, my only problem with this story is
that I'm at near capacity on outrage.
I really am.
So all you're getting is $1,200 and without
asking you, that's the part that just.
All this talk from the Republicans of freedom,
yeah you know why I'm voting for a Republican,
liberty, freedom, right?
And we say all right, well, shouldn't you
have the freedom to decide what to do with
the money that you're getting because of this
coronavirus pandemic that's wiped all of us
out?
Nope, nope you shouldn't have freedom there.
The banks should be able to just take your
money without even asking you.
So congratulations, that's the freedom that
the Republican party just gave you.
To get robbed by the banks.
Cuz they're run by the banks.
>> Right, so I also just wanna mention some
of the Democratic lawmakers, like Sherrod
Brown for instance, Elizabeth Warren, are
urging the Treasury Department to write the
rules protecting consumers and average Americans
from having this money taken away from them
from creditors.
However, there have been a few Republican
lawmakers who have joined along with that.
But, look, I'm not giving anyone brownie points
for doing that.
The legislation was written in a way that
allowed for the banks to do this.
Why would you do that?
There was an easy way to prevent it from getting
to this point.
So as Dayen writes, the payments are defined
as tax credits and not federal benefits, making
them subject to garnishment, in which a debt
collector that wins a judgement in court can
seize anything of value held by the debtor.
Why did they write the legislation that way?
Why didn't they consider this a one-time federal
benefit so that money would be protected?
The whole point of the economic stimulus was
to help out, it was supposed to help out Americans
who have been laid off and they don't know
how they are gonna pay their bills.
Really the only good thing that came out of
that stimulus plan was the beefed up unemployment
benefits which I will admit are robust, but
the only problem with that is the unemployment
system is so overwhelmed right now that most
people can't even apply.
So people, again, average Americans, are completely
left unprotected, screwed over, and we're
having conversations about the $4.6 trillion
these massive corporations are gonna get in
bailouts.
This is insanity.
>> So Josh Hawley's a Republican senator from
Missouri, he's on the right side of this too.
We're more than happy to give credit to anyone
from any party or any wing of any party if
they're doing the right thing.
On the other hand injustice reigns supreme.
So almost all the Republican party is on the
wrong side of this, and most of the Democratic
party barely cares.
So yes credit to the folks who do care like
Sherrod Brown and others who are pressing
the point.
And there's way more Democrats pressing the
point than Republicans.
By the way another group of people who don't
care, mainstream media.
Are you ever gonna see this story on cable
news?
>> You know what, let me just say something
because when I heard it my jaw dropped, I
did not expect it.
Jake Tapper mentioned this story.
>> Wow!
>> Yeah, no Jake Tapper has these moments
of clarity every once in a while where I'm
like are you Jake Tapper?
What's going on?
He mentioned the American Prospect.
I'm like are you reading the American Prospect?
Good for you Jake Tapper.
I know, I mean this sounds like a backhanded
compliment and it is.
>> It is.
>> Cuz you don't expect that on cable news,
but I am grateful that it was mentioned because
this is something that not only Americans
should know about, they need to know how the
sausage is made, right?
So they need to know how this legislation
was written and how unbelievably unfair and
uneven the economic relief is when it comes
to the little guy versus the massive corporations.
>> In the old days I used to say that, as
much as Tapper frustrates me, he is from time-to-time
the best of those cable news anchors.
Cuz every once in a while he'll do a story
like this, and it'll be fair, it'll be smart.
And I say that despite the fact that he has
been terribly unfair to me personally, and
so it is what it is, I'm glad he did that
segment, we always give credit where credit
is due.
But The New York Times, the world etc, on
average mainstream media, they cover things
that affect the powerful.
Every once in a while they get a Pulitzer
Prize because they did one story a year about
the powerless.
And so the average guy is gonna get screwed
by the banks, but there's gonna be no outrage,
right?
And even so, even if they cover it, in their
ethos they're not allowed to have outrage.
They just have to report it neutral.
Some people think the banks should rob you,
and others think that they shouldn't rob you.
And we're not gonna call it robbery when they
take money from your account without your
permission, we're gonna call that garnishing.
And so it is up for debate, can't quite tell.
And anyway, but what's important is for you
to know who's doing this to you.
Yes, it's the banks that can do it to you
and now they've been given the power to do
it to you.
And soon we'll be reporting that they did
in fact do it to you.
That hasn't come yet, cuz the checks haven't
come yet.
But the people who made it possible, no question
about it, Donald Trump, Steve Mnuchin.
They're the ones who made this decision.
And so when Donald Trump told you he was a
populist he said, okay we gotta look out for
you, the average guy, blue collar workers.
I'm your guy, I'm gonna look out for you.
No, secretly he says, yeah the banks, rob
them blind.
What do you think I did?
How do you think I built my career?
Trump University, Trump Foundation, it's all
based on robbing the little guy.
So rob away.
Those banks are his donors, and his best friends.
He’s an elitist piece of crap who’s a
fake populist.
That’s who Trump is, and Mnuchin is just
his hatchet man who knows how to execute the
robbery better.
That’s why he was hired.
>> You know Cenk, you’re fake news, you’re
a phony, you’re a fake.
>> I’m going to take money out of your account.
>> Yeah, well, and by the way one other thing
to just to add insult to injury, banks have
made it much more difficult to apply for loans
and to refinance.
And one of the reasons why a lot of Americans
are looking to do that right now is because
interest rates are even lower.
And so the banks have been able to take advantage
of that, but now they're making it difficult
for people who wish to refinance so they pay
less interest on their loans.
It's just-
>> Yeah.
>> It's just digusting.
Anyway-
>> One last last thing about banks.
So look, the banks are facilitating the small
business loans from the CARES Act.
And they're doing a fine job at that because
they're getting paid a commission, so they're
motivated and incentivized to do that.
Nothing wrong with how they're executing that,
so far as I can tell, okay?
So we're always fair, and it's not like boo,
we hate all banks.
No, what's the bank doing?
And let's look at it program by program to
tell you if it's good or not good.
Now, on the other hand, every once in awhile
the right-wingers will say no, no we're giving
money to the banks cuz they're gonna facilitate
lending on their own.
It's gonna be easier credit.
That means you don't know anything about banks.
It's hilarious.
The bank's gonna be like I have free money.
I will give it to you in the middle of a crisis
where I am less sure about your financial
standing.
But out of the goodness of my heart, because
the government gave me money, I'll give you
easier credit.
That's not a thing.
Anybody thinks that's a thing is a total idiot
or obvious much more likely brazenly lying
to you.
