Lets ensure that Forced Arbitration does not fall off the radar!
As previously announced, the Senate Judiciary Committee will be holding a hearing on the Arbitration Fairness Act next Thursday October 13th at 2pm in Dirksen 226.  Democratic witnesses include NACA Member Paul Bland, Minnesota AG Lori Swanson and consumer witness, Dr. Deborah Pierce. Republican Witnesses will include: Christopher Drahozel (click here to see his take on Concepcion and the Arbitration Fairness Act) and Victor Schwartz.

'Crony capitalism' draws attention in GOP race
The TRCC, however, had at least one friend who mattered: Houston home builder Bob Perry, who has given Gov. Rick Perry more than $2.5 million during his tenure in office. An advocate for the agency from its creation in 2003 until it closed its doors in 2010, the home builder's imprimatur was significant. His lobbyists played a key role in its inception; his company's general counsel, John Krugh, was appointed to serve on the commission by Gov. Perry, no relation to Bob Perry, one month after the home builder gave a $100,000 campaign contribution to the governor.

Crony Capitalism: The Republican Governors Association in the Perry Years
As Texas Governor Rick Perry’s influence at the RGA increased over the past five years the political finances of both the governor and the Governors Association skyrocketed. The RGA raised a record $216.9 million during the Perry years between January 2006 and June 30, 2011. A remarkable 32 percent of this money ($68.7 million) came from just 139 crossover donors who also gave $13.7 million to Perry’s gubernatorial campaigns. Scattered through the ranks of these donors are gubernatorial appointees, state-regulated businesses and businesses with state-conferred monopolies, taxpayer grants or contracts.
Read the Crony Capitalism report.

Medina highlights questions of money and influence in Capitol
Piggybacking off the national attention being paid to Gov. Rick Perry’s 2007 vaccine mandate and his ties to the vaccine-maker’s lobbyist, former Republican gubernatorial candidate Debra Medina and other advocates sought to shine the spotlight back on the Texas Capitol. ...They also highlighted the influence of homebuilder Bob Perry, who is one of Perry’s top campaign contributors. “It says something is wrong when one person can buy their own state agency and run it,” said Janet Ahmad, president of HomeOwners for Better Building, referring to the now-defunct Texas Residential Construction Commission that was created in 2003.

Medina, Activists Take Aim at Rick Perry at Capitol
Former gubernatorial candidate and Tea Party favorite Debra Medina and other activists slammed what they called a culture of crony capitalism in Texas politics at a Capitol press conference on Thursday — taking aim at Gov. Rick Perry... At Thursday's press conference, large donations made to Perry's campaign by homebuilder Bob Perry (no relation) also took center stage. Janet Ahmad, president of Homeowners for Better Building, said that Bob Perry’s campaign donations resulted in the formation of the now-defunct Texas Residential Construction Commission in 2003, an agency plagued by allegations that it protected homebuilders at the expense of homebuyers. â€œThe resulting agency was so anti-consumer and industry protective that that the Texas Legislature recently abolished it,” Ahmad said. “Meanwhile Bob Perry’s political contributions have become the hallmark of influence for Texas policy.” 

Medina calls Perry a 'capital crony'
An old foe is lashing out at Gov. Rick Perry, as he continues his campaign for president. Debra Medina - a GOP opponent in 2011's gubernatorial race - and a handful of tea party activists pointed out what they call “crony capitalism” formed under Perry's reign in Texas. ...“We want to take the opportunity and say it's not an HPV mandate but across all areas of public policy in Texas we've seen those sorts of practices,” Medina said. "We do all we can to inform the public about what's going on politically.”... "The stagnant economy is a predictable outcome of government picking winners and losers in businesses and industries that they will favor," Medina said.

Texas tea partiers decry state 'crony capitalism'
Gov. Rick Perry's run for president is putting a national spotlight on a culture of "crony capitalism" he and the Republican-dominated state Legislature built in Texas, a small group of tea party activists charged Thursday.  Janet Ahmad, president of Homeowners for Better Building, complained that homebuilder Bob Perry _ who is not related to the governor but has contributed $14 million to Perry and the Republican Governor's Association _ effectively purchased his own state agency, the Texas Residential Construction Commission, in 2003.

Former gubernatorial challenger Medina takes aim at Perry ‘cronyism’
Janet Ahmad, president of Homeowners for Better Building, said that Bob Perry’s campaign donations resulted in the formation of the now-defunct Texas Residential Construction Commission in 2003, an agency plagued by allegations that it protected homebuilders at the expense of homebuyers. “The resulting agency was so anti-consumer and industry protective that that the Texas Legislature recently abolished it,” Ahmad said. “Meanwhile Bob Perry’s political contributions have become the hallmark of influence for Texas policy.”

Editorial: Bold move to hold banks accountable
Just as Americans kicked off the long Labor Day weekend, a little-known federal agency took a bold step to hold the banking industry -- including individual executives -- accountable for the mortgage meltdown still plaguing the nation's ailing economy. The lawsuit against JP Morgan, for example, names 38 individual defendants. Twelve execs are named in the Bank of America suit, while seven merit a mention in the Morgan Stanley filing. The lawsuits allege that these individuals, most of whom are not well-known but still work in this highly paid industry, signed off or were responsible for providing misleading information... FHFA's gutsy move won't help homeowners with underwater mortgages who are still being jerked around by the banking industry. Nor does it hold accountable the Fannie and Freddie executives whose ruinous leadership -- including Minnesota native and Democratic political operative James Johnson -- led to a massive taxpayer bailout.

Analysis: Mortgage cases target people, not just banks
By suing 131 individuals in its effort to recover losses on $200 billion of mortgage debt that went sour, the federal agency overseeing mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is doing one thing that the government has largely left alone. It is trying to hold actual people, not just companies, responsible for their roles in the global financial crisis. The 18 lawsuits by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, including 17 filed last week and one in July, signal a change from prior federal efforts to punish banks and bankers for their roles in the financial crisis.  Most of the higher-profile financial crisis cases brought by the Department of Justice, such as its civil fraud against Deutsche Bank AG, or the Securities and Exchange Commission have named few or no individual defendants. So far, no top executives at major banks have been criminally charged.