Federal Judge Condemns Wells Fargo for "Profiteering"
Written by Chris Jarvis
Wednesday, 11 August 2010
There should be a great uproar of joy today as another federal judge in California has come to the aid of the state's citizens. District Judge William Alsup went as far as to accuse Wells Fargo Bank of "profiteering" in his class action ruling against the banking giant.
The issue was a change in Wells Fargo policies, when the bank made it the rule to process customer's checks, debit card charges and bill payments each day from the highest amount to the lowest amount, rather than chronologically. This practice resulted in a huge increase in overdraft charges for customers, who, after a large debit was posted, could then be subject to $35 in overdraft charges for purchases of miniscule amounts. Not only that, but the practice virtually assured that customers who went over the amount in their account for any given day would be subject to multiple overdraft charges, at over $30 per charge. Use your debit card to charge $5 and it would cost you $40.
The Judge found that customers were not made aware of the change in policy, especially since their online statements listed charges in chronological order. The ruling will cost Wells Fargo upwards of $200 million dollars, as the ruling orders overdraft charges to be returned to customers who suffered because of this policy, from November 15, 2004 to June 30, 2008.
Wells Fargo vows to appeal, and states that the bank changed its policy earlier this year. According to the bank, customers can now face four overdraft charges per day at the most. Let's remember that an overdraft does not incur any charge to the bank. Nothing is different for the bank in processing whether your account covers the amount or does not. The only difference is that the bank, which could be reasonable and charge $5 for a matter which does not inflict them in any way. They, however have chosen to charge $35. It's fairly apparent that if they appeal they'll lose. For now, I'm just pleased that more of these blood sucking banks are being punished financially for preying on American citizens.
Family Research Council complains that Amtrak seeks gay travelers
Written by Jason Scott
Tuesday, 03 August 2010
''Most all of the major airlines, hotels and others in the travel and tourism industry target the LGBT market segment … Amtrak ’s goal is to raise the level of awareness of the benefits of train travel and increase consideration and ridership amongst this segment.'' Darlene Abudakar, described by the Daily Caller as the director of national advertising for Amtrak. The train company announced recently that it would be courting LGBT travelers. (Daily Caller)
'''For the first time in the train's history, Amtrak has decided to spend a quarter-million dollars recruiting gay passengers... This is a government-run business, meaning that the $250,000 comes directly out of taxpayers' pockets.... a federal endorsement of homosexuality--one of, if not the, biggest threats to public health in America. And funding that message of perversion on the backs of Americans who disagree is an insult. Now it's obvious why Washington is targeting this tiny population--because it happens to be one of the richest.''
Tony Perkins in a press release from Family Research Council, the very rich and politically active religious organization that regularly denounces all things gay, complaining about Amtrak's planned ad campaign for the LGBT community. (FRC)
One of the most outspoken opponents of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy said Thursday that he has been discharged from the Army.
He admitted his sexual orientation publicly for the first time last year on MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show," prompting the Army to initiate proceedings to discharge him. One part of the story is why others who have started the "don't ask, don't tell" discharge process sooner than Choi are still pending and Lt. Choi was discharged so swiftly. On CNN it was implied that his acts of civil disobedience and arrests in uniform that may have caused the discharge.
Big victory for marriage equality in DC! Today the DC Court of Appeals ruled against foes of DC marriage equality who had wanted to put an initiative on the ballot to invalidate same-sex marriages entered into in the District.
While Bishop Harry Jackson, a pastor in Maryland, has been the public face of this litigation, the truth is that outside groups like the National Organization for Marriage and the Alliance Defense Fund are the driving force behind these anti-equality measures.
“The court’s ruling today is a significant victory for justice, the rule of law and the protection of all D.C. residents against discrimination,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “It’s time for the National Organization for Marriage to realize equality is here to stay no matter how much money they want to throw at turning back the clock.”
Visit HRC to read the rest of the story, CLICK HERE.
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