>> 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.