Page 2 The Skanner Portland & Seattle September 25, 2019 ® Challenging People to Shape a Better Future Now Debt Collectors Target Consumers of Color, Poor People Bernie Foster Founder/Publisher A Bobbie Dore Foster Executive Editor Jerry Foster Advertising Manager Christen McCurdy News Editor Patricia Irvin Graphic Designer Monica J. Foster Seattle Office Coordinator Susan Fried Photographer 2019 MERIT AWARD WINNER The Skanner Newspaper, es- tablished in October 1975, is a weekly publication, published every Wednesday by IMM Publi- cations Inc. 415 N. Killingsworth St. P.O. Box 5455 Portland, OR 97228 Telephone (503) 285-5555 Fax: (503) 285-2900 info@theskanner.com www.TheSkanner.com The Skanner is a member of the National Newspaper Pub lishers Association and West Coast Black Pub lishers Association. All photos submitted become the property of The Skanner. We are not re spon sible for lost or damaged photos either solicited or unsolicited. ©2018 The Skanner. All rights re served. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission prohibited. Local News Pacific NW News World News Opinions Jobs, Bids Entertainment Community Calendar LOCAL NEWS BRIEFS LOCAL EVENTS n F ebo m me • nts TheSkannerNews o k • learn • co in y o u r c o m m u n d ay ! • L i ke u s o ac it Updated daily online. to y • Opinion new survey asked likely voters across the coun- try what they thought of a proposed debt col- lection rule. The response was strong and broad opposi- tion. Proposed earlier this year by Consumer Financial Pro- tection Bureau (CFPB) Direc- tor Kathleen Kraninger, the rule would authorize debt collectors to expand how of- ten consumers could be con- tacted as well as the ways such contacts could be made: email, text messages, and more. Conducted by Lake Research Partners and Chesapeake Beach Consulting, the poll was jointly commissioned by the Americans for Financial Reform (AFR) and the Cen- ter for Responsible Lending (CRL). The results, released on September 11, found stark op- position by consumers to reg- ulatory reforms announced by the CFPB. Consumers are strongly united in wanting more and better protection in this area of financial regu- lation. One in five poll participants were contacted by a debt col- lector in the past 12 months for different types of debt – including medical. Consum- ers of color, lower-income consumers and military fam- ilies were contacted at high- er rates. More than one in Charlene Crowell NNPA Columnist three Black consumers (34%) or consumers with incomes less than $50,000 (33%), were contacted. Among Latinx con- sumers, nearly half or 48% were contacted. Likely voters were most con- cerned about three specific changes included in the CFPB debt collection proposal: • 76% opposed allowing debt collectors to leave messages for people in places that are not private; • 74% opposed allowing debt collectors to contact con- sumers by private direct messaging on social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter; and • 73% opposed allowing debt collectors to phone people as often as seven times a week for each debt in collec- tion. “It should not surprise any of us that Americans don’t support government-sanc- tioned harassment by debt collectors via phone, email, or text,” said AFR Senior Policy Counsel Linda Jun. “And yet that’s exactly what the Kraninger CFPB is pro- posing. The agency needs to withdraw this plan and come up with one that actually pro- tects consumers.” “ One in five poll partic- ipants were contacted by a debt collector in the past 12 months The real irony with CFPB is that for six years, consumers benefitted from a series of ac- tions that helped 29 million consumers to receive nearly $12 billion in restitution and/ or forgiveness. Additionally, multiple public forums held across the country on a vari- ety of issues gave consumers and all stakeholder interests meaningful opportunities to help shape public policy developments. Research re- leased by the CFPB have doc- umented the harm of abusive debt collection practices and shown the rippling conse- quences of financial services practices as large as mort- gages and as small as payday loans. Under the Trump Admin- istration, a consistent and fo- cused deregulation effort has been underway to turn CFPB into a toothless tiger. It’s al- most as if CFPB now stands for Corporate Financial Pro- tection Bureau. Rather than living up to its name, CFPB es- chews consumers and defers to companies and their pref- erences as to what financial regulation should look like. The Administration has also repeatedly emphasized consumer information and education while predatory lenders pick the pockets of unsuspecting consumers. The error in this approach is that being aware of what should occur will not and can- not change punitive practices that earn billions of dollars for the corporations abusing consumers. These actions are partic- ularly suspect when one considers that debt collec- tion complaints have been among the chief consumer complaints filed at both the CFPB and the Federal Trade Commission. Under CFPB’s first director, the agency filed more than 25 federal enforcement actions against debt collectors and creditors that deliver $300 million in restitution and another $100 million in civil penalties due to deceptive and abusive debt collection practices. Read the rest of this commentary at TheSkanner.com The Human and Economic Toll of Gun Violence is Staggering A pproximately 7,500 Af- rican Americans are killed each year be- cause of gun violence. Further, it’s 20 times more likely that a young black male will die by a firearm homicide than a white peer, according to a new report. In a study commissioned by Democratic members of Con- gress’ Joint Economic Com- mittee, researchers found that gun violence in America has especially taken its toll on young people. The report found that rural states, where gun violence has reached its highest levels in decades are the hardest hit. Researchers said Ameri- cans between the age of 15 and 24 are 50 times more likely to die because of gun violence than they are in other eco- nomically advanced coun- tries. The September 18 state-by- state examination of the eco- nomic costs of gun violence, reveals numbers that the com- mittee called “staggering.” For instance, in 2017, for the first time, the rate of firearm deaths exceeded the death rate by motor vehicle acci- dents. Nearly 40,000 people were killed in the United States by a gun in 2017, including ap- proximately 2,500 school-age children — or more than 100 Stacy M. Brown NNPA Columnist people per day and more than five children murdered each day. According to a 2019 Pew Research study, “Though they tend to get less attention than gun-related murders, “ Firearms are the leading cause of death for Black children and teens in America suicides have long account- ed for the majority of U.S. gun deaths. In 2017, six-in-ten gun-related deaths in the U.S. were suicides (23,854), while 37% were murders (14,542), according to the [Centers for Disease Control and Preven- tion] CDC. The remainder were unintentional (486), in- volved law enforcement (553) or had undetermined circum- stances (338).” Directly measurable costs include lost income and spending, employer costs, police, and criminal justice responses and health care treatment. “[More than] 200 days ago, the Democratic House took decisive action to end the gun violence epidemic in Ameri- ca by passing H.R. 8 and H.R. 1112, bipartisan, common- sense legislation to expand background checks, which is supported by more than 90 percent of the American peo- ple,” Senate Democratic Lead- er Chuck Schumer said in a statement. “With the backing of the American people, we contin- ue to call on Senator McCon- nell to ‘Give Us A Vote.’” “For [more than] 200 days, Senator McConnell has re- fused to give the bipartisan bills a vote on the Senate Floor, “again and again put- ting his political survival be- fore the survival of our chil- dren,” Schumer said. “Every day that Senator McConnell blocks our House- passed, life-saving bills, an av- erage of 100 people — includ- ing 47 children and teenagers — die from senseless gun vio- lence. Some 20,000 have died since the House took action on February 27,” he said. Schumer’s office has repeat- edly voiced concern about gun violence in urban com- munities. According to Everytown, an organization dedicated to ad- dressing gun violence, “fire- arms are the leading cause of death for Black children and teens in America.” Black children are ten times more likely to be hospitalized from gun/firearm violence and are 14 times more likely to die. Officials said this fact is hurting Black children and teens at home and schools, especially in cities that lack the resources to stop gun vio- lence and the trauma associat- ed with it. According to Everytown, students of color in cities are exposed to higher rates of vi- olence. The report also states, “al- though Black students rep- resent approximately 15 per- cent of the total K-12 school population in America, they constitute 24 percent of the K-12 student victims of gun- fire who were killed or in- jured on school grounds.” Researchers for the Joint Economic Committee said gun violence has direct and indirect costs, including the reduction of quality of life due to pain and suffering. Gun homicides are also as- sociated with fewer jobs. Read the rest of this commentary at TheSkanner.com nt • lo c a l n e w s • eve