In the Dallas Morning News. The headline is Texans need to tell Ted Cruz and Jeb Hensarling to keep the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. This is an excellent op-ed and could serve as a template for use in drafting op-eds for other states. Excerpt:
Thanks to the bureau, Texas-based EZCORP had to stop illegally collecting debts by visiting consumers' homes and workplaces, and contacting consumers' bosses and landlords about debts. In fact, the company had to return $7.5 million to 93,000 consumers whom the company harmed.
This issue hits home here in Texas. Nearly 45 percent of Texans with a credit file, including 44 percent of people in the Dallas metro area, have a debt in collections, not including mortgages. And debt collection is the No. 1 topic about which Texans file complaints with the agency.
These aren't careless people who live beyond their means and then need government intervention to avoid the consequences of their mistakes. These are hardworking, law-abiding Texans who are victimized by exploitative, often illegal practices that they don't understand and whose effects they can't foresee.
