Hurricane Sandy, You Got My Home, but Not My Identity

Like millions of Americans, I was hammered by Hurricane Sandy. The home that I own on the New Jersey shore was obliterated by the storm. It is nothing but a pile of rubble. Gone....

FEMA, Dodd-Frank and the CFPB: It’s All the Same to Mitt Romney

When the long-predicted storm finally hit us, it struck with so much destructive force that it caught even grizzled New Yorkers by surprise. The storm's surge quickly overran our defenses, overwhelming all emergency responders,...

Back From the Vomitorium: The Looting of the Mortgage Settlement Agreement

States are looting the Mortgage Settlement Fund, and the odds are good that you or someone you know is getting robbed -- for the second time. According to recent reports, politicians, not bankers, are the...

When Debt Collectors Attack (Disabled American War Heroes)

When it comes to scandalous behavior by debt collectors, I thought I'd heard it all. This is an industry known for its bottom feeders, who routinely bully and intimidate the weakest and most vulnerable...

Why Romney the Closer Is a Consumer Nightmare

Politicians often have a lazy relationship with the truth. Everyone knows that these folks will say damn near anything to get elected. The Romney-Ryan ticket has put new luster on this homespun truism, revealing...

Two Sure Things in Life: Death & Facebook

What happens to our Facebook profile when we die? Who gets to connect with us on LinkedIn, post pictures of us on Pinterest, or view our photos on Flickr after we have shuffled off...

Lies, Damned Lies, Statistics and Paul Ryan

Lies, as Mark Twain famously observed, come in three flavors. If he were around today, Paul Ryan would have inspired him to create a fourth category. Everyone knows Paul Ryan is a liar. He's the...
Corrupt politician

What Mitt Romney and Liar Loans Have in Common (Be Very Afraid)

As I watched Governor Romney in the Presidential debate Wednesday night I was reminded of a financial tactic the candidate's political supporters and financial backers on Wall Street used during the mortgage boom--the one...

Banks Still Raking In the Profits from Overdraft Fees

If you’ve ever witnessed a great white shark attack, you know the meaning of the word “relentless.” The giant creature’s dorsal fin traces a circle in the water as it spots a vulnerable victim;...

5 Ways President Romney Would Screw the 47 Percent

Mitt Romney's now-infamous statement, "My job is not to worry about those people," pretty much sums up the Republican nominee's true feelings about who he represents. And if you're in serious debt, it looks...