I was flipping around the remote and landed on CPAN’s airing of today’s speech by Bill Clinton to the National Partnership for Women & Families.
Highlights:
There are 28 million people in the US who earn paychecks and yet do not have bank accounts. They cannot establish credit, qualify for mortgages or earn interest on their money. He said that there are more payday loan franchises in the US than McDonald’s. These payday loans make it easy for poorer people to get caught in a cycle that can charge astronomical interest—some $300 loans end up costing over $700. These 28 million people spend over 10 billion dollars a year on these alternative banking transactions.
He spoke a lot about health care reform and the encouragement of health care providers and insurance companies to promote Wellness Programs.
His foundation helps educate lower income families to apply for tax credits and helps them file tax forms and the like. He’s working for IRS reforms on the EZ forms so poor people don’t have to submit more than one form to apply for these tax credits.
He’s very articulate and optimistic about the future and says every problem in the world comes down to one question, “Do our differences matter more than what we have in common?” From health care to the war in Iraq.
I listened to him for almost an hour and he didn’t smirk or stammer or mispronounce words. Articulate. Charming. Well read. Caring. Smart. Charismatic. Ahhh . . .to have a President like that.
CPAN always reruns speeches. If you can, see it.
3 comments:
emma, there are a lot of check cashing places near me all aimed at the poor people a few developments over. In many ways, I wish they'd go away, but most of the poor people refuse to use a bank.
my older sister never seems able to manage a bank account of any sort and mainly uses money orders to pay bills etc. i wish classes were taught to all kids in k-12 about budgeting money and bank accounts etc.
i think part of measuring the worth of a president is what is done by the president when s/he is out of office. carter, bush 1, and bill have done wonderful things after serving as president. they continue to serve and want things to be better for others. i doubt bush2 will do great things for others when he's done his time in the white house.
jilly
What a lovely guy. The US should get the rules changed. You need him back.
Both pay-day loan and car title places are owned by banks, which would deny these same people traditional forms of credit. They ruin people's lives.
Virginia is trying to pass laws to reign these places in.
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