While credit card lenders have been increasing fees and interest rates, raising minimum payments and lowering credit limits, drug companies have been busy jacking up their prescription prices too. A recent New York Times investigation knocked the lid off of how drug makers are jacking up wholesale prices--even as inflation goes negative.

From the NY Times piece:

"Even as drug makers promise to support Washington's health care overhaul by shaving $8 billion a year off the nation's drug costs after the legislation takes effect, the industry has been raising its prices at the fastest rate in years.

"In the last year, the industry has raised the wholesale prices of brand-name prescription drugs by about 9 percent, according to industry analysts. That will add more than $10 billion to the nation's drug bill, which is on track to exceed $300 billion this year. By at least one analysis, it is the highest annual rate of inflation for drug prices since 1992."

The 2009 increases mean the average yearly cost for a brand-name prescription drug taken daily would be more than $2,000--a price that's $200 higher than last year. The House healthcare bill that passed on November 7 seeks to cut drug spending by around $14 billion a year over a decade, which would help.

It should register as no surprise that the drug industry is fighting many of the cost-cutting provisions in The Affordable Health Care for America Act, saying they have "valid business reasons for the price increases." We know they do---if you increase prices for consumers, it increases profits for drug companies!

Yesterday, Americans were given one more reason to look forward to ringing in the New Year: Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis announced he will be be stepping down from the bank, effective Jan. 1, 2010.

As a part of the Take Back the Economy coalition, SEIU and partners have been calling (loudly and persistently) for Lewis' ouster for several months. Throughout the economic crisis, Lewis has been a virtual poster boy for a financial industry fueled by reckless and self-serving lending practices, platinum bonuses, and a disregard for workers and our economy.

BofA received access for up to $195 billion in taxpayer bailout funds--and the workers, consumers and taxpayers footing the bill for Ken Lewis' failed gamble finally decided to stand up and demand change, with SEIU leading the charge. "Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis just doesn't get it," we wrote in an e-mailto supporters at the time. "The era of greed and irresponsibility is over...Enough is enough. Bank of America must fire CEO Ken Lewis."

Through a grassroots and online-driven campaign, over 100 events were held across the nation against Bank of America and more than 90,000 taxpayer proxy cards were collected & delivered at BofA's annual shareholder meeting, calling for the firing of Lewis for his corporate greed, corruption and anti-worker company policies. In addition to the ouster, SEIU demanded that two new BofA board seats be created. We called for all bonuses for execs be eliminated until taxpayers were paid back the money the bank received under TARP and demanded stronger whistleblower protections for any workers who report abusive lending or banking practices. Finally, we called for Bank of America to provide healthcare coverage to all of its 247,000 workers-- which it currently does not.

As a result of the organized campaign from union members and thousands of supportive activists, Lewis was ousted as chairman following the April 2009 annual BofA shareholders meeting (re-live that celebratory moment here). Even though Lewis stayed on as BofA CEO until his announcement yesterday, his ousting as chairman sent a message calling for CEO accountability loud and clear.

Even as the end of Lewis's profit-driven rein as CEO of BofA is finally in sight, we're not planning on letting up on our efforts to bring change to the banking industry--not even close. As SEIU's Anna Burger points out, "The Ken Lewis banking model continues drive up big bank profits while causing millions of Americans to lose their jobs, their homes, and their retirement savings." We've had enough of an economy that works only for greedy CEOs like Ken Lewis--and on that note, we thought we'd celebrate Lewis's ousting by taking a detailed record of his failed leadership. Like the saying goes, those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Delay, delay, delay.

It's all the U.S. Chamber of Commerce seems to want these days.

Congress is reportedly delaying action on President Obama's consumer protection reforms. Why? Because the U.S. Chamber and big bank lobbyists complained for a delay.

More than 10,000 of you already took an important first step for financial reform by signing a petition for protecting bank workers. Thank you so much for your support.

But when it comes to fixing our economy, Congress needs to know it must not buckle under the pressure of the U.S. Chamber and big banks.

Click here to fax your Representatives and tell them the U.S. Chamber and big banks shouldn't set the agenda on financial reform.

On every major initiative to help restore our economy - from healthcare to financial reform to the Employee Free Choice Act - banks and corporations have the same mantra: we need to wait, now's not the time, action now will hurt the economy.

But if not now, when? Our states and families are facing record financial misery. We need action sooner, not later.

Big banks and CEOs didn't mind quick action from Congress when they were begging for billion dollar bailouts. Now that they're flush with cash they want to stifle recovery for the rest of us and hang on to the same reckless business practices that toppled our economy in the first place.

Fax your representatives now and tell them the U.S. Chamber's calls for delay aren't what consumers need.

It's past time for the U.S. Chamber and big banks to stop thinking about their next bonus or the latest and greatest way to scam consumers and taxpayers.

We need action on financial reform, and we need it now.

• Represents more than 90 companies in the 5.9 million-worker finance and insurance industry, including the nation's largest banks and insurance companies. FSR member companies have received an estimated $213.8 billion in taxpayer funds as a part of the bailout.
• The leadership of the FSR includes Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, U.S. Bank, State Farm Insurance, and Bank of New York Mellon Corporation.

• $43.9 million from 2000-2008 ($22.4 million spent from 2006-2008).

Worker pay

• The industry's median hourly wage for bank tellers is $11.01 per hour, or $22,901 annually, just above the federal poverty guidelines for a family of four.
• Bank tellers at BofA: $10.50;8 Chase: $10.42;9 Wells Fargo: $10.20

• FSR member companies including Bank of America have been criticized for awarding billions in bonuses after receiving taxpayer bailout money.
• JPMorgan Chase CEO: $27.8 million (1,283 times Chase teller median wage); BofA CEO: $24.8 million (1,138 times BofA teller median wage); Wells Fargo Chairman: $22.9 million (1,078 times Wells teller median wage).

• Workers at several leading FSR members lack affordable healthcare and are forced to rely on public health programs instead. BofA, Wachovia, U.S. Bank, State Farm Insurance, SunTrust, Regions Bank, and Citizens Financial have at different times had large numbers of employees enrolled in taxpayer-funded programs such as Medicaid and SCHIP.
• For BofA alone, the estimated cost to taxpayers is $50 million annually.

• FSR member companies such as Citigroup, BofA, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of New York Mellon, and Fidelity Investments have announced more than 100,000 job cuts since November 2008, including one of the largest layoffs in U.S. history.
• Between 2004 and 2008, 151,120 financial services workers filed unemployment claims following mass layoffs. Bank of America alone announced over 34,000 jobs between 2004 and the summer of 2008 as it shed workers following acquisitions.

• Between 2000 and 2007, financial services companies failed to pay proper overtime to at least 31,000 workers, resulting in Department of Labor-administered settlements worth $59.4 million. Among the largest settlements: a $5.7 million deal at Wachovia and a $3.6 million deal at FSR Chairman-elect Richard Davis' U.S. Bancorp.
• In 2006, FSR members Citigroup and UBS settled class action lawsuits regarding overtime for up to $98 million and $89 million, respectively.

FSR Lobbying on Employment, Taxpayer, and Consumer Practices

The measure would make it easier for workers to bargain with the employers for better wages, benefits, and working conditions by ensuring that they can exercise a free choice to join together in a union without management interference or intimidation.

• The FSR lobbied against the Employee Free Choice Act in every quarter of 2008 and has made joining with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to defeat it a top priority for 2009.
• The FSR has invited Adam Putnam, a Republican spokesperson against the Employee Free Choice Act, to address its conference in March.

• The FSR fought for the financial industry bailout and its members have benefited handsomely from taxpayer support, receiving over $213.8 billion in taxpayer funds.
• Yet the FSR has resisted calls for TARP recipients to limit executive compensation and accept new lobbying rules.

• The FSR has fought common sense approaches to re-regulating the mortgage market and avoiding future meltdowns. The association has opposed reforms that protect borrowers from predatory lending practices, allow a judge to modify mortgages in bankruptcy and require the licensing of all mortgage brokers and loan officers.
• Prior to the crisis, the FSR sought rule changes which undermined existing state and federal predatory lending laws. Attorneys general from seven states charged that the new rules would create a "'race to the bottom'... at the expense of consumer protection."
• The FSR also fought legislation which would make Wall Street firms which packaged and sold mortgage-backed securities liable for illegal lending practices.

• As part of a long-standing, informal coalition opposed to further credit card regulation, the FSR has fought consumer-friendly legislation such as the Credit Cardholders Bill of Rights. The law would have prohibit excessive fees, prevent arbitrary interest rate increases, and shield cardholders from misleading terms.
• The FSR also lobbied against the Arbitration Fairness Act, which would prohibit abusive private arbitration arrangements in consumer, employment and franchise agreements.

• The FSR has long advocated Social Security privatization, in which Americans would privately invest some of their Social Security contributions (and pay financial services firms to manage their accounts).
• While the 2004 Republican Party platform promised investment options "with no risk to the investor," the current financial crisis demonstrates just how imperiled many retirement age Americans would be if their Social Security contributions were individually invested in the stock market.

Today Bank of America workers are speaking out about BofA's anti-consumer sales practices and failed banking model.

In articles from the LA Times and Associated Press today, current and former Bank of America employees talk about how Bank of America "encouraged" its employees to "burden consumers with debt and enroll them in high-fee programs." BofA employees also allege the bank targets low-income working people and Latinos who can't afford and don't need the products that bury them in debt.

The LA Times reports in a story titled, "Bank of America is accused of exploiting Latino immigrant customers":

The former workers said they were going public to lay out what they saw as a little-known side of BofA's business model: encouraging working-class customers to sign up for high-interest-rate credit and cash advance services and structuring an array of check and debit card services to maximize overdraft fees and other charges.

The AP reports on how these practices in bank branches were the other side of the finanical mess that played out on Wall St.:

Risky bank policies that contributed to the financial crisis were as common in neighborhood branches as they were on Wall Street, according to a labor-backed coalition that will propose new reforms Tuesday.

Bank of America Corp. and other large banks encouraged customer service representatives and tellers to burden consumers with debt and enroll them in high-fee programs, alleges a group which includes the National Association of Consumer Advocates and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.

The LA Times has more on how Latinos were specific targets of Bank of America:

Ornelas and three other former BofA tellers, all Latina women, said they and their co-workers were repeatedly instructed to seek potential new Spanish-speaking customers outside the bank. Some were instructed to go to embassies where recent emigres often wait in queue for visa and passport services.

Other tellers were asked to go to neighborhood stores, clinics and child welfare centers, and several were asked to recruit customers at a religiously oriented Mother's Day celebration, they said.

This news is extraordinary because current and former employees of Bank of America are speaking out about the anti-consumer practices of the bank and how they hurt consumers, employees, and the economy as a whole.

In a call today with consumer advocates and Rep. Keith Ellison, more Bank of America employees will talk about their experiences with the company and how the bank's practices affect customers.

If you're a Bank of America employee and want to speak out about what you see at work, go to LetsTalkBanks.com and tell us what you think.

Today President Obama announced a series of new regulations to help fix the mess created by the financial collapse. His ideas range from tougher enforcement of existing regulations to the creation of new entities to prevent recent financial history from repeating.

A key component to regulating the financial industry is a proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency, which would help protect consumers who use products like credit cards and mortgages. The creation of such an agency could protect against irresponsible credit card marketing and subprime-style mortgages.

And of course, we learn today that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is adamantly opposed to a consumer-friendly regulatory agency. In a lovely mixed metaphor, the U.S. Chamber dismisses the consumer protection agency as "not a silver bullet," but a "lead balloon."

Firing a warning shot ahead of the Obama administration's proposal for overhauling the nation's financial regulatory system, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce today warned it will vigorously oppose creation of a stand-alone consumer safety commission for financial products. Creating such a regulatory authority "is not a silver bullet for enhanced consumer protection," said David Hirschmann, president of the Chamber's Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness. "In fact, it may be a lead balloon."

SEIU's Anna Burger warned against this kind of opposition from corporate groups in her statement today praising President Obama's proposal:

Despite this strong move by the White House, we must be on guard for a big fight with the financial industry and its lobbyists, who continue to try to dilute and nullify real financial reform.

The Wonk Room asks an important question: is this the kind of "free enterprise" advocacy the U.S. Chamber promised with their $100 million campaign?

Last week, the Chamber rolled out a $100 million campaign to "defend and advance economic freedom." The Chamber's press office wouldn't talk to me because it's "not entertaining calls from bloggers at this time," but I'd sure like to know if any of that $100 million is going towards lobbying against this new agency.

If indeed this is the U.S. Chamber's idea of "free enterprise," they're going to be disappointed to know that more than 60% of the public wants tighter regulation of the financial industry.

It's clear who the U.S. Chamber really speaks for: big corporations and bailed out banks who would benefit from not having additional protections for consumers.

At this very moment, the halls of Congress are crawling with Big Bank lobbyists. They're doing all they can to defeat a bill that would stop the abuses of the credit card industry.

President Obama said he wants to sign a bill that protects credit card holders, but Big Banks are twisting the arms of your senators to get them to oppose even the most basic reforms.

Make the call now: tell your senators to support the Dodd-Shelby amendment to the Credit Cardholder Bill of Rights.

Call toll-free: 1-866-311-3405