Giving Credit Where Credit’s Due: Three Cheers for U.S. PIRG's Ed Mierzwinski

It gives me comfort during these trying times to know that Ed Mierzwinski, the Consumer Program Director at the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, is on the case! He’s been with PIRG in one capacity or another since 1981, and we’re all better off for it.

Most recently, Ed tried to fix the $700 billion bailout boondoggle. Along with virtually every other consumer advocacy, civil rights, community, and labor group, he urged legislators to allow bankruptcy courts to modify mortgages, which would prevent foreclosure, maintain neighborhood property values, and lower the cost of the bill.

While that and the other pro-taxpayer reforms he called for were not included, Ed’s not one to give up – if he was, there’s no way we’d have been able to benefit from his ideas and energy for 27 years and counting! Now Ed is pushing for Congress to pass key safeguards that are lacking in the bailout bill. Before it adjourns for the year, he wants Congress to pass the mortgage modification provision, to strengthen oversight of how taxpayer money is being used, and to prevent “gaming of the bailout system.”

Looking ahead, Ed is developing U.S. PIRG’s Main Street Financial Reform Platform, a pro-consumer agenda for the first 100 days of the new Congress in 2009, which calls for:

• Detailed regulatory reforms to prevent future financial fiascoes.
• Greater oversight of all the Wall Street players – including hedge funds, private equity firms, and buyout firms.
• Improved consumer protections to counter the influence of the powerful special interests.
• Reform of the credit card industry, starting with the passage of the Credit Cardholders Bill of Rights.

This spring, he helped get Congress to crack down on private government contractors like KBR, who set up tax havens to avoid paying their fair share. Over the years, Ed’s work on our behalf has exposed the dangers of easy credit for college students, predatory lending, unfair bank fees and practices, debit cards, unsafe products, and identity theft.

His blog is a must read imho. It gives me hope and comfort! Take a look and let us know what you think. Who else do you think is deserving of Credit.com's "Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due" award?

Nancy Castleman – Co-author of "Invest in Yourself: Six Secrets to a Rich Life" and founder of Good Advice Press. Nancy has spent the last 24 years teaching people how to get out of debt, save money, and live better on less. She writes on all these subjects for CreditBloggers.com.

Comments

[Gerri]

Ed has been doing amazing work for consumers. I have no idea how he manages to accomplish everything he does, but we're lucky he can!