Better living through better policy.

Topic: Americans

citizens and nationals of the United States of America

Fox Business: Credit card rewards are about to vanish, and guess who’s to blame?

Post author By Patrick M. Brenner
Post date April 5, 2025
1 Comment on Fox Business: Credit card rewards are about to vanish, and guess who’s to blame?

This isn’t just about miles and points; it’s about economic freedom and financial choice.

Tags Banking, Consumerism, Credit, Credit Card Rewards, Credit Card Rewards Programs, Credit Cards, Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Durbin Amendment, Finance, Interchange Fees, Summer Vacation, Swipe Fees, Travel

Conservatism Culture Domestic Policy Economic Opportunity Economy Government Regulation Legal and Judicial Life Markets and Finance Political Thought Poverty & Welfare Poverty and Inequality Progressivism Public Opinion Top Issues Updates

RealClearMarkets: The Real World Intrudes On Sanders and Hawley’s Rate Cap

Post author By Patrick M. Brenner
Post date February 12, 2025
No Comments on RealClearMarkets: The Real World Intrudes On Sanders and Hawley’s Rate Cap

A national credit card rate cap may seem consumer-friendly, but history and state-level experiments shows it shrinks credit access and pushes borrowers toward costlier alternatives.

Tags Bernie Sanders, Borrowing, Credit Cards, Donald J. Trump, Lending, Rate Cap

Conservatism Courts Crime and Justice Domestic Policy Energy & Environment Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources Government Regulation Government Transparency and Accountability Infrastructure & Technology Legal and Judicial New Mexico Political Thought Poverty & Welfare Poverty and Inequality Progressivism Public Opinion Renewable Energy The Constitution Top Issues Transparency Transportation Updates

Albuquerque Journal: Government hiding data showing EV mandates disproportionately burden lower-Income families

Post author By Patrick M. Brenner
Post date September 1, 2024
2 Comments on Albuquerque Journal: Government hiding data showing EV mandates disproportionately burden lower-Income families

New Mexico’s lack of transparency and fabricated data on electric vehicle mandates raises serious concerns about their disproportionate impact on lower-income families and the erosion of democratic accountability.

Tags Clean Energy, Electric Vehicle Mandates, Electric Vehicles, Income, Lower-Income Families, Mandates, Michelle Lujan Grisham, Open Government, Transparency

Colorado Conservatism Culture Domestic Policy Economic Opportunity Economy Government Regulation Legal and Judicial Life Markets and Finance Political Thought Poverty & Welfare Poverty and Inequality Progressivism Public Opinion Top Issues Updates

Colorado’s War on Credit

In this June 15, 2018 file photo, twenty dollar bills are counted in North Andover, Mass. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Colorado’s HB23-1229 threatens consumer access to credit and economic growth.

Tags American Financial Services Association (AFSA), American Fintech Council (AFC), Buy Now Pay Later, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Credit, Debt, Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980 (DIDMCA), Lending, National Association of Industrial Bankers (NAIB), No Loan For You!, Price Controls

Courts Domestic Policy Government Transparency and Accountability Infrastructure & Technology Legal Legal and Judicial New Mexico SPPI v Maggie Toulouse Oliver Technology Top Issues Transparency Updates

SPPI Sues New Mexico Secretary of State for Greater Government Transparency

Post author By Liam Gray
Post date March 28, 2024
2 Comments on SPPI Sues New Mexico Secretary of State for Greater Government Transparency

Maggie Toulouse Oliver, New Mexico Secretary of State, participates in a discussion on elections at the Bipartisan Policy Center on October 11, 2018. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

The Southwest Public Policy Institute (SPPI), a non-profit organization dedicated to better living through better policy, has initiated a crucial lawsuit against the New Mexico Secretary of State, Maggie Toulouse Oliver. This legal action, centered on a failure to promptly respond to a public records request, underscores SPPI’s dedication to government transparency and accountability.

Tags Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA), Maggie Toulouse Oliver, Open Government, Transparency

Domestic Policy Economic Opportunity Economy Government Regulation Health Care Health Care Reform Markets and Finance Top Issues

Washington Times: The high cost of prescription drug price controls

Post author By Patrick M. Brenner
Post date December 21, 2023
No Comments on Washington Times: The high cost of prescription drug price controls

Components of the Inflation Reduction Act have the very real potential of inflating drug prices with arbitrary price controls. Consumers will pay the price.

Domestic Policy Economy Government Regulation Markets and Finance Press Top Issues Updates

Pew Charitable Trust Scraps “Consumer Finance” Project After SPPI Debunks Pew’s Findings

Post author By Southwest Public Policy Institute
Post date July 12, 2023
No Comments on Pew Charitable Trust Scraps “Consumer Finance” Project After SPPI Debunks Pew’s Findings

Albuquerque, NM — The Pew Charitable Trusts has “archived” their Consumer Finance project and reassigned Alex Horrowitz as Project Manager of their Housing Policy Initiative. Earlier this year, the Pew Charitable Trusts released a study that claimed that six of the eight largest banks now offer affordable small loans. In another study, Horowitz wrote: “Pew’s […]

Tags Consumer, Credit, Heritage Foundation, Lending, No Loan For You, Online Lenders Alliance (OLA), The Daily Signal, The Pew Charitable Trusts

Domestic Policy Economy Government Regulation Markets and Finance New Mexico Poverty and Inequality Top Issues

RealClearMarkets: Need a $200 Loan? You’re Mostly Outta Luck

Post author By Patrick M. Brenner
Post date July 1, 2023
No Comments on RealClearMarkets: Need a $200 Loan? You’re Mostly Outta Luck

Originally published at realclearmarkets.com on June 21, 2023 In New Mexico, an interest rate cap on specialized emergency loans when into effect in January. Since then, big-bank promoters have endorsed the small-dollar short-term loan products offered by U.S. Bank, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Huntington Bank, and others as alternatives. Recently, those same activists have thrown in support for […]

Tags Bank of America, Banking, Credit, Huntington Bank, Lending, No Loan For You, Specialized Emergency Loans, The Pew Charitable Trusts, U.S. Bank, Wells Fargo

Arizona California Colorado Domestic Policy Economy Events Government Regulation Markets and Finance Nevada New Mexico Oklahoma Public Opinion Texas Updates Utah

SPPI President, Patrick Brenner, to Speak at Independent Women’s Forum Panel

Post author By Southwest Public Policy Institute
Post date July 1, 2023
No Comments on SPPI President, Patrick Brenner, to Speak at Independent Women’s Forum Panel

We are thrilled to announce that Patrick Brenner, president of the Southwest Public Policy Institute (SPPI), will be representing SPPI as a distinguished panelist at the Independent Women’s Forum. The panel will test a simple, powerful idea: how do we ensure fair lending policies for vulnerable Americans; and will bring together experts to address the […]