“Boehnerland” Lobbyists Win Right to Bombard Student Borrowers With Robocalls

[n2doc]

Deep inside the 114-page budget deal that passed the House Wednesday, legislative leaders tucked in a provision that will free debt collectors to bombard student loan borrowers with unlimited robocall and automated text messages where it hurts most — on their mobile devices — even when they are asked to stop.

The change is a major victory for the debt collections industry, which has retained a small army of lawyers and lobbyists for years to weaken the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the law that protects people from unwanted robocalls and pre-recorded messages.

It’s also a big win for the small network of lobbyists within outgoing Speaker John Boehner’s inner circle, a cadre nicknamed “Boehnerland” by D.C insiders.

more
https://theintercept.com/2015/10/28/boehnerland-lobbyists-win-right-to-bombard-student-borrowers-with-robocalls/

[tblue37]

1. KnR for visibility. nt

[safeinOhio]

2. I like

call blocking

[think]

3. This article claims Obama & Pelosi approve of this?

[JimDandy]

7. Obama has been pushing for this for years

according to the sub-connected article on Huffpost.

This type of hellish harrassment will also cause a substantial number of already marginalized borrowers to lose their connection to the world.

Families with such a marginalized borrower on their mobile phone family calling plans will be forced to either drop that person or risk everyone in the family having all their monthly minutes eaten up every month by these robo-calls. Yeah, that's the ticket: let's financially penalize 3 other people just to harrass one person.

[gregcrawford]

4. And the noose tightens just a little bit more...n/t

[blackspade]

5. There always has to be a poison pill involved.....

[JimDandy]

9. It was a feature, not a poison pill. Obama has been pushing

for this for years according to the media.

[Ed Suspicious]

6. The bargaining chip always enters the game at the expense of those feeling the most pain. Third Way

feels the burden of a functioning government is the poors to bear.

[fasttense]

8. Wait until they make student loan debt inheritable

See, if you die owing stuent loans, then your nearest living relative has to pay off your debt. Mark my words, it's going to come and then capitalism will truely be eat its young.

[Sunlei]

17. already is many student loan debts have parents as co-signers.

Worse than credit card debt IMO.

[lonestarnot]

10. Boner fucked students again before bawling his exit stage right. Get what you vote for kids.

[JimDandy]

11. Not Boner--this apparently was Obama's doing. n/t

[lonestarnot]

12. not. and not falling for that propaganda.

[JimDandy]

14. Take it up with Huffpost.

It's one thing to have to approve a legislative provision in order to get something passed, but I was floored to learn that he has been pushing for years to allow these debt collectors to harangue someone to death with robo-calls and text messages.

[lonestarnot]

15. This is just bullshit.

[JimDandy]

16. I agree it's a bullshit thing to do.

Robocalls Emerge As Latest Fix For Nation's Student Loan Crisis

"President Barack Obama has long sought to allow the government's loan servicers to auto-dial them, and included the provision in his last several annual buget requests to Congress"

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/561fff03e4b050c6c4a4e72e

He's been trying since 2010 to get this passed and he finally did.

[Volaris]

13. John is still passing out industry lobby checks on the floor of the House...

Only thing he's learned in 20 years is how to do it so none of his co-workers complain.

[pinebox]

18. Another reason why we need Bernie

and more progressives.
This in the end will hurt Republicans by pissing off a LOT of college aged voters. Thank God they all own smart phones and can block these calls & texts relatively easily

[JimDandy]

19. You'd have to endlessly block each of the hundreds of phone

numbers these debt collectors have.

Won't hurt the Republicans. The student loan lobbyists are drinking themselves silly over their bi-partisan coup. The hurdle for them was not Obama-he had this provision in every one of his annual budgets to Congress since 2010. The hurdle before now was that the Repubs assiduously refused to vote for anything Obama wanted, including provisions like this that they would have sold their souls to get through under a Bush presidency.

Our middle class, whether they realize it or not, desperately need progressives to get in power. The Dem party is so stacked with corporatists like Obama and Clinton, though, that it's going to take years to sweep them out.

[Quackers]

20. Did Obama actually push for this to happen? nt

[dickthegrouch]

21. Then we need to create a catch-22 situation for the debt collectors

How about a law to make it illegal to robocall the same number more than once a week, if the call was answered, and the caller failed to make a connection with the answerer within ten seconds.

I am home flat on my back and being wrenched out of bed at least hourly by robocalls of one kind or another, NONE of which have a person at the other end. They hang up on me after I answered after 30 seconds of silence.

I am absolutely fed up and I'm not getting the rest I need to save my back.

three of them who actually deigned to speak to me have been told in no uncertain terms NEVER to call again (including the ACLU).

I don't care that the law says you don't have to abide by the Do not Call list. If I tell you not to call: DO NOT F***ING CALL. EVER!!!!

And "Rachel from card services": you are a convicted federal criminal: DO NOT CALL ME EVER again.

[PADemD]

22. Do you have a smart phone?

My iPhone has a Do Not Disturb setting where you can choose the hours. Only your favorites can get through to you.

I activated this feature after receiving a wrong number call at 2 a.m. from someone who had obviously been drinking. The ringer on the landline phone in my bedroom has been also turned off for the same reason.