This news blurb is ridiculous.

In a Huffington Post column criticizing JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon for threatening to raise fees if debit card fees are curtailed, columnist Richard Eskow makes an interesting point: 

Think of the debit fee as an invisible, nationwide federal sales tax of 1% to 2% on everything you buy with a card — except that you never got to vote on it, never heard a debate about it, and may not have even known it existed before it came up in the debate over bank reform. This money’s more efficient than other taxpayer-subsidized bank bailouts in at least one respect: It goes directly to the too-big-to-fail banks, instead of being funneled through the federal government.

In the Wall Street Journal today, John Walsh, Acting Comptroller of the Currency said this:

“The bottom line here is that community banks that have encouraged customers to become overly reliant on this product to manage their cash flow will need to find other sources of revenue to offset an almost certain decline in the income they have been generating from overdraft protection fees.”

Check out the full story here.

Because of his prior employment by JP Morgan, the White House chief of staff won’t be involved in the search for a permanent CFPB head.

The Washington Post has a photo layout of Elizabeth Warren in action.

United Payday Lenders in Missouri take issue with a recent Columbia Daily Tribune column:

By ignoring facts and disregarding the tens of thousands of Missourians who borrow responsibly and use payday loans to avoid less desirable options, Hank Waters’ March 14 column did your readers a disservice.

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By imposing a 36 percent APR cap, HB 132 would absolutely eliminate the small-loan industry in Missouri, leaving consumers to bounce more checks and incur more late-payment penalty fees. Under such a cap, lenders could charge only $1.38 for a two-week loan of $100. Research shows it costs lenders $13.89 to make such a loan.

Yahoo Finance breaks down rap mogul Russell Simmons’ “RushCard” (a Simmons’ marketed debit card).   They question his marketing claims and the costs of the card.

 Politico highlights this passage from Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS site: 

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau head Elizabeth Warren made time for dinner with liberal journalists including American Prospect’s Bob Kuttner, Mother Jones’s David Corn and DailyKos.com’s Markos Moulitsas.

Mother Jones’ David Corn fires back: 

I have never dined with Warren (though I’d be delighted to do so).

While he takes a shot at payday loans.  That would be Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander: 

Further, the senator said he is “skeptical” of the proposed nomination of Elizabeth Warren to head the new federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

“I have more of a problem with the position than with her,” Alexander said in an interview, adding that anyone in that job would have “enormous power” to impose rules.

The result, he said, could be the reverse of what is intended – that lending will be tightened, driving many individuals to seek “payday loans.”  

This article sums it up pretty well.