Public Policy & NGOs
Here's a look at documents from public policy and non-governmental organizations
Public Policy & NGOs
Featured Stories
UnityPoint Health Names Dr. Samuel Schroeder Medical Director, Radiation Oncology
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa, Oct. 31 -- UnityPoint Health issued the following news release:
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UnityPoint Health Names Dr. Samuel Schroeder Medical Director, Radiation Oncology
Oct 30, 2026
UnityPoint Health has named Samuel Schroeder, MD, Medical Director, Radiation Oncology, as of November 1, 2026.
In this systemwide role, Dr. Schroeder will provide physician leadership for radiation oncology services across UnityPoint Health. He will focus on quality, collaboration and consistent care while continuing to practice at John Stoddard Cancer Center in Des Moines.
"Sam brings strong clinical expertise, ... Show Full Article WEST DES MOINES, Iowa, Oct. 31 -- UnityPoint Health issued the following news release: * * * UnityPoint Health Names Dr. Samuel Schroeder Medical Director, Radiation Oncology Oct 30, 2026 UnityPoint Health has named Samuel Schroeder, MD, Medical Director, Radiation Oncology, as of November 1, 2026. In this systemwide role, Dr. Schroeder will provide physician leadership for radiation oncology services across UnityPoint Health. He will focus on quality, collaboration and consistent care while continuing to practice at John Stoddard Cancer Center in Des Moines. "Sam brings strong clinical expertise,a collaborative leadership style and a clear commitment to improving care for patients," Gregory Kennedy, MD, PhD, MBA, Chief Medical Officer, Oncology Service Line said. "His leadership will help connect our radiation oncology teams and build on the high-quality care already happening across UnityPoint Health."
Dr. Schroeder joined John Stoddard Cancer Center as a radiation oncologist in 2020 and has served in a radiation oncology medical director role there. He is board-certified by the American Board of Radiology in radiation oncology. His clinical experience includes conventional radiation therapy, stereotactic radiosurgery, stereotactic body radiation therapy, brachytherapy, radiopharmaceutical therapies and participation in National Cancer Institute clinical trials.
"I am excited to collaborate across UnityPoint Health to help patients access high-quality radiation oncology care close to home," Dr. Schroeder said.
Dr. Schroeder earned his medical degree from the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine and completed his radiation oncology residency at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. He also holds an MBA from the University of Texas at Dallas.
* * *
"Sam brings strong clinical expertise, a collaborative leadership style and a clear commitment to improving care for patients. His leadership will help connect our radiation oncology teams and build on the high-quality care already happening across UnityPoint Health."
Gregory Kennedy, MD, PhD, MBA, Chief Medical Officer, Oncology Service Line
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Original text here: https://www.unitypoint.org/news-and-articles/press-releases/unitypoint-health-names-dr-samuel-schroeder-medical-director-radiation-oncology
[Category: Health Care]
* * *
UnityPoint Health Names Dr. Samuel Schroeder Medical Director, Radiation Oncology
Oct 30, 2026
UnityPoint Health has named Samuel Schroeder, MD, Medical Director, Radiation Oncology, as of November 1, 2026.
In this systemwide role, Dr. Schroeder will provide physician leadership for radiation oncology services across UnityPoint Health. He will focus on quality, collaboration and consistent care while continuing to practice at John Stoddard Cancer Center in Des Moines.
"Sam brings strong clinical expertise, ... Show Full Article WEST DES MOINES, Iowa, Oct. 31 -- UnityPoint Health issued the following news release: * * * UnityPoint Health Names Dr. Samuel Schroeder Medical Director, Radiation Oncology Oct 30, 2026 UnityPoint Health has named Samuel Schroeder, MD, Medical Director, Radiation Oncology, as of November 1, 2026. In this systemwide role, Dr. Schroeder will provide physician leadership for radiation oncology services across UnityPoint Health. He will focus on quality, collaboration and consistent care while continuing to practice at John Stoddard Cancer Center in Des Moines. "Sam brings strong clinical expertise,a collaborative leadership style and a clear commitment to improving care for patients," Gregory Kennedy, MD, PhD, MBA, Chief Medical Officer, Oncology Service Line said. "His leadership will help connect our radiation oncology teams and build on the high-quality care already happening across UnityPoint Health."
Dr. Schroeder joined John Stoddard Cancer Center as a radiation oncologist in 2020 and has served in a radiation oncology medical director role there. He is board-certified by the American Board of Radiology in radiation oncology. His clinical experience includes conventional radiation therapy, stereotactic radiosurgery, stereotactic body radiation therapy, brachytherapy, radiopharmaceutical therapies and participation in National Cancer Institute clinical trials.
"I am excited to collaborate across UnityPoint Health to help patients access high-quality radiation oncology care close to home," Dr. Schroeder said.
Dr. Schroeder earned his medical degree from the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine and completed his radiation oncology residency at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. He also holds an MBA from the University of Texas at Dallas.
* * *
"Sam brings strong clinical expertise, a collaborative leadership style and a clear commitment to improving care for patients. His leadership will help connect our radiation oncology teams and build on the high-quality care already happening across UnityPoint Health."
Gregory Kennedy, MD, PhD, MBA, Chief Medical Officer, Oncology Service Line
* * *
Original text here: https://www.unitypoint.org/news-and-articles/press-releases/unitypoint-health-names-dr-samuel-schroeder-medical-director-radiation-oncology
[Category: Health Care]
Protect Our Care Statement: This Open Enrollment, Families Face Another Double-Digit Premium Hike Thanks to GOP's Unrelenting Health Care Crisis
WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 -- Protect Our Care issued the following news:
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STATEMENT: This Open Enrollment, Families Face Another Double-Digit Premium Hike Thanks to GOP's Unrelenting Health Care Crisis
October 30, 2026
Washington, D.C. - This Sunday, open enrollment begins, and millions of families across the nation will begin signing up for coverage. For the second year in a row, families will be staring down double-digit premium hikes thanks to the GOP's unrelenting health care crisis, which has driven costs through the roof and kicked 8 million people off their Affordable Care Act (ACA), ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 -- Protect Our Care issued the following news: * * * STATEMENT: This Open Enrollment, Families Face Another Double-Digit Premium Hike Thanks to GOP's Unrelenting Health Care Crisis October 30, 2026 Washington, D.C. - This Sunday, open enrollment begins, and millions of families across the nation will begin signing up for coverage. For the second year in a row, families will be staring down double-digit premium hikes thanks to the GOP's unrelenting health care crisis, which has driven costs through the roof and kicked 8 million people off their Affordable Care Act (ACA),Medicaid, or CHIP coverage.
Last year, Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress ignited a full-blown health care crisis when they ripped away the premium tax credits that over 22 million Americans relied on to see a doctor, to fund tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations. Since then, families have been forced to make impossible choices to hang on to their coverage, including cutting back on essentials and skipping doctors' appointments. The uninsured rate has climbed to 11.2% -- the highest since the ACA took effect over a decade ago. Republicans have put care at risk for countless seniors, sick kids, and moms, and things will only get worse as care is put further out of reach for millions.
Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach issued the following statement:
"Thanks to Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress, who sold out working families' health care for billionaire tax breaks, millions of families will face yet another brutal sticker shock when they log on for open enrollment. Families are already living through an unprecedented cost of living crisis and the last thing they need is for their premiums to go up again. Already, over 8 million Americans have lost the coverage they relied on because Republicans let the ACA premium tax credits expire. Now even more people will be forced off of the life-saving coverage they need and deserve as costs skyrocket and blow a hole in budgets across the nation. Working families are sick of this crisis and they are sick of paying more and getting less. It's no wonder that this election is a healthcare election, and in just a few days, they will get the chance to voice their outrage and demand change."
BACKGROUND
* Premium Disaster Watch (https://www.protectourcare.org/premium-disaster-watch/)
* Faces of the GOP Health Care Crisis (https://www.protectourcare.org/faces-of-the-gop-health-care-crisis/)
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Original text here: https://www.protectourcare.org/statement-this-open-enrollment-families-face-another-double-digit-premium-hike-thanks-to-gops-unrelenting-health-care-crisis/
[Category: Health Care]
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STATEMENT: This Open Enrollment, Families Face Another Double-Digit Premium Hike Thanks to GOP's Unrelenting Health Care Crisis
October 30, 2026
Washington, D.C. - This Sunday, open enrollment begins, and millions of families across the nation will begin signing up for coverage. For the second year in a row, families will be staring down double-digit premium hikes thanks to the GOP's unrelenting health care crisis, which has driven costs through the roof and kicked 8 million people off their Affordable Care Act (ACA), ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 -- Protect Our Care issued the following news: * * * STATEMENT: This Open Enrollment, Families Face Another Double-Digit Premium Hike Thanks to GOP's Unrelenting Health Care Crisis October 30, 2026 Washington, D.C. - This Sunday, open enrollment begins, and millions of families across the nation will begin signing up for coverage. For the second year in a row, families will be staring down double-digit premium hikes thanks to the GOP's unrelenting health care crisis, which has driven costs through the roof and kicked 8 million people off their Affordable Care Act (ACA),Medicaid, or CHIP coverage.
Last year, Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress ignited a full-blown health care crisis when they ripped away the premium tax credits that over 22 million Americans relied on to see a doctor, to fund tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations. Since then, families have been forced to make impossible choices to hang on to their coverage, including cutting back on essentials and skipping doctors' appointments. The uninsured rate has climbed to 11.2% -- the highest since the ACA took effect over a decade ago. Republicans have put care at risk for countless seniors, sick kids, and moms, and things will only get worse as care is put further out of reach for millions.
Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach issued the following statement:
"Thanks to Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress, who sold out working families' health care for billionaire tax breaks, millions of families will face yet another brutal sticker shock when they log on for open enrollment. Families are already living through an unprecedented cost of living crisis and the last thing they need is for their premiums to go up again. Already, over 8 million Americans have lost the coverage they relied on because Republicans let the ACA premium tax credits expire. Now even more people will be forced off of the life-saving coverage they need and deserve as costs skyrocket and blow a hole in budgets across the nation. Working families are sick of this crisis and they are sick of paying more and getting less. It's no wonder that this election is a healthcare election, and in just a few days, they will get the chance to voice their outrage and demand change."
BACKGROUND
* Premium Disaster Watch (https://www.protectourcare.org/premium-disaster-watch/)
* Faces of the GOP Health Care Crisis (https://www.protectourcare.org/faces-of-the-gop-health-care-crisis/)
* * *
Original text here: https://www.protectourcare.org/statement-this-open-enrollment-families-face-another-double-digit-premium-hike-thanks-to-gops-unrelenting-health-care-crisis/
[Category: Health Care]
Protect Borrower: 'Weingarten V. McMahon' - Major Class Action Lawsuit Launched Against Education Secretary Over Student Loan Crisis
WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 -- Protect Borrowers (formerly Student Borrower Protection Center) issued the following news release:
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'Weingarten v. McMahon': Major Class Action Lawsuit Launched Against Education Secretary Over Student Loan Crisis
Trump Administration Deliberately Mishandled Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, Leaving Over 90,000 Borrowers in the Lurch
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October 30, 2026 | WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A landmark class action lawsuit filed today in federal court documents how Education Secretary Linda McMahon has systematically prevented tens of thousands of public service workers from ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 -- Protect Borrowers (formerly Student Borrower Protection Center) issued the following news release: * * * 'Weingarten v. McMahon': Major Class Action Lawsuit Launched Against Education Secretary Over Student Loan Crisis Trump Administration Deliberately Mishandled Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, Leaving Over 90,000 Borrowers in the Lurch - October 30, 2026 | WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A landmark class action lawsuit filed today in federal court documents how Education Secretary Linda McMahon has systematically prevented tens of thousands of public service workers fromsecuring millions in debt relief they are owed under federal law.
The nationwide suit, Weingarten v. McMahon (https://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/2026/Weingarten_v_Dept_of_Education_Case_No_26-cv-03826_ECF_1_Complaint.pdf), lays bare the gross mismanagement of the buyback and other key provisions of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program by McMahon and her Department of Education. Tens of thousands of borrowers have applied for debt relief, but their applications are stuck in limbo, with no updates for months on end.
The case, filed Friday in federal District Court for the District of Columbia, is brought as a class action and is seeking relief for all similarly situated borrowers, not just the named plaintiffs.
"Secretary McMahon has flagrantly ignored her responsibility to help teachers, nurses and first responders under the buyback provision her department pledged to implement," said AFT President and lead plaintiff Randi Weingarten. "Instead of processing applications in good faith, she has left 90,000 dedicated public employees in the lurch, forcing them further into debt while their applications gather dust. This lawsuit demands that McMahon stop stalling and do her job-to help, rather than hurt, the people she is sworn to serve."
McMahon has made it her "final mission" to "put herself out of a job" by abolishing the department she runs. She has hobbled its key functions by trying to move them elsewhere, adding to the red tape and bureaucratic dysfunction she claims to want to eliminate.
PSLF is a bipartisan loan forgiveness plan signed into law by President George W. Bush. It enables qualifying public service workers--among them teachers, nurses, and first responders--to discharge their student loan balances after 120 monthly repayments.
In recent years, following changes to federal repayment plans and during the COVID-19 pandemic, loan servicers and the department often placed borrowers into forbearance or deferment for several months at a time. Under the buyback provision, borrowers can elect to pay now the amount that they would have paid during those months, have them retrospectively credited to their 120-payment total, and then have their remaining debt discharged. This opportunity builds on PSLF account review opportunities negotiated by AFT as part of a previous legal settlement.
However, the suit alleges that as a direct result of Secretary McMahon's mismanagement, those applications have been shelved, with little or no communication with borrowers about when they might be processed. Because borrowers can only apply for a buyback when they have already worked in public service for ten years, the department's actions are all that is standing between these borrowers and having their outstanding loan balances-often totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars-from being forgiven through PSLF. By April of this year, the buyback backlog had reached nearly 90,000, from the previous total of 49,000 a year earlier, with the department refusing to give an updated processing timeline.
The complaint also details a raft of other PSLF issues, including the department clawing back previously granted PSLF credit: In August, some borrowers saw their PSLF counts mysteriously drop, some by 15 months or more. The department initially dismissed the error, then admitted that some earlier waiver and account-adjustment credits were being purposely rolled back. The complaint details how, in addition to the department clawing back PSLF credits, it has withheld, without explanation, recently earned qualifying payments.
"I've dedicated my career to improving the lives of children in my community. I did everything right to earn relief from my student debt," said Elizabeth Schoepflin, a speech-language pathologist, AFT member and co-plaintiff from New York. "Meanwhile, the Department of Education has ripped away the loan forgiveness credit I earned without any explanation. Every month this drags on is another payment I shouldn't have to make. I kept my end of the deal. It's time for the Department to keep theirs."
The suit cites repeated violations of the Administrative Procedure Act. Plaintiffs are seeking permanent injunctive relief compelling the department to comply with its statutory obligations under the Higher Education Act to forgive the loans of all borrowers who satisfy the PSLF requirements.
"PSLF is not a handout. It is a commitment to people who dedicate their careers to public service," said David Petley, a co-plaintiff and associate AFT member from Oregon. "As a rural Oregon hospital pharmacist, I have seen firsthand how this program helps bring skilled professional public servants to communities that need them. But now, after 10+ years of public service, I have waited a year and a half for a response to my PSLF buyback request, with no information about when it will be resolved. I am expected to keep making more expensive monthly payments in the meantime. That is unacceptable. Public servants deserve better."
"The teachers, nurses, and public service workers of this country deserve the debt relief Congress promised to them, and AFT will fight to deliver on that promise," said Protect Borrowers Senior Counsel Laura C. Dismore. "AFT is, once again, stepping up to hold Linda McMahon accountable in court for her blatant flouting of the law. From President Trump on down, this Administration is so focused on destroying what's left of the Department of Education--and blaming borrowers for the consequences--that it has lost sight of its basic obligation to the American people: lower costs and fix the economy. Public service workers and the communities they serve deserve better than more dysfunction and broken promises. The law guarantees public service workers certain rights, and we will enforce those rights wherever and whenever they are violated."
Weingarten is the lead named plaintiff alongside AFT members and public service workers.
"This is our third case in less than 2 years against the Trump administration and AFT will not stop fighting until every teacher, nurse and public worker get the loan forgiveness they were promised," she added. "People who dedicate their careers to serving the public should be helped by the federal government-instead, Secretary McMahon has waged a war on affordability and retied the Gordian knot we forced Betsy DeVos to unravel. That's why we're suing again."
Today's filing marks AFT's eighth lawsuit over a decade to protect student loan borrowers from predatory loan servicers and politicians determined to make it harder for young people to pay for college. The case is effectively a successor suit to Weingarten v. DeVos, settled in October 2021, that gave denied applicants a path to re-review through a PSLF reconsideration process that was ultimately codified by the Biden-era Education Department, leading to over one million public workers receiving $78 billion in loan forgiveness. In AFT v. McMahon, filed in March 2025, the union sued after McMahon blocked access to more affordable repayment plans. In November 2025, the AFT joined the National Council of Nonprofits to restore access to PSLF for work that the administration disagreed with politically.
Weingarten v. McMahon seeks to be certified as a class action to represent the interests of borrowers across the country with pending buyback applications, whose PSLF credits have been clawed back, or whose recent payments are not being counted toward PSLF. All plaintiffs and the proposed class of borrowers are represented by Protect Borrowers and Berger Montague.
* * *
Original text here: https://protectborrowers.org/weingarten-v-mcmahon/
[Category: Financial Services]
* * *
'Weingarten v. McMahon': Major Class Action Lawsuit Launched Against Education Secretary Over Student Loan Crisis
Trump Administration Deliberately Mishandled Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, Leaving Over 90,000 Borrowers in the Lurch
-
October 30, 2026 | WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A landmark class action lawsuit filed today in federal court documents how Education Secretary Linda McMahon has systematically prevented tens of thousands of public service workers from ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 -- Protect Borrowers (formerly Student Borrower Protection Center) issued the following news release: * * * 'Weingarten v. McMahon': Major Class Action Lawsuit Launched Against Education Secretary Over Student Loan Crisis Trump Administration Deliberately Mishandled Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, Leaving Over 90,000 Borrowers in the Lurch - October 30, 2026 | WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A landmark class action lawsuit filed today in federal court documents how Education Secretary Linda McMahon has systematically prevented tens of thousands of public service workers fromsecuring millions in debt relief they are owed under federal law.
The nationwide suit, Weingarten v. McMahon (https://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/2026/Weingarten_v_Dept_of_Education_Case_No_26-cv-03826_ECF_1_Complaint.pdf), lays bare the gross mismanagement of the buyback and other key provisions of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program by McMahon and her Department of Education. Tens of thousands of borrowers have applied for debt relief, but their applications are stuck in limbo, with no updates for months on end.
The case, filed Friday in federal District Court for the District of Columbia, is brought as a class action and is seeking relief for all similarly situated borrowers, not just the named plaintiffs.
"Secretary McMahon has flagrantly ignored her responsibility to help teachers, nurses and first responders under the buyback provision her department pledged to implement," said AFT President and lead plaintiff Randi Weingarten. "Instead of processing applications in good faith, she has left 90,000 dedicated public employees in the lurch, forcing them further into debt while their applications gather dust. This lawsuit demands that McMahon stop stalling and do her job-to help, rather than hurt, the people she is sworn to serve."
McMahon has made it her "final mission" to "put herself out of a job" by abolishing the department she runs. She has hobbled its key functions by trying to move them elsewhere, adding to the red tape and bureaucratic dysfunction she claims to want to eliminate.
PSLF is a bipartisan loan forgiveness plan signed into law by President George W. Bush. It enables qualifying public service workers--among them teachers, nurses, and first responders--to discharge their student loan balances after 120 monthly repayments.
In recent years, following changes to federal repayment plans and during the COVID-19 pandemic, loan servicers and the department often placed borrowers into forbearance or deferment for several months at a time. Under the buyback provision, borrowers can elect to pay now the amount that they would have paid during those months, have them retrospectively credited to their 120-payment total, and then have their remaining debt discharged. This opportunity builds on PSLF account review opportunities negotiated by AFT as part of a previous legal settlement.
However, the suit alleges that as a direct result of Secretary McMahon's mismanagement, those applications have been shelved, with little or no communication with borrowers about when they might be processed. Because borrowers can only apply for a buyback when they have already worked in public service for ten years, the department's actions are all that is standing between these borrowers and having their outstanding loan balances-often totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars-from being forgiven through PSLF. By April of this year, the buyback backlog had reached nearly 90,000, from the previous total of 49,000 a year earlier, with the department refusing to give an updated processing timeline.
The complaint also details a raft of other PSLF issues, including the department clawing back previously granted PSLF credit: In August, some borrowers saw their PSLF counts mysteriously drop, some by 15 months or more. The department initially dismissed the error, then admitted that some earlier waiver and account-adjustment credits were being purposely rolled back. The complaint details how, in addition to the department clawing back PSLF credits, it has withheld, without explanation, recently earned qualifying payments.
"I've dedicated my career to improving the lives of children in my community. I did everything right to earn relief from my student debt," said Elizabeth Schoepflin, a speech-language pathologist, AFT member and co-plaintiff from New York. "Meanwhile, the Department of Education has ripped away the loan forgiveness credit I earned without any explanation. Every month this drags on is another payment I shouldn't have to make. I kept my end of the deal. It's time for the Department to keep theirs."
The suit cites repeated violations of the Administrative Procedure Act. Plaintiffs are seeking permanent injunctive relief compelling the department to comply with its statutory obligations under the Higher Education Act to forgive the loans of all borrowers who satisfy the PSLF requirements.
"PSLF is not a handout. It is a commitment to people who dedicate their careers to public service," said David Petley, a co-plaintiff and associate AFT member from Oregon. "As a rural Oregon hospital pharmacist, I have seen firsthand how this program helps bring skilled professional public servants to communities that need them. But now, after 10+ years of public service, I have waited a year and a half for a response to my PSLF buyback request, with no information about when it will be resolved. I am expected to keep making more expensive monthly payments in the meantime. That is unacceptable. Public servants deserve better."
"The teachers, nurses, and public service workers of this country deserve the debt relief Congress promised to them, and AFT will fight to deliver on that promise," said Protect Borrowers Senior Counsel Laura C. Dismore. "AFT is, once again, stepping up to hold Linda McMahon accountable in court for her blatant flouting of the law. From President Trump on down, this Administration is so focused on destroying what's left of the Department of Education--and blaming borrowers for the consequences--that it has lost sight of its basic obligation to the American people: lower costs and fix the economy. Public service workers and the communities they serve deserve better than more dysfunction and broken promises. The law guarantees public service workers certain rights, and we will enforce those rights wherever and whenever they are violated."
Weingarten is the lead named plaintiff alongside AFT members and public service workers.
"This is our third case in less than 2 years against the Trump administration and AFT will not stop fighting until every teacher, nurse and public worker get the loan forgiveness they were promised," she added. "People who dedicate their careers to serving the public should be helped by the federal government-instead, Secretary McMahon has waged a war on affordability and retied the Gordian knot we forced Betsy DeVos to unravel. That's why we're suing again."
Today's filing marks AFT's eighth lawsuit over a decade to protect student loan borrowers from predatory loan servicers and politicians determined to make it harder for young people to pay for college. The case is effectively a successor suit to Weingarten v. DeVos, settled in October 2021, that gave denied applicants a path to re-review through a PSLF reconsideration process that was ultimately codified by the Biden-era Education Department, leading to over one million public workers receiving $78 billion in loan forgiveness. In AFT v. McMahon, filed in March 2025, the union sued after McMahon blocked access to more affordable repayment plans. In November 2025, the AFT joined the National Council of Nonprofits to restore access to PSLF for work that the administration disagreed with politically.
Weingarten v. McMahon seeks to be certified as a class action to represent the interests of borrowers across the country with pending buyback applications, whose PSLF credits have been clawed back, or whose recent payments are not being counted toward PSLF. All plaintiffs and the proposed class of borrowers are represented by Protect Borrowers and Berger Montague.
* * *
Original text here: https://protectborrowers.org/weingarten-v-mcmahon/
[Category: Financial Services]
Featured Interview on BRN: Kerrigan on CHOICE Arrangements
WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 [Category: Business] -- The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council posted the following news release:
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Featured Interview on BRN: Kerrigan on CHOICE Arrangements
*
BRN Interview Featured on TheStreet, Yahoo Finance, MSN and Other National News Platforms
SBE Council President & CEO Karen Kerrigan joined Jeffrey Snyder of the Broadcast Retirement Network (BRN) to discuss the state of America's small businesses and a promising solution addressing the persistent challenge of affordable health coverage: CHOICE Arrangements (formerly ICHRAs).
Kerrigan highlighted the ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 [Category: Business] -- The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council posted the following news release: * * * Featured Interview on BRN: Kerrigan on CHOICE Arrangements * BRN Interview Featured on TheStreet, Yahoo Finance, MSN and Other National News Platforms SBE Council President & CEO Karen Kerrigan joined Jeffrey Snyder of the Broadcast Retirement Network (BRN) to discuss the state of America's small businesses and a promising solution addressing the persistent challenge of affordable health coverage: CHOICE Arrangements (formerly ICHRAs). Kerrigan highlighted thecurrent state of small businesses and SBE Council's latest survey findings: 81% of small business employers are meeting their financial goals for 2026, and 88% say they are either stable or growing.
She explained how CHOICE Arrangements give employers greater control over health benefit costs while empowering employees to select coverage that best meets their individual or family needs. With 20,000 employers now offering these arrangements -- 70% of small business adopting these arrangements previously offered no coverage -- Kerrigan discussed their growing popularity and the policy reforms needed to expand access, strengthen certainty, and make health coverage more affordable.
Watch the Interview:
BRN YouTube Channel | Yahoo Finance | TheStreet | MSN
***
Original text here: https://sbecouncil.org/2026/10/31/featured-interview-on-brn-kerrigan-on-choice-arrangements/
* * *
Featured Interview on BRN: Kerrigan on CHOICE Arrangements
*
BRN Interview Featured on TheStreet, Yahoo Finance, MSN and Other National News Platforms
SBE Council President & CEO Karen Kerrigan joined Jeffrey Snyder of the Broadcast Retirement Network (BRN) to discuss the state of America's small businesses and a promising solution addressing the persistent challenge of affordable health coverage: CHOICE Arrangements (formerly ICHRAs).
Kerrigan highlighted the ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 [Category: Business] -- The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council posted the following news release: * * * Featured Interview on BRN: Kerrigan on CHOICE Arrangements * BRN Interview Featured on TheStreet, Yahoo Finance, MSN and Other National News Platforms SBE Council President & CEO Karen Kerrigan joined Jeffrey Snyder of the Broadcast Retirement Network (BRN) to discuss the state of America's small businesses and a promising solution addressing the persistent challenge of affordable health coverage: CHOICE Arrangements (formerly ICHRAs). Kerrigan highlighted thecurrent state of small businesses and SBE Council's latest survey findings: 81% of small business employers are meeting their financial goals for 2026, and 88% say they are either stable or growing.
She explained how CHOICE Arrangements give employers greater control over health benefit costs while empowering employees to select coverage that best meets their individual or family needs. With 20,000 employers now offering these arrangements -- 70% of small business adopting these arrangements previously offered no coverage -- Kerrigan discussed their growing popularity and the policy reforms needed to expand access, strengthen certainty, and make health coverage more affordable.
Watch the Interview:
BRN YouTube Channel | Yahoo Finance | TheStreet | MSN
***
Original text here: https://sbecouncil.org/2026/10/31/featured-interview-on-brn-kerrigan-on-choice-arrangements/
Children's Health Defense Issues Commentary: CDC Death Certificate Codes Show 'Robust Safety Signal' for COVID Vaccines
FRANKLIN LAKES, New Jersey, Oct. 31 -- Children's Health Defense, an organization that says it restores and protects the health of children by eliminating exposures to environmental toxins, issued the following commentary by Brenda Baletti, senior reporter for The Defender:
* * *
CDC Death Certificate Codes Show 'Robust Safety Signal' for COVID Vaccines
The number of U.S. death certificates listing Y59.0, the code for a death caused by a viral vaccine, rose from fewer than 10 per year through 2020, to 198 in 2021, the year COVID-19 vaccines rolled out, according to a new analysis of CDC data ... Show Full Article FRANKLIN LAKES, New Jersey, Oct. 31 -- Children's Health Defense, an organization that says it restores and protects the health of children by eliminating exposures to environmental toxins, issued the following commentary by Brenda Baletti, senior reporter for The Defender: * * * CDC Death Certificate Codes Show 'Robust Safety Signal' for COVID Vaccines The number of U.S. death certificates listing Y59.0, the code for a death caused by a viral vaccine, rose from fewer than 10 per year through 2020, to 198 in 2021, the year COVID-19 vaccines rolled out, according to a new analysis of CDC databy the research group CORRELATION. Researchers described the increase as an unprecedented safety signal, raising questions about vaccine-related mortality reporting, potential underreporting and the need for stronger monitoring systems.
October 30, 2026
The number of U.S. death certificates listing Y59.0, the code for a death caused by a viral vaccine, rose from fewer than 10 per year through 2020, to 198 in 2021, the year COVID-19 vaccines rolled out, according to a new analysis of CDC data by the research group CORRELATION.
Researchers said the significant increase in certified vaccine deaths starting in 2021 is "unprecedented," at least since 1968, and constitutes "a robust safety signal for COVID-19 vaccines."
"Our results show that exceptional and brave attending physicians reported COVID-19 vaccine-caused deaths on the death certificates that they were legally mandated to complete, despite the large professional, institutional and political bias against doing so, and that these death-certificate results constitute a significant safety signal unprecedented since at least 1968," Denis Rancourt, Ph.D., lead author of the analysis, told The Defender.
He added:
"There is no justification for a claim that the COVID-19 vaccines are 'safe,' since they caused certified deaths, beyond any previous levels for any vaccine type. The side effect of death must be mentioned when informing patients. There is a definite lower-bound risk of death that cannot be argued away by health agencies."
Death certificate codes suggest COVID vaccines killed elderly
The authors of the analysis examined the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's WONDER public health information data, which track mortality and other statistics. They focused on codes used on death certificates to identify a cause, or causes of death.
Standardized medical codes are used globally by healthcare professionals to classify patient diseases and medical conditions. The codes can be used to track and monitor illnesses and causes of death, and for research.
The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th Revision (ICD-10) contains the most up-to-date codes.
The authors of the analysis specifically searched for how often the Y59.0 code -- the code for death from a viral vaccine -- appeared on death certificates.
There is no specific code for the COVID-19 vaccine -- or yet for COVID-19 vaccine injuries. Distinct codes do exist for some bacterial vaccines, including plague, tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, among others, but viral vaccines, including flu, all share Y59.0 code.
As the researchers sifted through the data for death certificates that list the Y59.0 code, they found that Y59.0 deaths were near zero from 1999 through 2020 -- fewer than 10 per year and zero reported in most months.
Deaths from all vaccine types never exceeded 10 reported per year from 1968 through 2020.
However, in 2021, use of the Y59.0 code peaked. For that year, the researchers identified 66 deaths where a viral vaccine was designated as the underlying cause of death, and 198 reports listing a viral vaccine as one of the causes of death on the death certificate.
Roughly half of the people assigned the code were 75 years old or older, and essentially all of them were 65 or over.
The authors suggested that given the massive rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine starting in January 2021, their interpretation of the ICD-10 Y59.0 deaths as being related to COVID-19 vaccines is justified.
The authors also compared the number of deaths on death certificates with the roughly 4,400 deaths from the COVID-19 vaccine reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) in January-May 2021. They argue that the gap is likely due to underreporting of death reports and to institutional bias that likely drives that underreporting.
They also suggested that a rapid surveillance system focused on death codes would have immediately identified a robust safety signal for death among elderly people who got the COVID-19 vaccines.
They recommended developing such a system for all "institutionally imposed new medical interventions" that haven't undergone rigorous safety testing.
Related articles in The Defender
* CDC to Consider New ICD-10 Medical Code for COVID Vaccine Injuries (https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/cdc-consider-new-icd-10-medical-code-covid-vaccine-injuries-react19/)
* CDC to Implement International Classification of Disease Codes for COVID Vaccine Status (https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/covid-vaccine-status-international-disease-codes/)
* CDC Must Create Medical Codes to Track COVID Vaccine Adverse Events, Advocacy Group Says (https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/cdc-must-create-medical-codes-track-covid-vaccine-adverse-events-react19/)
* Nursing Home Residents Died in Droves During COVID -- Because Policymakers Ignored Decades of Scientific Evidence (https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/nursing-home-deaths-covid-policies/)
* * *
Brenda Baletti, Ph.D., is a senior reporter for The Defender. She wrote and taught about capitalism and politics for 10 years in the writing program at Duke University. She holds a Ph.D. in human geography from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a master's from the University of Texas at Austin.
* * *
Original text here: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/cdc-death-certificate-codes-robust-safety-signal-covid-vaccines/
[Category: Health Care]
* * *
CDC Death Certificate Codes Show 'Robust Safety Signal' for COVID Vaccines
The number of U.S. death certificates listing Y59.0, the code for a death caused by a viral vaccine, rose from fewer than 10 per year through 2020, to 198 in 2021, the year COVID-19 vaccines rolled out, according to a new analysis of CDC data ... Show Full Article FRANKLIN LAKES, New Jersey, Oct. 31 -- Children's Health Defense, an organization that says it restores and protects the health of children by eliminating exposures to environmental toxins, issued the following commentary by Brenda Baletti, senior reporter for The Defender: * * * CDC Death Certificate Codes Show 'Robust Safety Signal' for COVID Vaccines The number of U.S. death certificates listing Y59.0, the code for a death caused by a viral vaccine, rose from fewer than 10 per year through 2020, to 198 in 2021, the year COVID-19 vaccines rolled out, according to a new analysis of CDC databy the research group CORRELATION. Researchers described the increase as an unprecedented safety signal, raising questions about vaccine-related mortality reporting, potential underreporting and the need for stronger monitoring systems.
October 30, 2026
The number of U.S. death certificates listing Y59.0, the code for a death caused by a viral vaccine, rose from fewer than 10 per year through 2020, to 198 in 2021, the year COVID-19 vaccines rolled out, according to a new analysis of CDC data by the research group CORRELATION.
Researchers said the significant increase in certified vaccine deaths starting in 2021 is "unprecedented," at least since 1968, and constitutes "a robust safety signal for COVID-19 vaccines."
"Our results show that exceptional and brave attending physicians reported COVID-19 vaccine-caused deaths on the death certificates that they were legally mandated to complete, despite the large professional, institutional and political bias against doing so, and that these death-certificate results constitute a significant safety signal unprecedented since at least 1968," Denis Rancourt, Ph.D., lead author of the analysis, told The Defender.
He added:
"There is no justification for a claim that the COVID-19 vaccines are 'safe,' since they caused certified deaths, beyond any previous levels for any vaccine type. The side effect of death must be mentioned when informing patients. There is a definite lower-bound risk of death that cannot be argued away by health agencies."
Death certificate codes suggest COVID vaccines killed elderly
The authors of the analysis examined the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's WONDER public health information data, which track mortality and other statistics. They focused on codes used on death certificates to identify a cause, or causes of death.
Standardized medical codes are used globally by healthcare professionals to classify patient diseases and medical conditions. The codes can be used to track and monitor illnesses and causes of death, and for research.
The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th Revision (ICD-10) contains the most up-to-date codes.
The authors of the analysis specifically searched for how often the Y59.0 code -- the code for death from a viral vaccine -- appeared on death certificates.
There is no specific code for the COVID-19 vaccine -- or yet for COVID-19 vaccine injuries. Distinct codes do exist for some bacterial vaccines, including plague, tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, among others, but viral vaccines, including flu, all share Y59.0 code.
As the researchers sifted through the data for death certificates that list the Y59.0 code, they found that Y59.0 deaths were near zero from 1999 through 2020 -- fewer than 10 per year and zero reported in most months.
Deaths from all vaccine types never exceeded 10 reported per year from 1968 through 2020.
However, in 2021, use of the Y59.0 code peaked. For that year, the researchers identified 66 deaths where a viral vaccine was designated as the underlying cause of death, and 198 reports listing a viral vaccine as one of the causes of death on the death certificate.
Roughly half of the people assigned the code were 75 years old or older, and essentially all of them were 65 or over.
The authors suggested that given the massive rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine starting in January 2021, their interpretation of the ICD-10 Y59.0 deaths as being related to COVID-19 vaccines is justified.
The authors also compared the number of deaths on death certificates with the roughly 4,400 deaths from the COVID-19 vaccine reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) in January-May 2021. They argue that the gap is likely due to underreporting of death reports and to institutional bias that likely drives that underreporting.
They also suggested that a rapid surveillance system focused on death codes would have immediately identified a robust safety signal for death among elderly people who got the COVID-19 vaccines.
They recommended developing such a system for all "institutionally imposed new medical interventions" that haven't undergone rigorous safety testing.
Related articles in The Defender
* CDC to Consider New ICD-10 Medical Code for COVID Vaccine Injuries (https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/cdc-consider-new-icd-10-medical-code-covid-vaccine-injuries-react19/)
* CDC to Implement International Classification of Disease Codes for COVID Vaccine Status (https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/covid-vaccine-status-international-disease-codes/)
* CDC Must Create Medical Codes to Track COVID Vaccine Adverse Events, Advocacy Group Says (https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/cdc-must-create-medical-codes-track-covid-vaccine-adverse-events-react19/)
* Nursing Home Residents Died in Droves During COVID -- Because Policymakers Ignored Decades of Scientific Evidence (https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/nursing-home-deaths-covid-policies/)
* * *
Brenda Baletti, Ph.D., is a senior reporter for The Defender. She wrote and taught about capitalism and politics for 10 years in the writing program at Duke University. She holds a Ph.D. in human geography from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a master's from the University of Texas at Austin.
* * *
Original text here: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/cdc-death-certificate-codes-robust-safety-signal-covid-vaccines/
[Category: Health Care]
Better Wisconsin Together: MAGA Billionaire Bucks Continue to Prop Up MAGA Candidates in State Legislative Races
MONONA, Wisconsin, Oct. 31 -- A Better Wisconsin Together, a state-based research and communications hub for progressives, posted the following news release:
* * *
MAGA Billionaire Bucks Continue to Prop Up MAGA Candidates in State Legislative Races
Billionaires are bidding to buy the entirety of Wisconsin's state government, from governor on down to the state legislature
October 30, 2026
MADISON, Wis. - The billionaire and special interest-fueled Republican Party of Wisconsin (RPW) and the state Senate and Assembly Republican campaign committees continue to flood legislative races with direct ... Show Full Article MONONA, Wisconsin, Oct. 31 -- A Better Wisconsin Together, a state-based research and communications hub for progressives, posted the following news release: * * * MAGA Billionaire Bucks Continue to Prop Up MAGA Candidates in State Legislative Races Billionaires are bidding to buy the entirety of Wisconsin's state government, from governor on down to the state legislature October 30, 2026 MADISON, Wis. - The billionaire and special interest-fueled Republican Party of Wisconsin (RPW) and the state Senate and Assembly Republican campaign committees continue to flood legislative races with directtransfers and in-kind contributions to their MAGA candidates. In total, 14 candidates in closely watched state legislative races have taken in nearly $17.2 million in direct contributions, transfers, and in-kind contributions from CERS, RACC and the RPW between January 1 of 2025 and October 26, 2026.
Over that same time, just three MAGA billionaires, Dick and Elizabeth Uihlein and Diane Hendricks, have doled out a total of $24,753,500 to the Committee to Elect a Republican Senate (CERS) and the Republican Assembly Campaign Committee (RACC). The RPW has taken over $60.79 million from the three. And on top of it all, the trio has also made $368,000 in direct contributions to MAGA candidates.
"Billionaires are bidding to buy the entirety of Wisconsin's state government, from governor on down to the state legislature," commented A Better Wisconsin Together spokesperson Mike Browne. "And we've seen all too often how the MAGA politicians benefiting from these billionaires' bucks have been willing to sell us out to benefit them."
The latest round of state campaign finance reports, disclosing fundraising through October 26 of this year, continue to show that MAGA candidates in high profile races are relying on RACC and CERS, the state legislative campaign committees, and the RPW to fund their campaigns. The following chart breaks down the amounts of direct contributions from, transfers-in, and in-kind contributions they've received since January 1 of 2025:
CANDIDATE ... DISTRICT ... AMOUNT FROM BILLIONAIRES, RPW, AND CERS/RACC
Mike Roberts ... Senate District 5 ... $212,331.15
Sen. Howard Marklein ... Senate District 17 ... $2,054,269.18
Jim Croft ... Senate District 21 ... $2,665,091.13
Michele Magadance Skinner ... Senate District 31 ... $1,105,183.52
Dylan Pfaffenbach ... Assembly District 21 ... $364,653.64
Rep. Shannon Zimmerman ... Assembly District 30 ... $1,481,625.48
Rep. Todd Novak ... Assembly District 51 ... $1,232,992.95
David Daniels ... Assembly District 53 ... $1,073,330.26
Rep. Bob Donovan ... Assembly District 61 ... $1,487,643.42
Rep. Pat Snyder ... Assembly District 85 ... $1,557,625.19
Rep. Ben Franklin ... Assembly District 88 ... $1,527,616.45
Bobby Lindsey ... Assembly District 89 ... $1,364,587.33
Rep. Clint Moses ... Assembly District 92 ... $871,083.00
Keith Purnell ... Assembly District 94 ... $175,062.69
* * *
A Better Wisconsin Together is a state-based research and communications hub for progressives and is an affiliate of ProgressNow.
* * *
Original text here: https://abetterwisconsin.org/maga-billionaire-bucks-continue-to-prop-up-maga-candidates-in-state-legislative-races/
[Category: Economics]
* * *
MAGA Billionaire Bucks Continue to Prop Up MAGA Candidates in State Legislative Races
Billionaires are bidding to buy the entirety of Wisconsin's state government, from governor on down to the state legislature
October 30, 2026
MADISON, Wis. - The billionaire and special interest-fueled Republican Party of Wisconsin (RPW) and the state Senate and Assembly Republican campaign committees continue to flood legislative races with direct ... Show Full Article MONONA, Wisconsin, Oct. 31 -- A Better Wisconsin Together, a state-based research and communications hub for progressives, posted the following news release: * * * MAGA Billionaire Bucks Continue to Prop Up MAGA Candidates in State Legislative Races Billionaires are bidding to buy the entirety of Wisconsin's state government, from governor on down to the state legislature October 30, 2026 MADISON, Wis. - The billionaire and special interest-fueled Republican Party of Wisconsin (RPW) and the state Senate and Assembly Republican campaign committees continue to flood legislative races with directtransfers and in-kind contributions to their MAGA candidates. In total, 14 candidates in closely watched state legislative races have taken in nearly $17.2 million in direct contributions, transfers, and in-kind contributions from CERS, RACC and the RPW between January 1 of 2025 and October 26, 2026.
Over that same time, just three MAGA billionaires, Dick and Elizabeth Uihlein and Diane Hendricks, have doled out a total of $24,753,500 to the Committee to Elect a Republican Senate (CERS) and the Republican Assembly Campaign Committee (RACC). The RPW has taken over $60.79 million from the three. And on top of it all, the trio has also made $368,000 in direct contributions to MAGA candidates.
"Billionaires are bidding to buy the entirety of Wisconsin's state government, from governor on down to the state legislature," commented A Better Wisconsin Together spokesperson Mike Browne. "And we've seen all too often how the MAGA politicians benefiting from these billionaires' bucks have been willing to sell us out to benefit them."
The latest round of state campaign finance reports, disclosing fundraising through October 26 of this year, continue to show that MAGA candidates in high profile races are relying on RACC and CERS, the state legislative campaign committees, and the RPW to fund their campaigns. The following chart breaks down the amounts of direct contributions from, transfers-in, and in-kind contributions they've received since January 1 of 2025:
CANDIDATE ... DISTRICT ... AMOUNT FROM BILLIONAIRES, RPW, AND CERS/RACC
Mike Roberts ... Senate District 5 ... $212,331.15
Sen. Howard Marklein ... Senate District 17 ... $2,054,269.18
Jim Croft ... Senate District 21 ... $2,665,091.13
Michele Magadance Skinner ... Senate District 31 ... $1,105,183.52
Dylan Pfaffenbach ... Assembly District 21 ... $364,653.64
Rep. Shannon Zimmerman ... Assembly District 30 ... $1,481,625.48
Rep. Todd Novak ... Assembly District 51 ... $1,232,992.95
David Daniels ... Assembly District 53 ... $1,073,330.26
Rep. Bob Donovan ... Assembly District 61 ... $1,487,643.42
Rep. Pat Snyder ... Assembly District 85 ... $1,557,625.19
Rep. Ben Franklin ... Assembly District 88 ... $1,527,616.45
Bobby Lindsey ... Assembly District 89 ... $1,364,587.33
Rep. Clint Moses ... Assembly District 92 ... $871,083.00
Keith Purnell ... Assembly District 94 ... $175,062.69
* * *
A Better Wisconsin Together is a state-based research and communications hub for progressives and is an affiliate of ProgressNow.
* * *
Original text here: https://abetterwisconsin.org/maga-billionaire-bucks-continue-to-prop-up-maga-candidates-in-state-legislative-races/
[Category: Economics]
Better Markets Analysis: Standing Up to the Lawless Crypto Industry
WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 (TNSLrpt) -- Better Markets, an organization that says it promotes pro-market, pro-business and pro-growth policies to help build a better financial system, issued the following analysis:
* * *
October 30, 2026
Standing up to the Lawless Crypto Industry
For years now, too many leaders on Wall Street and Washington either looked the other way or unquestioningly supported the crypto industry as it worked relentlessly to infiltrate our financial system and rewrite the laws and rules to benefit their special interests. Tens of millions of dollars in campaign contributions and ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 (TNSLrpt) -- Better Markets, an organization that says it promotes pro-market, pro-business and pro-growth policies to help build a better financial system, issued the following analysis: * * * October 30, 2026 Standing up to the Lawless Crypto Industry For years now, too many leaders on Wall Street and Washington either looked the other way or unquestioningly supported the crypto industry as it worked relentlessly to infiltrate our financial system and rewrite the laws and rules to benefit their special interests. Tens of millions of dollars in campaign contributions andlobbying fueled this effort. Much of this lobbying originated from too many current and former public officials who leverage their government service to engage in influence peddling. Leaders who should have known better simply accepted the pixie dust of "innovation" and the fairytale of crypto riches, best exemplified by policymakers' wrongheaded embrace of Sam Bankman-Fried in the lead-up to the spectacular collapse of FTX. While many came to their senses after Bankman-Fried's arrest and conviction, the lure of crypto money has proven resilient among policymakers even after massive hacks, scams, and bankruptcies.
Better Markets has stood up against crypto special interests and their multi-fronted attacks on consumers, investors, and the financial system. Crypto is rewriting the rules governing investments and trading to serve their interests at the SEC, while simultaneously working hand-in-glove with the Commission to drop successful enforcement actions. Crypto cheerleaders have taken over the CFTC. They are retooling derivatives rules at the expense of traditional commodities businesses like farmers and ranchers. The crypto industry has also won a law enforcement standdown at the Department of Justice and is promoting their preferred legislation in Congress.
Better Markets' resources track, highlight, and oppose these harmful and aggressive actions and continue to stand up against the crypto tidal wave of money that threatens to overwhelm vital consumer and economic protections.
Regulatory Agencies
* The SEC's order allowing unregulated exchanges to "tokenize" and make available for trading U.S. stocks, as discussed in our October 26, 2026 Substack and our October 22, 2026 press release.
* The OCC's final rule implementing the GENIUS Act, as discussed in our October 21, 2026 press release.
* The SEC's proposal to substantially weaken investor protections for crypto securities offerings, as discussed in our October 20, 2026 press release.
* The CFTC's proposal to bless vertically integrated market structures, as discussed in our October 6, 2026 press release.
* The CFTC's intention to establish rules to give itself jurisdiction over crypto transactions, as discussed in our October 5, 2026 press release.
* The SEC's proposed rules allowing investment advisers to self-custody crypto assets, as discussed in out October 1, 2026 press release.
* The Fed's stablecoin proposal to implement the GENIUS Act, as discussed in our September 24, 2026 press release.
* The SEC's "innovation exemption" to facilitate tokenized stock trading would imperil investors, as discussed in our September 18, 2026 press release.
* The Federal's Proposal would divert deposits from Main Street banks and provide special-purpose payment accounts to certain nonbank financial firms, including crypto firms, as discussed in our July 27, 2026 comment letter.
* The NCUA's proposal to bring stablecoins into the credit union system would bring significant risks. See our July 17, 2026 comment letter.
* The FDIC's reckless GENIUS Act proposal would import all the volatility and illicit finance risks of the crypto market into the United States' federally insured banking system without the strong rules necessary to apply prudent standards to these risky products, as we demonstrated in a June 9, 2026 comment letter.
* The CFTC's approval of perpetual futures provides an important cautionary tale: a feeble process collided with regulatory capture to enable the introduction of exotic financial products with little concern for public feedback on risks or fair competition, writes Amanda Fischer in a June 4, 2026 Substack.
* The CFTC continues to show that it will give the crypto industry and the prediction markets industry anything they want, as it did when the CFTC approved Kalshi's perpetual futures contract on spot bitcoin despite perpetual futures being one of the most dangerous crypto products for retail investors. See our statement. (5/29/2026)
* Policymakers at the banking agencies and on Capitol Hill pay a lot of lip service to community banks, but their actions tell the true story: cake for big banks, crypto banks, and fintech; crumbs for community banks, as described in our May 28, 2026 fact sheet.
* The SEC's anti-investor shift, with its crypto industry giveaways, is bad for everyone, as Dennis M. Kelleher wrote in an April 23, 2026 Substack.
* The DOL's proposal to facilitate the inclusion of risky assets like private credit, private equity, and cryptocurrencies in the 401(k) accounts on which Americans depend for their retirement savings puts the interests of alternative asset managers and the crypto industry first and the interests of investors and retirement savers last, as we detail in our March 30, 2026 statement.
* The SEC's refusal to treat crypto assets as securities endangers investors everywhere, as we described in our March 17, 2026 statement after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued its interpretation of how the federal securities laws apply to crypto assets.
* Our amicus brief in support of the State of Nevada's authority to regulate Crypto.com and other so-called "prediction markets," which are nothing more than illegal sportsbooks, argued that Congress never intended to unleash nationwide gambling, overrule the gambling laws in all 50 states, or have the CFTC oversee gambling and sports betting in all 50 states. (3/10/2026)
* The OCC is continuing its attempt to rewrite its own policies and contradict the law to benefit the crypto industry, with recent proposals that would ensure that crypto banks can be established, thrive, and compete directly with real banks. This goes directly against the OCC's core mission of chartering real banks that support the real economy and promoting the safety and soundness of the banking system. See our February 11, 2026 comment letter.
* We called Fed payment accounts a "giveaway to the crypto industry" in a February 6, 2026 comment letter.
* Five years after GameStop, regulators have allowed the dangerous gamification of investing to proliferate. The same risks that manifested in the GameStop trading frenzy have replicated and amplified themselves in crypto, prediction markets, and calls for 24/7 trading, as we describe in our January 27, 2026 fact sheet.
* One year after President Trump's executive order on digital assets: the results are repeatedly proving to the American people just how much damage can be done in a year, and how broad that damage can be. Read our January 23, 2026 statement.
Other Resources
Video: Crypto Misconduct, Regulatory Arbitrage, and the Future of Policy (10/23/2026)
The New York Times: From Foe to Ally: The S.E.C. Is Now Writing Crypto-Friendly Policies (3/30/26)
* + Top financial regulators are "prioritizing the crypto industry's interests above literally everything," said Dennis Kelleher, who runs Better Markets, a financial reform group. "The signal to the industry is whatever you want, you're going to get."
Release: CFTC Collaborates with the Industries It Should Be Regulating (8/20/26)
Fact Sheet: SPACs + Crypto = Buyer Beware (7/24/2025).
Fact Sheet: The Most Dangerous Product in Crypto Is Coming Onshore (Perpetual Futures) (6/27/2025)
Release: SEC Completes Transformation Into Washington's Crypto Cheerleader, Drops Lawsuit Against Binance & Executives (5/30/2025)
Release: The SEC Under Chair Atkins Will Be the Crypto Industry's Chief Cheerleader (5/20/2025)
Release: SEC Again Leaves Investors Unprotected from Crypto's Risks (5/15/2025)
Release: Our team explained that the SEC made another critical mistake by approving Spot Ether ETPs (4/9/25)
On Friday, March 21, the Securities and Exchange Commission's Crypto Task Force held its inaugural roundtable, "How We Got Here and How We Get Out - Defining Security Status."
* + Benjamin Schiffrin, Better Markets' Director of Securities Policy, is a member of the Task Force and took part in the roundtable, where he emphasized the importance of consumer protections for retail investors.
Barron's Op-ed: Trump's Crypto Plan Is Neither Strategic Nor a Reserve (3/21/25)
LA Times Op-ed: Why the Trump administration is easing up on crypto crime at exactly the wrong moment (3/12/25)
Testimony: Shayna Olesiuk, our Director of Banking Policy, testified at a House Financial Services Committee hearing on debanking today. Shayna emphasized the importance of regulators considering crypto risk in their work to protect Main Street. (2/6/25)
Release: Our team spoke out against the SEC's decision to rescind SAB 121, which provided that companies holding crypto assets for customers face unique risks and should therefore reflect those assets as liabilities on their balance sheets. (1/24/25)
Amicus Brief: Our team filed a brief in the high-profile crypto case, SEC v. Ripple. The case will determine whether investors are protected under the securities laws against the fraud, manipulation, and hidden information that has characterized the crypto markets since their inception. (1/23/25)
The Atlantic: The Great Crypto Crash (1/7/25)
* + "The countdown clock on the next catastrophic crash has already started," Dennis Kelleher, the president of the nonprofit Better Markets, told me."
Amicus Brief: We argued that the SEC's new rule requiring more firms to register as dealers was critical to protecting investors from the threats of crypto. (7/11/24)
Report: Our team explained why crypto should be regulated by the SEC under the Howey Test to protect investors. (7/26/24)
Comment Letter: We explained why approving Spot Ether ETFs would hurt investors, consumers, and financial stability (5/15/24)
The New York Times: U.S. Approves Investment Product Tied to Popular Cryptocurrency Ether (5/23/24)
* + 'The S.E.C. failed to live up to its mission to protect investors and the markets,' Benjamin Schiffrin of Better Markets, a nonprofit that fights for stricter financial regulations, said in a statement.
Release: The SEC's approval of spot Ether ETPs endangers investors and financial stability. (5/23/24)
Release: Better Markets noted the growing winning streak for the SEC after the ruling against Terraform (4/5/24)
Comment Letter: Our team opposed ether-based ETPs (1/12/24)
Bloomberg TV: Dennis Kelleher on Why Bitcoin ETFs Will Harm Investors (1/11/24)
Reuters: US SEC approves bitcoin ETFs in watershed for crypto market (1/11/24)
* + Dennis Kelleher, CEO of investor advocacy think tank Better Markets, warned that bitcoin was still vulnerable to crypto fraudsters and said approving the ETFs was a "historic mistake."
"The SEC's action today has changed nothing about this worthless financial product: bitcoin and crypto still have no legitimate use," he said.
Read our Statement on the SEC's approval of Bitcoin ETFs (1/10/24).
Comment Letter: Better Markets opposed Bitcoin ETP applications and the potential danger they could cause to investors and the entire financial system. (1/5/24)
Politico: A bitcoin breakthrough (1/4/24)
* + In Morning Money, Dennis Kelleher shares that approval of Bitcoin ETFs will give the crypto a veneer of legitimacy despite its record of criminality & lawlessness.
American Banker: FDIC draws bright line between insured and uninsured (12/22/23)
* + "The FDIC deposit insurance is the gold standard for trust, confidence, and protection, which is why too many in the crypto industry want to misleadingly, if not falsely, suggest to crypto investors that their money is protected by the FDIC. That false comfort not only harms investors, but also the insurance program, insured banks, and the broader banking system as people lose faith in the FDIC [and] that's what today's rule aims to stop."
Comment Letters: Better Markets asked the SEC to reject proposed rule changes filed by national securities exchanges to list and trade shares in spot bitcoin-based exchange traded products (8/9/23)
Crime & Fraud
Substack: Learning the Hard Way: What the Binance Hack Teaches Us About Regulation (10/30/26)
Press Release: Is Senator Gillibrand Being Bribed by the Crypto Industry and a Hypocrite on Trump Corruption? (7/6/26)
Fact Sheet: Crypto Lending Poses Huge Risks for Retail Investors (7/17/2025)
Fact Sheet: Boom Times for Crypto Crime (5/6/2025)
Fact Sheet: Crypto's Predatory Targeting of Minority Communities (10/24/24)
Fact Sheet: Standing with Crypto Means Standing with Fraudsters (9/18/24)
Wall Street Journal: Founder of Binance, World's Largest Crypto Firm, Sentenced to Four Months(4/30/24)
* + "He and a bunch of others at Binance should have been charged with substantive violations, not what is a minimalist charge almost akin to a record-keeping violation," said Dennis Kelleher, head of Better Markets, a group that advocates for tougher financial regulation.
Memo: Our team outlined why the Department of Justice must do more to hold CZ accountable for his stunning crimes. (4/29/24)
Associated Press: Regulators and law enforcement crack down on crypto's bad actors. Congress has yet to take action (11/22/23)
* + "The lawlessness, if not criminal activities of crypto will continue and increase until all prosecutors, regulators and elected officials force the industry to act like all other law-abiding people and firms in the financial industry," said Dennis Kelleher, president of Better Markets, a nonprofit that works to "build a more secure financial system for all Americans," according to its website.
Fact Sheet: Our Fact Sheet explains how crypto is an important tool used for criminal and terrorists, including Hamas. (10/25/23)
Congress & Legislation
* The current fight between banks and crypto companies has the potential to devastate our economy. Crypto companies want to maintain their ability to offer interest on so-called stablecoins (which should really be called unstablecoins), which was allowed under a massive loophole in the GENIUS Act passed last summer. That could attract a lot of depositors away from banks, which would do real harm to the economy, especially Main Street Americans. We explain in our March 4, 2026 fact sheet.
* The terms of the tokenization debate must not be dictated by the crypto industry, which wants tokenized securities to be exempt from some of the rules that govern stock trading. However, there is no reason to exempt tokenized securities from those rules, and there is no reason to equate crypto with tokenization. They are not the same, as we detail in our March 24, 2026 fact sheet.
Other Resources
Statement: House Passes Legislation Deregulating Crypto, Enabling the Next Financial Crisis (7/17/2025)
Fact Sheet: Buyers' Remorse? Key Questions to Consider in Crypto Legislation (7/14/2025)
Press Release: Senate Banking Democrats Shamefully Pick Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried's "Key Ally" and House Republicans' Witness for a One-Sided Pro-Crypto Hearing (6/23/2025)
Statement: Senate Passing Industry-Friendly GENIUS Act Puts Economy at Risk (6/17/2025)
Testimony: Amanda Fischer, Policy Director & COO, testified before the House Financial Services Committee on the CLARITY Act (6/6/25)
Fact Sheet: Don't Be a Dummy: GENIUS Act Changes Fail to Make a Bad Bill Better (5/16/2025)
Fact Sheet: The GENIUS Act: Allowing Big Tech to Control Our Money
Fact Sheet: Stablecoin Legislation: Why Nothing is Better Than Something (5/7/2025)
Open Banker Op-ed: Forget Myths: The Stablecoin Reality (3/20/25)
Fact Sheet: Our team outlined the pressing questions lawmakers must ask as they consider (Un)Stablecoin Legislation. (2/26/25)
Fact Sheet: Ahead of a House Financial Services Committee hearing entitled "A Golden Age of Digital Assets: Charting a Path Forward" we released a new fact sheet explaining why Congress must should actually be focusing on crypto's long criminal record, which has ripped off millions of Americans. (2/10/25)
Our fact sheet outlines the key issues policymakers should consider as the crypto industry attempts to buy Washington. (11/15/24)
Fact Sheet: Seven Questions on the Pro-Crypto, Anti-SEC Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT 21) (6/11/24)
Op-ed: Congress must ask tough questions about crypto industry favored legislation (6/11/24)
Fact Sheet: We raised serious questions about a crypto market structure bill moving through the House of Representatives. (5/22/24)
Fact Sheet: We raised important questions over a Congressional Review Act Resolution that would repeal SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) 121, which provides that companies holding crypto assets for customers face unique risks and should therefore reflect those assets as liabilities on their balance sheets. (2/27/24)
Press Release: Our team put together 10 reasons why Congress shouldn't pass the industry's special interest bailout bill. (11/29/23)
Fact Sheet: Our fact sheet argues that Congress must carefully consider the track record of stablecoins, and their impact on the financial system before adopting measures that would legitimize this dangerous corner of the crypto market. (5/17/23)
Press Release: We called on Congress to know the facts before considering legislation putting the underfunded CFTC in charge of the crypto Industry (11/21/22)
Influence Peddling
* The crypto industry, its lobbyists, and supporters in the administration have been pushing false claims and deceptive "analysis" to support the crypto position, but policymakers must stick to the facts and thoughtful analysis and reject their efforts for the benefit of the economy, argue Phillip Basil and Chris Appel in an April 16, 2026 Substack.
* After Politico reported that "Crypto billionaire among dozens to back startup from Gillibrand's son," we released a statement condemning the close relationship between Congress and the crypto industry. (7/9/2026)
Other Resources
Press Release: Crypto Industry Juices Latest Polls to Falsely Claim Broad Support among U.S. Voters (7/14/2025)
NPR: How President Trump is sparking a crypto revolution in America (5/19/2025)
* + "History is going to show this will be a disaster courting a catastrophe for the rest of the country and especially for Main Street Americans, who are going to get stuck with the bill cleaning up after the next financial crash," says Dennis Kelleher, a prominent crypto critic at advocacy group Better Markets
The Economist: The crypto industry is suddenly at the heart of American politics (5/15/2025)
* + "It's the most brute force display of money and power in the legislature I have ever seen," says Amanda Fischer, chief operating officer for Better Markets.
San Francisco Chronicle Op-ed: What the crypto industry didn't say in its deceptive -- and effective -- campaign ads (11/7/24)
NPR: The crypto industry won big this election. It has several implications (12/16/24)
* + "I talked to Dennis Kelleher, the head of the nonpartisan watchdog Better Markets. He points out that with Republicans controlling the White House, and likely Congress, there just won't be as many guardrails on the crypto industry.
DENNIS KELLEHER: And unfortunately, that means more scams, frauds and criminals running amok, with those regulators and prosecutors mostly ignoring it all.
ASPAN: Kelleher also points out that whatever your feelings on crypto, there's not a lot of evidence that it's why people voted the way they did. Many of the campaign ads the crypto industry bought didn't even mention crypto. They highlighted other issues to help get crypto-friendly lawmakers elected."
The American Prospect: The Crypto Bros Are Taking Over Politics (9/10/24)
* + Needless to say, the crypto industry hasn't left everyone agog with wonder. "It's a lawless industry with a business model that is basically 'catch us if you can' [with lawsuits], and before you can do that we'll buy enough politicians to get a special law passed that has the appearance of regulation with the reality of deregulation," Dennis Kelleher, CEO of the financial reform nonprofit Better Markets told The American Prospect back in April; he has also written for the Financial Times discouraging Harris from caving to the industry.
CNBC: Dennis Kelleher joined CNBC's Crypto World with Brandon Gomez to discuss why Vice President Harris should reject the crypto industry's massive influence campaign and focus on issues that matter to Main Street.
Lever News: Welcome To The Crypto Election (7/31/24)
* + "The crypto industry is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to distract policymakers and the public from its long rap sheet of criminal convictions, predatory conduct, illegal behavior, bankruptcies, lawsuits, and scandals," said Dennis Kelleher, president of consumer advocacy group Better Markets. "These crypto PACs are looking to make the crypto industry's work in Congress even easier by trying to defeat elected officials who put the public interest first and are not crypto-lackeys."
Financial Times op-ed by Dennis Kelleher: Kamala Harris should not cave to overtures from the crypto crowd (8/15/24)
BBC News: Dennis Kelleher Talked Crypto and the Election on BBC News (7/25/24)
New York Times: How Crypto Money Is Poised to Influence the Election (6/17/24)
* + "A single relatively small industry is literally trying to buy enough politicians to hijack the public agenda," said Dennis Kelleher, the president of Better Markets, a financial reform advocacy group. "It's pretty breathtaking."
Bloomberg: Trump Mugshot NFTs Highlight Crypto's Arrival on Campaign Trail (5/16/24)
* + To Kelleher, at the crypto-critical Better Markets group, there's another meaningful number of people to consider: All the voters who have been turned off by the long list of crimes and scandals associated with the asset class.
'It's hard to believe that there are going to be many people who conclude that voting in favor of a bunch of criminals and predators is somehow in their interest,' he said.
Financial Times: Crypto lobbyists are on manoeuvres -- and we should be worried (3/28/24)
* + "And this week Dennis Kelleher, head of Better Markets, another non-profit, and crypto critic, wrote that 'a crypto industry dark money group...with the Orwellian name 'Fairshake' raised nearly $80mn in just the last three months of 2023'. Kelleher says this is being used to attack politicians who have expressed reservations about crypto, such as the Democrat senators Elizabeth Warren and Sherrod Brown. Indeed, the campaign has already helped to knock out one anti-crypto voice, Katie Porter, who recently lost a Californian primary."
Bloomberg: Crypto Titans Threaten to Unleash War Chest on Hostile Lawmakers (3/15/24)
* + "They know the public views crypto like kryptonite - it turns off more voters than it turns on," said Dennis Kelleher, president and chief executive officer of Better Markets, a group that pushes for greater market oversight. But "you can bet that wherever crypto spends a penny, they will claim they have influenced the outcome and expect the winners to pay them back."
CNBC: Mysterious crypto 'dark money' group ramps up lobbying efforts ahead of 2024 election (1/8/24)
* + "What we're going to see in 2024 is a massive ramp up in crypto-funded 'dark' money campaigns against anybody who isn't a crypto shill," Kelleher said. "By the end of the year, when it's all added up, I think the crypto industry is going to put hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars in trying to defeat people who want to actually represent the voters, rather than represent crypto."
FTX
Bloomberg TV: Dennis Kelleher Talks SBF, Lawless Crypto Industry, & the 2024 Campaign on Bloomberg Crypto (4/2/24)
Statement: We applauded SBF's 25 year sentence but noted that SBF is not an outlier, but rather a representation of the crypto industry. (3/28/24)
Memo: We outlined why SBF deserves a very long sentence for his egregious crypto crime spree. (3/26/24)
Press Release: SBF's Conviction was an important step, but others who contributed to crypto's lawlessness must be held accountable. (11/2/23)
Dennis Kelleher Explains How Better Markets Stood up to FTX in New Bloomberg Documentary (10/26/23)
Fact Sheet: Setting the record Straight on Crypto, FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried, and Financial Regulators (3/8/23)
Press Release: Ahead of a Senate Agriculture hearing on CFTC Oversight Better Markets released key questions for the CFTC Chair to answer about the agency's role in crypto oversight and regulation. (3/7/23)
Report: In a examination of the SEC's work on crypto, our team details the facts of what the #SEC has actually done and why it has been as effective as possible under the circumstances. (1/24/23)
Blog: Our team examined the stunning impact of the revolving door between the CFTC and FTX. (12/26/2022)
Letter to Senate Agriculture Committee: We raised numerous concerns over an FTX endorsed crypto bill that would jeopardize investor, consumer, and financial stability protections. (1/10/23)
Fact Sheet: Before the Senate Agriculture hearing on a crypto bill that was FTX's main priority, we asked the CFTC and Members of Congress to consider 10 key questions about the legislation. (11/30/22)
Press Release: We called for an investigation of the CFTC's FTX Failures and push for crypto-friendly legislation (11/15/2022)
Press Release: Our statement criticized the CFTC for failing to properly regulate or supervise FTX (11/14/22)
Fact Sheet: Before a CFTC roundtable on FTX's application, we outlined the key questions that both the CFTC and FTX should address as they considered the company's application. (5/24/22)
Letter: Our letter to the CFTC urged the agency to have a "transparent, robust, and meaningly inclusive" process for evaluating FTX's application. (6/16/22)
Comment Letter: Better Markets Criticized FTX's proposal before the CFTC, noting the threats posed to customer protection and systemic stability by cryptocurrency investments. (5/11/22)
* * *
Original text here: https://bettermarkets.org/analysis/setting-the-record-straight-on-crypto-ftx-sam-bankman-fried-jamie-dimon-the-sec-and-cftc-and-the-revolving-door/
[Category: Financial Services]
* * *
October 30, 2026
Standing up to the Lawless Crypto Industry
For years now, too many leaders on Wall Street and Washington either looked the other way or unquestioningly supported the crypto industry as it worked relentlessly to infiltrate our financial system and rewrite the laws and rules to benefit their special interests. Tens of millions of dollars in campaign contributions and ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 (TNSLrpt) -- Better Markets, an organization that says it promotes pro-market, pro-business and pro-growth policies to help build a better financial system, issued the following analysis: * * * October 30, 2026 Standing up to the Lawless Crypto Industry For years now, too many leaders on Wall Street and Washington either looked the other way or unquestioningly supported the crypto industry as it worked relentlessly to infiltrate our financial system and rewrite the laws and rules to benefit their special interests. Tens of millions of dollars in campaign contributions andlobbying fueled this effort. Much of this lobbying originated from too many current and former public officials who leverage their government service to engage in influence peddling. Leaders who should have known better simply accepted the pixie dust of "innovation" and the fairytale of crypto riches, best exemplified by policymakers' wrongheaded embrace of Sam Bankman-Fried in the lead-up to the spectacular collapse of FTX. While many came to their senses after Bankman-Fried's arrest and conviction, the lure of crypto money has proven resilient among policymakers even after massive hacks, scams, and bankruptcies.
Better Markets has stood up against crypto special interests and their multi-fronted attacks on consumers, investors, and the financial system. Crypto is rewriting the rules governing investments and trading to serve their interests at the SEC, while simultaneously working hand-in-glove with the Commission to drop successful enforcement actions. Crypto cheerleaders have taken over the CFTC. They are retooling derivatives rules at the expense of traditional commodities businesses like farmers and ranchers. The crypto industry has also won a law enforcement standdown at the Department of Justice and is promoting their preferred legislation in Congress.
Better Markets' resources track, highlight, and oppose these harmful and aggressive actions and continue to stand up against the crypto tidal wave of money that threatens to overwhelm vital consumer and economic protections.
Regulatory Agencies
* The SEC's order allowing unregulated exchanges to "tokenize" and make available for trading U.S. stocks, as discussed in our October 26, 2026 Substack and our October 22, 2026 press release.
* The OCC's final rule implementing the GENIUS Act, as discussed in our October 21, 2026 press release.
* The SEC's proposal to substantially weaken investor protections for crypto securities offerings, as discussed in our October 20, 2026 press release.
* The CFTC's proposal to bless vertically integrated market structures, as discussed in our October 6, 2026 press release.
* The CFTC's intention to establish rules to give itself jurisdiction over crypto transactions, as discussed in our October 5, 2026 press release.
* The SEC's proposed rules allowing investment advisers to self-custody crypto assets, as discussed in out October 1, 2026 press release.
* The Fed's stablecoin proposal to implement the GENIUS Act, as discussed in our September 24, 2026 press release.
* The SEC's "innovation exemption" to facilitate tokenized stock trading would imperil investors, as discussed in our September 18, 2026 press release.
* The Federal's Proposal would divert deposits from Main Street banks and provide special-purpose payment accounts to certain nonbank financial firms, including crypto firms, as discussed in our July 27, 2026 comment letter.
* The NCUA's proposal to bring stablecoins into the credit union system would bring significant risks. See our July 17, 2026 comment letter.
* The FDIC's reckless GENIUS Act proposal would import all the volatility and illicit finance risks of the crypto market into the United States' federally insured banking system without the strong rules necessary to apply prudent standards to these risky products, as we demonstrated in a June 9, 2026 comment letter.
* The CFTC's approval of perpetual futures provides an important cautionary tale: a feeble process collided with regulatory capture to enable the introduction of exotic financial products with little concern for public feedback on risks or fair competition, writes Amanda Fischer in a June 4, 2026 Substack.
* The CFTC continues to show that it will give the crypto industry and the prediction markets industry anything they want, as it did when the CFTC approved Kalshi's perpetual futures contract on spot bitcoin despite perpetual futures being one of the most dangerous crypto products for retail investors. See our statement. (5/29/2026)
* Policymakers at the banking agencies and on Capitol Hill pay a lot of lip service to community banks, but their actions tell the true story: cake for big banks, crypto banks, and fintech; crumbs for community banks, as described in our May 28, 2026 fact sheet.
* The SEC's anti-investor shift, with its crypto industry giveaways, is bad for everyone, as Dennis M. Kelleher wrote in an April 23, 2026 Substack.
* The DOL's proposal to facilitate the inclusion of risky assets like private credit, private equity, and cryptocurrencies in the 401(k) accounts on which Americans depend for their retirement savings puts the interests of alternative asset managers and the crypto industry first and the interests of investors and retirement savers last, as we detail in our March 30, 2026 statement.
* The SEC's refusal to treat crypto assets as securities endangers investors everywhere, as we described in our March 17, 2026 statement after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued its interpretation of how the federal securities laws apply to crypto assets.
* Our amicus brief in support of the State of Nevada's authority to regulate Crypto.com and other so-called "prediction markets," which are nothing more than illegal sportsbooks, argued that Congress never intended to unleash nationwide gambling, overrule the gambling laws in all 50 states, or have the CFTC oversee gambling and sports betting in all 50 states. (3/10/2026)
* The OCC is continuing its attempt to rewrite its own policies and contradict the law to benefit the crypto industry, with recent proposals that would ensure that crypto banks can be established, thrive, and compete directly with real banks. This goes directly against the OCC's core mission of chartering real banks that support the real economy and promoting the safety and soundness of the banking system. See our February 11, 2026 comment letter.
* We called Fed payment accounts a "giveaway to the crypto industry" in a February 6, 2026 comment letter.
* Five years after GameStop, regulators have allowed the dangerous gamification of investing to proliferate. The same risks that manifested in the GameStop trading frenzy have replicated and amplified themselves in crypto, prediction markets, and calls for 24/7 trading, as we describe in our January 27, 2026 fact sheet.
* One year after President Trump's executive order on digital assets: the results are repeatedly proving to the American people just how much damage can be done in a year, and how broad that damage can be. Read our January 23, 2026 statement.
Other Resources
Video: Crypto Misconduct, Regulatory Arbitrage, and the Future of Policy (10/23/2026)
The New York Times: From Foe to Ally: The S.E.C. Is Now Writing Crypto-Friendly Policies (3/30/26)
* + Top financial regulators are "prioritizing the crypto industry's interests above literally everything," said Dennis Kelleher, who runs Better Markets, a financial reform group. "The signal to the industry is whatever you want, you're going to get."
Release: CFTC Collaborates with the Industries It Should Be Regulating (8/20/26)
Fact Sheet: SPACs + Crypto = Buyer Beware (7/24/2025).
Fact Sheet: The Most Dangerous Product in Crypto Is Coming Onshore (Perpetual Futures) (6/27/2025)
Release: SEC Completes Transformation Into Washington's Crypto Cheerleader, Drops Lawsuit Against Binance & Executives (5/30/2025)
Release: The SEC Under Chair Atkins Will Be the Crypto Industry's Chief Cheerleader (5/20/2025)
Release: SEC Again Leaves Investors Unprotected from Crypto's Risks (5/15/2025)
Release: Our team explained that the SEC made another critical mistake by approving Spot Ether ETPs (4/9/25)
On Friday, March 21, the Securities and Exchange Commission's Crypto Task Force held its inaugural roundtable, "How We Got Here and How We Get Out - Defining Security Status."
* + Benjamin Schiffrin, Better Markets' Director of Securities Policy, is a member of the Task Force and took part in the roundtable, where he emphasized the importance of consumer protections for retail investors.
Barron's Op-ed: Trump's Crypto Plan Is Neither Strategic Nor a Reserve (3/21/25)
LA Times Op-ed: Why the Trump administration is easing up on crypto crime at exactly the wrong moment (3/12/25)
Testimony: Shayna Olesiuk, our Director of Banking Policy, testified at a House Financial Services Committee hearing on debanking today. Shayna emphasized the importance of regulators considering crypto risk in their work to protect Main Street. (2/6/25)
Release: Our team spoke out against the SEC's decision to rescind SAB 121, which provided that companies holding crypto assets for customers face unique risks and should therefore reflect those assets as liabilities on their balance sheets. (1/24/25)
Amicus Brief: Our team filed a brief in the high-profile crypto case, SEC v. Ripple. The case will determine whether investors are protected under the securities laws against the fraud, manipulation, and hidden information that has characterized the crypto markets since their inception. (1/23/25)
The Atlantic: The Great Crypto Crash (1/7/25)
* + "The countdown clock on the next catastrophic crash has already started," Dennis Kelleher, the president of the nonprofit Better Markets, told me."
Amicus Brief: We argued that the SEC's new rule requiring more firms to register as dealers was critical to protecting investors from the threats of crypto. (7/11/24)
Report: Our team explained why crypto should be regulated by the SEC under the Howey Test to protect investors. (7/26/24)
Comment Letter: We explained why approving Spot Ether ETFs would hurt investors, consumers, and financial stability (5/15/24)
The New York Times: U.S. Approves Investment Product Tied to Popular Cryptocurrency Ether (5/23/24)
* + 'The S.E.C. failed to live up to its mission to protect investors and the markets,' Benjamin Schiffrin of Better Markets, a nonprofit that fights for stricter financial regulations, said in a statement.
Release: The SEC's approval of spot Ether ETPs endangers investors and financial stability. (5/23/24)
Release: Better Markets noted the growing winning streak for the SEC after the ruling against Terraform (4/5/24)
Comment Letter: Our team opposed ether-based ETPs (1/12/24)
Bloomberg TV: Dennis Kelleher on Why Bitcoin ETFs Will Harm Investors (1/11/24)
Reuters: US SEC approves bitcoin ETFs in watershed for crypto market (1/11/24)
* + Dennis Kelleher, CEO of investor advocacy think tank Better Markets, warned that bitcoin was still vulnerable to crypto fraudsters and said approving the ETFs was a "historic mistake."
"The SEC's action today has changed nothing about this worthless financial product: bitcoin and crypto still have no legitimate use," he said.
Read our Statement on the SEC's approval of Bitcoin ETFs (1/10/24).
Comment Letter: Better Markets opposed Bitcoin ETP applications and the potential danger they could cause to investors and the entire financial system. (1/5/24)
Politico: A bitcoin breakthrough (1/4/24)
* + In Morning Money, Dennis Kelleher shares that approval of Bitcoin ETFs will give the crypto a veneer of legitimacy despite its record of criminality & lawlessness.
American Banker: FDIC draws bright line between insured and uninsured (12/22/23)
* + "The FDIC deposit insurance is the gold standard for trust, confidence, and protection, which is why too many in the crypto industry want to misleadingly, if not falsely, suggest to crypto investors that their money is protected by the FDIC. That false comfort not only harms investors, but also the insurance program, insured banks, and the broader banking system as people lose faith in the FDIC [and] that's what today's rule aims to stop."
Comment Letters: Better Markets asked the SEC to reject proposed rule changes filed by national securities exchanges to list and trade shares in spot bitcoin-based exchange traded products (8/9/23)
Crime & Fraud
Substack: Learning the Hard Way: What the Binance Hack Teaches Us About Regulation (10/30/26)
Press Release: Is Senator Gillibrand Being Bribed by the Crypto Industry and a Hypocrite on Trump Corruption? (7/6/26)
Fact Sheet: Crypto Lending Poses Huge Risks for Retail Investors (7/17/2025)
Fact Sheet: Boom Times for Crypto Crime (5/6/2025)
Fact Sheet: Crypto's Predatory Targeting of Minority Communities (10/24/24)
Fact Sheet: Standing with Crypto Means Standing with Fraudsters (9/18/24)
Wall Street Journal: Founder of Binance, World's Largest Crypto Firm, Sentenced to Four Months(4/30/24)
* + "He and a bunch of others at Binance should have been charged with substantive violations, not what is a minimalist charge almost akin to a record-keeping violation," said Dennis Kelleher, head of Better Markets, a group that advocates for tougher financial regulation.
Memo: Our team outlined why the Department of Justice must do more to hold CZ accountable for his stunning crimes. (4/29/24)
Associated Press: Regulators and law enforcement crack down on crypto's bad actors. Congress has yet to take action (11/22/23)
* + "The lawlessness, if not criminal activities of crypto will continue and increase until all prosecutors, regulators and elected officials force the industry to act like all other law-abiding people and firms in the financial industry," said Dennis Kelleher, president of Better Markets, a nonprofit that works to "build a more secure financial system for all Americans," according to its website.
Fact Sheet: Our Fact Sheet explains how crypto is an important tool used for criminal and terrorists, including Hamas. (10/25/23)
Congress & Legislation
* The current fight between banks and crypto companies has the potential to devastate our economy. Crypto companies want to maintain their ability to offer interest on so-called stablecoins (which should really be called unstablecoins), which was allowed under a massive loophole in the GENIUS Act passed last summer. That could attract a lot of depositors away from banks, which would do real harm to the economy, especially Main Street Americans. We explain in our March 4, 2026 fact sheet.
* The terms of the tokenization debate must not be dictated by the crypto industry, which wants tokenized securities to be exempt from some of the rules that govern stock trading. However, there is no reason to exempt tokenized securities from those rules, and there is no reason to equate crypto with tokenization. They are not the same, as we detail in our March 24, 2026 fact sheet.
Other Resources
Statement: House Passes Legislation Deregulating Crypto, Enabling the Next Financial Crisis (7/17/2025)
Fact Sheet: Buyers' Remorse? Key Questions to Consider in Crypto Legislation (7/14/2025)
Press Release: Senate Banking Democrats Shamefully Pick Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried's "Key Ally" and House Republicans' Witness for a One-Sided Pro-Crypto Hearing (6/23/2025)
Statement: Senate Passing Industry-Friendly GENIUS Act Puts Economy at Risk (6/17/2025)
Testimony: Amanda Fischer, Policy Director & COO, testified before the House Financial Services Committee on the CLARITY Act (6/6/25)
Fact Sheet: Don't Be a Dummy: GENIUS Act Changes Fail to Make a Bad Bill Better (5/16/2025)
Fact Sheet: The GENIUS Act: Allowing Big Tech to Control Our Money
Fact Sheet: Stablecoin Legislation: Why Nothing is Better Than Something (5/7/2025)
Open Banker Op-ed: Forget Myths: The Stablecoin Reality (3/20/25)
Fact Sheet: Our team outlined the pressing questions lawmakers must ask as they consider (Un)Stablecoin Legislation. (2/26/25)
Fact Sheet: Ahead of a House Financial Services Committee hearing entitled "A Golden Age of Digital Assets: Charting a Path Forward" we released a new fact sheet explaining why Congress must should actually be focusing on crypto's long criminal record, which has ripped off millions of Americans. (2/10/25)
Our fact sheet outlines the key issues policymakers should consider as the crypto industry attempts to buy Washington. (11/15/24)
Fact Sheet: Seven Questions on the Pro-Crypto, Anti-SEC Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT 21) (6/11/24)
Op-ed: Congress must ask tough questions about crypto industry favored legislation (6/11/24)
Fact Sheet: We raised serious questions about a crypto market structure bill moving through the House of Representatives. (5/22/24)
Fact Sheet: We raised important questions over a Congressional Review Act Resolution that would repeal SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) 121, which provides that companies holding crypto assets for customers face unique risks and should therefore reflect those assets as liabilities on their balance sheets. (2/27/24)
Press Release: Our team put together 10 reasons why Congress shouldn't pass the industry's special interest bailout bill. (11/29/23)
Fact Sheet: Our fact sheet argues that Congress must carefully consider the track record of stablecoins, and their impact on the financial system before adopting measures that would legitimize this dangerous corner of the crypto market. (5/17/23)
Press Release: We called on Congress to know the facts before considering legislation putting the underfunded CFTC in charge of the crypto Industry (11/21/22)
Influence Peddling
* The crypto industry, its lobbyists, and supporters in the administration have been pushing false claims and deceptive "analysis" to support the crypto position, but policymakers must stick to the facts and thoughtful analysis and reject their efforts for the benefit of the economy, argue Phillip Basil and Chris Appel in an April 16, 2026 Substack.
* After Politico reported that "Crypto billionaire among dozens to back startup from Gillibrand's son," we released a statement condemning the close relationship between Congress and the crypto industry. (7/9/2026)
Other Resources
Press Release: Crypto Industry Juices Latest Polls to Falsely Claim Broad Support among U.S. Voters (7/14/2025)
NPR: How President Trump is sparking a crypto revolution in America (5/19/2025)
* + "History is going to show this will be a disaster courting a catastrophe for the rest of the country and especially for Main Street Americans, who are going to get stuck with the bill cleaning up after the next financial crash," says Dennis Kelleher, a prominent crypto critic at advocacy group Better Markets
The Economist: The crypto industry is suddenly at the heart of American politics (5/15/2025)
* + "It's the most brute force display of money and power in the legislature I have ever seen," says Amanda Fischer, chief operating officer for Better Markets.
San Francisco Chronicle Op-ed: What the crypto industry didn't say in its deceptive -- and effective -- campaign ads (11/7/24)
NPR: The crypto industry won big this election. It has several implications (12/16/24)
* + "I talked to Dennis Kelleher, the head of the nonpartisan watchdog Better Markets. He points out that with Republicans controlling the White House, and likely Congress, there just won't be as many guardrails on the crypto industry.
DENNIS KELLEHER: And unfortunately, that means more scams, frauds and criminals running amok, with those regulators and prosecutors mostly ignoring it all.
ASPAN: Kelleher also points out that whatever your feelings on crypto, there's not a lot of evidence that it's why people voted the way they did. Many of the campaign ads the crypto industry bought didn't even mention crypto. They highlighted other issues to help get crypto-friendly lawmakers elected."
The American Prospect: The Crypto Bros Are Taking Over Politics (9/10/24)
* + Needless to say, the crypto industry hasn't left everyone agog with wonder. "It's a lawless industry with a business model that is basically 'catch us if you can' [with lawsuits], and before you can do that we'll buy enough politicians to get a special law passed that has the appearance of regulation with the reality of deregulation," Dennis Kelleher, CEO of the financial reform nonprofit Better Markets told The American Prospect back in April; he has also written for the Financial Times discouraging Harris from caving to the industry.
CNBC: Dennis Kelleher joined CNBC's Crypto World with Brandon Gomez to discuss why Vice President Harris should reject the crypto industry's massive influence campaign and focus on issues that matter to Main Street.
Lever News: Welcome To The Crypto Election (7/31/24)
* + "The crypto industry is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to distract policymakers and the public from its long rap sheet of criminal convictions, predatory conduct, illegal behavior, bankruptcies, lawsuits, and scandals," said Dennis Kelleher, president of consumer advocacy group Better Markets. "These crypto PACs are looking to make the crypto industry's work in Congress even easier by trying to defeat elected officials who put the public interest first and are not crypto-lackeys."
Financial Times op-ed by Dennis Kelleher: Kamala Harris should not cave to overtures from the crypto crowd (8/15/24)
BBC News: Dennis Kelleher Talked Crypto and the Election on BBC News (7/25/24)
New York Times: How Crypto Money Is Poised to Influence the Election (6/17/24)
* + "A single relatively small industry is literally trying to buy enough politicians to hijack the public agenda," said Dennis Kelleher, the president of Better Markets, a financial reform advocacy group. "It's pretty breathtaking."
Bloomberg: Trump Mugshot NFTs Highlight Crypto's Arrival on Campaign Trail (5/16/24)
* + To Kelleher, at the crypto-critical Better Markets group, there's another meaningful number of people to consider: All the voters who have been turned off by the long list of crimes and scandals associated with the asset class.
'It's hard to believe that there are going to be many people who conclude that voting in favor of a bunch of criminals and predators is somehow in their interest,' he said.
Financial Times: Crypto lobbyists are on manoeuvres -- and we should be worried (3/28/24)
* + "And this week Dennis Kelleher, head of Better Markets, another non-profit, and crypto critic, wrote that 'a crypto industry dark money group...with the Orwellian name 'Fairshake' raised nearly $80mn in just the last three months of 2023'. Kelleher says this is being used to attack politicians who have expressed reservations about crypto, such as the Democrat senators Elizabeth Warren and Sherrod Brown. Indeed, the campaign has already helped to knock out one anti-crypto voice, Katie Porter, who recently lost a Californian primary."
Bloomberg: Crypto Titans Threaten to Unleash War Chest on Hostile Lawmakers (3/15/24)
* + "They know the public views crypto like kryptonite - it turns off more voters than it turns on," said Dennis Kelleher, president and chief executive officer of Better Markets, a group that pushes for greater market oversight. But "you can bet that wherever crypto spends a penny, they will claim they have influenced the outcome and expect the winners to pay them back."
CNBC: Mysterious crypto 'dark money' group ramps up lobbying efforts ahead of 2024 election (1/8/24)
* + "What we're going to see in 2024 is a massive ramp up in crypto-funded 'dark' money campaigns against anybody who isn't a crypto shill," Kelleher said. "By the end of the year, when it's all added up, I think the crypto industry is going to put hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars in trying to defeat people who want to actually represent the voters, rather than represent crypto."
FTX
Bloomberg TV: Dennis Kelleher Talks SBF, Lawless Crypto Industry, & the 2024 Campaign on Bloomberg Crypto (4/2/24)
Statement: We applauded SBF's 25 year sentence but noted that SBF is not an outlier, but rather a representation of the crypto industry. (3/28/24)
Memo: We outlined why SBF deserves a very long sentence for his egregious crypto crime spree. (3/26/24)
Press Release: SBF's Conviction was an important step, but others who contributed to crypto's lawlessness must be held accountable. (11/2/23)
Dennis Kelleher Explains How Better Markets Stood up to FTX in New Bloomberg Documentary (10/26/23)
Fact Sheet: Setting the record Straight on Crypto, FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried, and Financial Regulators (3/8/23)
Press Release: Ahead of a Senate Agriculture hearing on CFTC Oversight Better Markets released key questions for the CFTC Chair to answer about the agency's role in crypto oversight and regulation. (3/7/23)
Report: In a examination of the SEC's work on crypto, our team details the facts of what the #SEC has actually done and why it has been as effective as possible under the circumstances. (1/24/23)
Blog: Our team examined the stunning impact of the revolving door between the CFTC and FTX. (12/26/2022)
Letter to Senate Agriculture Committee: We raised numerous concerns over an FTX endorsed crypto bill that would jeopardize investor, consumer, and financial stability protections. (1/10/23)
Fact Sheet: Before the Senate Agriculture hearing on a crypto bill that was FTX's main priority, we asked the CFTC and Members of Congress to consider 10 key questions about the legislation. (11/30/22)
Press Release: We called for an investigation of the CFTC's FTX Failures and push for crypto-friendly legislation (11/15/2022)
Press Release: Our statement criticized the CFTC for failing to properly regulate or supervise FTX (11/14/22)
Fact Sheet: Before a CFTC roundtable on FTX's application, we outlined the key questions that both the CFTC and FTX should address as they considered the company's application. (5/24/22)
Letter: Our letter to the CFTC urged the agency to have a "transparent, robust, and meaningly inclusive" process for evaluating FTX's application. (6/16/22)
Comment Letter: Better Markets Criticized FTX's proposal before the CFTC, noting the threats posed to customer protection and systemic stability by cryptocurrency investments. (5/11/22)
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Original text here: https://bettermarkets.org/analysis/setting-the-record-straight-on-crypto-ftx-sam-bankman-fried-jamie-dimon-the-sec-and-cftc-and-the-revolving-door/
[Category: Financial Services]