Jeanne Shaheen was a popular Governor of my state. Many people liked her, and her trademark issue was education reform.
Jeanne Shaheen claims she’ll be a tougher overseer of financial institutions than John Sununu has been. Voters who remember Providian National Bank know otherwise.
The remnants of the former Tilton-based credit card issuer evaporated last week when Washington Mutual, which bought Providian in 2005, went under. Thus did one of Jeanne Shaheen’s great corporate benefactors disappear.
UUgh. Providian was an awful company. They certainly practiced predatory credit card issuance. I know a few people who thought this business would help them fix their credit. Instead, their credit scores got much worse when they began using those cards. A $100.00 balance often turned into a $1000.00 within days- over a change in the terms of service that customers didn’t receive notice about until AFTER the changes went into effect. Billing cycle dates changed from month to month; payment due dates changed just as often. Fees added up and grew, and many people’s paychecks were garnished. Income tax returns saw Providian bills deducted.
Providian took more people to court to get money than any other credit card company I’ve heard of.
Providian specialized in issuing credit cards to low-income people and those with poor credit ratings. It then proceeded to systematically rip them off. In 2000, Providian reached a settlement in San Francisco with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the state attorney general and the district attorney. It agreed to pay $300 million to former customers it had been accused of deceiving out of their money. Later that year, it paid $105 million to settle several class-action lawsuits.
In the five years leading up to 2002, the state of New Hampshire received 247 consumer complaints against Providian. But in April 2002, the Legislature passed legislation written by Providian to relax consumer protections for credit card holders. Shaheen quickly signed it.
And this was all very quiet. No noise, no media, no attention. Naturally.
The Union Leader asks, WHY did she do this?
In the past few weeks, Shaheen has taken to using the term “predatory lending.” That is just what this bill allowed. And she signed it. Why in the world would she do that?
The official reason was that the state would lose jobs if the bill didn’t pass. But just one year after the bill passed, Providian’s employment in New Hampshire had fallen from 470 to about 150. It was all a ruse. The real reason Shaheen signed the bill can be found by following the money.
In1998, Providian’s PAC gave Shaheen $5,000. From 1998 through 2000 its executives gave her $20,450. But that was small change.
Providian donated millions to childhood education, a key political issue for Shaheen. In 1999 Shaheen announced the creation of a new nonprofit advocacy group, New Hampshire Business Partners for Early Learning. It was financed by Providian. The group hired Shaheen’s 27-year-old daughter, Stefany Shaheen, as its executive director though she had no executive experience and had worked previously as an administrative assistant and research assistant.
You see, when it comes to corruption and politics, the polecats win and everyone else loses. Citizens are the last to be thought of. Shaheen gave in to the very shady temptations of a deal that enriched her agenda (education reform) at the expense of the people…the consumers who trusted her to be their advocate.
And she wants to represent NH citizens in the US Senate? Why would anyone vote for this woman, who is as corrupt as they come??
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