The House Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties recently held a hearing on the state of housing discrimination, and the effectiveness of our government's enforcement of the Fair Housing Act. 

There's nothing really funny about the ways big banks and financial institutions have been wreaking havoc on consumers in the United States.

But what is funny is a new video from Funnyordie.com, featuring former presidents Bush Sr., Bush Jr., Clinton, Reagan, Carter and Ford visiting President Barack Obama to urge him to take on the banks and create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency to protect Americans from abusive lending practices like the ones that led to the current recession

• More information on the Consumer Financial Protection Agency.
• For more information about what you can do, visit our Action Center.

African-American farmers who experienced discrimination by the Department of Agriculture (USDA) may finally receive compensation. 

Beginning Monday, the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act will go into effect, reforming the rules regarding credit cards and interest rates for millions of Americans. The goal of the new regulations is to protect consumers from abusive and exploitative practices by credit card companies.

Responding to the severe housing and credit crisis in the United States, Assistant Attorney General Tom Perez recently announced the creation of a fair lending unit within the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice.  Perez, who leads the division, identified "lending discrimination" as particularly destructive, stating that "it's discrimination with a smile, and it tears communities apart."