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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Recent focus group sessions and a national survey commissioned by nonpartisan government watchdog Accountable.US found Americans overwhelmingly believe the Biden administration’s efforts to restrict corporate price-gouging and industry junk fees will lower their costs. The results come amid Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Federal Trade Commission initiatives to ban credit card late fees, overdraft fees, resort fees, and more, as well as efforts in Congress aimed at price gouging. Additionally, the polling found Americans even on the center-right of the political spectrum believe the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has the power to lower their costs. *Click to read the summary memo and survey deck from Global Strategies Group.

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Americans want lawmakers to side with them, not corporate lobbyists and CEOs who needlessly raise prices to pad their profits. Families care about the Biden administration’s crack down on hidden junk fees and corporate price gouging because it will lower their costs. Conservatives in Congress who side with corporations who inflate prices and abuse junk fees all to keep their big donors happy risk the ire of everyday Americans who pay the price of corporate greed.

Republicans in Congress who carry the water for financial industry executives and lobbyists by attacking the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s independence are not impressing the American people who appreciate that the agency is constitutional and can’t be bought and paid for with corporate money."

Tony Carrk, executive director of Accountable.US.

KEY FINDINGS FROM THE POLL AND FOCUS GROUPS: 

  • Costs remain Americans’ top concern, and most believe the Administration’s work to crack down on “price gouging” and eliminate “hidden junk fees” will lower costs for them. Two thirds (68%) say hidden junk fees are a growing problem, and 60% also believe “crack[ing] down on price gouging by banning hidden junk fees” would be effective at lowering costs.
  • 81% of Americans say scams and junk fees have become more common.
  • Americans have nuanced views on inflation, though most believe corporations raising prices “excessively” is a major driver.
  • Most Americans see the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as personally beneficial from the start, and support grows as people learn more about its goals, especially on costs.
  • Even Americans on the center-right of the political spectrum are highly positive about the administration’s ability to “lower costs” via the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.  
  • Members of Congress could pay a political price for opposing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the public already perceives the Republican position to be putting corporate interests first. 

 

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