ECONOMY — DESPITE MILITARY OPPOSITION, BROWNBACK CONTINUES PUSH TO EXEMPT AUTO DEALERS FROM NEW CONSUMER PROTECTIONS: Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) has offered up an amendment to the Senate financial reform legislation that would protect auto dealers’ ability to engage in unscrupulous lending practices. The move, which mirrors an amendment included in the House version of the legislation, prompted an interjection from President Obama, who blasted Brownback’s amendment, saying it would allow auto dealer-lenders to “inflate rates, insert hidden fees into the fine print of paperwork, and include expensive add-ons that catch purchasers by surprise.” “The fact is, auto dealer-lenders make nearly 80 percent of the automobile loans in our country, and these lenders should be subject to the same standards as any local or community bank that provides loans,” said Obama. The President also singled out the harm the amendment could cause military families, who are often targets of these deceptive practices. In February, the Defense Department in February weighed in on the auto dealer-lender exemption, hailing the “intervention of the CFPA in overseeing auto financing and sales” in protecting U.S. servicemembers and “reducing the concerns they have over their financial well-being.” Yesterday, Secretary of the Army John McHugh wrote a letter to Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) expressing his “strong concerns” about the Brownback amendment. Research by the Cambridge Winter Center for Financial Institutions Policy has found that “auto finance is demonstrably susceptible to unfair and deceptive practices” — including mark ups and a host of fees — “and those practices are demonstrably not held in check by private market forces alone.”  In fact, The New York Times this week detailed one instance of a dealer exploiting a member of the military by demanding more fees after a purchase was already completed, while physically blocking his car to that the soldier could not leave until he agreed to pay.