President Obama finally Stands Up To The Republicans and protects new Consumer Agency

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/04/defying-republicans-obama-to-name-cordray-as-consumer-agency-chief/?emc=na

All,

YES YES YES YES...YES! Like many people throughout the country I've been waiting three years for the President to FINALLY show some guts and real political independence and stand up to the truly crazed thugs in the Republican/Tea Party who have been relentlessly pushing him around and defeating nearly every single proposal his administration has put forward since he took office (and thoroughly kicking his often far too timid political ass in the process!). And while I fully realize that Obama is no doubt being assertive now simply because he wants to get re-elected this year (and thus clearly realizes that defying the brazen opposition of the notorious crypto-fascist rightwingers who dominate the Republican Party is a very necessary move if he wants the liberal/progressive base of the Democratic Party to enthusiastically come out in large numbers and electorally support him) I'll take it for now and give credit where it is due because it is ABSOLUTELY IMPERATIVE that whoever becomes the Republican nominee this year MUST BE DEFEATED NO MATTER WHAT. Anything less than that will be a major castastrophe for this society on every conceivable level imaginabl and we must not become so cynical, fatalistic, and smugly indifferent to this fact despite the obvious limitations, inadequacies, and weaknesses of the President and his agenda up to this point. Today's decision by Obama was a definite step in the right direction for once and it will be absolutely crucial from this point on that he continue to FIGHT and fiercely oppose/defeat the right's agenda. Needless to say it will be even more important for the rest of us to do the same...

Kofi



JANUARY 4, 2012

Defying Republicans, Obama to Name Cordray as Consumer Agency Chief
By HELENE COOPER and JOHN H. CUSHMAN JR.
New York Times

Philip Scott Andrews/The New York Times
Testifying before Congress in September, Mr. Cordray said he would make judicious use of lawsuits to enforce financial regulations.

President Obama will challenge Senate Republican foes of the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau by naming Richard Cordray as its director while Congress is out of town, according to a senior administration official.

That would allow the agency to establish new regulations over financial institutions, putting into effect elements of the financial regulatory overhaul that was one of the administration’s main achievements in Congress.

Mr. Obama’s exercise of constitutional powers to name top officials without Senate confirmation while Congress is in recess is a stiff challenge to Republicans, who have attempted to block the maneuver by holding “pro forma” sessions over the holidays.

Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, objected strenuously, saying Mr. Obama was overstepping the bounds of his executive power and leaving the agency open to legal challenges.

“Although the Senate is not in recess, President Obama, in an unprecedented move, has arrogantly circumvented the American people,” he said. This recess appointment represents a sharp departure from a long-standing precedent that has limited the President to recess appointments only when the Senate is in a recess of 10 days or longer. Breaking from this precedent lands this appointee in uncertain legal territory, threatens the confirmation process and fundamentally endangers the Congress’s role in providing a check on the excesses of the executive branch.

“The president is committed to seeing Richard Cordray as head of the consumer bureau,” a senior administration official said. “We believe this appointment is fully within his legal rights.”

Senator Tim Johnson, a Democrat of South Dakota who is chairman of the Banking Committee, praised the move.

“Mr. Cordray is eminently qualified for the job, as even my Senate Republican colleagues have acknowledged,” he said. “It’s disappointing that Senate Republicans denied him an up-or-down vote, especially when it’s clear he had the support of a majority of the Senate.”

Mr. Cordray boarded Marine One with Mr. Obama on Wednesday for the short flight to Andrews Air Force Base, where he is to accompany the president to his hometown of Cleveland for the announcement. The president is expected to deliver remarks on the economy at a high school in the Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights.

The move came hours after the conclusion of the Iowa caucuses, and was sure to turn attention away from the Republican Party and back to the president.

In December, Mr. Cordray’s nomination was rejected after Democrats failed to achieve the 60 votes they needed to move his nomination forward.

The power struggle between the financial sector and its check-cashing, card-carrying customers has developed into one of the fault lines along which the political parties are playing out their own rivalries as the election year arrives.

Mr. Cordray is a former attorney general of Ohio noted for his aggressive investigations of mortgage foreclosure practices. Currently in charge of enforcement at the consumer agency, he was nominated in July to lead it.

Previous opposition from Republicans led to the withdrawal of Elizabeth Warren from consideration for the post. She is a Harvard law professor who was the driving force behind the agency’s creation and is now a Democratic candidate for the United States Senate in Massachusetts.

Elizabeth Warren and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau vs. the American Chamber of Commerce

Elizabeth Warren

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/31/business/31warren.html?_r=1&nl=us&emc=politicsemailema4
All,

Elizabeth Warren is one of the very few individuals in Obama's current administration whose outstanding track record, progressive policy expertise, conviction, clarity, and fundamental sense of justice, fairness, and compassion I trust 100%. Warren is very tough, very smart, and very fair and is ALWAYS thinking of advocating for and protecting the best interests of American workers, families, and consumers first and foremost and is NOT AFRAID of the bullying tactics, lies, and endless political misrepresentations of either Big Business or the Republican party. If the President had any guts he would elevate her current position as the major aide charged with "setting up" the CFPB to the administrative and policy HEAD of the Bureau. The right and the corporate elite in this country absolutely despises and fears her. She's that good...

Kofi


Warren Defends Agency at Chamber of Commerce
by EDWARD WYATT
March 30, 2011
New York Times

WASHINGTON — She never actually uttered “I come in peace,” but Elizabeth Warren, the Obama administration aide charged with setting up the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, might have felt like an alien visiting an anxious planet Wednesday when she went to the United States Chamber of Commerce.

Elizabeth Warren

Stephen Crowley/The New York Times

Elizabeth Warren, an Obama adviser, is in charge of setting up a consumer protection agency.

Warren Defends Agency at Chamber of Commerceby EDWARD WYATTMarch 30, 2011
New York Times
WASHINGTON — She never actually uttered “I come in peace,” but Elizabeth Warren, the Obama administration aide charged with setting up the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, might have felt like an alien visiting an anxious planet Wednesday when she went to the United States Chamber of Commerce.


“I do not consider myself in hostile territory right now because I believe we share a point of principle: competitive markets are good for consumers and for businesses,” Ms. Warren told about 300 executives at the chamber’s annual conference on capital markets. But, she added, “Markets don’t work in the way they are supposed to unless there are some well-enforced rules.”

The detail and scope of those rules are what worry the members of the chamber and some members of Congress, both of whom have been vocal in their criticism of the regulatory powers given to the new consumer agency by the Dodd-Frank Act, the financial regulation bill signed into law last July.

The disagreements between Ms. Warren and one of her chief critics, Representative Spencer Bachus, Republican of Alabama and chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, grew more heated hours after her address. Mr. Bachus accused Ms. Warren of mischaracterizing her recent participation in the mortgage service industry settlement talks.

Last week, Ms. Warren told the committee that she provided “advice” to the Treasury secretary and others about a possible settlement but was not involved in the negotiations. State attorneys general and federal officials are discussing a settlement with mortgage service companies in response to questionable foreclosure practices.

On Wednesday afternoon, Mr. Bachus released a seven-page document titled “Perspectives on Settlement Alternatives in Mortgage Servicing,” which, in a letter to Ms. Warren, he said demonstrated that she had a larger role than she had indicated to the committee.

“It is plain that the C.F.P.B. has done more than provide ‘advice’ on the proposed servicing settlement,” Mr. Bachus wrote. The letter requested that Ms. Warren consider “if there are any aspects of that testimony related to the C.F.P.B.’s role in the mortgage servicer settlement negotiations that you wish to clarify or correct.”

The letter was co-signed by Representative Shelley Moore Capito, Republican of West Virginia and chairwoman of the subcommittee on financial institutions and consumer credit.

Jen Howard, a spokeswoman for the consumer agency, said that Ms. Warren correctly characterized her participation. “As Elizabeth Warren testified to Congress earlier this month, the consumer bureau provided advice to various officials involved in the mortgage servicing law enforcement matter,” Ms. Howard said in a statement. “She is aware that not everyone agrees with that advice or how to address the serious deficiencies at some of the nation’s largest mortgage servicing firms.”

Mr. Bachus, a consistent critic of both the consumer agency and Ms. Warren, filled that role again Wednesday when he addressed the Chamber of Commerce conference immediately before she spoke.

Noting that he has introduced a bill to change the governance of the consumer bureau from a single director to a five-person, bipartisan commission, he characterized the powers given to the head of the consumer agency as unmatched in government.

“They regulate all financial products and services, so if it involves a dollar changing hands, they can regulate it, or she can, because she actually has total discretion” over consumer financial products, Mr. Bachus said. “If George Washington came back today, or Abraham Lincoln or Warren Buffett signed up, I wouldn’t give that person total discretion.”

Ms. Warren was followed by Thomas J. Donohue, president and chief executive of the chamber, who warned that the consumer agency could choke off economic growth in the United States.

“If not used carefully, the C.F.P.B.’s tremendous power to go after bad actors could cause serious collateral damage to America’s job creators,” he said.

Ms. Warren has disputed the notion that the consumer agency has unbridled power. “There are plenty of checks in place,” she said, including a law governing how federal agencies write and adopt new regulations. Its rules, like those of any agency, can be overturned by Congress or federal courts.

In addition, she said, the consumer bureau is “the only bank regulator — and perhaps the only agency anywhere in government — whose rules can be overruled by a group of other agencies,” specifically the Financial Stability Oversight Council, composed of nine regulatory agency heads and an independent insurance industry expert. A two-thirds vote of the council is required to overturn a consumer agency rule.

Ms. Warren also warned against making the agency subject to annual appropriations of Congress, saying it would inject politics into the regulatory structure and cause banks and other regulated agencies to lobby for looser oversight.

Regulation and competition are not, she said, mutually exclusive. “In fact, when done right, they support each other,” Ms. Warren said. “Are the Chamber’s members, as citizens or business owners and executives, in a better place today because the F.A.A. regulates air safety, because the states regulate insurance companies, because the federal government enforces antitrust statutes? Of course they are. And so is this country.”

“I do not consider myself in hostile territory right now because I believe we share a point of principle: competitive markets are good for consumers and for businesses,” Ms. Warren told about 300 executives at the chamber’s annual conference on capital markets. But, she added, “Markets don’t work in the way they are supposed to unless there are some well-enforced rules.”

The detail and scope of those rules are what worry the members of the chamber and some members of Congress, both of whom have been vocal in their criticism of the regulatory powers given to the new consumer agency by the Dodd-Frank Act, the financial regulation bill signed into law last July.

The disagreements between Ms. Warren and one of her chief critics, Representative Spencer Bachus, Republican of Alabama and chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, grew more heated hours after her address. Mr. Bachus accused Ms. Warren of mischaracterizing her recent participation in the mortgage service industry settlement talks.

Last week, Ms. Warren told the committee that she provided “advice” to the Treasury secretary and others about a possible settlement but was not involved in the negotiations. State attorneys general and federal officials are discussing a settlement with mortgage service companies in response to questionable foreclosure practices.

On Wednesday afternoon, Mr. Bachus released a seven-page document titled “Perspectives on Settlement Alternatives in Mortgage Servicing,” which, in a letter to Ms. Warren, he said demonstrated that she had a larger role than she had indicated to the committee.

“It is plain that the C.F.P.B. has done more than provide ‘advice’ on the proposed servicing settlement,” Mr. Bachus wrote. The letter requested that Ms. Warren consider “if there are any aspects of that testimony related to the C.F.P.B.’s role in the mortgage servicer settlement negotiations that you wish to clarify or correct.”

The letter was co-signed by Representative Shelley Moore Capito, Republican of West Virginia and chairwoman of the subcommittee on financial institutions and consumer credit.

Jen Howard, a spokeswoman for the consumer agency, said that Ms. Warren correctly characterized her participation. “As Elizabeth Warren testified to Congress earlier this month, the consumer bureau provided advice to various officials involved in the mortgage servicing law enforcement matter,” Ms. Howard said in a statement. “She is aware that not everyone agrees with that advice or how to address the serious deficiencies at some of the nation’s largest mortgage servicing firms.”

Mr. Bachus, a consistent critic of both the consumer agency and Ms. Warren, filled that role again Wednesday when he addressed the Chamber of Commerce conference immediately before she spoke.

Noting that he has introduced a bill to change the governance of the consumer bureau from a single director to a five-person, bipartisan commission, he characterized the powers given to the head of the consumer agency as unmatched in government.

“They regulate all financial products and services, so if it involves a dollar changing hands, they can regulate it, or she can, because she actually has total discretion” over consumer financial products, Mr. Bachus said. “If George Washington came back today, or Abraham Lincoln or Warren Buffett signed up, I wouldn’t give that person total discretion.”

Ms. Warren was followed by Thomas J. Donohue, president and chief executive of the chamber, who warned that the consumer agency could choke off economic growth in the United States.

“If not used carefully, the C.F.P.B.’s tremendous power to go after bad actors could cause serious collateral damage to America’s job creators,” he said.

Ms. Warren has disputed the notion that the consumer agency has unbridled power. “There are plenty of checks in place,” she said, including a law governing how federal agencies write and adopt new regulations. Its rules, like those of any agency, can be overturned by Congress or federal courts.

In addition, she said, the consumer bureau is “the only bank regulator — and perhaps the only agency anywhere in government — whose rules can be overruled by a group of other agencies,” specifically the Financial Stability Oversight Council, composed of nine regulatory agency heads and an independent insurance industry expert. A two-thirds vote of the council is required to overturn a consumer agency rule.

Ms. Warren also warned against making the agency subject to annual appropriations of Congress, saying it would inject politics into the regulatory structure and cause banks and other regulated agencies to lobby for looser oversight.

Regulation and competition are not, she said, mutually exclusive. “In fact, when done right, they support each other,” Ms. Warren said. “Are the Chamber’s members, as citizens or business owners and executives, in a better place today because the F.A.A. regulates air safety, because the states regulate insurance companies, because the federal government enforces antitrust statutes? Of course they are. And so is this country.”



http://www.prwatch.org/node/9912

Elizabeth Warren 2.0
Submitted by Mary Bottari on February 3, 2011
banking economy BanksterUSA Real Economy Project

In a savvy move, the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau launched its first website today. The CFPB was created by the passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform bill in July 2010 and is headed on an interim basis by well-known consumer advocate, Elizabeth Warren. While the agency will not officially open its doors for formal consumer complaints until July 2011, the new website offers the agency an opportunity to start reaching out to consumers to hear their ideas on how the institution can best serve the public.

"We're excited to announce the launch of our website, ConsumerFinance.gov, for one very important reason –- to start a conversation with you. With the launch of our site, we will be open for suggestions," Elizabeth Warren explained in a statement.


While the agency will have a hard time dealing with actual consumer complaints until it hires more staff and formally opens its doors, the website offers staff a mechanism for communicating with an anxious public -- who, in my experience, has been clamoring for Elizabeth Warren's contact information ever since the passage of the Wall Street reform bill.

It is a clever idea and good customer relations.

Get Involved in the Conversation!

Visit the website at ConsumerFinance.gov.

"Like" the agency on Facebook.