By: Javi Calderon
Republicans Reject Obama Nomination for Financial BureauHead
The fact that Republicans deniedPresident Obama’s nomination for the position of director for the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureauis not surprising. However, instead of scrutinizing Richard Cordray’s resume,they questioned the scope of the director’s powers.
Claiming that the Bureau’s headwould have too much independence, and that the necessary checks and balances tokeep the Bureau in line are not in place, the GOP vowed to reject anynomination until the responsibilities of the new agency are more clearlydefined.
Democrats voiced their belief thatRepublicans are simply bent on impeding any progress concerning the agencybecause they are fundamentally opposed to its inception. The GOP has beenfighting against increased consumer protection and the creation of an agencysince the heated debates last year over the Dodd-Frank proposal, which theDemocrats where ultimately able to push through.
Democrats also believe that theBureau’s powers are comparable to those of other agencies.
The debate is another battle in thepartisan war over how to handle the sluggish economy. While the ObamaAdministration has pushed for increased federal spending and governmentinvolvement, Republicans believe that lowering taxes would boost consumerspending.
As the parties continue to draw thelines for next years Presidential elections, the Consumer Financial ProtectionBureau waits on the sidelines unable to begin the work it has been designed todo.
Following the financial crisis andthe revelation of egregious consumer abuses by some of the nation’s premierfinancial institutions, the Obama Administration set out to overhaul theAmerican financial rule book, calling for increased financial transparency andaccountability, and including the establishment of the CFPB to monitor andregulate non-bank financial institutions like credit unions, payday loan lenders and pawnshops.
Republicans argue that the directorof the CFPB (nominee Cordray is a former Ohio Attorney General who made hisname by bringing big corporations to trial in defense of his constituents)would have too much authority in his/ her capacity to regulate financialproducts.
