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December 8, 2011 in Nation/World
GOP blocks Obama nominee to head financial agency
WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans today blocked President Barack Obama’s choice to head the new consumer protection agency that was designed to help curtail the excesses and abuses that led to the financial meltdown.
Republicans presented a near-solid front in filibustering the nomination of former Ohio attorney general Richard Cordray to be director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The agency was an essential element of legislation enacted last year to overhaul the financial system.
Only one Republican voted to advance the nomination. The 53-45 vote was short of the 60 needed to overcome GOP opposition.
Obama planned to comment on the vote late this morning.
Republicans said they had no objections to Cordray, the agency’s enforcement chief. But for months they have made clear they would vote against anyone until the administration agreed to changes in an agency they contend has too much power and too little accountability.
Democrats accused Republicans of favoring Wall Street over the consumers the agency is supposed to protect and suggested the dispute could become an issue in next year’s presidential campaign.
“This is the first time in Senate history a party has blocked a qualified candidate solely because they disagree with the existence of the agency that’s being created by law,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.
The agency officially opened its doors in July, but under law cannot carry out its full functions until a director is in place. It can enforce existing bank regulations, but cannot issue new rules affecting nonbank entities such as payday lenders and credit card companies.
The bureau on Wednesday did introduce a simplified two-page credit card agreement it hopes will be a model for the industry.
Republicans, who fought passage of what is known as the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul bill last year and continue to challenge some of its provisions, say their support for the agency hinges on replacing the director with a bipartisan board of directors; subjecting the agency to the congressional appropriations process; and giving more regulatory offices power to overrule agency decisions.
They said arbitrary agency rules could hurt consumers and cause bank failures. They also said there have been no negotiations with the White House on the future structure of the agency.
“The president knew about these concerns months ago and he chose to dismiss them,” said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
“That’s all today’s vote is about: it’s about accountability and transparency. It’s a debate about whether we think Americans need more oversight over Washington or less,” he said.
“This has nothing to do with Mr. Cordray,” said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. “It has everything to do with accountability for how money is spent in government.”
Obama said this week he would veto any effort to delay, defund or dismantle the financial rules put in place last year.
“Every day we go without a consumer watchdog is another day when a student, or a senior citizen, or a member of our armed forces… could be tricked into a loan that they can’t afford,” he said.
Even if Republicans continue to filibuster the nomination, “we will never sign onto attempts to permanently gut this agency,” Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Wednesday. “This is going to be a bellwether issue, not just today but throughout 2012 and into the campaign.”
Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin said at a White House briefing this week that delaying confirming Cordray would mean that “millions of American people will remain vulnerable to some of the same regulatory gaps that helped to create the financial crisis.”
He also disputed the argument that the agency lacks accountability, saying it must consult with other bank regulators before issuing rules, has to assess the effect of its rules on small businesses and can have its rules overturned by the Financial Stability Oversight Council.
Responding to GOP demands that Congress control the agency’s purse strings, Wolin said no federal bank regulators have congressionally appropriated funds. “And the reason for that is we want to make sure that our bank regulators are free of political influence.” The new agency is under the supervision of the Federal Reserve.
Already this year, one committee in the GOP-led House has voted to slice $200 million from the White House request for the Securities and Exchange Commission, which has a major enforcement role. The full House has voted to hold the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which oversees derivatives, to $171 million, less than two-thirds of what Obama sought.
Cordray, a five-time “Jeopardy” champion, was nominated to be the agency’s first director in July, with Obama bypassing Elizabeth Warren, the Harvard University law professor and consumer advocate who was instrumental in conceiving and setting up the agency.
Warren, who drew sharp opposition from Republicans who considered her too much of an activist, is running for a Senate seat against Massachusetts incumbent Scott Brown, the only Republican to support Cordray.
© Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Stocks plummet as outlook in Europe dims 
Bruce (aka thatoneguy) on December 08 at 8:54 a.m.
Surprise, surprise.
Diana on December 08 at 8:58 a.m.
GOP blocks…
Shadedmuse on December 08 at 9:00 a.m.
Keep it up tea-baggers and next year you will become irrelevant as you get swept out of office and end it up on the trash heap of history.
WHS on December 08 at 9:15 a.m.
Well of course they blocked it… Why would anybody expect anything less from those Tories. I mean this is something that benefits the people, of course they will be against it.
WHS
johnclarke on December 08 at 9:18 a.m.
The Republicans are traitors. Vote them out of office.
dataxman on December 08 at 9:42 a.m.
a ‘consumer protection’ organization set to enforce rules from a law named after two of the most corrupt politicians of this century… What could go wrong?
mtharves on December 08 at 9:53 a.m.
dman,
You can call Barney Frank a lot of things, but corrupt is not one of them. Nor Dodd for that matter. The law was passed with bipartisan support and needs a director to make the law complete. The Reps. are blocking the appointment as a way to block the law that several of them voted for. What’s that all about? Let’s protect Wall Street but not consumers?
Dazzeetrader11 on December 08 at 10:12 a.m.
Another agency sucking up money that nobody needs.
Obama’s socialist dreams….another one…shut this one out.
It shouldn’t even exist. Obama knows it. This is just a show to keep the GOP fighting against something even Obama doesn’t care about. It’s fake…and a fake fight. When will people wake up to his tricks. Worst president on record. He’s always got these names “consumer protection”…and they didn’t do that.
Just an awful man. I hope he ends up somewhere else in November. He does like to get the folks fighting and hating over nothing. Isn’t he cute…awwww….like this isn’t transparent? Cmon you guys…this isn’t work a cup of coffee. DOn’t take the bait my friends. I guarantee you this is not worth a minute of your time. It’s a distraction.
Scoutster on December 08 at 10:17 a.m.
Dazee..
I can’t keep up…last week Obama was a stooge of the Wall Street elite..
Keep your fabrications straight.
liberal_in_right_wing_land on December 08 at 10:33 a.m.
Wow dazzee, hows that Bloody Mary this morning?
You call Obama a new name everyday that they are all contradicting each other now.
Amazing stupid tea baggers are against consumer protection…..this yet again proves the republican party only cares for the rich and that they will just do the exact opposite of whatever the black man in the White House wants. Maybe Obama should just say he wants to lower the tax rate on the top 1% to like 5%……then maybe the tea bagging republicans would fight to actually raise the rate to 50%.
Enjoy 2012 tea baggers, look at the polling losers as you all are becoming irrelevant and hated all across the country because the losers you elected in 2010 are pissing everyone off by doing nothing at all.
Bruce (aka thatoneguy) on December 08 at 10:40 a.m.
“He does like to get the folks fighting and hating over nothing.”
Well, it certainly seems to be working on you…
misjustice on December 08 at 11:03 a.m.
Whaaaat??? The GOPers obstructing?
drywitt99 on December 08 at 11:40 a.m.
The greedy, Wall Street bastards and the inbred teabaggers can today be seen high-fiving all across DC.
Kudos ‘baggers for a JOB WELL DONE!!!!
SugarShane on December 08 at 11:58 a.m.
I used to think politics mattered. A few years of college and learning and watching what they do and what our country and government does changed my mind. Its all just a big game, being played by those who have money, with the lives of those who do not. All the while they keep selling you the bs that is the “American dream” that work hard and you too can be one of the rich elites, with lots of stuff and money. LOL. Seriously?
force_vector on December 08 at 12:20 p.m.
So I guess the consensus here is that proposals put forward by Democrats are by nature good, and beyond any need for improvement. Furthermore, anyone who doesn’t believe that’s inherently true is a bagger and an obstructionist. What a great citizenry we’ve become.
meadman on December 08 at 12:35 p.m.
Dazeeee…what is your IQ??? Amazing things come from your brain….we don’t need to regulate the sleezy financial industry? ?? REALLY??? REALLY? ???
mikeln on December 08 at 12:38 p.m.
This agency will be under the control of the fed, why even bother having a director? This is just more of the same ol’ same ol’. If you think this government is interested in protecting the people you are wrong. Just look at the new defence bill, it can throw you in jail without due process just for having more then a weeks worth of food in your house or for missing a finger or two. When are we going to come to grips with the fact that the government we now have is no longer a government of the people?
johnclarke on December 08 at 12:54 p.m.
and….the GOP just blocked the payroll tax extention.
reservedparking on December 08 at 12:55 p.m.
Well, at least they’re consistent.
This was so predictable it isn’t even news.
Shadedmuse on December 08 at 1:12 p.m.
Dazzee hitting the sauce so early in the morning? I could retire selling booze at a tea-bagger event.
liberal_in_right_wing_land on December 08 at 1:12 p.m.
force_vector - I have been asking for awhile what the republicans have put forth in the last 2, 4, 10 years that helps the middle class and the poor and usually no republican on here has an answer other than the tax cuts, which were really passed just to lower the tax rates on the rich and all they ended up doing was help put this country deeper into debt while Bush and the Republicans were waging to illegal wars.
So Force, I ask again, what have the republicans done in the last 10 years that helps the middle class and the poor? What have they done to warrant them not being called obstructionist?
Also, I, along with many other liberals on here, have called out democrats MANY, MANY times……yet you and other republicans never seem to have anything bad to say about the republicans. Hell, you people where on here defending Herman Cain tooth and nail when woman after woman came out claiming to have had an affair or been sexually harassed by him. Yeah, that kind of crap is going to get you moderate and women voters. Good luck in 2012 with NEWT!!!
WHS on December 08 at 1:13 p.m.
force_vector on December 08 at 12:20 p.m.
So I guess the consensus here is that proposals put forward by Democrats are by nature good, and beyond any need for improvement. Furthermore, anyone who doesn’t believe that’s inherently true is a bagger and an obstructionist. What a great citizenry we’ve become.
No force, that is not correct. See, this was passed originally by both parties and hence it is now law. What we have going on now is just grandstanding bullsh*t in order to save face with their political masters and to try and make the President look bad. Bottom line, this is bs and you know it… Let the system work and if doesn’t, then work to change it.
WHS
johnclarke on December 08 at 2:31 p.m.
WHS on December 08 at 1:13 p.m.
force_vector on December 08 at 12:20 p.m.
So I guess the consensus here is that proposals put forward by Democrats are by nature good, and beyond any need for improvement. Furthermore, anyone who doesn’t believe that’s inherently true is a bagger and an obstructionist. What a great citizenry we’ve become.
Not in the slightest, and if I wanted the answer of a child then I’d ask one. Seriously, any time a “conservative” is presented with cold hard facts and evidence, they respond like babies.
That is a serious question. What have the Republicans done for the majority in the last decade?
WHS on December 08 at 3:32 p.m.
Yes, I agree jc and lib and will third that question.
Force, dizzee, dicky, coffee, buehler, buehler… What have the Republicans done for the majority in the last decade?
WHs
johnclarke on December 08 at 3:34 p.m.
*crickets*
WHS on December 08 at 3:44 p.m.
Well, jc thats the way it usually goes on just about every single political thread. The radical right maroons throw out a bunch of garbage, then when faced with facts, they disappear… Funny how it work that way. Either that or faux news hasn’t provided them with enough material to continue the discussion…
Sad when these folks pretend to be intelligent and learned, yet when faced with facts they whither away…
Honestly, I can remember, pre Bush II and the rise of the Tea Party having some great political debates and in many cases even changed my stance on a particular subject. Today, I have yet to be convinced of anything the current crop of teabagging republicans are trying to sell. They have no integrity and are mostly just a bunch of lemming hypocrites.
WHS
force_vector on December 08 at 5:08 p.m.
Man, you guys are harsh. Some of us do work, you know. Let’s just start off with one fact: I am not a Republican. So, trying to lump me in with some right-wing whack-jobs is both factually incorrect, and a waste of your time.
Now, the premise of the question “what has the GOP done for the majority in the last decade?” carries with it an implied assumption that the Democrats have done something, and that should be accepted as given. I would argue, however, that the past decade and perhaps two decades has been a period whereby both parties, in an effort to appease their base, have burdoned the majority with Ill conceived ideas for a minority. So, the answer to your question is: not a damn thing. And, such an answer is equally true for both parties. Both parties are responsible for an erosion of our liberties justified by arguments of “fairness” and “security”. Both parties are responsible for a crushing debt that threatens the very rich, the very poor, and all of us in between. So, in my opinion, living under the illusion that one party is better than the other is illogical.
Are republicans blocking to make Obama look bad? Maybe. Will democrats use the same tactics down the road with a republican president? Yeah, they sure will. Until we do away with parties, and those of you who are beholden to one to the point that you are willing to slander anyone who dares ask a question or disagree change your tune, we will continue down the path of self destruction.
johnclarke on December 08 at 6:18 p.m.
“Both parties are responsible for an erosion of our liberties justified by arguments of “fairness” and “security”. Both parties are responsible for a crushing debt that threatens the very rich, the very poor, and all of us in between. So, in my opinion, living under the illusion that one party is better than the other is illogical”
Very eloquent, except there is one small problem. History shows that one party is better than the other. Recent history in fact.
force_vector on December 08 at 7:55 p.m.
How does history show that? Furthermore, define “recent”. What I’ve seen “recently” is a Republican party that took us to war in the middle east without a plan, or even a real good reason. What I’ve seen “recently” is a Democrat party who, despite evidence to the contrary, told us there was no housing bubble. What I’ve seen recently is a Republican party that insists that giving rich people tax cuts will spur hiring. How many rich people are using their personal money to hire people? What I’ve seen recently is a Democrat party that tells those who are irresponsible and have nothing that it isn’t their fault (blame Republicans). So, “recent” history shows me both parties are in it for one thing, and one thing only: power. Power in giving money to those that vote for them, and power in turning those same voters against anyone who doesn’t.
johnclarke on December 09 at 7:13 a.m.
“What I’ve seen recently is a Democrat party that tells those who are irresponsible and have nothing that it isn’t their fault”
Please provide an example.
I define recent as beginning with the Reagan administration. Although he tried to adjust, his fiscal policy (drawn up on a napkin) was and is a complete disaster. This country can survive quite a bit, but until this moronic “tax cuts create jobs” and “trickle down” nonsense is banished for good, we will struggle. The other RECENT fail is the non stop blocking of everything. Now the GOP is blocking the head of the consumer protection agency, for what reason? Why, their corporate masters don’t want any kind of enforcement power to stop the next bubble. The standard wing nut response when cornered is “oh both parties are to blame”. Nonsense. Please provide one example of something the GOP has done to benefit the middle class, oh say in the last decade. I’ll settle for one.