Richard Cordray To Lead Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

[TampaYankee]

Richard Cordray To Lead Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

President Barack Obama will nominate former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the White House announced Sunday.

"American families and consumers bore the brunt of the financial crisis and are still struggling in its aftermath to find jobs, stay in their homes, and make ends meet," Obama said in a statement. "That is why I fought so hard to pass reforms to fix the financial system and put in place the strongest consumer protections in our nation’s history. Richard Cordray has spent his career advocating for middle class families ... and looking out for ordinary people in our financial system.”

Cordray currently serves as the CFPB's director of enforcement. His appointment, first reported by the Columbus Dispatch, comes on the heels of a Wall Street Journal report on Friday that Obama was not expected to nominate Elizabeth Warren, who was instrumental in setting up the agency but faced stalwart opposition from Republicans.

The Journal named Cordray as a possible nominee to lead the agency.

Elizabeth Warren confirmed the news of Cordray's nomination in a statement to The Huffington Post. "Rich has always had my strong support because he is tough and he is smart-and that's exactly the combination this new agency needs," she said. "He was one of the first senior leaders I recruited for the agency, and his work and commitment have made it clear that he will make a stellar director."

Progressives had long pushed for Obama to nominate Warren to lead the CFPB, and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee expressed disappointment at the news that he would not do so.

"With her track record of standing up to Wall Street and fighting for consumers, Elizabeth Warren was the best qualified to lead this bureau that she conceived -- and we imagine Richard Cordray would agree," PCCC co-founder Stephanie Taylor said in a statement. "That said, Rich Cordray has been a strong ally of Elizabeth Warren's and we hope he will continue her legacy of holding Wall Street accountable."

President Obama thanked Warren o Sunday for helping to build the CFPB. “I also want to thank Elizabeth Warren not only for her extraordinary work standing up the new agency over the past year, but also for her many years of impassioned leadership, and her fierce defense of a simple idea: ordinary people deserve to be treated fairly and honestly in their financial dealings," the president said. "This agency was Elizabeth’s idea, and through sheer force of will, intelligence, and a bottomless well of energy, she has made, and will continue to make, a profound and positive difference for our country.”

The CFPB is set to launch on July 21. In May, 44 Republican senators sent a letter to President Obama stating that they will not confirm any nominee to head the agency without changes to the Dodd-Frank financial reform law enacted last year.

"Under the Dodd-Frank financial regulation act, the director is given unfettered authority to regulate businesses that extend consumer credit," Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) wrote in a statement about the letter. "Although the director will also have hundreds of millions of dollars of public money at his or her disposal, no checks and balances are provided on how it is spent."

The Republican senators proposed creating a five-member board of directors to run the CFPB instead, along with subjecting the agency to the appropriations process and giving bank regulators greater oversight of its operations -- all moves that seemed designed to weaken the agency.

Warren, for her part, is said to be considering a run for Senate in 2012, challenging Sen. Scott Brown in Massachusetts.

The American Prospect's Robert Kuttner reports:

Meanwhile, she has been quietly exploring option B, running against Senator Scott Brown next year in Massachusetts, urged on by much of the Democratic leadership (I’ve always argued that this was the bigger stage and more important use of her talents)

In Massachusetts, the Democratic field right now is stunningly weak, and Warren is the one candidate who can galvanize voters and take back the seat formerly held by Ted Kennedy.

HuffPost asked Brown about a Warren candidacy last week, and Brown declined to engage, saying he was focused on the debt ceiling debate and avoiding default.

See original article at:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/17/richard-cordray-cfpb-elizabeth-warren_n_900967.html

[Guest Conway]

An interesting choice to say the least.

A one term state attorney general kicked out of office by voters from a state that is so mired in union hand holding and corruption that its industry has died a slow death as it jobs have moved to states far more friendly and receptive to employers.

Let's hope he doesn't have the same vision for all of America.It certainly seems, nearly 2 1/2 years into his first (and hopefully only) term, that this matches Barack Obama's vision for America, too. Higher unemployment, higher taxes, more spending, less financial responsibility.

Why any Democrat would want to run against Scott Brown is beyond me. He has lock stepped with the Dem leadership on nearly every major issue since taking office.

[TampaYankee]

Why any Democrat would want to run against Scott Brown is beyond me. He has lock stepped with the Dem leadership on nearly every major issue since taking office.

I can think of several reasons I won't bore everyone with. However, I'm doubtful she will run. She is basically an academic at heart I believe and will return to Harvard. IMO, at this point in time, Brown will be returned unless some unforeseen opponent with gravitas emerges. Without that the only way he loses if is the Tea Party fails to show up. Here's hoping they choose principle over pragmatism.

[TampaYankee]

Based on McConnell's comments "that the Senate not will not confirm anyone for this position" Obama should proceed immediately with a recess appointment at the first opportunity which is likely to be the August recess after the Debt Ceiling vote.