US consumer agency worth defending
I am an unapologetic advocate for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which was created in the wake of a crippling financial crisis that I fear is becoming a distant memory.
But we have to remember: It was not that long ago when financial institutions did some funky stuff that pushed us into the Great Recession.
Now the agency designed to protect consumers — yes, sometimes even from themselves — is a hot mess.
Richard Cordray, a former Ohio attorney general, recently stepped down as the bureau’s director, and now there’s a fierce fight over who will temporarily take his place until a permanent leader is nominated and confirmed.
This battle for the CFPB leadership is like watching a train derailment. But make no mistake folks, we are on this train, too. It’s our interests that will be tossed to the side when the train stops skidding.
Despite the naysayers, the bureau is like a caped crusader standing in the path of predatory practices. At the most basic level, the agency is working to ensure that the financial industry is adequately informing you about what products and services you’re being sold. Yet the agency has been vilified from day one for this mission by Republicans. Here are the two main arguments in favor of derailing the bureau.
• Businesses can’t make enough money off consumers. Already, President Trump’s appointee as acting director, Mick Mulvaney, has issued a 30-day freeze on new regulations. His reason: to make sure there isn’t a “choking off” of financial services.
Not even a week into the job, Mulvaney was putting the interests of corporations ahead of consumers.
We are already a nation of debtors. That’s part of the reason we fell into a recession. Everybody and their mama could get a loan.
Some argue that Mama should get the loan she wants. It’s her choice. Except we all pay when people are saddled with debt they can’t afford. Surely you haven’t forgotten the Wall Street bailout?
• Congress can’t control the agency’s budget. The bureau’s funding comes from the Federal Reserve, and it was set up that way to purposefully avoid partisan meddling and influence peddling by the financial industry, which the agency is charged to police.
The bureau isn’t telling people what they can do with their money. It’s simply making sure that companies clearly disclose information that people need to make better financial decisions.