Portman wants watchdog for the watchdog
Ohio Sen. Rob Portman has introduced a bill that would create an inspector general for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an agency headed by a fellow Ohioan. Former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray currently heads the independent watchdog agency, and Portman’s bill would create an independent watchdog for the watchdog. The agency currently shares an inspector general with the Federal Reserve.
The idea isn’t new: Portman has introduced similar measures in the past in order to satisfy Republicans’ concerns about the agency, though Portman voted for Cordray’s confirmation in 2013.
Portman said installing a watchdog just for Cordray’s shop “will provide greater transparency and accountability” at the agency.
“Given the vast powers of this large bureaucracy and the CFPB’s insulation from congressional oversight, it is critical that it have an independent IG to ensure robust oversight,” the GOP senator from Cincinnati said.
“Every federal agency should be responsive and accountable to the American people, and this bill will help ensure we have an independent IG in place like we do at other federal agencies.”
Republicans have been consistent critics of the agency, charging that it has too much unchecked power.
As for Cordray, President Donald Trump has openly questioned the Grove City Democrat’s future at the agency, even though he cannot fire him except for cause.
Portman’s bill is cosponsored by eight Republican senators.
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump campaigned for the presidency by pledging no tax cuts for the wealthy, but newly leaked pages from his 2005 taxes demonstrate how the wealthiest Americans — like Trump — would benefit from some of his tax proposals.
Trump’s proposals to eliminate the alternative minimum tax, cut the capital gains tax rate and curb income-tax rates would have shrunk his tax bill dramatically had they been in place over a decade ago. The AMT alone was responsible for roughly 86 percent of his federal tax bill.
The administration has downplayed the possibility. “Any reductions we have in upper-income taxes would be offset by less deductions, so there would be no absolute tax cut for the upper class,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in November.
Trump’s promise already has been called into question by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. According to the group, the top 1 percent of earners would receive a tax break averaging more than $200,000 each. Meanwhile, middle-income households would receive $1,010 in tax cuts, and the lowest-income earners would receive a benefit of $110.