Sen. Jack Reed prepared to fight for a Consumer Financial Protection Agency

[brentspeak]

Rhode Island has two impressive senators: Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse. Honest-to-goodness, old-fashioned real Democrats.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/02/senator-promises-floor-fi_n_482768.html

Senator Promises Floor Fight For Strong CFPA

First Posted: 03- 2-10 03:23 PM | Updated: 03- 2-10 04:21 PM

The Consumer Financial Protection Agency, a cornerstone of banking reform, won't go down without a floor flight. Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the third-ranking Democrat on the Banking Committee, will introduce an amendment to financial regulatory reform on the Senate floor calling for a strong, independent CFPA if the bill that emerges from the committee does not include one, a Democratic committee aide told the Huffington Post Tuesday.

Reed has told Committee Chair Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) directly about his intention to offer the amendment. The fight over Reed's amendment on the Senate floor will put Democrats and Republicans on the record regarding consumer financial protection.

Reed's amendment gives consumer advocates and liberal Democrats a fallback plan if they fail to push a strong CFPA through committee. But it would be a difficult battle to win on the floor. If the strong CFPA is included in the bill that goes to the floor, opponents would need 60 votes to strip it out. By contrast, Reed, on the floor, would need 60 votes to break a filibuster in order to include it.

[Catshrink]

1. Good

because the Administration is more concerned about protecting the bankers and corporate moguls.

[PurityOfEssence]

2. Good. That'll make the reactionaries HOWL.

It's about time we got the damned message that it's important to FIGHT CONSERVATIVES ON THEIR CORE BELIEFS. In broad strokes, conservatives are selfish and see other human beings as merely tools for their further prosperity. As such, they HATE any regulations. People are suckers and deserve what they get. In all fairness, they're simply making the fatal human mistake that most people make: presuming others are inherently like themselves.

Another word for "regulation" is "law", and one of the better names for people who don't like laws is "criminal". "Deregulation" is atavism by definition: we didn't enact laws to protect ourselves from the wolves outside the campfire, we enacted them to protect ourselves from each other, and that's how we managed to develop civilization. "Deregulation" is, by definition, to favor the already financially secure. It's thug protection.

Enough of that, though; the net result is predatory behavior. It's all fine if the others are playing the game, too, but when ALL business is premised on getting away with whatever one can, it's an overly-cruel world out there.

If others in government go after their carotid artery with things like this, it'll keep them fighting and splitting their resources, and all of these squabbles will call into full view the true stripe of conservatism.

Rhode Island's been a bastion of liberalism for a long time; remember: this was the FIRST colony founded specifically for religious freedom.

[TomCADem]

3. President Obama Proposed It - Its Nice He Is Getting Some Back-Up

The fact of the matter is that the Obama administration has been far more progressive then members of Congress in pushing for a consumer protection agency. However, like the Public Option, which President Obama pushed for throughout 2009, most of the Senate a large number of members of the House opposed it. Look at the House today where conservative Democrats are still on the fence regarding the health care bill. The opposition is coming from conservative Democrats, not the liberal wing.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/30/AR2009063004187.html

The Obama administration sent a detailed proposal to Congress yesterday for creating an agency to oversee nearly all facets of consumer lending, but the breadth of its powers is setting the stage for a fierce clash on Capitol Hill.

The bill aims to establish a Consumer Financial Protection Agency to guard Americans from the abusive lending practices that contributed to the financial crisis, such as undocumented mortgage applications, the poor disclosure of loan terms and deceptive ads.

Administration officials proposed that the new regulator have a broad mandate to cover the spectrum of consumer financial products and to fill gaps in current regulations. The agency would have the power to probe any lender, impose penalties of up to $1 million a day in cases of wrongdoing, limit the compensation even of loan officers and mortgage brokers, and check if banks have been acting discriminatorily by forcing them to disclose the race, age and gender of their customers.

An intense lobbying effort has already begun to win over the few undecided lawmakers who will be critical in deciding which details will be included in the final bill. Industry groups say they are forming a coalition to persuade members of Congress to scale back the bill.