Richard Cordray chosen to head Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

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Richard Cordray chosen to head Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

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Started 10 months ago by JimL2
Latest reply from myliftkk

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JimL2

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President Obama in a statement on Sunday said Cordray "has spent his career advocating for middle class families, from his tenure as Ohio's attorney general to his most recent role as heading up the enforcement division at the CFPB and looking out for ordinary people in our financial system."

Source: The Atlantic Wire

As the article points out, this comes as a heavy blow to Elizabeth Warren, who basically created the bureau and has spent the last four months doggedly holding it together. But Cordray did a pretty excellent job in terms of consumer affairs while he was the Ohio AG, so I have no doubt that he'll make a capable bureau director.

Congratulations to Richard Cordray!

Posted 10 months ago #
myliftkk
Columbus, OH
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JimL2 said:

President Obama in a statement on Sunday said Cordray "has spent his career advocating for middle class families, from his tenure as Ohio's attorney general to his most recent role as heading up the enforcement division at the CFPB and looking out for ordinary people in our financial system."

Source: The Atlantic Wire

As the article points out, this comes as a heavy blow to Elizabeth Warren, who basically created the bureau and has spent the last four months doggedly holding it together. But Cordray did a pretty excellent job in terms of consumer affairs while he was the Ohio AG, so I have no doubt that he'll make a capable bureau director.

Congratulations to Richard Cordray!

Not likely gonnna happen, get confirmed that is. The Rs already said they have no intention of accepting Cordray, any more than they were going to accept Warren.

ETA: Warren very well may run for Senate in MA to knock off Scott Brown (which is what I think the Dems are pushing her to do).

Posted 10 months ago #
JimL2

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awesome, sounds like a hot sexy mess

if there's anything the debt ceiling talks have taught congress it's that obstructionist politics are the productivest politics.

Posted 10 months ago #
StowCbusCleveland
Jackson Township, Canton, OH
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I'm pretty amazed that all of this vitriol from the R's is against a lady whose crime is saying things like "We should be able to understand what we're signing". I think Cordray is a good choice though, it's good to see him get put up for an important job after losing here in Ohio for no reason other than being on the wrong side of a wave year. I thought he did pretty well for us.

Good luck getting confirmed, but we'll see.

I don't really understand the conservative opposition to the concept of rules that make information more widely known and more easily accessible (Well...I don't understand the intellectual case against it. The political gamesmanship is obvious enough.) It's good economics to give consumers enough information to make informed decisions and do comparison shopping.

Posted 10 months ago #
myliftkk
Columbus, OH
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StowCbusCleveland said:
I'm pretty amazed that all of this vitriol from the R's is against a lady whose crime is saying things like "We should be able to understand what we're signing". I think Cordray is a good choice though, it's good to see him get put up for an important job after losing here in Ohio for no reason other than being on the wrong side of a wave year. I thought he did pretty well for us.

Good luck getting confirmed, but we'll see.

I don't really understand the conservative opposition to the concept of rules that make information more widely known and more easily accessible (Well...I don't understand the intellectual case against it. The political gamesmanship is obvious enough.) It's good economics to give consumers enough information to make informed decisions and do comparison shopping.

From the NYT:

While Ms. Warren received the brunt of the scrutiny, Wall Street executives also bristled at the selection of Mr. Cordray to lead the bureau’s enforcement team. Seen as a zealous prosecutor of financial crime, Mr. Cordray is a similarly contentious figure among bankers and lobbyists.

Republicans made it clear on Sunday that they were no more likely to confirm Mr. Cordray than Ms. Warren. Forty-four Republican senators have signed a letter saying they would refuse to vote on any nominee to lead the bureau, demanding instead that the agency replace a single leader with a board of directors.

Rs would like a split director structure where they can produce meaningless suggestions, ignored by the elected political class, like most of the split director structures.

Posted 10 months ago #
gramarye
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It's actually something of a shame to see Cordray set up as a sacrifice to the gods of gridlock and deadlock like this. Not that he wouldn't be good at CFPB (I'm not a big fan of any new government agency by default, but if we're going to have them, they should have good, appropriate leaders). However, realistically, this nomination is all about the politicking opportunities that will come out of it (for both sides), not about actually getting Cordray a position.

Posted 10 months ago #
StowCbusCleveland
Jackson Township, Canton, OH
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I guess I don't understand the overlap between being intellectually conservative and opposing the sorts of things the CFPB would be tasked with doing. I admit I'm not an expert on their mandate, but my understanding is that their goal will basically be to fight against fraud and promote transparency within consumer financial transactions.

I consider myself to be pretty conservative on a lot of issues, and one area where that is especially true is that I think markets are powerful, good at allocating resources efficiently, and generally one of the world's greatest sources of prosperity. I don't think it's particularly liberal to think we should require disclosure on financial products and require it to be formatted in a way that allows comparison shopping.

In my mind, a conservative goal is to provide a marketplace where there is no fraud, you can buy and sell with confidence, where the incentives are properly aligned, and then let people go bonkers making choices.

myliftkk said:
Rs would like a split director structure where they can produce meaningless suggestions, ignored by the elected political class, like most of the split director structures.

Posted 10 months ago #
gramarye
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I think the organization's mandate could be read to include the micromanagement of fees and cost structures in almost all consumer financing transactions.

Posted 10 months ago #
rus

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myliftkk said:
Rs would like a split director structure where they can produce meaningless suggestions, ignored by the elected political class, like most of the split director structures.

On that specifically:

http://shelby.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/newsreleases?ContentRecord_id=893bc8b0-2e73-4555-8441-d51e0ccd1d17

Establish a board of directors to oversee the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. To prevent a single individual from dominating the actions of the CFPB it should be governed by a board of directors. Diversifying the leadership of the CFPB would also reduce the potential for the politicization of the CFPB and ensure the consideration of multiple viewpoints in the CFPB’s decision-making. This structure is consistent with the organization of the Federal Reserve Board, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

You're saying the Fed, the SEC and the FDIC are effectively meaningless?

Posted 10 months ago #
JimL2

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rus said:

To prevent a single individual from dominating the actions of the CFPB it should be governed by a board of directors.

You're saying the Fed, the SEC and the FDIC are effectively meaningless?

yes the fed is notoriously un-dominated by single actors

come on man the Fed?

Posted 10 months ago #
rus

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JimL2 said:

come on man the Fed?

Well yeah, exactly. I'm not seeing how a board of directors leads to "meaningless suggestions, ignored by the elected political class, like most of the split director structures. "

Posted 10 months ago #
jeff_r

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gramarye said:
I think the organization's mandate could be read to include the micromanagement of fees and cost structures in almost all consumer financing transactions.

I'm not familiar with the CFPB's directives, so I can't really speak to the particulars of its mandate. I do suspect that even if it can't be read as a license for government micromanagement, it will be portrayed that way by those who see its potential to cut into profits.

Posted 10 months ago #
StowCbusCleveland
Jackson Township, Canton, OH
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gramarye said:
I think the organization's mandate could be read to include the micromanagement of fees and cost structures in almost all consumer financing transactions.

To the extent that they would be doing this, I wouldn't like it at all. Unless you can demonstrate that collusion or a lack of competition has stymied normal competition, I think people should be able to charge whatever they want to charge and you can have fun watching the high-fee crowd get undercut. However, you shouldn't be able to scatter your fees over a 50-page disclosure.

The idea of a one or two page summary of all costs associated with a transaction, and requiring things to be calculated and presented in the same way to allow apples-to-apples comparison is an excellent way to ensure the market for something like a mortgage is as competitive as it should be.

Posted 10 months ago #
myliftkk
Columbus, OH
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rus said:
On that specifically:

http://shelby.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/newsreleases?ContentRecord_id=893bc8b0-2e73-4555-8441-d51e0ccd1d17

Establish a board of directors to oversee the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. To prevent a single individual from dominating the actions of the CFPB it should be governed by a board of directors. Diversifying the leadership of the CFPB would also reduce the potential for the politicization of the CFPB and ensure the consideration of multiple viewpoints in the CFPB’s decision-making. This structure is consistent with the organization of the Federal Reserve Board, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

You're saying the Fed, the SEC and the FDIC are effectively meaningless?

The FDIC doesn't really regulate anything does it? And well, as for the effectiveness of the SEC and FRB at regulation, see Great Recessecion for details.

Boards are really good at avoiding culpability, as there's always plenty of other people at the same level to blame for inadequacies...

Posted 10 months ago #
rus

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myliftkk said:
The FDIC doesn't really regulate anything does it? And well, as for the effectiveness of the SEC and FRB at regulation, see Great Recessecion for details.

Boards are really good at avoiding culpability, as there's always plenty of other people at the same level to blame for inadequacies...

Um.

http://www.fdic.gov/regulations/laws/index.html

Posted 10 months ago #
myliftkk
Columbus, OH
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rus said:
Um.

http://www.fdic.gov/regulations/laws/index.html

I'm talking actively looking to pass policies that regulate industry (as opposed to making sure banks follows laws already on the books).

Posted 10 months ago #
rus

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myliftkk said:
I'm talking actively looking to pass policies that regulate industry (as opposed to making sure banks follows laws already on the books).

So... to you, micromanagement of industry by government would be a good thing?

Posted 10 months ago #
myliftkk
Columbus, OH
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rus said:
So... to you, micromanagement of industry by government would be a good thing?

Are you saying Rs don't in general look to weaken government structures as a rule?

Or, is there any Republican Hamburger Molehill you won't climb up?

Posted 10 months ago #
rus

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myliftkk said:
Are you saying Rs don't in general look to weaken government structures as a rule?

Or, is there any Republican Hamburger Molehill you won't climb up?

No, actually I don't see R's weakening government structures. DHS, for instance. They may emphasize a different big government than D's, but at least the neocon wing of the R's seems as much enamoured of big government as the D's.

Now that I've responded to your diversion, would you kindly answer the question: to you, micromanagement of industry by government would be a good thing?

Posted 10 months ago #
rus

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http://www.salon.com/news/elizabeth_warren/index.html?story=/politics/war_room/2011/07/18/elizabeth_warren_senate

Posted 10 months ago #