Dodd Wants A Consumer Financial Protection Agency. Will It Regulate Congress?
by Greg Knapp
With everyone focused on the “health care” bill and Afghanistan is anyone paying attention to the push for another government agency? The Consumer Financial Protection Agency is on the way.
“* Dodd Backs Obama proposal to create agency to regulate credit cards, mortgages, other financial products
* Strips consumer protection duties from existing agencies, including Federal Reserve, Comptroller of the Currency, Office of Thrift Supervision, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, National Credit Union Administration, Federal Trade Commission.
* Lets states pass tougher consumer protections, preventing federal regulations from preempting stronger state laws.”
Dodd and Obama want a Consumer Financial Protection Agency to protect you from fraudulent and deceptive lending practices that they claim created our financial crisis. Fraud and deception are already illegal. This is really to protect you from being stupid. See, if you were smart enough to understand the terms, you would never have bought that huge house with 0% down and a five year adjustable, interest only loan. Yeah, right.
A few people were duped into bad loans. Most knew what they were doing. They wanted in on the real estate gold rush.
The lenders were incentivized to make bad loans by government regulations requiring the banks to hold more capital for the safer individual mortgages than for the riskier securitized mortgages and credit default swaps. Now we’re told that new regulations will solve our problems.
The CFPA would result in tighter credit, higher costs and fees and fewer options. We are already seeing credit card companies raising rates on good customers while they still can (a very easily forseen unintended consequence of upcoming government regulations limiting future rate hikes). The CFPA would also hold great power to regulate without any responsibility for safety and soundness of the banks.
We should improve disclosure, crack down on criminal actions by lenders and quit rewarding dangerous behavior with taxpayer dollars. We don’t need a new bureaucracy…
…Unless the CFPA regulated how Congress writes bills.
The CFPA is supposed to protect you from contracts that are unintelligible, fraudulent or loaded with hidden fees.
The health care bills are unintelligible. Senator Thomas Carper (D- Del.) said, “I don’t expect to actually read the legislative language because reading the legislative language is among the more confusing things I’ve ever read in my life.” Congressman John Conyers (D-MI) was equally dismissive of reading the House version of the bill. “What good is reading the bill if it’s a thousand pages and you don’t have two days and two lawyers to find out what it means after you read the bill?”
The bills’ tax increases and cuts to Medicare take effect immediately. Most of the benefits don’t kick in until 2013. That trick makes it “deficit neutral.” How long would the CFPA allow a company to sell a mortgage that requires you to pay for three years before you get to move into your new home?
The costs and taxes triple in the second ten years and “savings” come from cuts to Medicare no one believes will happen. It still leaves 25 million Americans uninsured.
Let’s see, unintelligible language, fraud, and hidden costs. Looks like a job for the CFPA.
There’s a lot more to worry about in Dodd’s Regulationpoloosa that will be very bad for our recovery, but that’s for another post.
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46 Comments
Why not a free market? If you borrow and don't pay, you get cut off. If you lend to people that do not pay, you can go broke.
WE, need a CON-gressional Protection Agency to protect US, from THEM.
Shouldn't the first duty of Office of Thrift Supervision be to disband itself? Oh, that's right, this is the Obamaniation Alternate Universe, they need to SPEND our money so we SAVE.
Dodd wants to close the door on others getting the same sweet deals HE got!
He should be in jail.
You know who is running against him? and has a few points ahead of him?
easy now, you're making too much sense.
Eden said: "Oh, that's right, this is the Obamaniation Alternate Universe, they need to SPEND our money so we SAVE."
Reminds me of my wife spending a ton of money at a sale buying stuff we don't need just because she was able to "save" money….
Oh you racist you!
Yes. But look closer. She is a shill………..
In fairness, there is strong evidence that people are stupid enough to need this law. Can a country stupid enough to elect Barack Obama President, a Congress which makes Nancy Pelosi Speaker of the House and Harry Reid President pro tem of the Senate, really be trusted with handling its own money?
This from "sweetheart deal" Chris Dodd? I'm sure he's watching out for our best interests! Wouldn't trust that crook as far as I could throw his overweight rotten body!
Here is how Catastrophe Chris plays the game:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/20/dodd-loo...
Nope.
http://blogs.courant.com/capitol_watch/2009/09/re...
Both McMahon and Simmons are idiots and establishment hacks with no credibility. Support Peter Schiff. He is an actual investor who knows what he's talking about and advocates truly free markets. He predicted the current crisis years before it happened and he has the grassroots movement behind him, which Simmons and McMahon don't.
He also bases all of his policies on strict adherence to the Constitution.
http://shiffforsenate.com
Whatever happened to "Caveat emptor"
It seems like the types that want to cuddle up to progressives to gain favor get a few scraps but eventually just end up being the dog that gets kicked.
A lot of business seems to be on the edge of terminal stupidity, If they dance with this devil they always get burned, but back they go for more abuse.
Maybe they need an intervention
Just what we need, more rules to make sure that people that are risky get credit, while those that did the right thing for years end up paying for the theft in higher interest rates when the inevitable defaults start occuring.
The whole watch out for the consumer thing would be fine if that was their goal, but it's always the opposite of what they say it is.
Consumer Financial Protection Agency
Lowlife Free Money Redistribution Thugs
woops.
http://schiffforsenate.com
LMAO…Is this for Dodd's protection? Or is this a back door to get his unethical fingers into the funds.
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Everytime I see Dodd’s ugly mug I can only think “waitress sandwich” http://www.wral.com/golo/blogpost/5880036/
I cannot think that any new agency that such a vile man coule be involved would be for the good of the country. Hey Connecticut do us all a favor and vote this b—ard out of office. You owe the country that much for ever putting this d-bag in office to begin with.
Sorry for the disjointed and misspelled post above. Dodd tends to make me see red and I guess my anger came through the keyboard.
All of these stupid politicians who are witting all these stupid bills are the exact same politicians who are responsible for enabling Wall St.to get into sub prime lending on credit of all types which is responsible for the financial mess this country is in.Wall St.is soaring while the country suffers.It happens time after time and until all these career politicians get voted out it will always be business as usual.
The economy is in the crapper and it's going to stay in the crapper because of Ben"braindead"Bernanke and Timothy"tax cheat"Geitner.
These guys were kept in their jobs because they're supposed to be the best this country has to offer.That's BS.Bernanke was the fed chair for four years before the crash.Geitner was the NY fed chair for three of those years.And lets not forget dear Hank Paulson who was instrumental in a 12billion dollar payoff to a firm he ran for seven years. Where was all this brain power for those years?We all know where the money went.Wall St.,Unions,Fiat and foreign Banks.Nothing for the working folks.
All this brain power should have drained into prison.
Whenever I received a loan, I was always told exactly what the terms are. I was always given ample opportunity to ask questions as well as ample opportunity to read the fine print. As long as the consumer is told the terms and given the opportunity to ask questions and read the agreement, then that should be more than enough.
You just can't protect people from themselves when they refuse to listen, ask questions and read. No amount of government interference can protect these type of people. I have no sympathy at all for people that willingly fell prey to bad loan terms and are having problems because of it.
It's obvious that Dodd is trying to change his image as he gears up to run for reelection. Who, may I ask, saves us from the likes of Chris Dodd?
If that little girl can get Dodd to shut up, I'm voting for her.
"The exact same politicians who are responsible for enabling Wall St.to get into sub prime lending on credit of all types which is responsible for the financial mess this country is in." Senator Frank didn't just 'enable,' under threat of regulatory sanctions his agencies forced otherwise sane lending institutions to make bad loans in the name of 'affordable housing'. I remember the start of this in the late 90's. This wasn't Wall Street's (whatever that means) doing, it was Senator Frank and his cronies over Banking Regulations. Now they are doubling down on the policies that landed us in this mess.
Wall Street soars because business has trimmed costs. America suffers because few want to hire when the rules are so dependent on what the latest czar has to say. The UAW pushed ahead of bondholders in GM's bankruptcy. That's not in the rules! Who can tell what the rules will be tomorrow? How can you risk hiring? Government spending in the public sector is killing jobs, and will continue to do so until they figure out the harm done by bailouts.
"…Unless the CFPA regulated how Congress writes bills." Now this idea is a keeper!
Jail any politician that lies and fine them heavily!
Wall St. means big business that's been tied to the hip of big government for decades.I think we're on the same page on most of this story but the politicians{and I think you mean congressman Barney Frank} enabled big business to make obscene profits on real estate,credit cards and to many more to mention while giving this credit to people who could never afford to pay it back.These banking,insurance and mortage institutions were not forced into these deals,it was and is a partnership for money.
Big business got bailed out by the government on the backs of taxpayers.Big business the special interest that stuffs politicians campaign coffers with cash and then gets trillions of taxpayer dollars when they fail.I don't care how you slice or dice it,it's a big fat sloppy partnership that's been going on for decades and it won't stop until the career politicians get thrown out on their asses.
Every legislator reading the bills is at least a start. It would in itself help prevent our becoming the effect of things which were not known about except to a select few, even though many be anathema to us. This completely defeats the purpose of democracy and something needs to be done about it. One group that is doing something about it can be found at http://www.HonorinOffice.com.
[...] the original here: Big Government » Blog Archive » Dodd Wants A Consumer Financial … Share and [...]
Thsi guy is criminal! he gets sweat heart deals from the very people he's suposed to regulate. He and his crony Barney Frank need to be horse whipped and run out of twon and into jail. They caused this finanal crisis by ignoring the cooked books at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Then they have done all they can to keep an investigation from happening. They are dirty and need to be impeached. His clown Dodd should be sanctioned and stoped from wanting anything but non-gjuy cell mate or maybe he could be cell mates with Barney. After all he was his bed fellow in crime why not while doing the time! Throw this bum out, CONN.! Wake Up america! you can't look away any longer with out becoming slaves of the united communists states of America!
You people are grossly unfair. I don't remember these complaints when we were getting deeper and deeper into this mess during Bush/Cheney. When Cheney was holding clossed door sessions re legislation that was historically held in public, nobody said anything. Well, it says one thing for the "Obamanation" — at least you feel free to speak your minds! You were afraid to do so when the others guys were in the WH!
Remember, we would be in much better financial shape had not Bush/Cheney decided to switch the focus from Osama bin Laden to Saddam Hussein, and thus the fraudulent Iraq War that costs billions of dollars per week! But, I guess since Bush did it, and Obama voted against it, that's okay! Why didn't you suggest running those two oil barons out of town!
Gross government waste or violations routinely come about when the bills are not read. Witness: Bush Bailout, Stimulus Package, Patriot Act.
I don't care what Party a person belongs to. If a lawmaker is going to vote in favor of the bill, that person has a moral and fiduciary responsibility to read and thoroughly analyze the bill. This applies to any bill, not just the healthcare bill.
Competent deliberation is not possible if no one has read the bill. They need to read it, understand it and have a fine-tuning debate about it. They need to make the healthcare or any bill as good as it can be.
I agree with your comment above about reading the bills they write.
When our legislators don't read and research the bills they pass into law, we often end up with gross violations of our rights or serious waste. And we end up with economic bubbles which burst and put us into serious recessions.
Witness violations of rights: Patriot Act
Gross waste: Bush Bailout, Stimulus package
Economic Bubble: Revising the Community Reinvestment Act, repealing of the Glass-Steagall Act, lowering lending requirements for financial instutions.
Legislators should read, understand and research the actual bill they are to pass, not some watered down interpretation to what the bill says.
We elect and pay them to do a good job, not pass the buck to someone unseen person we didn't elect. Sometimes it's what's not in the bill that causes the most harm. You can't know about these without personally reading the actual bill, and dotting the I's and crossing the T's.
Legislators should be proud enough of their work that they aren't afraid to post their legislation on the Internet before the vote.
Gross government waste or violations routinely come about when the bills are not read. Witness: Bush Bailout, Stimulus Package, Patriot Act.
I don't care what Party a person belongs to. If a lawmaker is going to vote in favor of the bill, that person has a moral and fiduciary responsibility to read and thoroughly analyze the bill. This applies to any bill, not just the healthcare bill.
Competent deliberation is not possible if no one has read the bill. Read it. Understand it. Have a fine-tuning debate about it. Make the healthcare or any bill as good as it can be.
We've already had enough slipshod laws passed over the last decade. Let's get some good ones passed now.
This is one smart little girl. She learned at a very early age what a big mouth blowhard is and can't stand listening to him.
Too late Dodd. You can't buy enough votes to keep yourself in office this time.
Another government agency? This time regulating the all the financial aspects of this country? Sounds like a recipe for disaster. One agency, and who's going to head this thing?
Seems to me that it's a giant invitation for FRAUD.
“But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.”
John Adams, letter to Abigail Adams, July 17, 1775
I think that's the point, they are written to be completely opaque with trap doors everywhere to suit their purposes.
They will never give up the power to legislate themselves perks and handouts to their peep's to keep themselves in power.
[...] original post here: Big Government » Blog Archive » Dodd Wants A Consumer Financial … Share and [...]
"… H.R. 3126 would give the CFPA jurisdiction over any financial activity, and the definition of financial activity is to be determined by the agency.
The Ranking Member of the Financial Services Committee, Congressman Spencer Bachus (R-AL), introduced financial regulatory reform legislation entitled H.R. 3310, the Consumer Protection and Regulatory Enhancement Act of 2009, on July 23, 2009. This legislation is a Republican alternative, and provides for the resolution of insolvent non-bank financial institutions through the bankruptcy system, not bailouts. H.R. 3310 also creates a Market Stability and Capital Adequacy Board in order to monitor the financial sector and identify risks, and taxpayer subsidies of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would also end… "
Sincerely,
Bob Latta
Member of Congress
""The health care bills are unintelligible. Senator Thomas Carper (D- Del.) said, “I don’t expect to actually read the legislative language because reading the legislative language is among the more confusing things I’ve ever read in my life.” Congressman John Conyers (D-MI) was equally dismissive of reading the House version of the bill. “What good is reading the bill if it’s a thousand pages and you don’t have two days and two lawyers to find out what it means after you read the bill?”"
So I gather the writer thinks only Democrats don't read the bills they vote on?