Sen. Ayotte, Republicans looking out for financial sector

Thursday, December 22, 2011

To the Editor:

The U.S. Senate has just blocked the nomination of Richard Cordray for the position of director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Although there was no dispute that Mr. Cordray was eminently qualified for the position, the Republicans, including our own Sen. Ayotte, blocked the nomination in order to cripple the bureau.

Without a director, the agency currently cannot issue new rules for dealing with non-bank businesses, such as payday lenders, private student loan providers and mortgage services that have practiced predatory lending.

The Republicans want to replace the director with a bipartisan board and subject the bureau to the congressional appropriations process. No other federal bank regulators are funded this way because it politicizes the process.

The Republicans also want to subject the bureau’s activities to approval by other federal banking regulators, even though the bureau is already required to consult other regulators before issuing rules, has to assess the effect of its rules on small businesses and can already have its rules overturned by the Financial Stability Oversight Council.

The bureau was established under the Dodd-Frank Act in response to the tragic consequences of the financial sector’s irresponsible behavior. Its primary functions are enforcing existing consumer protection laws and restricting unfair, deceptive and abusive practices.

If Sen. Ayotte and her colleagues don’t like the structure of the bureau, they can initiate changes through the legislative process. In the meantime, they are circumventing a law that has already been passed.

In my opinion, Sen. Ayotte and the Republicans are putting the interests of the powerful financial sector above the interests of the consumers.

Jane Boyer

Bedford