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Special Report
Columnist Wants Consumer Bureau to Be ‘Big Brother’
“Richard Cordray ain’t heavy,” she might paternalistically croon. “He’s my big brother.”
“Big Brother.” When commentators use that phrase to describe a government agency, it is most often not meant as a compliment.
Rather, it is wielded as the ultimate criticism of government overreach. The pejorative use of this phrase, after all, dates back more than 60 years to George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984, in which “Big Brother” was the symbol of a totalitarian collectivist dictatorship.
Whenever a government agency is called “Big Brother” — whether by liberals regarding the NSA, by conservatives regarding the EPA, and regarding the TSA by just about everyone who doesn’t work there — most defenders of the entity push back against the use of the phrase. They angrily deny that the entity’s action can be described as anything close to that of “Big Brother.”
Yet amazingly, Michelle Singletary, the Washington Post’s nationally syndicated personal finance columnist and panelist on the much-hyped new ABC lifestyle show The Revolution, has embraced the phrase in describing her desires for the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. “Watchdog Should Act Like a Big Brother,” reads the headline of her latest column in the Post.
After interviewing Richard Cordray, whom President Obama installed as director of the bureau in an unprecedented “recess” appointment when the Senate was not actually in recess, Singletary argues that the bureau has a mandate to be a “big brother” to American consumers. “The agency, under his lead, is supposed to be the big brother (or sister) consumers need to enforce federal consumer financial protection laws and, if necessary, create rules that will head off unfair, deceptive or abusive financial practices and products,” she writes.
Singletary’s column, it should be noted, has traditionally contained more folksy financial advice than politics. I’ve taken to heart, for instance, her promotion of regifting as a way of saving money and giving people the presents they more likely want. But she has of late been embracing the nannyist politics of the Left to “nudge” — or more often shove — ordinary folks into making what she thinks are the right financial decisions.
Singletary no doubt would say that she is using the term “big brother” in a benign way, and she gives a touching example of when she protected her younger brother from a school bully. Yet regardless of motivation, any call for a government agency to act like a “big brother” or “big sister” is also a call for the government to treat its subjects as if they were small children. Singletary confirms her preference for paternalism when she admonishes the bureau to “beat back the many bullies who for too long have taken advantage of consumers,” adding “even those [consumers] who should know better.”
This paternalism is enshrined in the Dodd-Frank financial “reform” law that created the bureau and many other “big brother” bureaucracies and mandates. As Singletary notes, Dodd-Frank gives the bureau the power to ban not just financial practices and products that are “unfair” or “deceptive,” but also those that the bureau simply deems “abusive.” As George Mason University law professor Todd Zywicki has written, “abusive” is a vague and subjective legal term that allows the bureau’s director to “effectively ban many nontraditional lending products… if he thinks, for example, that consumers using that form of lending are too dumb to appreciate the full cost and risk of those products.”
This turns Singletary’s justification of a “big brother” agency — to “beat back the many bullies” — on its head. As many younger siblings know all too well, big brothers and big sisters can sometimes be bullies themselves. And when the government is denying adults the right to engage in a consensual activity in which no fraud or deception is alleged, it is the government itself that is acting as the bully.
We’ve seen examples of this government bullying in the Obama administration and predating it. “Big Brother” bullies you by forbidding you from buying an incandescent light bulb, gambling online, or building a house on a suburban lot that the EPA suddenly and arbitrarily declares to be a “wetland.”
As Ohio Attorney General, Cordray gave some indication that he will continue in this Big Brother/Big Bully tradition. First, as I have reported previously in TAS, Cordray endorsed and funded the bullies at Ohio’s East Side Organizing Project who storm the offices and throw plastic sharks on the lawns of officials of financial firms they disagree with.
But he also showed his desire to be the “big brother” of ordinary consumers, most of whom this former Jeopardy! champion appears to deem as too dumb to make decisions for themselves. Take payday loans, which President Obama has also condemned and presented as a justification for the bureau.
In a press conference posted on YouTube, Cordray tellingly admitted, that if paid back on time, the loans are more than manageable. “391 percent interest doesn’t sound quite so bad when it’s $15 ever two weeks for a one-time loan,” he said. “But we know and we’ve seen that what happens is many people fall into a debt cycle trap. It’s just not sustainable for many families in our community.”
So there you have it. “Many people” (and he didn’t specify how many) fall into debt with certain products, and Cordray’s answer is not more disclosure, not more financial education, but having Big Brother deem the products as “not sustainable” and banning them for everyone, including the “many people” who are satisfied with the product. Indeed, a slew of academic studies, most recently from Kelly Edmiston of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, have found that payday loans can be much less expensive than the other alternatives for short-term emergency credit — namely overdraft and late payment fees.
And should this “big brother” bureau choose to engage in paternalistic and bullying behavior, Dodd-Frank is written so that no one can discipline it. Congress lacks oversight through the appropriations process, since the bureau automatically can get more than $500 million each year from the Federal Reserve. And as C. Boyden Gray, White House counsel under George H.W. Bush, notes, even the courts can’t “fully review the CFPB’s actions,” because “Dodd-Frank requires the courts to defer to CFPB’s legal interpretations.”
But in this country, the Founding Fathers did give us the ultimate remedy for Big Brother: the U.S. Constitution. Both the non-recess “recess” appointment and the bureau’s very structure are an affront to the checks and balances the Framers envisioned and very likely violate specific constitutional provisions. Look for lawsuits to be filed against the bureau, similar to the motions that were filed on Friday challenging the three “recess” appointments to the National Labor Relations Board that Obama made the same day as Cordray’s.
In the meantime, we “little siblings” should express loudly and clearly to Cordray, Singletary, and all others who think they “know better” about our financial decisions that they need to take a permanent “time out.”
About the Author
John Berlau is Senior Fellow for Finance and Access to Capital at the Competitive Enterprise Institute and blogs at OpenMarket.org.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (71) | Leave a comment
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Richard Baker| 1.17.12 @ 6:38AM
She sounds as if being a serf would be a good state of affairs. When the Soviet Union fell and there were problems re-organizing a country there were liberal commentators saying that maybe not everyone was meant to be free. Didn't realize that meant in the US. Who knew?
VonMisesJr| 1.17.12 @ 8:00AM
In Rousseau's "Social Contract" written in 1762, free was redefined by statist. If one did not bend to the "General Will," then one must be forced to be free!
Hayek writes in "Constitution of Liberty" and elsewhere about "Our Poisoned Language." Freedom to the left does not mean liberty. It means free from danger, financial worries, hunger, a roof over one's head. Perhaps you will eat veggie burgers at a homeless shelter with Michelle and Barry's security guard; but they want to make you free.
Of course they will be in Hawaii or Spain, or perhaps Vail in the winter.
fckewe| 1.17.12 @ 5:41PM
In a Nation where Christianity is such a powerful religion it becomes a political force, Doing unto the least of Christ Bretheren that which you do for your dog should be no hardship. Particularly if NOT even affording healthcare to the sick who are homeless, or the homeless who have been swindled out of their homes by RED party mortgage deregulation, or the 100,000 veterans whose lives were destroyed giving YOUR pompous ass it's freedom...
IF Christ see YOU, he will know you not... just as you have judged others. What Obama does or doesn't do is irrelevant compared to what YOU do with YOUR soul. Are you going to waste it DENYING the freedom from hunger, danger and having a roof over one's head? Or are you going to What, write more drivel about things you know nothing of?
fckewe| 1.17.12 @ 5:42PM
BTW Have you heard from Dick and Dubya and Hank lately? Or are they in Hawaii, or Spain, or Vail or Crawford or Cheyenne? Hiding from the reality of the devastation their greed and arrogance has blighted this great nation, and thus the earth with?
VonMisesJr| 1.17.12 @ 8:15PM
You have no shame citing Christianity with a pen name like yours. You are truly a despicable piece of garbage.
fckewe| 1.18.12 @ 3:13AM
WOW! How eloquently doomed thou art. You are such a child, making incredible claims and accusations, being caught without a single thought of your own, then abdicating the opportunity to support and pontificate upon your fine qualities as a human specimen.
All you have to offer is 4th grade coltishness that will never rise to 5th Grade intelligence. Can you explain despicable?
I live a Christianity that would never allow This One to behave as YOU do.
carnot| 1.17.12 @ 11:31PM
I'm sure there's a coherent thought in there somewhere!
fckewe| 1.18.12 @ 3:14AM
Try reading with a dictionary handy, or maybe call you English tutor for help.
carnot| 1.18.12 @ 12:55PM
nahhhh....I'll wait for you to string a few coherent thoughts together!
but...as amusement goes....you're tops!
old white guy| 1.17.12 @ 12:01PM
for all those who think they are free in america here is a challenge. find something has does not have the handprint of some level of government on it. from your toilets to your underwear the government has rules and regulations that you obey whether you know it or not.
fckewe| 1.17.12 @ 5:44PM
I you have ever taken a shit in Laos or Cambodia, you should be mighty grateful for those Building codes toilet standards! LMAO Not to mention the paper mills that OSHA keeps safe. you think finding a finger in your hamburger would be a trauma, try finding one in your Charmin. ROTFL.
The only thing wrong with government is that there are Republicans in it.
carnot| 1.17.12 @ 11:34PM
are you really the moron you pretend to be?
this is the shallowest kind of analysis. how about lining up ALL the costs and benefits so a more accurate picture is developed.
can't wait for the long coming apocalypse with the likes of you sport!
fckewe| 1.18.12 @ 3:20AM
Apocalypse? When? Oh, and the Mensa thing, 3x moron score puts me in the top 2% of the top 2% of all those who were ever IQ tested friend.
Funny how you loudmouth Republicans have no spine, no stamina and can only enterprise in name calling and insults when you get your bullshit spooned back in your ear.
I don't care about the costs, I want toilet paper that doesn't have someone else's severed finger imbedded in it! But then again, maybe you are the kind of guy who LIKES that sort of thing.
carnot| 1.18.12 @ 1:00PM
I get it...self-parody is your schtick!
we'll excuse the notion that your posts belie any assertions about raw intellectual ability (as opposed to knowledge)...and keep to what is most evident: you're one funny guy!
anywho...I keep waiting for some coherent thinking on your part...something beyond the wind tunnel.
have a nice day and by all means keep posting. the entertainment value is nonpareil!
Brian Mc| 1.17.12 @ 7:18AM
We do not need more government types protecting and fighting for us. What they should be doing is protecting, and fighting for the Constitution or, better yet, find themselves a real job. Next I hear a candidate stating they want to protect, and or fight for me, I'll punch them in the nose. Since when did I become so self-centered that I would 'need' either of these things? This cultural mindset scares me like no other.
Appleby| 1.17.12 @ 7:18AM
Obama wants to make it impossible to run away from home.
Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 1.17.12 @ 7:24AM
“If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert , in five years there’d be a shortage of sand.” ~ Milton Friedman
JP| 1.17.12 @ 7:40AM
The GOP could bring this nonsense to a screeching halt if it wanted to. The GOP Senate minority could stop all business until the President offers up Courday to the appropriate Senate oversight committee. I could tell you that Reid would do just that if the situation was reversed. Either the GOP Senate minority quietly backs such a move, or it lacks the courage to do what is right.
fckewe| 1.17.12 @ 5:47PM
newt Gingrich tried that in '96. Fell on his face, just like Boehner will. obama gave him the rope, now all he needs to do is yank the noose and listen for the 'SNAP!' The RED party myopia will lead them to their place in history along side the Whigs and the skinned mooses.
carnot| 1.17.12 @ 11:37PM
Obama's is hoisting his own petard. his energy policies are a massive failure and he's bankrupting the country.
you obviously are no Christian since you have no compassion whatsoever for the millions in additional unemployed Obama has created since taking office.
fckewe| 1.18.12 @ 3:27AM
Actually, Obama has created more jobs in 3 years than Bush did in 8. That includes Blackwater and the US military. Obama also reduced the size of government by closing out redundant positions. He's a better Republican than any RED party candidate running and he's doing it with a conniving House and a predatory minority in the Senate!
I have absolute compassion for those Bush policy failures that led to the recession, that would have been a complete and ongoing depression if Obama hadn't managed to STOP the freefall Dick, Hank and Dubya created when the redistributed the hard earned wealth of working class Americans.
I believe in new and ongoing infrastructure, I believe a jobs bill stonewalled by the RED party would have added a full point to the GDP and I would NEVER have piddled away the opportunity to present a year long tax break and extended benefits for those citizens Bush's foolishness abandoned.
What plan do YOU have carenot?
carnot| 1.18.12 @ 1:13PM
that's not a plan...mini-mind...that's a wish list. moreover, such as it is, it is buttressed by numbers that most of us who know something about economic theory and statistics understand are completely contrived - often intentionally.
and, finally, bright as you claim to be, you're fundamental dishonesty is showing. most understand by now that the financial crisis (and ensuing economic decline) had its roots in political/ideological initiatives intended to engineer select socially "preferred" outcomes in the early to mid 90s.....that the alembic for this massive failure was corrupt, greedy beyond belief (but government protected!) leadership at Fanny Mae aided by a HHS department detached from any sense of financial consequences.
not only are you dishonest.....but one can easily suspicion that you are completely detached from reality. you need to see a shrink fellow citizen! I worry that you are walking a path that inevitably lead to harm. please, please.....for your own good......seek the medical attention you desperately need...your posts are an obvious/plaintive cry in the political woods.
in the end....after proper care and lengthy healing....you can return. we'll still lub you...after all you care so deeply, you're a mensa and you have an MBA!!!
my plan? well...first...the playing field has to be cleared of drift wood such as yourself. then some real seeds of growth can be planted...not the Obama horse manure that apparently has limited to no real Keynesian nourishment.
carnot| 1.18.12 @ 1:14PM
meant HUD......
anywho....we all LUB you F! your basic human decency shines through in all your posts!
Indy| 1.17.12 @ 7:44AM
Dodd-Frank is a bad law, I called my senators / rep often when I first learned about this "consumer protection agency" that was given vast powers and untouchable by Congress, but in true form, the push to "do something" gave Obama an opening for another power grab, taking advantage of a "crisis" and the farce of selling this to the American people as a guarantee of no further bailouts is insulting. This law was to put more structure in place to allow the government more control, not one section of the bill did anything to reel in Freddie / Fannie. Is it consumer protection for the government to monitor every credit card transaction we make? 1984, Big Brother is watching.
fckewe| 1.17.12 @ 5:50PM
It doesn't supervise you, you idiot! it regulates how badly YOU are getting fleeced by credit companies. It will give you a legal channel to protect yourself through. It may even keep monstrosities like ballon mortgages fro eviscerating the economy as they did thanks to Dubya and company.
Indy| 1.17.12 @ 7:14PM
They will be tracking every purchase you make via credit card, that's an invasion of privacy. As a consumer, it's up to me to find a company I want to do business with, if I don't like the fees or interest rate I'm being charged, I can pay off my bill, cut up my card and find another.
This agency is a power grab, it does not report to Congress but is housed within the Federal Reserve, maybe you don't have a problem with that but anyone who understands separation of powers does - Do you not think the Federal Reserve has enough power already? And there is only one person to run this agency, no oversight board with appointees by both parties?
"Title X of the Dodd-Frank Act is entitled the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (CFP
Act). The CFP Act establishes a Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (CFPB or Bureau)
within the Federal Reserve System with rulemaking, enforcement, and supervisory powers over many consumer financial products and services and the entities that sell them. The law also transfers to the Bureau the primary rulemaking and enforcement authority over many federal consumer protection laws enacted prior to the Dodd-Frank Act (the “enumerated consumer
laws”), such as the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act."
Congress stupidly handed over power to this agency, they cannot defund nor have oversight responsibility. You may not be aware of what is happening in Italy, but do a little research and see what happens when power is in the hands of a few.
This bill was sold to the public as "protection" for the commoners but it is a power grab, in time you may learn. To understand the collapse of the financial markets, read Recklass Endangerment by NYT writer http://www.amazon.com/Reckless.....0805091203 or Thomas Sowell, The Housing Boom and Bust or you can remain uninformed and repeat liberal talking points. If you are intellectually honest, you will find out that both parties share responsibility for the collapse but especially C. Dodd and B. Frank for failing to take the numerous warnings about Freddie / Fannie, the video is all on C-Span for you to hear in their own words.
fckewe| 1.18.12 @ 3:43AM
I agree that both parties are at fault. "Power Grab" is RED party rhetoric for "Damn N****r ended our Swindling Schemes". The significance of the FREDDIE/FANNIE undercapitalization was absurdly overblown considering that at the height of Paulsen's Panic, 95% of their loans were paying ontime.
The bubble was caused by over valuations, deceitful credit ratings by agencies, ZERO regulation of the most complicated investment instruments, and hedging those CDO's with CDS's that were NEVER financially supported with sufficient liquidity.
Having seen the practice skimming of mortgage wealth in the S&L corruption (wasn't Bush big brother Neil the author of much of that one?) I understand how easy it was for Bush to disguise the impending bubble POP with a tax rebate.
Sad truth, Paulsen's plan didn't hold out long enough to have it collapse with in the next administration. They KNEW in January that they couldn't survive it happening in the spring. SO, in a deficit wartime economy, they REBATE billions?
That was when I started shorting Real Estate and MBS ETF's. The false positive GDP of 3.9% (the fundamentals of the economy are fine) was the last gasp of the carnival barker before they folded the tents and skedaddled in the dark of night so to speak.
Why, does a do nothing Congress and a stonewalling obstructionist legislature DESERVE oversight on issues of consumer protection? Consumers need to be protected from the self enriching, insider trading crime exempt CONGRESS!!
thank GOD this power drunk bunch gave the carkeys to a sober President.
Indy| 1.18.12 @ 8:14AM
Power grabs have taken place with this Administration and the previous, I am speaking with facts, no code words. For you to infer anyone concerned with this power grab is basing it on race is wrong. My issues with POTUS is based on his policies period. Congress has stupidly given more power to the executive branch (think HHS, IRS, etc), they do it in every bill they pass, most of the legislation is written by regulators. Presidential Signing statements, Executive Orders, appointees when the Senate is in session and other power grabs have taken place via regulations (think EPA). You are entitled to your opinion and can deny these are power grabs but anyone who is objective can see what is taking place. The media cheerleads because they are in alignment with this President.
There is much about Bush that I did not like but there is no way the Democrats escape responsibility for our fiscal mess and loss of liberties.
Do nothing Congress, well I find it interesting the Democrats told us all was well with Freddie / Fannie despite warnings from Bush, McCain, Greenspan and others and the Dems blocked proposed reforms.
"Frank, in his most detailed explanation to date about his actions, said in an interview he missed the warning signs because he was wearing ideological blinders. He said he had worried that Republican lawmakers and the Bush administration were going after Fannie and Freddie for their own ideological reasons and would curtail the lenders’ mission of providing affordable housing." http://www.boston.com/news/pol.....e_freddie/
Timeline of warnings
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMnSp4qEXNM
Why is Barney Frank retiring, ask yourself what is the real reason? I would argue he knows many Americans are now learning the truth and even in liberal MA, it would be too much for him to overcome.
One of the key responsibilities spelled out in the Constitution is oversight, thankfully Issa is taking this seriously and looking into Fast and Furious, Solyndra and other programs, I would much prefer Congress stop passing new laws and spent more time reviewing existing programs and cutting wasteful spending, Sen. Coburn has already done the heavy lifting but since Reid controls the Senate, his report collects dust. Our sober President with the car keys is driving this country off a cliff at record speed, he must be voted out of office.
The Consumer Protection Agency is a wolf in sheep's clothing, by housing it in the Fed, we cannot vote out the director, we cannot ask our reps to dissolve it or defund it and that is by design...would you feel all warm and fuzzy if this had been done by Bush and he appointed the director when the Senate was in session?
carnot| 1.18.12 @ 1:17PM
you are an idiot! as though none of us need to be protected from a power grabbing, unlawful executive branch.
grow up little man.
carnot| 1.17.12 @ 11:39PM
no it won't. it will raise the cost of credit and limit the supply. but...I get it...you don;t care about people at the bottom of the stack.
it will become another drain on taxpayer moneys and a self-serving bureaucracy with....as the writer notes....no oversight.
carnot| 1.17.12 @ 11:40PM
silly fascist.
fckewe| 1.18.12 @ 3:46AM
Do you even KNOW how to READ a dictionary to find out WHAT a fascist is?
carnot| 1.18.12 @ 1:24PM
ouch....that's a stinging retort. lay awake all night conjuring that little jewell!
I'm just not seeing the correlation between your acclaimed intellectual prowess and the unwieldy, often puerile, attempts at witty repartee
but I do get one thing: your evident disregard for how power is applied and who applies it. you are quite selective in how you bound that notion.....with the obvious unstated assumption that your guy, Obama, can not only exercise that power intelligently....but more fundamentally...is trustworthy.
prattle on....Saint of Consumer goodness. we need you. we want you. a bureaucracy peopled by individuals unaccountable to the Congress and the people is what we need most.
f'ing fascist. your every post screams it.
have a great day! we lub you - you really, really care. you ooze goodness like so much progressive puss!
DaveD| 1.17.12 @ 8:22AM
I got this e-mail from this Colonel in Ethiopia promising me a bunch of money, and all I had to do was let him use my bank account to temporarily launder the millions. Looked like a good deal to me so I did it and Whamo, much to my shock I lost my shirt.
I think we need a government insurance program to protect me against such unscrupulous activities and if the new CPB will do that, I'm all for it. After all, it's tough to live on only your Social Security, disability payments, food stamps, student loans, Medicaid, housing assistance - and worse yet, the local food shelf is only open one day a week and it's damn hard to schedule your life around that!
So enough already, quit picking on government, it's only there to help me - and ultimately you too when the Colonel comes calling.
Dick Nome| 1.17.12 @ 8:44AM
Are you telling me that million dollar lottery in Lower Slobbovia that I just won is phony?? I just got notified, though I didn't know I'd entered. Oh, dear, what now?
JP| 1.17.12 @ 11:48AM
Yes, the CPB will order a crack batallion of Rangers to take the Colonel out, thus relieving you the inconvience of hitting the delete button on your computer.
William L. Gensert| 1.17.12 @ 8:57AM
This is not "big brother," this is tyranny.
No man is born a murderer, or evil or cruel. In America, no man is born a king or a tyrant. Just as a man must learn to be a killer, men must teach themselves to be tyrants. Barack Obama has learned how to be a tyrant.
Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com.....z1jiw3lO6g
fckewe| 1.17.12 @ 5:51PM
Are yo uadmitting to being born stupid? Or are you deliberately CHOOSING ignorance as a life style there Billy?
carnot| 1.17.12 @ 11:43PM
ooooooh! you crazy man mista! you talkie big. me lub you! cuz you lub everyone else! you so caring!
but you do need to get over your daddy complex. it's unbecoming for someone as "informed" as you.
fckewe| 1.18.12 @ 3:46AM
SOmeone needs a dirt nap.
carnot| 1.18.12 @ 1:28PM
wow! so that's how MBAs think!
we lub you! you so special!
Timothy L. Pennell| 1.17.12 @ 8:58AM
What I wanna know is, what's happening with the UNCONSTITUTIONAL way that this Pasty Faced, POS - Cordray - was Recess Appointed? Is NOTHING being done?
I have called EVERYBODY, on our side. The Speaker's Office says: "We can't do anything. That's the Senate." Eric Cantor's office says the same thing. Paul Ryan's office? Ditto.
We have ceased being: A Country of LAWS, not Men.
We have a SENATE, that hasn't performed its' Constitutional Duty, of Passing a Budget, in over 1,000 Days.
We have a President who only ENFORCES those Laws, that HE deems worthy. Does what he wants (Drilling Moratoriun) regardless of a Federal Court Judge's orders, to the contrary.
A President who lies, with abandon. He has his people lie. He has his Cabinet Members, FORGE DOCUMENTS (Drilling Moratorium Reports from a Commission that HE put together) He's Running Guns to Mexican Drug Cartels, WITHOUT the knowledge of the Mexican Government. He takes OUR Tax Money, and hands it over to HIS Union Pals.
And, now he P*sses on the Separation Of Powers, with these 4 ILLEGAL Recess Appointments, and the Republicans do WHAT?
They do NOTHING. They have the Power of the PURSE. Yet, they do nothing. They can DE-FUND every Commission, and every Board, that they want. They can SHUT DOWN this MFer's Union Run NLRB. SHUT DOWN this little Communist Puke - Cordray's, new gig.
All these things, they can do. Yet, they do nothing.
Benjamin Franklin was right. 'The Constitution would only be obeyed, for a short period of time. It would not survive the inevitability of the Corruption of Men. The Republic would suffer the same FATE as all the others, that came before.'
Athens. Rome. They began as Representative Republics. They ENDED, as something else.
John Adams predicted that: 'Only, if the People are Religious, with Faith in God, and strong Moral Values, can this form of Government, survive.'
Jefferson lamented: 'When the people discover that they can Vote themselves Money? Then this will all be undone.'
"For everything, there is a Season."
It would appear that our Founding Fathers knew whereof they spoke, and that, truly, we are looking at the End Times of the World's Last Republic.
THKrupp| 1.17.12 @ 9:56AM
The reason that they wont do anything about it is that Bush did the same thing when he was president and the next republican administration wants to keep that option open.
Timothy L. Pennell| 1.17.12 @ 10:39AM
STFU. Bush DID NOT do the same thing. In fact, it was HARRY REID who started this routine, so that Bush couldn't make any recess appointments!
All you people who are getting on me for being "Vicious" lately?
This is why.
Lies, lies, and MORE LIES, from these MFers.
And this POS, represents Half of the Country.
The United States of America will be GONE, within 10 Years.
Mark My Words.
I hope all you Guilt Ridden Whites, out there, are happy. You assuaged your GUILT, and DESTROYED our Country.
Congratulations.
I'm talking to YOU! Peggy Noonan. Kathleen Parker. And all of the other Douc*bags.
Nice Job.
KennesawJack| 1.17.12 @ 2:16PM
Tres Magnifique! Timothy. As usual.
carnot| 1.17.12 @ 11:46PM
well......don't look now....but have you noticed all the gun sales in the last year or so? it's huge. and those aren't hunting weapons being bought. we're talking semi-automatics.
for better..or for worse...something is stirring in the belly of America.
JP| 1.17.12 @ 11:51AM
Bush made plenty of recess appointments, but he never declared the Senate "recessed" when it was in fact in session. Don't know where you're coming from. BTW, the GOP almost did away with the Senate Filibuster until McCain, Lindsay Graham, and Dick Lugar convened the Gang of 13 and saved it for Harry and company.
fckewe| 1.17.12 @ 6:03PM
There's a little truth.
old white guy| 1.17.12 @ 12:07PM
timothy. so much truth in your post and so many americans know these truths but they are unwilling to do anything about it. not unable, UNWILLING. until people screw up their courage and act using the constitution the people will fall further into slavery to the federal government.
fckewe| 1.17.12 @ 6:01PM
The Unions don't GET tax money dude, they PAY taxes. So do those who enjoy the security of stabilized employment with living wages and worthwhile benefits. YOU don't have to join a Union, you don't need to do anything.
But by abolishing the rights of others to do as they please, you condemn freedom and liberty to an evil death in your RED party totalitarian myopia of a future.
I am sorry you re not happy. if you DON'T love America anymore, LEAVE it.
carnot| 1.17.12 @ 11:52PM
riiiiight....GM...which was handed over to Unions...wasn't rescued by taxpayer moneys!
and Unions are just so deliciously Democratic. and Public Unions? why...they just live to serve the public! they'd never think in self-intersted terms!
your fealty to truth is amazing! I think I lub you!
hardcard| 1.17.12 @ 9:11AM
Me thinks we are screwed
MarkJ| 1.17.12 @ 9:58AM
Michelle Singletary's "Tip for the Newly Incarcerated":
"If a large guy named Bubba really wants to be your friend, meet all of his demands. He'll be your Big Brother and he'll protect you from all those other meanies in the general population who want to shank you."
J. Moses Browning| 1.17.12 @ 10:42AM
The Compost is losing about 20 subscribers a day, every day. Just be patient and the Leftist Columnist Problem will take care of itself.
David W| 1.17.12 @ 10:52AM
Her view, just like all other liberals, is that non-government entities are evil, dangerous, and always want to hurt the public. What she doesn't realize is that few corporations have ever initiated mass killings, unlike a number of totalitarian states (Nazi Germany, Soviet Union, Red China, Khmer Rouge, Saddam's Iraq, and the US of Obama... oh wait, we aren't quite there yet).
fckewe| 1.17.12 @ 6:05PM
NO, you are correct. Why lose the income streal if you can shear the sheep every decade, and profit from selling them more dreams to start investing in, only to shear them just before they retire. or their kids are ready for college, or their mortgage is 92% paid off.
BEtter to nurse the herd and fleece it periodically than slaughter it and drive the price down!
carnot| 1.17.12 @ 11:55PM
NO, you are correct. Government is fleecing us every day...to the tune of $15 trillion and climbing.
who knew?! there is a stripe of integrity in you! I think I lub you!
mike daniels| 1.17.12 @ 2:11PM
speaking of power grabs. Dodd-Frank allowed the Federal Government to insert itself into the well established state regulation of non-bank lenders. These are folks that make it possible for blue collar and middle class Americans to buy furniture, autos, and household goods and come up with the cash needed to keep the car running and in good repair. It is not the BANKS that provide that credit. Brace yourself for an attack on these non-bank lenders (and I'm not talking about payday lenders,or pawn shops) and as they are forced out of business the rise once again of unlicensed and unregulated lenders using knee capping collectors. Great job Obama!
fckewe| 1.17.12 @ 6:10PM
I bet you are GLAD that telemarketing is now a defunct industry. LOL Some businesse models deserve to be padlocked in perpetuity.
Please explain HOW more regulation and oversight will lead to less scruples and ethics in business matters. I mean I have an MBA and i just can't figure out the depth of your brilliant understanding. Please, in detail, explain HOW.
mike daniels| 1.17.12 @ 6:15PM
wow a whole MBA - impressive- about as much as your reference to telemarketing??? The consumer finance business is highly regulated at both the state level with limited FTC oversight at the Federal level. These lenders are not national banks operating under a national charter and can't cross state lines without appropriate state licensing. There is no need for additional federal regulation and dubious constitutional authority for it.
fckewe| 1.18.12 @ 3:56AM
Do you know how EASY it is to file paperwork in each state? While I believe in state's right, there needs to be basic standard for them to follow. Parts of consumer finance are regulated, and other's are no more than licensed to do business like a drycleaners.
At one time, usury was interest above 24%. How does VISA get to 32%? How do they manage to use a late insurance premium to justify an imediate jump to the highest rate AND make it retroactive to the date the card was issued on the entire balance?
That's the kind of crap that the CFPA was written to keep thieves from perpetrating on citizens.
I do understand that unilateral contracts are usually void on their face as unenforceable, but when a finance company or bank can rewrite the original terms of a deal at will, without explaination or cause... so I really wonder where and what your wisdom is guided by.
carnot| 1.17.12 @ 11:57PM
I bet you work for GLAD!
there is the small matter of good regulation and bad regulation. but...lost as you are in your rhetoric and dishonesty...you wouldn't recognize that.
you so good mista! I think I lub you.
Ron| 1.17.12 @ 3:33PM
maybe Michelle's worldview would not appear to be coming more "left" if she had taught her little brother to fight back against the bullies, instead of shielding him from them...Hmmm, sounds like a good plan...
Tiddly| 1.17.12 @ 3:45PM
All women want some agency or authority figure to protect them. Michelle Singletary is no different--she's just projecting that onto the general population.
George S| 1.17.12 @ 4:53PM
Sounds like this reporter babe has some daddy issues...
PattyMor| 1.17.12 @ 5:02PM
No all women do not want big brother watching their every move. For a agency watching everything, will certainly watch over you and your accounts whether you like it or not. What prevents an all powerful agency from going into your accounts and taking what they think is "fair"?
Nothing! Don't think it couldn't happen here.
Argon Ion| 1.17.12 @ 5:07PM
Cordray looks like he'd rather be burning witches.
J.P. Travis | 1.17.12 @ 9:24PM
What you have described is an uneducated woman given a column in which she just made a fool of herself. God knows what she was reading when the rest of us were learning from George Orwell... probably something she saw on Oprah.
POST American| 1.17.12 @ 10:03PM
---------------------FINAL WORD----------------------
AS the US Constitution is definitively
overturned with the passage of NDAA 1031
while the perpetrators of the awesome
Globalist RED China sellout are at the helm
-----still more '90's Show' sideshows.
---------------HUAC/ Nuremberg 2012----------------
For the thinking challenged
--------------WE"RE DEALING WITH TREASON.
---------------------------------------------TRULY
Osamas Pajamas| 1.18.12 @ 1:01AM
Maybe Cordray's or Singletary's plane will crash. Too bad the Republicans didn't know how to argue against this new agency.
POST American| 1.23.12 @ 11:45PM
"We are dealing with TREASON"
------------Globalist Capstone TREASON-------------