Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

SUN EDITORIAL:

Helping Main Street

Republicans would rather protect Wall Street than the average consumer

Financial expert Elizabeth Warren was tabbed last year by President Barack Obama to help organize the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, but she has run into strong opposition from Republicans in Congress. They aren’t fond of either the agency or Warren.

It’s possible that Obama may nominate her to actually lead the agency, and she would be the perfect fit. But he hasn’t done so because of the political capital it would take to get her through what would be a nasty confirmation fight in the Senate. Consider that some Republicans have even grumbled about whether Warren has the legal authority to just set up the agency.

No one questions her ability or her intellect. A Harvard Law School professor, she was chairwoman of the congressional oversight panel that investigated the Wall Street bailout. She is a leading authority on financial regulation and her ideas shaped the legislation that created the agency.

Over the years, she has clearly articulated many of the ways the financial industry takes advantage of consumers and has been an effective advocate for consumers. That troubles Republicans, who fought the effort to create the agency, which will enact regulations to protect people from the abuses of banks, credit card companies and payday lenders.

Republican leaders in Congress have been clear about their opposition to Obama nominating Warren. They would like to repeal the law that created the agency, but in the meantime, they are trying to neuter the agency by cutting funding and weakening its power.

The claims that Republicans use to try to attack the agency are disingenuous. For example, they say it would be too powerful and unaccountable — never mind the fact that there are several measures of accountability built into the law that created the agency. Republicans also say the agency could destabilize the banking industry with its regulations, but law specifically gives a congressional committee the ability to review and block any proposal that might do so.

It seems obvious that Republicans are trying to protect their wealthy donors on Wall Street, who don’t want any regulation. But the GOP has couched much of its opposition in a call against more government regulation. If this truly is a philosophical issue, voters should pay attention: Republicans have sided with Wall Street over the average person on Main Street.

Perhaps the Republicans forgot, but Wall Street led the nation into an economic meltdown that has had terrible results. While millions of people felt the effects of lost jobs, home foreclosures and wage cuts, big financial firms got a bailout — at taxpayer expense. Many of those banks then handed out big bonuses and went back to business as normal.

The big financial companies got away with dubious practices — like risky home loans and precarious investment schemes — because there was no one minding the store. The toothless federal watchdogs that were supposed to be paying attention either didn’t or couldn’t do much to stop the tragedy. And there was no federal agency specifically assigned to look out for the good of the consumers.

Now, as the nation is recovering from the recession, the government should be working to make sure this doesn’t happen again. Despite Republican claims, that’s exactly what government should be doing. Republicans should drop their shameful opposition to Warren and the new agency. Congress should be doing all it can to help consumers, and it should welcome a strong advocate to lead the way.

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