A long-simmering dispute over a powerful new consumer protection agency created in last year's landmark Wall Street reform law broke out into a full-fledged political battle last week as Senate Republicans moved to prevent the White House from installing a new czar at the agency.
The White House is hoping to strong-arm banks into paying off the mortgages of irresponsible homeowners at the expense of the rest of us. The idea is to tap financial institutions to create an unregulated $20 billion slush fund to pay off the principal for people who are upside-down and delinquent on their housing payments. Political appointees in the Obama administration would get to choose the winners and losers in the house pay-off lottery.
President Obama plans to nominate Daniel Gallagher as a commissioner at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the White House said Wednesday.
A Jewish Minnesota lawmaker is asking state Senate leaders to allow only nondenominational prayers to open sessions.
Dear Sgt Shaft: I have a brother who is currently incarcerated and receiving his 10 percent of his veteran disability benefits. He has a daughter who is 21 and is having a hard time. She would like to make a claim of apportionment. What V.A. form would she need to complete? Are there any additional proof or paper work that needs to be submitted with it?
The 2,300-page Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act signed into law by President Obama last year, enshrines "too big to fail," further politicizes the Federal Reserve by planting diversity czars at each of its banks, imposes a huge regulatory burden on the consumer financial services industry, and does nothing to prevent what caused the financial crisis: easy Fed credit and politically driven weakening of mortgage credit underwriting.
With President Obama's newfound commitment to regulatory reform, we have a consensus on one of the most pressing problems our economy faces as it struggles to create jobs. The $1.75 trillion cost of complying with federal regulations - which amounts to $10,500 per employee every year for small businesses - is crippling our economy. Regulatory review is necessary but not sufficient - especially if regulators are able to move full-steam-ahead to pile even more burdensome red tape onto American businesses while the review is conducted.
Wealthy class-action lawyers can count on another friend in the Obama administration. The president recently tapped Elizabeth Warren as an end-run appointee to establish the new federal agency known as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The choice is raising eyebrows because, as Bloomberg News reported, Ms. Warren took $90,000 from a Miami plaintiffs' firm to serve as an expert witness in a lawsuit against major American banks, including Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase for alleged antitrust violations related to credit-card processing rates.
It is no secret that organized labor as well as union and state-controlled pension funds strongly supported the passage of the landmark Dodd-Frank financial reform bill. Few, however, have focused on what unions stand to gain now that the law is a reality. The answer may be much more than the business community bargained for.
