"Taking The Bull By The Horns", President Obama Appoints Cordray As CFPB Director

consumeraffairs.com

Hooray for the President.  He is finally getting it.  If Congress won't play ball, play by yourself!  Today, President Obama appointed Richard Cordray as the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.  Blocked from having a leader by the Senate confirmation process, this agency has been without a leader for their first six months preventing it from yielding all of their power and authority.  Critical among these is supervising financial institutions other than big banks such as nonbank mortgage lenders, payday lenders, student loan providers, debt collectors, check cashers and the like. 

politico.com

Republicans and their cronies at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are already crying in their soup over President Obama's recess appointment of Cordray.  They recognize that these financial institutions will now have someone watching over their shoulder making sure that they operate fairly and with transparency.  With a Director in place, the Bureau will now be able to regulate mortgage originators and servicers.  These are our good friends and neighbors who took center stage in the financial crisis loaning money, mortgage money,  to anyone that applied even though they would be unable to pay.

"When Congress refuses to act and as a result hurts our economy and puts people at risk, I have an obligation as president to do what I can without them, " Obama said.  "I will not stand by while a minority in the Senate puts party ideology ahead of the people they were elected to serve."  That statement along with his appointment of Cordray, President Obama took the "bull by the horns" and continued his push to shape the conversation on our economy.  His efforts are being reflected in growing consumer confidence.

Republicans can cry foul all they want but recess appointments are within the purvey of the President.  The only reason the Bureau hasn't had a director is that the Republicans don't want the Bureau to have any teeth.  They have done everything within their power to keep President Obama from having  key leaders within the administration.  I applaud the President for taking this action and making something good happen. 

This Bureau goes a long way toward preventing many of the problems that our American middle class and poor families can experience from predatory lending.  The educational arm of the Bureau has already made significant strides with the "Know Before You Owe" campaign.  Simple education goes a long way for unsuspecting Americans including the thousands of senior citizens who are taken advantage of every year. 

Look for the Republicans led by Mitch McConnell and John Boehner to challenge President Obama's recess appointment by taking it to the courts.  They don't have a prayer as presidents of both parties have been making recess appointments for a very long time.  I applaud not only President Obama's appointment during the congressional recess but also for the man he appointed, Richard Cordray.             

Can We Kiss Michele Goodbye...Please!



Although it is still early Tuesday evening, I am anxious to see the results in Iowa in hopes that just maybe, we can kiss Michele Bachmann goodbye.  I do believe she will garner more votes than Jon Huntsman but that should be about it.  How she has made it this long is beyond me.  I suspect no matter what the results in Iowa turn out to be, Michele will be around at least through the South Carolina primary.  Some folks just don't know when to quit. 

Recently, she has been vocal about being the only Republican candidate that can beat President Barack Obama.  She really must be clueless to how she is viewed across America by anyone who is not an ultra-right wing conservative.  Frankly, I must confess that I am confused how she could have been elected to her house seat from the State of Minnesota.  The folks in her district must not watch much television or read newspapers or even go online. 

If they did, that is if they watched television, read newspapers or received their news online, they would have read or heard the following during this campaign season:

"And what a bizarre time we're in, when a judge will say to little children that you can't say the pledge of allegiance, but you must learn that homosexuality is normal and you should try it."  and

"If we took away the minimum wage-if conceivably it was gone-we could potentially virtually wipe out unemployment completely because we would be able to offer jobs at whatever level." and

 "The big thing we are working on now is the global warming hoax.  Its all voodoo, nonsense, hokum, a hoax."  and

"Normalization (of gayness) through desensitization.  Very effective way to do this with a bunch of second graders, is take a picture of 'The Lion King' for instance, and a teacher might say, 'Do you know that the music for this movie was written by a gay man?'  The message is:  I'm better at what I do, because I'm gay."  and

"But we also know that the very founders that wrote those documents worked tirelessly until slavery was no more in the United States."  and

"Carbon dioxide is portrayed as harmful.  But there isn't even a study that can be produced that shows that carbon dioxide is a harmful gas."  and

"Unfortunately, the Census data has become very intricate, very personal, a lot of questions that are asked.  I know for my family, the only question we will be answering is how many people are in our home.  We won't be answering any information beyond that, because the Constitution doesn't require any information beyond that."  and finally

"(Gay marriage) is probably the biggest issue that will impact our state and our nation in the last, at least, thirty years.  I am not understating that."

Clearly, I have never quite figured out whether I should be insulted or just plain embarrassed by her ignorance.  President of the United States.  I think not! 

Romney Will Veto The Dream Act

newstaco.com

Mitt Romney made it clear today that when he occupies the White House,  he will pull out the veto stamp and use it for The Dream Act .  The DREAM Act (The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) is a non-partisan piece of legislation that would enable undocumented students brought to the United States as minors the opportunity for a path toward citizenship. 

The DREAM Act is a restricted and targeted piece of legislation that provides an opportunity for young people brought to the United States by their parents through no fault of their own, the opportunity to stay in the country that they only know as home.  To qualify, these young people will have to be under the age of 15, lived in the United States for five years or longer, demonstrate good moral character, have no criminal history, will have had to  graduate from high school or received a GED to receive conditional status.  Beyond that, these young people will have to attend at least 2 years of college or serve honorably  in the US Military.

immigrationclearinghouse.org

This seems to be a reasonable piece of legislation that takes a huge first step toward curbing the immigration problems within the United States.   These young people have grown up in our schools, our churches and our communities.  Sending all of them home is not a particularly smart move when they have the opportunity to contribute significantly to our nation.  It is not an amnesty program, rather an opportunity for these young people to earn their citizenship. 

themoralliberal.com

In 1982, the Supreme Court ruled that these young people are not to be held liable for their immigration status and therefore are entitled to public elementary and secondary education.  The DREAM Act does not require states to provide any benefits to undocumented students nor would these students be eligible for federal financial aid.  Quite simply, the DREAM Act provides a narrowly defined remedy for a very special population. 

It seems to me that we not only have a moral obligation to find a way to help these young people who only know our nation as home but also a wonderful opportunity to encourage them to contribute significantly to these United States.  The economic benefits of the DREAM Act are mighty.  Our branches of military service would greatly benefit from the Dream Act as would our colleges, universities and communities that these educated young people settle in.

colorlines.com

The DREAM Act has broad national support.  It will not cost the taxpayer a dime.  In fact, the economic piece is all positive.  We have to get past the idea that these young people are here in the United States illegally.  They did not make the choice themselves.  Their parents did.  They have grown up here.  They play with our children.  They sit in our church pews.  They contribute to the America we all know and love. 

Let's pass the DREAM Act in 2012 and provide the same opportunity for these young people that our great grandparents had when they arrived as immigrants to these wonderful United States of America.