In the meantime, the CFPB still has work to do holding Wall Street to account on behalf of American consumers, and Ms. English and the CFPB staff can continue its successful run. Now, the president should nominate someone with a track record of fighting for consumers who will enjoy bipartisan support in the Senate.
Mulvaney has said he is opposed to the very existence of the CFPB, and as a member of Congress he voted in favor of Wall Street banks and predatory lenders — his largest donors — again and again. The CFPB has recovered $12 billion in ill-gotten gains on behalf people around this country. It is this work that the administration apparently wants to destroy
Congress should abandon budget rider proposal that would eliminate independent funding for the CFPB and other poison pills.
“[Director Cordray’s] departure will be ‘a huge loss,’ said Lisa Donner, executive director of Americans for Financial Reform. If Trump appoints a new director who is indifferent, or even hostile, to consumer issues, she said, ‘It will be incredibly costly to the American public.’”
“Trump and Republican lawmakers have long characterized Cordray as an enemy of the people — a bureaucrat run amok, imposing his autocratic will on gentle, kindhearted businesses that only want to compete freely and fairly for people’s patronage… ‘And people who don’t understand what the bureau does might believe that,’ said Lisa Donner, executive director of Americans for Financial Reform. ‘But if you describe the bureau’s work to people… they overwhelmingly support it.'”
“Following a Wall Street-induced financial crisis that cost millions of people their homes and jobs, the CFPB began its work as the first federal body with the mission and capacity to stand up for everyday Americans in their dealings with the financial services companies who have such an impact on our lives each and every day. Obtaining $12 billion in relief for over 29 million Americans is a great accompishment.”
“’President Trump had a clear choice to make today between Wall Street and the rest of us,’ said Amanda Werner of Americans for Financial Reform and Public Citizen. ‘He chose Wall Street. But the rest of us will keep fighting to restore our rights so we can fight back the next time a company like Wells Fargo or Equifax tries to rip us off and get away with it.’”
“‘This vote marks a truly shameful moment in Congress,’ [AFR’s] Amanda Werner, who plays the Monopoly Man, said in a statement. ‘Just weeks after holding hearings on scandals of historic proportion, the Senate granted Equifax and Wells Fargo a Get Out of Jail Free card. Rather than pass meaningful legislation to help the 145 million Americans harmed by the data breach, a slim Republican majority chose to take away our only chance at holding financial giants accountable.’”
“The {Wells Fargo and Equifax) scandals put a human face on the practice of companies forcing customer disputes through a secret, non-judicial process… Americans for Financial Reform addressed this directly in a video featuring a woman with disabilities and a veteran, who were ripped off by Wells Fargo and then prevented from a day in court because of an arbitration clause. To pursue such cases, which typically involve small amounts of money, through arbitration, victims need to spend heavily on legal representation and hearings. As federal Judge Richard Posner of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals once wrote in a ruling, ‘The realistic alternative to a class action is not 17 million individual suits, but zero individual suits, as only a lunatic or a fanatic sues for $30.’”
