cfpa

What's On Warren's Mind? Check Her Old Blog
If you're looking for insight into what's going on inside the mind of Elizabeth Warren, check out her blog. Before she became the new special adviser to President Obama, and probably the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau she designed, she was blogging on CreditSlips, a group blog by several academics on consumer credit, bankruptcy, mortgages, and the like. WSJ's Mary Pilon rounds up some of her notable posts, like her final one, entitled, "Bullshit — Professionally Speaking," on the subject of deceptive contract language. More »

Elizabeth Warren Outlines Her Vision For Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Hours after it was announced that Harvard law professor Elizabeth Warren would be named a special advisor to President Obama in the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, she took to the White House blog to share the broad strokes about the new agency. More »

Elizabeth Warren Named Special Advisor To President
The Consumer Financial Protection Agency has gotten one step closer to a reality, with Harvard law professor Elizabeth Warren being named a special advisor to President Obama, focusing on the agency's creation. More »

Warren To Snag CFPA Directorship?
Elizabeth Warren is a lock for CFPA director, a White House aide tells Slate. More »

Rap Video Pimps Elizabeth Warren For CFPA Head
A lot of folks are rooting for the smart, fierce and uncompromising Elizabeth Warren to head up the new Consumer Financial Protection Agency. And now the cowboy rappers have thrown their 10-gallon hats in the ring. More »

What Does Congress Want From A Consumer Financial Protection Agency?
If you have a lot of time on your hands, you could probably read through the House and Senate versions of the financial reform bills, and get some idea of how each one addresses consumer financial protection. Or, you could just hope that a consumer lawyer would do it for you, and then summarize his findings in a tidy PowerPoint presentation. Guess what? More »

White House Says CFPA On Your Side: "Anything Is Fair Game"
The new Consumer Financial Protection agency will be a place you can go to with your complaints and they will be taken seriously, the White House said this afternoon during a conference call in which Consumerist took part. While, "It's not totally worked out who's going to be manning the 1-800 number," said senior economic adviser Austan Goolsbee, More »

Know The Differences Between House And Senate CFPA Bills
Quick, what's the differences between the House and the Senate bills for creating the Consumer Financial Protection Agency? 4,3,2,1, okay, you can stop sweating, NYT has got you covered. Left column shows House, right column shows Senate. Choose the key areas to focus in on, like consumer protection, risk and executive pay on the left. Then dazzle your friends at the bar tonight!

Comparing the House and Senate Financial Reform Bills [NYT] More »

Is The State Of The Union Good For Consumers?
The Obama Administration has been promoting its financial reform proposals almost since the inauguration, and most of the administration's plans, including the creation of a Consumer Financial Protection Agency, have wide support among consumer advocates.So, how are consumers doing, and what did the President say last night that might be good news? More »

Consumerist Interview: White House To Banking Lobbyists, "It's On."
We went back to the White House this week, for our second interview with Obama Administration economic advisor Austan Goolsbee. In a wide-ranging talk, Goolsbee discussed the Administration's plans to help small businesses get credit, said that the battle against bank lobbyists is on, and expressed amazement that people in DC use the weather as an excuse to miss meetings. "I'm from Chicago," he said, explaining that even blizzards don't stop normal activities there. "We aren't wimps in Chicago."
Inside: Video and full transcript. More »

House Passes Financial Reform Bill
The House of Representatives today passed the Wall Street Financial Reform and Consumer Protection Act, with a 223-202 vote. No Republicans voted for the bill, and 27 Democrats joined the nay column, If passed by the Senate and signed by President Obama, the bill would create the Consumer Financial Protection Agency and either fix a broken financial system or lead to a government takeover of Wall Street, depending on your perspective. More »

Action Alert: Stop The CFPA Gutting
Idaho Rep. Walt Minnick (D) is trying to abort the the Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CPFA). If you care about this agency getting established, call your Reps now (call1-877-445-1317 to get connected directly to your Reps office) and tell them to oppose the Minnick amendment to the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009”, H.R. 4173 that would strip out the provision creating the CFPA. UPDATE: The amendment was rejected, 222 to 208. More »

The Consumer Financial Protection Agency And You

—>Legislation to create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA) is making its way through Congress. Interested parties have spoken out ("It sucks!" "It's awesome!"). Now the White House wants to know what you think.  More »

Ask The White House: Please Submit Your Questions About The Consumer Financial Protection Agency

—>Consumerist is going to interview the White House once again. This time, Consumerist readers get a chance to get answers about the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency.  More »

Consumer And Banking Scholars Speak Out In Favor Of Consumer Financial Protection Agency

—>Earlier this week, a group of 70 law professors from universities across the country released a 16-page Statement of Support (pdf) detailing why they're in favor of the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Act. You can read the statement yourself via the link above, but we've summarized them below.  More »

Consumer Financial Protection Agency Gets Watered Down

—>There's been so much resistance to the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency that Rep. Barney Frank, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, has proposed a less powerful version of the agency in an attempt to get it passed. Here's what's changed:  More »

Chamber Of Commerce Attacks Proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency

—>Maybe you forgot about the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency in all the health care sound and fury, but it's still out there, and financial companies are still very much against it. Now the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is launching an ad campaign that shifts the focus from credit card companies to smaller businesses that they insist will be affected, although the scope of the proposed agency is still kind of unclear.  More »

Vote On Consumer Financial Protection Agency Delayed Until September

—>This week, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) postponed a vote on a bill creating a Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA) until September when lawmakers return from recess. The delay is partly due to other more pressing issues, but mainly due to unexpected (really?) pushback from the financial industry.  More »

Let's Perma-Ban Consumer Predators

—>Regulating consumer predators is a bit like Whac-a-Mole. No matter how many times you put the bad guys out of business, they keep popping up again and again. Maybe it is time to consider a lifetime ban from financial services for the worst offenders. The Consumer Financial Protection Agency proposed by the President may be just the right watchdog for the job of handing out such banishments.  More »

Banks Consider Running TV Spots Against Proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency

—>Remember Harry and Louise? I don't, but apparently they were a fictional couple in an early-90s TV commercial, produced by the insurance industry to help sway opinion against the Clinton health plan. Now banks and other financial companies may be pooling resources to create a new "Harry and Louise" style ad to convince Americans that Obama's proposed agency to monitor abusive financial practices will limit choice and ruin lives.  More »