New consumer bureau examined as Reuters says GOP 'badgered' witness

Elizabeth Warren, currently serving as special advisor to the Treasury secretary for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, gave testimony on Wednesday before the House Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Committee on Financial Services. Warren provided information about the new agency Democrats Barney Frank (Mass.) and Chris Dodd (Conn.) helped create with their so-called financial regulatory reform bill.

The idea of Dodd and Frank creating regulatory reform can be compared to the fox guarding the hen house, but that’s old news. The duo’s future mischief may be limited. Frank is getting on up in years as we say in the South. Dodd is no longer in Congress—he’s lobbying for Hollywood so he’ll be focused on sweetheart deals for Tinseltown.

Warren told the congressional committee, “Irresponsible lending that encouraged people to buy homes with no realistic hope of ever paying off their loans has now led millions of families into foreclosure and bankruptcy.  If there had been just a few basic rules and a cop on the beat to enforce them, we could have avoided or minimized the greatest economic catastrophe since the Great Depression.  In the future, the new consumer bureau will be that cop.”

Click to read more ...

Did Democrat invite Colbert to distract from Dr. Swain’s damaging testimony on immigration?

Media just can’t get enough of comic Stephen Colbert’s so-called testimony before the House Judiciary Committee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security and International Law.  What pop media has provided little information about is the real testimony given by Dr. Carol M. Swain, professor of political science and law at Vanderbilt University. Did Democrat representative Zoe Lofgren (Calif.) invite Colbert to distract from Dr. Swain’s reasoned, fact-based testimony?

Begin with the professor’s blunt statement—her testimony on immigration is posted on the House Judiciary website: “America does not have a shortage of agricultural workers.”

Click to read more ...

Will BP grilling backfire?

Updated on Monday, June 21, 2010 at 4:12PM by Kay B. Day, Editor

By Kay B. Day

Criticism of BP is certainly warranted, considering the damage from the Gulf Oil Spill. But other recent manufacturing and financial lapses have gone unchallenged. And there’s a chance public grilling for nothing more than political purposes could backfire.

The political topic of the day is conduct by BP in the Gulf Oil Spill disaster. Congressional leaders shook fingers and levied snarkisms at the company, yet gave federal oversight agency heads a pass.

Such a disaster warrants federal attention, of course, but our federal government tends focus on politics and self-growth rather than on common sense matters the government should be looking after. At present, the government can't run the government.

But if you think BP’s lapse is the only dastardly action harming Americans, you’d be wrong.

Click to read more ...