Yesterday, President Obama submitted his proposal to create a new consumer protection agency to Congress—and it’s already stirring up a debate.
First, take a look at some of the functions of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CPFA), as outlined by the Associated Press:
- oversee products used by consumers such as mortgages, credit cards, payday loans and terms on savings accounts;
- be in charge of implementing a law passed by Congress this spring that protects consumers from sudden interest rate increases on unpaid credit card balances;
- be required to police the market continuously and publish its findings once a year; and
- consist of a five-member board, with four members nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The fifth member would be the director of the new National Bank Supervisor, a proposed merged agency to create to take over bank regulation duties.
We think the president’s proposal to create a new CFPA will add much needed oversight of an industry that has run wild at great expense to consumers and homeowners. The current lack of oversight and regulation, along with Wall Street’s unchecked greed, drove this country into its current financial crisis. Americans deserve an agency that will put their financial well-being ahead of the short-term profits of a few Wall Street banks.
That’s how Public Citizen’s Craig Holman characterized the push back against President Obama’s Federal Election Commission (FEC) pick by Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) in a 
