Consumer Casualties?
Amy J. Schmitz
On July 21, President Obama signed into law the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank), which among other things calls for creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to serve as a centralized agency charged with protecting consumers from lending abuses and improper practices. The question is when and whether this agency will come to fruition—or suffer as a casualty of political warfare.
This CFPB has instigated a firestorm among liberals and conservatives. Liberals raise the CFPB as an engine for consumer protection from rampant lender abuses and “big bad banks.” Conservatives denounce the Bureau as expensive regulatory fluff in a “leftist” campaign to take over private business.