NY Times: Sharks Circle in Congress

[marmar]

Sharks Circle in Congress
Published: July 19, 2009


The banking industry has made no secret of its desire to kill off President Obama’s timely and important proposal to create a powerful new consumer protection agency. It’s counting on the cooperation of lawmakers addicted to campaign contributions and eager to please their patrons.

But there are other sharks in the water. The administration must also fend off federal regulators, who far too often have placed the bankers’ interests first and consumer protection second and want to preserve the status quo.

The regulators are working mainly behind the scenes, but they surfaced during Congressional hearings last week. Elizabeth Duke, a Federal Reserve Board governor, said at a House hearing that the Fed was well situated to protect consumers. She said the Fed has “the resources, the structure and the experience” to create “effective consumer protection in financial services.”

It was an odd and unconvincing argument. In fact, the Fed and its fellow regulators seemed to look the other way during the buildup to the mortgage crisis, as was pointed out in testimony by Travis Plunkett, legislative director for the Consumer Federation of America, which represents nearly 300 groups focused on consumer research, protection and education. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/20/opinion/20mon2.html?_r=1