OBAMA OUT OF HIDING: PICKS CORDRAY TO HEAD UP CONSUMER AGENCY WHILE CONGRESS IS OUT

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EDITOR’S COMMENT: Picking Cordray is like using pepper spray in the face of the Banks. Having him in as head of the agency will have long and rippling effects on the Banks as the extent of their fraud is revealed. Cordray was highly effective in Ohio as Attorney General long before the securitization scam was revealed to everyone. We can only hope that this is Obama’s first step at telling Congress that he is President and he will do everything in his power to allow investigations into past practices and to stop current fraudulent practices at the closing table, in court, and at auction of fraudulently foreclosed homes.

Defying Republicans, Obama to Name Cordray as Consumer Agency Chief

SEE FULL ARTICLE IN NEW YORK TIMES

11:49 a.m. | Updated President Obama will challenge Republican foes of the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau by naming Richard Cordray as its director while Congress is out of town.

That would allow the agency to establish new regulations over financial institutions, putting into effect elements of the financial regulatory overhaul that was one of the administration’s main achievements in Congress.

Mr. Obama’s exercise of constitutional powers to name top officials without Senate confirmation while Congress is in recess is a stiff challenge to Republicans, who have attempted to block the maneuver by holding “pro forma” sessions over the holidays.

Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, objected strenuously, saying Mr. Obama was overstepping the bounds of his executive power and leaving the agency open to legal challenges.

“Although the Senate is not in recess, President Obama, in an unprecedented move, has arrogantly circumvented the American people,” he said in a statement.

Mr. Cordray accompanied the president on Wednesday on a trip to Ohio, where the president is expected to deliver remarks on the economy at a high school in the Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights. Cleveland is Mr. Cordray’s hometown.

Mr. Cordray looked a little shell-shocked when he got off Marine One to board Air Force One for the flight to Cleveland, clutching his brown folder to his chest as he walked to the plane.

But he sounded ready for battle once the plane landed in Cleveland and reporters cornered him under the wing, issuing a not-so-veiled warning to Wall Street.

“We’re going to begin working to expand our program to non-banks, which is an area we haven’t been able to touch before now,” he said.

The recess appointment represents a sharp departure from a long-standing precedent that has limited the president to recess appointments only when the Senate is in a recess of 10 days or longer. Breaking from this precedent lands this appointee in uncertain legal territory, threatens the confirmation process and fundamentally endangers the Congress’s role in providing a check on the excesses of the executive branch.

Jay Carney, the White House press secretary, called the recess appointment a “no-brainer,” and said that Mr. Obama would not be waiting around for Congress to act this year.

“He nominated Richard Cordray six months ago,” Mr. Carney said. “He won a majority of support in the Senate, yet Republicans refused to allow an up-or-down vote. This is a shame.”

He declined to speak about the legal and constitutional challenge which may be ahead, but said White House lawyers were confident. “When pro forma sessions are simply used as an attempt to stop the president from making an appointment,” then Mr. Obama was within his rights to move ahead.

Tags: bankruptcy, borrower, CORDRAY, countrywide, disclosure, foreclosure, foreclosure defense, foreclosure offense, foreclosures, fraud, LOAN MODIFICATION, modification, quiet title, rescission, RESPA, securitization, TILA audit, trustee, WEISBAND
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