A court just ruled the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau unconstitutional

The ruling says that the Director is given too much power and independence and not enough oversight. The structure of the CFPB was an unusual one. It is funded by the Fed, and once appointed there is no mechanism to remove a director. Those bringing the case asked that the CFBP be closed down. The court did not go that far but said that the Director can now be removed at any time by the President and the Department of Treasury was given some authority to overrule the CFPB.

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/10/court-rules-consumer-financial-protection-bureaus-structure-is-unconstitutional/503660/?utm_source=atlfb

http://alliedprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/PHH-Opinion-DC-Circuit.pdfhttp://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/10/court-rules-consumer-financial-protection-bureaus-structure-is-unconstitutional/503660/?utm_source=atlfb

I'm going to posit that anyone who wants the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau closed down does not want consumers to be protected at all.

Remarkable after what we've learned about Wells Fargo these past few weeks. Whether or not you believe the CFPB had anything to do with it, clearly consumers are subject to predatory financial practices and there needs to be some kind of safeguard beyond the current forced-arbitration clauses that are written into the account agreements.

Given the ruling, the 'shutting down' is now a straw man.

Clearly the CFPB needs restructuring to be accountable to someone other than itself.

yeah. we don't want to be too tough on those poor struggling banks.

The ruling keeps the CFPB in business. Don't know why this had to be a thread.

"To remedy the constitutional flaw, we follow the Supreme Court’s precedents, including Free Enterprise Fund, and simply sever the statute’s unconstitutional for-cause provision from the remainder of the statute. Here, that targeted remedy will not affect the ongoing operations of the CFPB. With the for-cause provision severed, the President now will have the power to remove the Director at will, and to supervise and direct the Director. The CFPB therefore will continue to operate and to perform its many duties, but will do so as an executive agency akin to other executive agencies headed by a single person, such as the Department of Justice and the Department of the Treasury."

Maybe we should set up all executive enforcement agencies with total autonomous power and un-removable leadership. It will keep "politics" out.

We should start with police departments. No more political interference, just let them do "their job" so they can "enforce the law" and mete out "appropriate sanctions", however the unaccountable, unsupervised and independent leader of the agency chooses to define those things in a given moment.

Prior restraint, team- don't bother with the "so you think Wells Fargo should do what they want?" Address the issue- why would or wouldn't the pre-appeals court CFPB structure be appropriate to every enforcement agency in the country?

I would think such power would be anathema to liberals, a dream for leftists. We shall see where folks line up........ Now!

Just to be clear, my beef is with the line in the OP, "Those bringing the case asked that the CFBP be closed down."

To which I replied, "I'm going to posit that anyone who wants the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau closed down does not want consumers to be protected at all."

Keeping it running while making necessary modifications is a good thing. Like it would be for Obamacare.