Last fall Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) visited Heritage to talk about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the “unaccountable” nominee to head the agency. At the time, there was speculation President Obama would attempt to bypass the U.S. Senate to install Richard Cordray as CFPB director. That’s exactly what happened today in what Heritage’s Todd Gaziano calls a “tyrannical abuse of power.” At the time of his visit in October, Shelby said bluntly, “I think it would be devastating if we let [Obama] make a recess appointment.” Of course, this … More

Richard Cordray, President Obama’s pick to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, won approval from the Senate Banking Committee last week on a party-line vote. His confirmation to run the new agency faces fierce opposition from Republicans, who have vowed to block Senate approval until reforms are made to the agency. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) is leading those calls for reform. As the ranking Republican on the Banking Committee, Shelby has maintained a hard line with Obama and Democrats on Cordray’s confirmation. In an interview at Heritage, Shelby criticized Obama for failing … More

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You would think that any regulation that could affect a major part of the economy and cost industry and/or consumers millions of dollars to comply with would be based on rigorous and consistent economic analysis. After all, how else would regulators know the actual effect of their proposals and whether the proposed solution at least equals compliance costs? Unfortunately, this level of economic analysis is not required for most financial regulatory agencies, which have been swamped trying to issue all of the hundreds of rules required by the Dodd–Frank bill. … More

Has Congress forgotten Obamacare?  All the promises to repeal it mostly faded into the background months ago, even as the health law disrupts our economy. Fortunately, at least one lawmaker is still trying to undo that disruption.  Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) is forcing the Senate to confront the issue.  He’s sponsoring an amendment that would deny money for Obamacare during the upcoming fiscal year (which starts Oct. 1st). The law was structured to provide $105-billion worth of automatic funding and $1.4-trillion over the next 10 years, so the money gets … More

President Obama will bypass Elizabeth Warren to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and instead nominate former Ohio attorney general Richard Cordray to the post. The White House announcement on Sunday ends months of uncertainty about whether the President would accede to the demands of Warren’s steadfast supporters or acquiesce to staunch critics who vowed to block her Senate confirmation. With that matter now settled, public attention—and that of lawmakers, in particular—should focus on fixing the structural flaws that allow the bureau to exercise excessive regulatory powers without adequate … More

A battle is raging within the conservative movement on Capitol Hill whether to shoot at the flag stick or lay up (in golf terms). The battle is between the Balanced Budget Amendment (BBA) versus a statutory spending cap bill. Both factions have good points. The bold, shoot-at-the-flag-stick faction of the movement wants to push for…

Republican Sens. Bob Bennett (UT), Thad Cochran (MS), Susan Collins (ME), Jim Inhofe (OK), Dick Lugar (IN), Lisa Murkowski (AK), Richard Shelby (AL), and George Voinovich (OH) all just voted against an amendment in the Senate that would have banned Congressional earmarks. This is terrible public policy for their states, for their constituents, and for…