Posted on 01/04/2012 8:26:28 AM PST by montag813
President Obama will challenge Senate Republican foes of the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau by naming Richard Cordray as its director while Congress is out of town, according to a senior administration official.
Testifying before Congress in September, Mr. Cordray said he would make judicious use of lawsuits to enforce financial regulations.
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 administrations main achievements in Congress.
Mr. Obamas 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com ...
I wondered about that, too, but here is what I think.
The Tea Party rallied around taking back the House, 1) because they wanted to get Nancy Pelosi out of power, and 2) because it is logistically easier at the grass roots to do it House district by House district than state by state. Taking the Senate was a hope, but the action was in the House.
There was the rally in DC in March, 2010, which was in the lead-up to the federal election in November. Prior to that, there were the town hall meetings during the August 2009 recess that made all the news (Specter, McCaskill, Woolsey, etc.).
The focus has been on the GOP primary race this year, so the House races are flying under the radar this cycle. That has to change. That's why people are now starting to frame the GOP primary away from who is electable or who can beat Obama, to who has the longest coattails down-ticket. I'm not hearing much about that down ticket yet, and that's where the Tea Party has to go. I don't even know what the GOP House challenges are this cycle, or Senate for that matter. Those races will be starting up soon.
We need to take more seats in the House in order to make the "new blood caucus" large enough to take power, or at least demand the ouster of the current leadership and open all the positions to fresh faces.
In the Senate, we need to take back the majority (which some people are talking like it's an inevitability given the number of seats the Democrats have to defend). We then need the "new blood" in the Senate to replace McConnell and the Old Guard, and with it, the Old Ways.
The way for the Tea Party to do it is still the town halls. I know that August is awfully close to October to wait for the Tea Party to coalesce again, but there hasn't been much press on the down-ticket House and Senate races yet to motivate people.
Maybe that's the MSM's secret plan, to ignore the Congressional races for as long as possible so as to help the Democrat incumbants?
Hmmmmm....
-PJ
Great post.
I think the enthusiasm this election is just going to have to come from the downstream elections.
If so the ‘establishment’ will be forced to help us finish taking over the House to get voters out to vote for the top of ticket...
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