Tales from the Trail

Consumer advocate Elizabeth Warren is among a handful of candidates President Barack Obama is considering to become the first chief of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Some ardent supporters clearly think the Harvard law professor (and chief of a panel monitoring the government’s $700 billion bailout of the financial system)  is up for the task of heading the independent agency created under the  financial reform bill signed into law last month.

A group called The Main Street Brigade, which supported creating the consumer agency, really wants Warren to be the boss.  The group has taken its case to YouTube  in a western-themed music video,  “Elizabeth Warren Rap Video – Got a new Sheriff.”

The new consumer financial protection agency will regulate a range of consumer financial businesses from mortgage lending to payday loans and check cashing businesses. Its mission — to protect ordinary borrowers from abuses by lenders.

The idea for the new  agency was largely Warren’s in the first place, The Washington Post notes in a profile which delves into why her candidacy  is such a hot topic in political circles. “She’s either the plain-spoken, supremely smart crusader for middle-class families that her supporters adore, or she’s the power-hungry headline seeker her critics loathe, a fiery zealot disguised in professorial glasses and pastel cardigans,” the Post says.

Many on Wall Street fiercely oppose Warren, who has long been an outspoken advocate for consumers. However, she has the backing of some influential Democratic lawmakers and Obama’s liberal supporters.  Whoever is chosen must be confirmed by the Senate.

Warren was at the White House last Thursday to discuss the job. Afterward,  White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said an announcement on a nominee was not expected soon.

Photo Credit: REUTERS/Mike Theiler (Warren at the Reuters Financial Regulation Summit in Washington April 27, 2009)