Dodd doesn’t think consumer protection agency overreaches

Proponents of the agency have said that despite oversight by seven regulators, consumers were left largely unprotected during the financial crisis in housing, banking and credit card issues. 

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Senate Banking ranking member Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) have offered an amendment that would establish a Division of Consumer Financial Protection within the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, replacing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that Democrats want to establish at the Federal Reserve. 

“We received a letter yesterday from groups representing hundreds of thousands of businesses — from florists to orthodontists to builders to car dealers — all concerned about the potential impact this new agency would have,” McConnell said this morning on the floor. 

“Why on earth would we want to punish small businesses for the reckless behavior we saw on Wall Street?”