Op-Ed

Despite Stellar Record, CFPB Remains Under Attack

Published

10 years ago

July 27, 2015

By Charlene Crowell
NNPA Columnist

In everyday life, birthdays and anniversaries of many sorts are observed and celebrated. When it comes to consumer finance, there are two more anniversaries worth celebrating.

Congress enacted the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act on July 21, 2010 in response to the largest national economic challenge since the Great Depression. A key goal was and remains to protect the nation and its taxpayers from ever again bearing the financial burdens of risky deals by Wall Street and other private financial players. The following year, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) opened its doors to serve the needs of America’s consumers.

Before the CFPB, no single federal agency had consumers as its sole priority and focus. To date, the Bureau has benefited 17 million consumers through a total of $10.1 billion in financial relief. More than 650,000 consumers have chosen to use its flexible complaint system that includes the options of online, written and telephone complaints in multiple languages.

On the enforcement side, CFPB’s actions have addressed multiple violations in different lending areas:

• In 2013 Chase Bank USA, N.A. and JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. was ordered to refund an estimated $309 million to more than 2.1 million customers for illegal credit card practices.
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• The following year, Flagstar Bank was fined $37.5 million for violating the CFPB’s mortgage servicing rules by illegally blocking 6,500 borrowers’ attempts to save their homes.
• That same year, Colfax Capital Corporation and Culver Capital, LLC, also collectively known as “Rome Finance,” was ordered to pay $92 million in debt relief to 17,000 service members and other consumers for masking high-cost financing charges on artificially-inflated costs for goods and services.
• ACE Cash Express, operating over 1,500 storefront payday locations in 36 states, was ordered in 2014 to pay $10 million in restitution and penalties for its threats of criminal prosecution and intimidating phone calls that “create a sense of urgency” when contacting delinquent borrowers.
• Earlier this year, $480 million in debt relief to student loan borrowers who were wronged by the now-defunct Corinthian Colleges.

In recent days, the CFPB announced two additional enforcement actions involving illegal and deceptive credit card violations, and another for illegal private student loan servicing practices. As a result, Citigroup was ordered to refund $700 million to 8.8 million consumers and pay separate fines totaling $35 million. Discover Bank and its affiliates will refund $16 million to consumers, pay a $2.5 million penalty and improve its billing, student loan interest reporting and collection practices.

Additionally, 30 million consumers plagued by debt collectors now have the chance to be treated fairly because of CFPB’s first-time ever supervision of debt collection companies. The 12 million consumers who borrow payday loans will soon have more protection by a CFPB rule that addresses the myriad abuses wrought by triple-digit interest rates.

This and other abundant data suggest that America’s consumers are well-served by its four-year old consumer cop-on-the-beat.

Despite CFPB’s productivity, its critics have remained steadfastly opposed. Dozens of bills have been introduced to undermine its independence, its rules to protect against unfair deceptive and discriminatory practices, and its authority to oversee financial services such as payday lenders and auto finance companies.

When the Bureau took action against auto lenders who participated in pricing schemes that charged Black and Latino borrowers more for their loans, congressional critics organized threatening letters questioning their rationale and motives. And when the Bureau adopted new rules to rein in abuses in mortgage lending, those same critics rushed to file bills to weaken the rules and return to the very practices that lead up to the foreclosure crisis.

Fortunately, none of the attacks have made it into law.

At a July 8 Brookings forum that focused on the Wall Street reform law, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew was asked by a reporter about the effort to abolish CFPB.

“I will say, for all of the concerns that a lot of people had early in its history, as they’ve taken action there’s been broad, overwhelming support for the fact that they’ve done things in a careful and sensible way, listening to all sides,” said Secretary Lew. “So I think if you kind of step away from the debate that took place before the CFPB was created and look at the track record, it should put to rest a lot of that controversy.”

Others who agree with Treasury Secretary have also spoken up in its defense.

“The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has built an unprecedented record of success protecting our nation’s consumers and service members who have been victimized by unscrupulous corporations and financial institutions, noted Congresswoman Maxine Waters, the Ranking Member on the House Financial Services Committee and a member of the Congressional Black Caucus.

“The CFPB has been, and continues to be, party to a wide array of enforcement actions related to practices that disproportionately affect communities of color, including deceptive marketing, unlawful debt collection, discrimination, unlawful fees and fraudulent mortgage relief schemes,” continued Waters.

A recent consumer survey by the Center for Responsible Lending and Americans for Financial Reform found that although anger at banks and other financial services companies has moderated over their role in the housing crisis, broad and bipartisan support for CFPB remains. When consumers self-identified as likely 2016 voters were asked to choose between more and less regulation of financial companies 71 percent side with more, and 20 percent with less. Additionally, 64 percent of these voters saw a need for an agency charged with protecting consumers against dangerous financial products.

So it seems that public sentiment sides with CFPB continuing its important work to protect consumer credit and finances.

“I’m truly proud of the CFPB’s outstanding success on behalf of our nation’s active-duty military, restoring tens of millions to service members. And I applaud the Bureau for the work it’s doing to rein in payday lenders that have turned a business intended to help hard working consumers stay out of financial trouble into one that often creates trouble instead,” added Congresswoman Waters.

“I am hopeful that soon, the CFPB will eventually yield a strong and simple rule that protects our low-income and minority communities from unaffordable rates and unfair terms,” she concluded.

Charlene Crowell is a communications manager with the Center for Responsible Lending. She can be reached at 919-313-8523.

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Essay: Intentional Self Care and Community Connections Can Improve Our Wellbeing

At the deepest and also most expansive level of reality, we are all part of the same being, our bodies made from the minerals of the earth, our spirits infused by the spiritual breath that animates the universe. Willingness to move more deeply into fear and pain is the first step toward moving into a larger consciousness. Willingness to move beyond the delusion of our separateness can show us new ways of working and living together.

Published

1 week ago

October 27, 2025

Oakland Post

Lorraine Bonner is a retired physician. She is also a sculptor who works in clay, exploring issues of trust, trustworthiness and exploitation, as well as visions of a better world.

By Dr. Lorraine Bonner, Special to California Black Media Partners

I went to a medical school that was steeped in the principles of classical Western medicine. However, I also learned mindfulness meditation during that time, which opened me to the multifaceted relationship between illnesses and the interconnecting environmental, mental and emotional realities that can impact an individual’s health.

Therefore, when I began to practice medicine, I also pursued training in hypnosis, relaxation techniques, meditation, and guided imagery, to bring a mind-body focus to my work in medical care and prevention.

The people I saw in my practice had a mix of problems, including high blood pressure, diabetes, and a variety of pain issues. I taught almost everyone relaxation breathing and made some general relaxation tapes. To anyone willing, I offered guided imagery.

“My work embraced an approach to wellness I call “Liberatory Health” — one that not only addresses the treatment and management of disease symptoms but also seeks to dismantle the conditions that make people sick in the first place.”

From my perspective, illness is only the outermost manifestation of our efforts to cope, often fueled by addictions such as sugar, tobacco, or alcohol, shackled by an individualistic cult belief that we have only ourselves to blame for our suffering.

To put these ideas into practical form, I would quote the immortal Mr. Rogers: “Find the helpers.” There are already people in every community working for liberation. Some of them are running for office, others are giving food to those who need it. Some are volunteering in schools, libraries or hospitals. Some are studying liberation movements, or are working in urban or community gardens, or learning to practice restorative and transformative justice, or creating liberation art, music, dance, theater or writing. Some are mentoring high schoolers or apprenticing young people in a trade. There are many places where compassionate humans are finding other humans and working together for a better world.

A more compassionate world is possible, one in which we will all enjoy better health. Creating it will make us healthier, too.

In community, we are strong. Recognizing denial and overcoming the fragmenting effects of spiritual disorder offer us a path to liberation and true health.

Good health and well-being are the collective rights of all people!

About the Author

Dr. Lorraine Bonner is a retired physician. She is also a sculptor who works in clay, exploring issues of trust, trustworthiness and exploitation, as well as visions of a better world.

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Opinion: Can Donald Trump Pole Dance?

Given all that is happening, if the presidency was more like pole dancing, you know Trump would be flat on his butt.

Published

2 months ago

September 14, 2025

Oakland Post

iStock.

By Emil Guillermo

The news cycle has been buzzing the last few weeks. Xi, with Putin and Kim, the sweethearts of Trump carousing alone without him? The victims of the pedophile Epstein speaking out publicly in DC.

Then, there’s the release of that salacious letter Donald Trump allegedly wrote to Jeffrey Epstein. Trump said the letter didn’t exist. But it does.

Timing is everything.

Additionally, there are further concerns, such as the Supreme Court removing restrictions on ICE interactions. ICE Agents can stop anyone now. For any reason. And there’s the threat of the U.S. sending the military to fight crime in Chicago. Trump even posted a meme of himself as a character in “Apocalypse Now.”

All that with bad polls and bad economic numbers, and these topics are dominating the news cycle — Trump era chaos.

Given all that is happening, if the presidency was more like pole dancing, you know Trump would be flat on his butt.

The reality is the opposite. He keeps going strong like nothing’s happened. Inexplicably, Trump always seems to defy gravity.

That’s why to reassure myself with reality, I just think of Trump on a pole. Dancing. He was born on Flag Day, after all.

I’ve got pole dancing on my mind because I’m in Canada at the Vancouver Fringe Festival doing my show, “Emil Amok 69, Everything’s Flipped,” about how the current political situation gets very personal.

Get tickets here if you’re near:

I’ve performed at 16 fringe festivals, and I always look for unique performers. This year, in my same venue (the Revue Stage) I found her in a show, “The Pole Shebang.”

Andrea James Lui may look like a typical Asian American at first.

But she’s Asian Canadian, married to an Australian, who now lives down under.

At the Vancouver Fringe, she highlights her special identity.

Pole Dancer

Yes, pole dancing has come to the fringe. Leave your dollar bills at home, this is not that kind of pole dancing.

This is more Cirque Du Soleil-ish- acrobatic stuff, yet it’s hard to deny the sexiness when a woman flawlessly swings from a pole with her legs apart.

The show is more intriguing than it is titillating.

Lui has created a behind-the-scenes look at the “polar” experience.

“She could have been a physicist,” says her big sister Christina, who despite saying that, supports her sister 100 percent.

Lui touches on some of the emotional depth in the poled subculture. But there’s plenty more to mine in the future. “Polar Bare,” the Musical? I’d see it.

Trump on a Pole

So that’s how I’ve come to the polar metaphor.

As Trump flails in the news, I picture him on a pole.

The letter to Epstein is further proof of the character of the man.

Will he stay afloat?

Not if the presidency were more like pole dancing.

You can’t lie on the pole.

That’s one way all of us in the Trump era can get to the truth.

About the Author

Emil Amok is a veteran journalist, commentator, and stage monologist. He has written a weekly column on Asian Americans for more than 30 years.

Contact: www.amok.com

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Opinion: Some Believe Trump’s Takeover of D.C. Police Is a Necessary Solution to an Unending Crime Epidemic

founding principles that establish congressional oversight over the nation’s capital. By mobilizing 800 members of the National Guard to rein in crime, he is not only prioritizing public safety but also challenging the status quo that has allowed D.C. to spiral into lawlessness.

Published

2 months ago

August 25, 2025

Oakland Post

Los Angeles, USA – June 8, 2025. National Guard troops on standby during a downtown demonstration against expanded ICE operations and in support of immigrant rights. Shutterstock.

By Craig J. DeLuz, Special to California Black Media Partners

President Trump’s recent announcement regarding federal control of the Washington, D.C. police force is a bold and necessary step toward confronting the rampant crime that has plagued our nation’s capital. This decision resonates strongly, especially in light of the ever-mounting statistics that tell a grim tale of safety in the District. The persistent narrative attempting to downplay the crime crisis in D.C. must be challenged, as doing so is irrelevant to pursuing real solutions.

President Trump acknowledged a longstanding problem and took action to address it.

For years, D.C. has wrestled with a heinous crime rate. In 2023 alone, the city recorded 200 homicides at its fastest pace ever, leading to an alarming murder rate that surpasses even that of cities like Bogotá, Colombia and Mexico City, Mexico – Latin American capitals notorious for their violence. The statistics are damning: the number of car thefts has doubled, while carjackings have more than tripled in just five years. These figures paint a plain picture of reality, contradicting claims from local officials who have, time and again, insisted that everything is “just fine.” This level of denial, akin to sticking one’s head in the sand, and it does not pave a path to real solutions. It only fosters a dangerous environment in which citizens feel less secure.

President Trump has invoked the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, asserting his constitutional authority — something very much in line with the founding principles that establish congressional oversight over the nation’s capital. By mobilizing 800 members of the National Guard to rein in crime, he is not only prioritizing public safety but also challenging the status quo that has allowed D.C. to spiral into lawlessness.

The President’s concern for safety is echoed in a recent Washington Post poll, which reveals that Black and low-income residents of D.C. are particularly alarmed about the rising crime rates, highlighting a troubling disconnect between prevailing political narratives and the lived experiences of vulnerable communities.

President Trump’s strategy — to increase police presence and reshape law enforcement authority — is reminiscent of practical measures that stemmed from the “Broken Windows Theory,” which posits that addressing small problems can prevent larger ones from manifesting. The idea is straightforward: if the community can see that law enforcement is actively engaged, the likelihood of crime decreases. This concept has been proven time and again in other cities, where policing strategies that insist on accountability and visible enforcement lead to substantial drops in criminal behavior.

President Trump’s decisive action to reclaim control over the policing of Washington, D.C. deserves acknowledgment and support. It is a response based on hard truths, action, and a clear message: safety and well-being cannot wait for the next convenient political cycle. As the President suggested, “we want our Capitol back.” That means stepping up and refusing to accept a narrative of complacency when real-world dangers lurk just outside our doors. Only through leadership that prioritizes immediate and tangible responses can we hope to see a decline in crime and a restoration of peace in our nation’s capital.

About the Author

Craig J. DeLuz has almost 30 years of experience in public policy and advocacy. He currently hosts a daily news and commentary show called “The RUNDOWN.” You can follow him on X at @CraigDeLuz.