Preparing for the CFPB

It’s July 1st and as we prepare to head into a holiday weekend, we are also completing our preparations for working with the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The new government uber-agency comes on line this month and is expected to change everything.

Of course, pols from both parties are continuing to fight over the future of the agency, some trying to limit its funding, others increase its powers. The most recent news I read told of some letters that have put the CFPB on defense.

The letters came from “the House Committee on Financial Services and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, represented by chairs Spencer Bachus and Darrell Issa, respectively, in calling for the release of any documents related to the correspondence in the possession of the Treasury Department,” according to the story.

In particular, the politicians said they were concerned about “Treasury Department adviser Elizabeth Warren’s refusal to unveil her involvement with mortgage servicers and state authorities in their negotiations. The letter is the second to address widespread concerns about the CFPB’s dealings.”

I don’t have a lot of patience for this back-and-forth. It’s just a waste of time and taxpayer money. In fact, I’m against the whole concept of the agency.

You see, I’m one of those people who doesn’t need the government’s protection. I think there are a lot of Americans who don’t need the government deciding what they can buy and what they can’t. We all go to the grocery store and compare labels before we buy, and I know that the Food & Drug Administration enforces product labeling laws and thank them. I’m not anti-government, I’m anti-big government and when you give the federal government an inch, they’ll take 20 miles. I’m worried that this is what’s happening with CFPB.

It’s not the government’s job to tell Americans what they can do. It’s insulting for them to suggest that the general population is so stupid that they need to have the federal government hold their hands during a financial transaction.

It’s time for the United States of America to stop being the world’s biggest Nanny State. If the government wants to enable better education, fine. Likewise, better enforcement of the laws already on the books would solve a lot of problems. But when it comes to trying to decide what’s best for Americans, it’s time to step back and revisit that pursuit of happiness concept that was written into the preamble of our Constitution.

As we prepare to head into this holiday weekend—this Independence Day celebration—we should all be thinking about ways we can become less reliant on our government and more reliant on ourselves, our families and our communities.