Now that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has a nominated director, we the people should contact Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe to express our support the new agency.

The bureau was created specifically to help us deal with the complexities of interactions with big banks. The goal is simple: To prevent people from being tricked when entering into financial transactions, such as mortgages and loans.

A more simplified mortgage disclosure form, outreach to military families who struggle with financial problems, and a plan to make sure banks comply with the existing laws are what the bureau is all about.

Tricky dealings by the banks are what caused the economic meltdown. Banks are no longer self-disciplined (personal responsibility takes a back seat to corporate profits), and the need for oversight has been painfully demonstrated to us all.

The Republican Party has been resistant to the bureau and has been trying to derail it. Elizabeth Warren, who helped set up the bureau, said: “In May, 44 Republican senators wrote a letter saying that they will block anyone from serving as CFPB Director. Many of them don’t like the agency or the ideas that led to its creation. … They say they will use a filibuster over a director nomination to undercut the agency. Without a director, the agency’s authority over payday lenders, debt collectors and other non-bank financial companies can be challenged.”

Banks need an outside oversight, and consumers need somebody on their side; the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is the answer.

Sheila Evans

Chelsea

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