Blog de Dunlap: The truth about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Danielle,

I'll give you three guesses as to why some billionaires and Republican politicians are trying to "delete" the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

But I bet you'd get it on your first try: Because the CFPB is working to unrig our economy so it doesn't just work for billionaires.

If you've got a checking account, a credit card, a mortgage, or a student loan, the CFPB is looking out for you to keep you from getting cheated. And this Little Agency That Could has a rock-solid record of success, including…

Taking on the types of shady lenders that were tricking and trapping people with complicated mortgages and eventually crashed our economy in 2008 — costing millions of people their homes
Stopping Wells Fargo from unlawfully repossessing people's cars after the bank had piled on fees that consumers didn't owe or charged them the wrong interest rate
Tackling aggressive junk fees that make price comparisons impossible
Beating back predators that tricked service members and veterans into paying interest rates that surged up to 200 percent on pawn loans
Pushing back when some medical debt collector companies were double billing patients or even charging patients for services they never received
All in all, putting around $20 billion back in the pockets of people who got cheated by financial institutions

Now, why would a politician like Donald Trump, who ran for president promising change — promising to make government work better for working people — want to let some billionaires get rid of the CFPB?

He pledged to cap credit card interest rates at 10 percent — it will take a strong CFPB to make that happen. He promised to rein in the influence of Big Tech — the CFPB is tackling that right now. He promised to fight for working people — the mission the CFPB delivers on every day.

Soon, he'll be deciding on a director for the CFPB. We'll see if he stands up to giant corporations to help the workers who voted for him or if he cowers to corporate billionaires. And if he breaks his promises, I'm determined to hold him accountable.

The years ahead will be filled with chances to fight for working people — including by defending the CFPB. I'm in that fight all the way.

I'm grateful to have you on this team, and of course I wouldn't expect you to donate every time I ask, but every contribution is a powerful symbol of this movement's commitment to our values — can you pitch in $100 or any amount to show we're staying in the fight?

Thanks for being a part of this,

Elizabeth