Cleveland Plain Dealer...
Consumers and honest bankers deserve a Cordray confirmation: editorial 

Former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray isn’t the only one getting a raw deal from Senate Republicans who say they have no intention of allowing him to become the first director of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. So are everyday Americans who were hurt by the mortgage and credit-card excesses of the past decade. And so -- difficult as it may be for some of them to admit -- are the honest bankers and financial services executives who continue to face both popular distrust and regulatory uncertainty. 

At a confirmation hearing Tuesday, the two Republican senators in attendance praised Cordray as a good choice to head the agency. But they still insisted that their caucus will block his nomination in order to protest how the bureau is to operate. In particular, they prefer a five-person board to a single director at the helm and want the agency to answer to Congress, not the Federal Reserve. 

Those issues were thoroughly debated for more than a year on Capitol Hill. Republicans clearly didn’t like the final legislation: It passed with no GOP votes in the House and only three in the Senate. But using Cordray’s confirmation to reopen that lost battle is a dangerous precedent -- and yet another example of partisan excess in Washington. 

Cordray is an excellent, level-headed choice to lead the agency. He was conciliatory in his remarks Tuesday, and he has even been endorsed by the Ohio Bankers League. Republicans -- notably Ohio Sen. Rob Portman -- ought to confirm Cordray, then see how the bureau operates before they demand a makeover. 

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