Please protect the CFPB - Please!
Queensbury budget expected to break tax cap - by a lot
By Ken Tingley
So now what?
The Republicans appear to be poised to take control of the House of Representatives, but the Senate still remains a bit of a tossup. But Republicans in the House are already poised to make their mark with a landslide of legislation that even if passed by the Senate would be vetoed by President Biden. And you don’t hear anyone using that obscene word “compromise.”
The Republicans made a big deal of promoting their “Commitment to America” earlier this year. The slick online presence tells us a lot about the obvious problems we are facing, but little about their strategy to fix them.
A more revealing document is the House Republican Study Committee’s 122-page budget that Republicans are proposing. Our own Rep. Elise Stefanik was a member of the committee.
There are dozens and dozens of proposed legislation promising to undo things President Biden has done and bring back things President Trump did. But ultimately, it seems to hold fast to Republican tenets of the past. Oddly, there is no mention of Hunter Biden.
The document is divided into categories like deregulation, tax reform, defense spending, affordable healthcare, Medicare, Social Security and budget reform. The document is not light reading and the number of people who understand it mostly likely have degrees from Wharton.
Ezra Klein, a political columnists for the New York Times wrote, “It lists bill after bill that House Republicans would like to pass. Legislation that would upend the structure and powers of the government.”
Whatever your passion of the moment, there is probably something for every Republican including plans to privatize much of Medicare, repeal much of Obamacare and raise the Social Security retirement age. Considering the avalanche of Baby Boomers retired and continuing to retire that should be of great concern.
There is so much - allowing drilling and pipelines just about everywhere - and even more defense spending than ever before. It’s tough to find any legislation that addresses climate change, but I’ll keep looking.
Amidst this vast array of proposals was one bill designed to eliminate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. That’s s probably not a cause for alarm for most of you who have no familiarity with the agency, but I have written about this it and the Republicans obsessions to stamp it out several times before.
The CFPB was established after the financial meltdown in 2008 as an independent agency to hold financial institutions - Wall Street - accountable so that people like me don’t have to worry about seeing their 401k savings gutted like they were during the financial collapse 14 years ago. The agency was designed to be independent and not have congressional oversight and open to being controlled by politicians beholden to big financial donors.
Of course, if you trust Wall Street CEO’s and the politicians they donate to, then you probably have no concerns about this.
With Trump in power in 2008, the House of Representatives passed the Financial Choice Act to strip the CFPB of most of its powers. Rep. Stefanik voted for the bill. But the bill was not passed in the Senate and when the CFPB director resigned, Trump appointed his budget director Mick Mulvaney - he would later become Trump’s chief of staff - to take it over.
Up until that point, the agency had been effective in policing financial firms and collecting $12 billion in refunds to consumers. I doubt many on Wall Street were fans of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Remember, the agency collected 12 “billion” in refunds.
Mulvaney’s first order of business was not to request any funding for the agency in the next quarter. That seemed like an odd first step from an agency that had been so successful in protecting consumers. Mulvaney slowed down the enforcement of many new financial rules that protected consumers. Other cases were dropped entirely.
Now with expected control of the House of Representatives, Republicans have decided to go after the CFPB again. And once again put our money at risk because we all know we can trust those guys on Wall Street.
And that is just one bill among the hundreds, maybe thousands proposed.
The “Commitment to America” is a dubious document you might want to check out for yourself. But keep the aspirin close by, reading it might give you a headache.
Promises, promises…
Now that Rep. Elise Stefanik has been elected to her fifth and last term - that’s what she promised before she was first elected - I think every constituent should immediately reach out to Queensbury’s Dan Stec and urge him to declare his candidacy to replace Elise in two years because we all know she never lies.
Stefanik also tweeted this out o Election Day and local citizens should reminder her that it’s all about what she does for us locally, not nationally.
Queensbury taxes
If you are interested in holding your taxes in line in the town of Queensbury, you might want to set aside your Monday evenings twice a month to attend future Town Board meetings.
According to the Foothills Business Daily, Queensbury’s 2023 budget is not only going to break the 2 percent tax cap, it is going to obliterate it. It is expected to rise 17 percent.
That is startling and probably comes as a surprise to most residents since there is been almost no coverage in local media.
The next Town Board meeting is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 21 at 7 p.m. You might want to attend.
The only person to push back on the latest budget was Travis Whitehead.
Voting location
Nicole Herwig, the new executive director of the Chapman Museum, mentioned that the museum was interested in being a polling location for the city of Glens Falls.
It is a great idea. It would remind local residents of what a resource the Chapman is right in their neighborhood. Too few people take advantage of what the Chapman has to offer.
Campaign thanks
On Wednesday, I saw something I had never seen before in political circles.
Leslie Berliant, who worked on Matt Castelli congressional campaign, sent out an email “thanking” members of the media for the work they do.
“I am very grateful for what you do to keep the public informed and to hold elected officials and candidates accountable,” she wrote. “Please keep doing that, our democracy needs you. We need you to keep questioning authority, dig into claims and help to get to the truth, even when it’s inconvenient for those in a position of power.”
And that was from someone who lost.
If only someone in power felt that way.
Contrast that with this from Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake while responding to a reporter’s question:
“I’m going to be your worst fricking nightmare for eight years, and we will reform the media as well. We are going to make you guys into journalists again, so get ready. It’s gonna be a fun eight years; I can’t wait to be working with you.”
Fox News’ John Roberts pushed back on air by saying, “I’m not quite sure what she was getting at there because … the rich history of a free press in this country is something we have embraced for many, many hundreds of years. So I’m not quite sure how a w that I see you and appreciate you for all that you do.”
Both sides of fence
I tried to stay away from commenting on anything former President Trump says, but this one quote is so amazing I had to share it:
“Well, I think if they win, I should get all the credit, and if they lose, I should not be blamed at all,” Trump said before Election Day.
God forbid we protect the peasants. They are only there to pay taxes so the rich can continue to find ways not to.
The full title of that GOP legislation is: "The Commitment to the Part of American that donates mega-millions to Our Campaigns."