Will Elizabeth Warren Go All ‘Rand Paul’ On The GOP’s Filibuster Of Cordray?
Senate Republicans are preparing to filibuster Richard Cordray’s nomination to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) for the second time, even though several GOP senators have praised the job the former Ohio attorney general has done leading the organization created in the aftermath of the financial crisis.
The GOP’s problem isn’t with Cordray. It’s with the CFPB, says Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who came up with the idea of the agency and helped build it. “From the way I see how other agencies are treated, I find nothing here but a filibuster attempt against Director Cordray as an attempt to weaken the consumer agency,” she said.
Brent Budowsky, a former legislative aide, thinks this obstruction by the GOP may propel Warren to “national stature from the Senate reminiscent of Robert F. Kennedy.”
How could that happen? Warren could seize the Cordray filibuster as a chance to show how the Republican Party keeps the system “rigged” — which is the title of her forthcoming book — on behalf of the same bankers who led us into the financial crisis.
If Republicans filibuster Cordray, Democratic leaders and/or Senate liberals should call their bluff and bring the nomination to the Senate floor for lengthy debate — or if needed, a talking liberal counter-filibuster in the manner that Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) took for nearly 13 hours to galvanize the attention of the media and the nation.
http://www.nationalmemo.com/will-elizabeth-warren-go-all-rand-paul-on-the-gops-filibuster-of-cordray/
A filibuster and a counter-filibuster would be quite an occurrence. At the very least it would be an opportunity to educate public on the republican strategy to weaken the CPFB. At beat it would cause a collapse of the republican strategy.