Elizabeth Warren Is the Right Person for the Job

For too long, tricks and traps in mortgages, credit cards, and other financial transactions have stripped wealth from working families. This is insane. Our policies should build the wealth and success of families, not undermine them.

That's why one of the most important provisions of the Wall Street reform bill was the creation of a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). For years, American families have been taken to the cleaners by clever clauses written into fine print and legal gobbledy-gook. The CFPB will change this. Finally, there will be a cop on the beat who can make sure people get a fair shake.

This new consumer watchdog will only be effective, however, if it has strong leadership. There is no doubt in my mind that Elizabeth Warren is that leader. She has been America's leading voice on behalf of financial fairness for families and the driving force behind the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. As a Harvard Law professor specializing in bankruptcy and as Chair of the TARP Oversight Committee, she is more than qualified to lead the nation's consumer watchdog. Her experience also had the breadth of understanding to foresee the impact of predatory mortgages on families and the economy.

Capitol Hill is abuzz with the expectation that the President will appoint a Director of the CFPB in the next few days and that person will be Elizabeth Warren. Such action should be applauded. I am confident that she will fight for transparency, accountability, and most of all, fairness for our working families. I am confident that she will establish a tradition of common sense approaches that will benefit working families across the country and place our nation on a firm footing for decades to come.