This past week the acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) stopped operations and halted funding to the agency. Born out of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, the CFPB is the government's youngest agency. In its short life, it has been reckless with taxpayer dollars while enjoying gratuitous positive P.R. When consumers were reeling from the impact of the financial crisis, Congress buried the foundations for this Main Street regulator in the depths of a massive bill, swearing it would protect consumers from the alleged excesses and exploitations of Wall Street. Yet this agency, hailed as the "cop on the beat" fighting for consumers, has spent much of its short life up to no good. Here are but a few reasons this young agency's days should be numbered.
