The Federal Consumer Financial Protection Agency

September 17, 2010

Politician just cannot help meddling in private contracts between buyers and sellers. The Washington, D.C. liberal democrat politicians created The Federal Consumer Financial Protection Agency to protect consumers from themselves because the consumers cannot understand their credit card contracts. Consumers now have more debt than past generations of consumers. This debt carries high interest rates to justify the cost to the lenders. The consumer has the option to say no to use of a credit card. They just prefer to have their desires satisfied today instead of waiting. Somehow the liberal democrats think these voluntary transactions are something the federal government should be involved in.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which is liberal Elizabeth Warren's brainchild, will have broad powers to write and enforce regulations covering mortgages, credit cards and other financial products. She is a “humanitarian with a guillotine”. (Isabel Paterson) A humanitarian is someone who can never sleep and leave you alone to live your own life. They always have a need to meddle in and control your life.

Elizabeth Warren is popular with many people because she is upset about the Wall Street bailout that saved many rich people who had failed. My response is there should never have been a government bailout.

If the government wants to get the people to go along with another power grab all they have to do is call it a “protection” agency and the people will willingly submit to being “protected.

If consumers want to remain free they should assume the responsibility for their actions. If they want to be treated like children, sheltered and protected, then they have to submit and give up their freedom to make individual contracts. Must people will take protection over freedom. The consumers think they are getting the best side of the deal, the deal to give more power to the government mob. The consumer thinks by giving up more power and freedom to the government mob the consumer will come out ahead. The consumer fails to realize that power given to the government is never given back. The government never abdicates. Power is corrosive and addictive. It will eventually corrode the consumers.

Elizabeth Warren vows to end the financial “tricks and traps” (fees) played on consumers by bankers. This will only dumb down the consumers. Consumers will never learn how to protect themselves and pass on this learning to their children. Many consumers cannot figure simple interest rates after 12 years of government schools! No wonder they need protection from what Warren calls “tricks and traps”. The consumers will become docile tamed house pets, depending on their keeper for protection.

The people do not want freedom as much as they want other things. Milton Friedman’s classic interview with Phil Donohue about capitalism and freedom to choose has less than a million hits at youtube.com. What people want is to improve their sex lives as shown by over 89 MILLION HITS for this mundane site at youtube.com.

I have one credit card. I've never read the contract with my credit card provider. If I don't like the charges and fees I will cancel it. I usually pay cash for my purchases. So do many other people. Maybe that's what concerns the government mob, that the government mob cannot keep track of what people buy when they use cash.

"Freedom aggravates as much as it alleviates frustration. Freedom of choice places the whole blame of failure on the shoulders of the individual. And as freedom encourages a multiplicity of attempts, it unavoidably muliplies failure and frustration...Unless a man has talents to make something of himself, freedom is an irksome burden...We join mass movements to escape individual responsibility...." Eric Hoffer, The True Believer

Charles Tolleson