Recess? Who needs a recess?

There is growing support for Elizabeth Warren to be the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. She is very much supporting the rights of consumers against any kind of chicanery by banks and financial institutions. She was the person that came up with the idea of consolidating consumer protections into one agency, rather than having regulations spread throughout government offices. The job she has now is to set up the agency and for that she was appointed by Obama. But to actually run it she must have Senate confirmation.

Of course, the GOP and their Wall Street backers can't stand the idea of her in the job. They also can't stand the idea of an agency with enough power to force them to be honest (at least when dealing with consumers). The way the law was written a year ago, Congress can't meddle in the agency's affairs. They have vowed to refuse appointing anyone to the job (not just Warren) until the agency is essentially gutted.

That leaves Obama with the option of using a recess appointment -- make the appointment when the Senate is not in session. In seeing the amount of support Warren has, the GOP responded by not taking the Senate out of session, which they would normally do starting today for Memorial Day.

Yeah, Dems pulled that trick under Bush. But the Dems had the public on their side.
You can help by getting on the White House website and sending a note to Obama. I just did.