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» VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM 67 "Washington elites decide who can qualify for a home mortgage— putting the goal of homeownership out of reach for millions of creditworthy American families. That's not fair." that "lays out a new and better vision for financial reform." It's that passion and fire about post-crisis financial reform that has put Hensarling squarely at odds with Democratic lawmakers who are staunch defenders of Dodd-Frank. He has notably clashed with Rep. Maxine Waters (D-California), Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, who said last year that "what (Republicans) are after is another giveaway for the big banks, a giveaway that would increase the odds of another financial crisis, the costs of which would be paid for by the American taxpayer." Hensarling, who spent 10 years in private business, serving as an officer for an investment firm, a data management company, and an electric retail company before being elected to Congress, claims that he is "not pro-business. I'm pro-free enterprise." e two sides agree on one important matter—both want to avoid taxpayer-funded bailouts for big businesses. However, each side believes that the other's financial reform policies will result in just that. at won't stop Hensarling and his Republican colleagues from trying to fix a broken financial system, which they believe came to be through excessive regulation passed in response to crisis. Hensarlng often says it wasn't "de-regulation" that caused the crisis, but "dumb regulation." "Our approach will help build the healthy and secure financial system Americans deserve," Hensarling said. "One that protects consumers by letting banks serve their needs in competitive, transparent, and innovative markets that are vigorously policed for fraud and deception. One that ends taxpayer-funded bailouts and instead unleashes America's entrepreneurial potential. It will provide desperately needed regulatory relief and halt the unbridled growth of the unaccountable, arrogant bureaucracy that is dragging us towards the failed economy of a European-style social democracy." CLEANING UP AFTER THE CRISIS e collapse of the housing market in 2008 devastated the country's financial markets. Several large institutions required hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of bailouts, all funded by taxpayers. e crisis drove an even larger wedge between the Democratic and Republican parties. In the aftermath, they were divided on Wall Street, even more so when Democrats won the battle and President Obama signed Dodd- Frank into law in July 2010. One of the more contentious parts of Dodd- Frank among party lines was, and has been, the creation of a new agency that has stirred up no small amount of controversy in its relatively short existence: e Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Defenders of the CFPB point to the more than $11 billion that the bureau has returned to consumers who the Bureau has deemed to have been harmed by predatory practices in the financial industry ($2 billion of that alone was handed out to non-bank mortgage servicer Ocwen Financial in 2013). e Bureau's critics contend that the pendulum has swung too far in the other direction and that the CFPB has been given too much power by Congress. "e CFPB has an important mission," Hensarling noted. "Properly designed and led, it is capable of great good." But. . . "In its short existence," Hensarling continued, "the CFPB has grown into an unaccountable federal leviathan of 1,500 employees with over a half billion dollar budget and the unrestrained power to dictate which Americans can receive credit and which Americas cannot. e decisions made by its director have a direct impact on the personal finances of virtually every American. But the Bureau—by design— is not accountable to either Congress or the taxpayers. is defective structure allows the Bureau to evade the checks and balances that apply to virtually every independent regulatory agency, including those responsible for consumer and investor protection." In order for the CFPB to achieve the "great good" that Hensarling spoke of, he believes the Bureau should be subject to the same oversight as other federal agencies to prevent abuse of power, should stop wasteful spending, and be transparent with Americans about its activities. e House Financial Services Committee has passed legislation that puts the CFPB on a budget and proposes to replace the Bureau's director with a bipartisan commission in order to consider multiple viewpoints and perspectives. "is will produce better-informed policies, reduce the threat of biased or politically- motivated decisions, and promote certainty and COVER STORY INDUSTRY INSIGHT INDUSTRY INSIGHT

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