however, you know, consumer protection and the director of the consumer financial protection bureau are important topics. but, unfortunately, progress has been fleeting. progress, that is, in holding wall street accountable and protecting consumers. the consumer financial protection bureau officially opened its doors in july. mr. cordray was nominated days before, but months before, months before my colleagues on the other side of the aisle said that they would be siding with wall street and blocking any nominee. let me repeat that. any nominee from heading the consumer financial protection bureau. not only would they be blocking anyone regardless of qualifications and, i think, we might agree that we have an eminently qualified candidate here who not only receives the approval and support of consumer groups throughout the country, but the regulated industries that, in fact, he would oversee have positive things to say about him as an individual. so not only would they block anyone regardless of qualifications, they demand that we radically change the structure of this new consumer prot

the clerk: nomination, bureau of consumer financial protection, richard cordray to be director of bureau of consumer financial protection. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the time until 10:30 a.m. will be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees. mr. reid: i ask that a quorum be called and that the time be equally divided between the two sides. the presiding officer: without objection. the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: yes, we are. mr. mcconnell: i ask that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. this morning, the senate will vote on whether the consumer financial protection bureau should be able to put a director in place before concerns about its accountability to the american people are addressed. let me just stress at the outset that that's all today's vote is about. all today's vote is about is accountability and transparency. it's a debate about whether we think amer

as a result, the consumer financial protection bureau was created. for the first time in history, one agency -- one agency -- will be charged with overseeing consumer protection for main street americans within the financial industry. in july of this year, five months ago, richard cordray was nominated to be director of the consumer financial protection bureau. mr. president, richard cordray served for many years as the president pro tempore of the delaware state senate before retiring roughly ten years ago. a man now in his probably mid-70's, i was shocked to hear that he'd been nominated to head up this new agency. as it turned out, it's another richard cordray. and this fella, this richard cordray, had been the attorney general of ohio for a number of years, well regarded, and where he helped to protect consumers, investors, retirees and business owners to ensure americans on main street got a fair deal. at the time of his nomination, he was leading the consumer financial protection bureau's enforcement efforts. mr. cordray, former a.g., is someone

clear who's protecting consumers some banks toure's right now no one that's because senate republicans again filibustered richard cordray to head up the consumer financial protection bureau so what's the real reason behind the filibuster and finally over one hundred pages for rest around the nation yesterday for participating in the ninety nine percent movement i'll talk with one of those arrested patriots about the successful day of action in the nation's capital a little bit later. you need to know this push to overturn citizens united and kick corporations out of our elections is picking up steam last month congressman ted from florida introduced a new constitutional amendment to overturn the supreme court's citizens united decision and give congress and the states the power to again regulate election spending essentially outlawing for profit corporations from buying our democracy it's called the occupied of that sort short for outlawing corporate cash undermining the public interest in our elections and democracy now that amendment has been picked up in the senate too by senator bernie sanders we have state introduced his own version of the occupied amendment identic

so today the president gave a press conference after his pick for the consumer financial protection bureau richard cordray was blocked by republicans and the president came out swinging saying not only that a recess appointment wasn't off the table but that once again republicans have put politics before the interests of the american people and i totally agree here that it is ridiculous how much opposition republicans are showing towards putting somebody in a position that's supposed to look out for you and i the consumers but that's not what i actually want to talk about today you see after he spoke about that and the payroll tax cut then the questions started coming about the g.o.p. attacks that are being thrown at the president specifically towards his foreign policy as we discussed on yesterday's show after the g.o.p. hopefuls hurled insults of the president at the national republican jewish coalition to just take a quick listen to what the president actually said in response. that's cool some of the law and the twenty two out of thirty top al-qaeda leaders have been taken off the fiel

in particular they opposed the creation of this consumer financial protection bureau and the way it'st they're insisting on in the senate and the reason why most republicans with two proment nent exceptions voted against moving on to this debate on the confirmation of richard cordray, of course the former attorney general of ohio, now the bureau but they want to elevate him to the top post here but republicans say the structure needs to have tighter oversight by congress, can't be automatically funded through the federal reserve, needs to go through the normal appropriations process, they're basically opposed to the tight restrictions and we've seen the dodd-frank legislation come under attack on the republican campaign trail from newt gingrich, mitt romney, and others. the vote 53-45, one interesting note here, scott brown of mass mass joining lisa murkowski of alaska as the ohm two republicans to vote in favor of moving ahead with this debate. they needed 60 votes and fell seven short. scott brown is expected to face elizabeth warren who ran the cfpb while it was being formulated, p

financial reform bill is tougher protections for consumers. but some of those protections have been on hold as the senate spars over who will lead the consumer financial protection bureau. president obama's nominee is former ohio attorney general richard cordray. a showdown vote on his nomination could come as soon as thursday. as darren gersh reports tonight, the debate over leadership at the new agency comes as another market watchdog comes under fire. >> reporter: republicans and democrats traded jabs today over financial regulation. democrats charged republicans with blocking the confirmation of a new leader for the consumer financial protection bureau. >> without having a director, there are a whole host of rules that can't be written, which only perpetuates an uneven playing field where community banks and credit unions have to abide by regulations and non- bank lenders don't, which is not fair to consumers or industry members who play by the rules. >> reporter: a top treasury official argued the problem goes beyond fairness. with financial markets still unsettled, holding up the implementation of new regulations puts the economy at risk. >> without a director, t

republicans say the consumer financial protection bureau has too much power and they vowed to stall anyee until the bureau is revised. >>> bart passengers got an early christmas present today, free tickets to ride the trains. bart employees played cantedda today in what's become a a holiday tradition. they handed out train passes to customers at seven bart stations in oakland, berkeley and san francisco. each pass will be valid for two one-way rides this saturday and sunday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. bart says it's a hassle freeway to do your holiday shopping. >> i have to pay every day. >> bart officials plan to distribute free passes to 65,000 people today. >>> today is another spare the air day in the bay area. you are not allowed to burn wood because the cold air can trap smoke near the ground and affect air quality. anyone violating the ban could face fines up to $400. >>> we're looking toward the east bay toward mount diablo, a few high clouds and some patchy fog. it's all related with that spart air day in place. it's really not changing too much over the next day or so. right n

she will speak why senator brown to ahead of the consumer financial protection bureau. >>> and later,ten by the ce oechlt who resigned from his company because he refused to use beang republican see procedures to break the commitments to that company's workers. ceo of american airlines teaches corporate america a lesson in tonight's "rewrite." ♪ when your chain of supply goes from here to shanghai, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ chips from here, boards from there track it all through the air, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ clearing customs like that hurry up no time flat that's logistics. ♪ ♪ all new technology ups brings to me, that's logistics. ♪ >>> no one thought he had a chance but he won and won big and did 24 distinguished years in the united states senate. is elizabeth warren going to be the next patrick moynihan? republicans are panicking. what does elizabeth warren think about the republican's reaction to her campaign? their attack ads against her. she's going to join me next. >>> and what could be the herman cain jokes. how did i get here? dumb luck? or good decisions? ones i've made. ones w

she will speak why senator brown to ahead of the consumer financial protection bureau. >>> and later, greed is rewritten by the ceo who resigned from his company because he refused to use bankruptcy procedures to break the commitments to that company's workers. ceo of american airlines teaches corporate america a lesson in tonight's "rewrite." do you thik it all comes from? elves. [ laughs ] [ thunder crashes ] hurry up, lads! storm's brewin'. ♪ [ woman laughs ] stop it. ♪ ♪ my hair is gone ♪ cheap cologne ♪ motor home ♪ i'm the rocket man! [ both ] ♪ rocket man ♪ burning out his fuse up here alone ♪ burning out his fuse up here alone? ahh. [ male announcer ] crystal clear fender premium audio. one of many premium features available on the all-new volkswagen passat. the 2012 motor trend car of the year. ♪ and i think it's gonna be a long, long time ♪ ♪ i think i'm falling ♪ i think i'm falling [ male announcer ] this is your moment. ♪ for you [ male announcer ] this is zales, the diamond store. shop our largest diamond store online anytime at zales.com. try bayer advanced aspirin. it'

mayors, who across the country, mayors have said people in our community want a strong consumer financial protection bureau. in ohio today, members of the consumer financial protection bureau are releasing for comment a two-page agreement that makes credit cards simple so that everybody knows what they're getting into before they sign on for obligations. know before you owe. when you look at all of what the president is fighting for, that has a broad appeal. and that's what, that's what he's going to do as long as he's president. >> valerie, what do you say to joe mansion. i just interviewed senator mansion. he is against the payroll tax cut being extended. because he says it's going to end up coming out of social security. >> well i heard, i heard both senator mansion and i also heard my hometown senator, kirk and they're just mistaken. this has no impact on the social security fund. it is replenished. what it does do is recognize the fact that in this tough economic time, the middle class just needs a break. and what we cannot afford to happen and for a republican party that has taken this oat of not inc

nomination and confirmation of richard cordray and the consumer protection bureau and talk a little bit about the background of why we have a consumer financial protection bureau. the purpose of the consumer financial protection bureau is to promote a fair, honest and transparent marketplace to help consumers compare costs, benefits and risk of consumer financial products. perhaps some of the most complicated products that consumers have to deal with credit card terms, mortgages and the kinds of things that resulted in our financial meltdown in our economy. now, prior to the passage of the dodd-frank act, there was in every one of the regulated -- regulatory bodies a responsibility to deal with consumer protection. unfortunately, none of those agencies had consumer protection and education as their highest priority. all of them were looking at -- not very well, i would say to you -- the safety and soundness of the financial industry, the banks and various components of the financial industry. and generally they interpreted safety and soundness to be as long as these institutions are making a big profit, they are safe and sound. and they turn

walmart. >>> the consumer financial protection bureau is there for regular families.y won't get their full power until they get a confirmed director. and we've now got wall street's best friends in the senate blocking confirmation of rich cordray solely to try to hinder this agency, to try to keep it from some real -- calling for some real accountability over wall street. >> elizabeth warren speaking to my colleague, lawrence o'donnell. he had her on his program the other night. she had not been doing a lot of national interviews -- >> you sound jealous. >> i was jealous. i e-mailed executive producer and said, looks good. that's her making the case. the reason i want to carry over this conversation is because i remember when in 2005, i believe it was, the democrats in the senate were filibustering a number of judicial nominees that the republicans put forward. some of whom were truly and genuinely, as extreme as any nominees we've seen. janice rogers brown comes to mind with some views that were well to the right even of scalia and thomas, et cetera. and this filibus

interested in their customers knowing what they're getting into. >> reporter: the consumer financial protection bureauoking to make credit card disclosures even easier to compare. the bureau's proposed standard form is two pages compared to the average 5,000-word document most consumers are given now. the pentagon federal credit union is first to try it out. >> and this form blows away what we currently provide in terps of the ease of use and the ability to understand what is written on it. >> reporter: the credit outlook is getting brighter and that should continue as long as the economy keeps inches in the right direction and most of the complaints that it gets about credit cards stem from the hard- to-read credit card agreements. go to the website. >>> still ahead here, the surprise move that is keeping the morning after pill off of your shelves. >>> plus, alec baldwin versus american airlines, why the sitcom star is involved in a public feud. let me get you a a free tak of gas -- how's that sound? progressive saved me money, and i'm saving you money. [ chuckles ] now these guys are protected with

of wall street lobbyists who are urging them to disable and, if possible, kill the consumer financial protection bureau. richard cordray is a dedicated and impartial public servant who will put the best interests of american consumers first. we should give him that opportunity. i hope that my colleagues will join me in strongly supporting his nomination. mr. president, i yield th yf. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from mississippi. mr. wicker: thank you, mr. president. we are now as a country squarely in the middle of the obama economy. it is a period of slow growth, persistently high unemployment with many potential workers having abandoned the playing field and simply given up looking for work. there is a growing awareness among our countrymen that the policies of president obama, the policies enacted during the first two years of his administration under democrat supermajorities, have made matters worse. we have legitimate disagreements in this capitol concerning the solutions to the problems that we are experiencing with the obama economy. my colleag

the new consumer protection agency an agency congress created to avoid risky lending practices like the one that led to the financial meltdown. by law, the consumer financial protection bureauh opened in july cannot fully operate until somebody is in charge of it. earlier this year president obama nominated former ohio attorney general richard cordray. >> this morning senate republicans blocked his nomination refusing to let the senate even go forward with an up or down vote on mr. cordray. this makes absolutely no sense. >> harris: to explain, all but one republic in the senate voted against the appointment. many of them arguing it because the agency has too much power and too little accountability. they say they won't approve anyone until the administration agrees to make changes. but they say it really has nothing to do with being against cordray. by the way, you may or may not know this, he happens to be a five time jeopardy champion. cordray took home more than 45 grand in 1987. wendell goler with more outside the white house tonight. what changes do republicans say they want. >> harris, they feel that single director is too powerful. they would like to replace him or

the consumer financial protection bureau was created in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis to protect consumers from shoddy lending and mortgage practices. before the vote, democrats argued for cordray, whereas republicans said their issue is with the agency itself, not the nominee. >> is bipartisan support and is eminently qualified. he has a long history of protecting consumers. >> all today's vote is about is accountability and transparency. it's a debate about whether we think americans need more oversight over washington or less. so once again democrats are using the senate floor this week to stage a little political theatre. they're setting up a vote they know will fail so they can act shocked about it later. >> after the vote president o >> sreenivasan: after the vote, president obama told reporters there was no reason cordray shouldn't be nominated. he vowed to keep fighting for the nomination, and left open the possibility of a recess appointment. attorney general eric holder came under heavy criticism today over what the justice department knew about the gunrunning program c

reporter: still before signing on the dotted line it's importantton all the terms the consumer financial protection bureauedit card disclosures even easier to prepare. the bureau's proposed standard form is just two pages compared to the average 5,000 word document most consumers are given now. pentagon federal credit union is first to try it out. >> this form blows away what we currently provide in terms of its ease of use and the ability of somebody to understand what's actually written on it. >> reporter: the credit outlook is getting brighter and that should continue as long as the economy keeps inching in the right direction. the consumer financial protection bureau says most complaints about credit cards step from the hard to understand agreements. -- stem from the hard to understand agreements. you can go to our website for more information on those card offers and new initiative. melanie alnwick, fox 5 news. >>>. >> we saw you outside earlier and the rain looked pretty bad. >> it did. it's getting better, though. this thing is almost out of here. the wind will stick around and the cold. i don't th

and today senate republicans blocked president obama's pick to head the new consumer financial protection bureau. and they admit it's not because they don't even like the guy. it's because they don't like the agency he'll be leading. which brings us to the political play of the day, and that means it brings us to john. >> that's right. today's political play of the day is blocked. the filibusters are flying in washington, d.c. you might remember earlier this year president obama wanted to nominate elizabeth warren to head the newly created consumer financial protection bureau. now republicans said that nomination would be d.o.a. so she went home to massachusetts to run for senate against scott brown and president obama put forward richard cord ray. by all accounts respected former attorney general from ohio. for what it's worth a five-time jeopardy winner. and somebody working in the agency right now. today as you said his nomination went up to the capital and he was blocked. he got 53 votes, but not enough to clear the 60-vote hurdle needed to break a filibuster the republicans put forward. her

and today, senate republicans blocked president obama's pick to head the new consumer financial protection bureau. and they admit it's not because they don't even like the guy. it's because they don't like the agency he'll be leading. which brings us to the political play of the day, and that means it brings us to john avalon. >> that's right, erin. today's political play of the day is blocked. the filibusters are flying in washington, d.c. you might remember earlier this year, president obama wanted to nominate elizabeth warren to head the newly created consumer financial protection bureau. now republicans said that nomination would be d.o.a. so she went home to massachusetts to run for senate against scott brown and president obama put forward richard cordray. by all accounts, respected former attorney general from ohio. for what it's worth, a five-time "jeopardy!" winner. and somebody working in the agency right now. today as you said his nomination went up to the capital and he was blocked. he got 53 votes, but not enough to clear the 60-vote hurdle needed to break a filibuster the republican

the obama administration said there is a lot of oversight over the consumer financial protection bureau. during a press conference today, president obama was asked to follow-up on this issue and asked if he would be looking into a possible recess appointment. he said he is looking at all of his options and not ruling out a recess point and some have come forward and said they want to see the president look into that and take that option very seriously. tamron? >> thank you. and now to eric holder's appearance and investigating the fast and furious operation. hundreds of weapons ended up lost or unaccounted for including two firearms that may have been used in the shooting death of border patrol agent. the general admits mistakes were made, but said the border agent's death is used by some republicans to play "politically motivated gotcha games." he denied anyone lied to congress regarding this operation. >> there have been statements so misleading that a letter had to be with drawn. i think heads should roll. >> nobody in the justice department has lied. >> why was the letter with drawn

the consumer financial protection bureau is going to do important stuff. there are banks out there promulgating loans right now as we speak and have this conversation. that are as deceptive and terrible as all the loans that got us into this mess. that's happening. the actual substantive regulatory responsibilities are important and we need someone to do it. the deeper question to me is, really face a democratic crisis at a certain level when the filibuster becomes normalized. it's hard for the institution to respond and people in the media to respond. because it has become so normalized. what you showed the clips off, james of "the atlantic" said, the headlines become "rob cordray's voted down." we're in a situation where we have a one-way ratchet. right? it only gets worse. there's nothing pushing back. there's nothing pushing back that says this is abnormal, this is not right, this is a departure from our norms and traditions. and until we come up with some way to break that open, it's only going to close further. right? the question is, how do you get

such as with blocking richard cordry to head the consumer financial protection bureau. republicans and democrats like him, everyone says he's well-qualified, but basically the cfpb is one of the key stones of the dodd/frank financial legislations. wall street really wants to reform that, basically get rid of it, so republicans are sort of throwing them a bone and saying we're not going to approve anyone for this. >> how do you be against something that says consumer protection? >> it's hard. there's no question. i think republicans have put themselves in a box to a certain degree but the interesting argument is it's not about the nomin nominee. it's the way it's set up. it should be a board. no power should be with one person, right? that's what we've been hearing for a very long time and what republicans are saying. >> agencies all across the government are run that way. >> but the difference is, according to republicans, is wall street should be managed with the whole entire board and not just with one person. >> let's talk about another attack we have heard from the

the consumer financial protection bureau is test an agreement that is said to be written in plain language. about 2/3 of credit card users said they don't completely understand their card's terms. this could deal with things like, for example, you have a higher interest rate if you do cash back. it would really show consumers what they're buying, what they're paying for in their statement. >> i think it is long overdue. >> we still have to read them. >> if you pay them off in one year, you'll pay this amount. >> they're starting to do that now because of the laws that were passed. it is good. >> that's helpful, too. >> thank you, jess. >> more federal workers will soon be moving to a highly traveled area in montgomery county. >> one county approved a deer hunt on a local golf course. those stories plus your weather first coming up in less than two minutes. >>> it is 4:44 this thursday morning. i tweeted this morning and howard retweeted i didn't have to worry about snow but lots of tree limbs and branches. >> we had gusts up to 50 miles per hour in spots. pax river, 51 miles per hour. gust

at the white house beginning with republican opposition to his nominee to lead the consumer financial protection bureau. republicans have now blocked by thrill buster a confirmation vote of former ohio attorney general richard cordray for the post. the president would not rule out now making a recess appointment. >> we are not giving up on this. we are going to keep going at it. we are not going to allow politics as usual on capitol hill to stand in the way of american consumers being protected by unscrupulous financial operators. and we're going to keep on pushing on this issue. >> the president also responded to criticism from republican presidential candidates who have accused the white house of being weak on foreign policy. >> ask osama bin laden and the 22 out of 30 top al qaeda leaders who have been taken off the field whether i engage in appeasement. or whoever is left out there. ask them about that. >> well, with the deadline approaching to extend the payroll tax cuts, the president questioned republican motives for standing in the way of that legislation. >> they think we should do a payroll t