every day, richard cordray -- every day richard cordray's confirmation is blocked, vital protections are delayed and millions of americans, including service members, vets and older americans, are left vulnerable, and the nation's community banks and credit unions remain at a disadvantage to their less regulated competitors. the question we consider today should not be whether the minority party can hijack this constitutional process and demand as ransom legislative changes that would hamstring the consumer agency. the caution should be whether mr. cordray is qualified for the job -- the question should be whether mr. cordray is qualified for the job. i believe that mr. cordray is an outstanding candidate. for years, richard cordray has worked tirelessly as a public servant. as ohio's attorney general, he aggressively pursued financial crimes by banks and mortgage firms and won more than $2 billion in settlements for the state, and as the highest first solicitor, -- as ohio's first solicitor, he argued cases for the supreme court to protect consumers and enhance the quality of our fi

house right now, president obama expected in the briefing room, making a at the same time about richard cordray'sead the consumer financial protection bureau. senate republicans just blocked that nomination. nbc's mike viqueira is at the white house. why are they opposed to seeing card cordray step? ? >> reporter: first of all this was created under the dodd-frank legislation, after the financial collapse of 2008. republicans have opposed it ever since then, saying it is overly restrictive as the legislation in general. in particular they opposed the creation of this consumer financial protection bureau and the way it's structured. what 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 appr

i will not take any options off the table when it comes to getting richard cordray in as director of the consumer finance protection board and i want to repeat what i said earlier. this is a law that was passed by congress that i signed into law. that is designed solely to protect american consumers. i don't think there's any concern consumer out there i don't think there's any american out there who thinks that the reason we got into the big financial mess that we did was because of too much regulation of wall street or the financial services industry. i take it back i'm sure there are some folks in the financial services industry who make that argument although i'm not sure that they make it with a straight face so what exactly is the beef the republicans have with cordray and with consumer financial protection in the first place. for more on this i'm joined by in ohio a porter and blogger with think progress and welcome back to back bank style so great to have you with us so what possible reason would republicans have for wanting to filibuster the the director of the consumer fina

so the president appointed richard cordray. then they said we don't want the president to do a recess appointment so he didn't. and now they're still opposing it and they said they'd oppose anybody because they don't like the agency itself. well, maybe that's because the agency will stand up to special interests more than my colleagues want them to. >> woodruff: before i ask you about the other point from senator hutchison about too many layers, senator hutchison, what about the points that senator brown just made? the republicans have continued in his words to move the goalpost on this nomination? >> well, of course the president should never make an appointment that bypasses congress and he's done it on several occasions and it's wrong and that really bypasses the accountability that we're looking for in this agency that we don't have. we tried to fix this bill when it was going through congress and president some parameters around this agency. but, in fact, there is no oversight on this agency. they set their own budget with

richard cordray has spent his career in public service of -- [inaudible] he has taken the time to understand and come up with the best, most practical solutions for their problems. mr. cordray supports small businesses and other companies. he has been a member of his local chamber of commerce for 22 years. he believes in leveling the playing field so that small companies can compete fairly and that playing by the rules is good for business. i ask the unanimous consent to include several letters of endorsement into the hearing record. mr. cordray also believes that people and corporations must be responsible for their own behavior, and if they act responsibly, they should get a fair shake. it is my hope mr. cordray will use his knowledge and experience to help american consumers and to enhance the quality of our consumer financial markets. we have seen many important nominations blocked in this senate and denied an up or down vote on confirmation. the stability of our financial system and of our economy is simply too important to put at risk by political games. it is time to allow the cfpb to

richard cordray, 53 votes in favor, 45 against. payroll tax cut extension, 50 votes in favor, 48 against. caitlin halligan, 54 in favor, 45 against. that means none of those things passed. >> the senate voted along party lines against confirming former ohio attorney general richard cordray. >> the senate voted down both republican and democratic compromise proposals to exten t the payroll tax break. >> the headline, senate rejects cloture on d.c. circuit nominee caitlin halligan. t the cloture word is important. all these things, that judge nomination, the consumer protection nominations, payroll tax cut extension, they all got majority yes votes in the senate. they still did not pass. because republicans did something that's called a filibuster. so a majority vote doesn't count. it's not enough to pass something. republicans do this on everything. everything over the past few years. every vote of substance. they have taken a rule that used to be for exceptional extreme circumstances only and they are applying it basically to every

richard cordray, who his nomination failed in the senate. obviously this is a bureau that was created to protect consumers so specifically that's what he's pushing for in response to this vote in the senate that failed. there's a much bigger picture that's going on here and that is that it's not every week that you see president obama come out to the briefing room twice, which is what he's done. we saw him earlier this week. then on wednesday we saw him give a major economic speech in kansas, and now we're seeing him today. this is very significant. he's very much flexing his muscle and really using the bully pulpit in trying to frame a smaller, more specific argument here, but something larger that we are going to be seeing going into the whole next year really framing the argument that will characterize his campaign, and that is a message that he is for the middle class and that it's republicans who are not helping the middle class as much as he is. we heard him earlier this week pushing for the payroll tax cut extension saying that republ

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 who's been intimately involved with getting the new bureau stood up and running and who brings key expertise to the table. when we first passed the law, mr. president, i suggested to -- to the president, to secretary geithner and others, i said, i think there's really three models that you can use to choose from to -- to pick someone to nominate to head this new bureau. one, you can pick an acedemician. two, you can pick somebody who's been a regulator, in this case, maybe an attorney general. and the third, i said you might want to try finding someone in the public -- in the private sector who's

the bottom line, this is not about richard cordray. heard few if any republicans attack richard cordray as his credentialal credentialals attorney general chief. this is broad battle. that is why he came out. that is why he took questions. he was saying right there. following on the speech in kansas. he is fighting for the middle class. republicans are trying to block him. it is not just about this one move. in the consumer protection agency. it is. trying to create jobs. republicans are not. that's the fight he is trying to set up here. you heard directly from him at the ind, accusing republicans wanting to dicker in his words. not get some of this done. he had stern warning. get it done. if the payroll tax cut not extended end of the year americans will see their tax go up. democrats see they are winning the argument t puts republicans in a tough position. if they do nothing many millions of americans will see their taxes go up. that looks like a political victory for the president. jenna: will be interesting watch. one of the other

none of us have a problem with richard cordray. at least to my knowledge. that we suggested to the president is that this so-called consumer agency has abject power over credit in this country. the abject power without any responsibility. any transparency. any accountability. and what we want to do is correct that by having a board of directors to which this person has to report. have to report to the appropriations process in congress. have to report to other processes that literally, all other agencies have to. we cannot give a total czar that even the president can't suggest things to or can't control, running this agency and determining the credit worthiness, or the credit situation for people all over the country. this is the worst dog gone piece of legislation i've seen since i've been here. it is even worse than obamacare. >> would you like to see some sort of board of directors. where does that suggestion go there? >> well, we're letting the president know, we'll be happy to vote for mr. cordray if he would come out and amend this stupid bill and al

the consumer financial protection agency nominee is not robert cordray, it's richard cordray. apologize for that. i was thinking rob cordry, the guy from "the daily show." totally screwed that up. senator brown mentioned mitt romney was going to appear this weekend on "meet the press" but is actually going to appear on fox news sunday. mitt romney has not been on a sunday show since march, since last march, but he's finally going to be on a sunday show this weekend. >>> all right. in further news, this is jerome randolph babbit, 65 years old, after he was pulled over and arrested for drunk driving last saturday night in fairfax, virginia. according to police web was not in a crash but was driving on the wrong side of the road. this thing is on this news hour tonight because you may know him as randy babbitt of the faa. two days after the dui arrest, the same day he informed officials he was arrested. he resigned. mr. babbitt, the country's most senior air safety official served at his post since june of 2009. he leaves nearly three full years before the end of his term. we'll

and the man we nominated for the post, richard cordray, is a former attorney general of ohio who has the support of most attorney generals, both democrat and republican, throughout the country. nobody claims he's not qualified. but the republicans in the senate refuse to confirm him for the job. they refuse to let him do his job. why? does anybody here think that the problem that led to our financial crisis was too much oversight of mortgage lenders or debt collectors? of course not. >> that vote on richard cordray, on the man who would be the head of the new consumer financial protection agency, that vote is scheduled for tomorrow here in washington. republicans are expected to filibuster it. the president's top economic adviser joins us next. ask me. if you think even the best bed can only lie there... ask me what it's like... when my tempur-pedic moves... ...talk to someone who owns an adjustable version of the most highly recommended bed in america... ask me about my tempur advanced ergo. ask me about having all the right moves. these are real tempur-advanced ergo owners! find on

and the man we nominated for the post, richard cordray, is a former attorney general of ohio who has the support of most attorney generals, both democrat and republican, throughout the country. nobody claims he's not qualified. but the republicans in the senate refuse to confirm him for the job. they refuse to let him do his job. why? does anybody here think that the problem that led to our financial crisis was too much oversight of mortgage lenders or debt collectors? of course not. >> that vote on richard cordray, on the man who would be the head of the new consumer financial protection agency, that vote is scheduled for tomorrow here in washington. republicans are expected to filibuster it. the president's top economic adviser joins us next. >>> consumers deserve to have someone whose job it is to look out for them. i intend to make sure they do. >> joining us now is gene sperling, director of the national economic council and assistant to president obama for economic policy. director sperling, thank you for being here. >> thanks for having us. >> this most recent fight over the c

and the man we nominated for the post, richard cordray, is a former attorney general of ohio who hasey generals, both democrat and republican, throughout the country. nobody claims he's not qualified. but the republicans in the senate refuse to confirm him for the job. they refuse to let him do his job. why? does anybody here think that the problem that led to our financial crisis was too much oversight of mortgage lenders or debt collectors? of course not. >> that vote on richard cordray, on the man who would be the head of the new consumer financial protection agency, that vote is scheduled for tomorrow here in washington. republicans are expected to filibuster it. the president's top economic adviser joins us next. big big? big big big big big. big big...big. ♪ big big big -big. -big! [ cheers and applause ] ♪ big big big -♪ big big -big! -big! -♪ big -big. -big big big. big big big [ whispers ] small. big big big big big big big... small! [ male announcer ] the space-saving, eco-friendly, totally unique smart. unbig. uncar. ♪ i'm an expert on softball. and tea parties. i'll have

the man that the president wants to head the consumer financial protection bureau his name is richard cordray the main reason why the president came out was to speak about the blocking of the nomination of cordray now that the senate has refused to move forward on cordray is nomination the president has the power to do a recess appointment. congress recesses for the end of the year when you talk about a controversial appointment to this new consumer financial protection bureau you're getting right at the pocketbooks of the public and that also ties into the payroll tax cut extension which the president has been advocating so fiercely over recent days there has been a great deal of criticism of the president when it comes to his policy regarding israel whether he's being tough enough because of iran and you heard the president's answer there and most republicans would concede most publicly and the rest of them privately that there's not much to be gained in saying the president has been weak in the world when he can say what he just said go ask osama bin laden how weak i have been in the world

and the man we nominated for the post, richard cordray, is a former attorney general of ohio who hasmost attorney generals, both democrat and republican, throughout the country. nobody claims he's not qualified. but the republicans in the senate refuse to confirm him for the job. they refuse to let him do his job. why? does anybody here think that the problem that led to our financial crisis was too much oversight of mortgage lenders or debt collectors? of course not. >> that vote on richard cordray, on the man who would be the head of the new consumer financial protection agency, that vote is scheduled for tomorrow here in washington. republicans are expected to filibuster it. the president's top economic adviser joins us next. [ woman ] my boyfriend and i were going on vacation, so i used my citi thank you card to pick up some accessories. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? we talked about getting a diamond. but with all the thank you points i've been earning... ♪ ...i flew us to the rock i really had in mind. ♪ [ male announcer ] the citi thank you car

. >> i will not take any option e options off the table when it comes to getting richard cordray in. why wouldn't we want to have somebody just to make sure that people are being treated fairly? when it comes to 12-year-olds or 13-year-olds, the question is, can we have confidence that they would potentially use plan b probably? >> the other thing he said was, ask osama bin laden. he used it. and it was -- he shows he was unafraid to use it. >> i think republicans will still have a difficult time coming at this president on foreign policy. you know, you could get into the new year and look at the pullout from iraq and sectarian violence there and look at afghanistan and maybe it becomes a new issue. but the truth is israel and the united states have been shoulder to shoulder on the issue of iran and this administration has been there for them on the issue of iran. even where they have disagreements in other areas. i think it's going to be -- it's still going to be a difficult path for them but i don't think they will completely ignore it. >> now we're having the he saids he saids whe

most americans probably don't know who richard cordray is.say republicans are carrying for the wall street firms and big banks. >> to make sure individual consumers are protected. everybody from seniors to young people are looking for student loans, to members of our armed services, probably more vulnerable than just about anybody when it comes to unxrup you house financial practices. >> is this t-ball for the guy with bully pulpit? chief political analyst gloria borger. i'll ask you first, i know republicans have concerns about the size and scope of this agency but they couldn't defeat it. it passed and it exists. why give the president the chance, the economic numbers are against him and statistics are against him. nobody in america knows who richard cordray is, why give him a chance to say my guy wants to help you with your mortgage and make sure military families don't get screwed and republicans are siding with the banks? >> on occasion in washington, even republicans are capable of trying to do the right thing, even if it hurts him poli

let's take a listen. >> none us have a problem with richard cordray, at least to my knowledge. the reason we voted against him is we suggested to the president this cfpc, this consumer agency, has abject power over credit in this country. >> now, president obama digging in his heels and vowing to fight forward with this nomination. let's take a listen to the press conference today. >> so i just want to send a message to the senate we are not giving up on this. we are going to keep ongoing at it. >> this is far from the only case of blocking and tackling in washington. just yesterday, caitlan halligan was nominated by president obama to join the d.c. circuit court. yesterday she had a vote. 54 votes in favor, but not enough to clear the republican filibuster, the first filibuster of a senior judicial nomination in over five years. now, look, we've seen this sort of thing before. democrats and republicans both do it. remember this name? miguel estrada. he was nominated by president bush to serve on the same d.c. circuit court and he was blocked by senate democrats at the time. no

senate republicans blocked richard cordray's nomination today, citing concerns about the agency's powers. they're worried that, without changes, the consumer director would have too much unchecked power over the financial system. president obama says that makes "absolutely no sense." >> i just want to send a message to the senate that we're not giving up on this. we're going to keep on going at it. we're not going to allow politics as usual on capitol hill to stand in the way of american consumers being protected by unscrupulous financial operators. >> susie: the president added that a recess appointment was also a possibility, a move democrats in the senate say they would support. >> tom: still ahead-- while stocks tumble over worries about europe, investors were hungry for one blue chip. we'll tell you what sparked today's buying in the golden arches. >> susie: good news about the u.s. job market couldn't overcome growing worries about europe today. the dow fell almost 200 points, the nasdaq lost 52, and the s&p 500 was down 23.5 points. new claims for jobless benefits fell 23,000 to a

let's take a listen. >> none us have a problem with richard cordray, at least to my knowledge. the reason we voted against him is we suggested to the president this cfpc, this consumer agency, has abject power over credit in this country. >> now, president obama digging in his heels and vowing to fight forward with this nomination. let's take a listen to the press conference today. >> so i just want to send a message to the senate we are not giving up on this. we are going to keep ongoing at it. >> this is far from the only case of blocking and tackling in washington. just yesterday, caitlan halligan was nominated by president obama to join the d.c. circuit court. yesterday she had a vote. 54 votes in favor, but not enough to clear the republican filibuster, the first filibuster of a senior judicial nomination in over five years. now, look, we've seen this sort of thing before. democrats and republicans both do it. remember this name? miguel estrada. he was nominated by president bush to serve on the same d.c. circuit court and he was blocked by senate democrats at the time. no

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, the cfpb is unable to exercise its full authority, and as a result, our econo

richard cordray did not receive enough votes to move forward toward confirmation. 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 hol