Obama’s choice for new consumer advocate says people need help from a ‘tough cop on the beat’
By APFriday, September 17, 2010
Obama’s consumer pick: Consumers need ‘tough cop’
WASHINGTON — The Harvard professor President Barack Obama is putting in charge of a new consumer protection agency says people need a “tough cop on the beat” to protect them from financial industry abuses.
Obama was naming Elizabeth Warren on Friday as a special adviser to both him and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner (GYT’-nur). The financial regulatory bill Obama signed into law this year created the bureau to be an advocate for consumers in their dealings with banks, mortgage companies and other financial institutions.
In a post Friday on the White House blog, Warren says the bureau is based on the idea that if the playing field is level and consumers know what’s going on, they’ll be able to make better financial decisions.
