Alex Xenos huffs in an Aug. 3 MRC NewsBusters post:
The Democratic Party can always count on CNN New Day co-host Chris Cuomo to push their talking points for them. On Wednesday, Cuomo spewed nonsense about President Trump’s support for reforming Dodd-Frank and the “Consumer Protection Agency”:
He’s also attempting to roll back parts of the Dodd-Frank bill, passed in the wake of the financial crisis, effectively making it easier for those on Wall Street to once again gamble recklessly. He’s also hobbling the Consumer Protection Agency.
First of all, Dodd-Frank is a complete disaster that doesn’t protect anybody. Instead, it hinders small banks and puts a massive regulatory burden on the economy that does not prevent abuses. It was also unnecessary considering one of the main causes of the economic crash was the government essentially forcing banks to give out subprime loans. Meaning, no, it wasn’t just a bunch a greedy Wall Street executives running wild. Many of them were taking their orders from Washington.
But Xenos is offering only right-wing talking points in response. His evidence that “Dodd-Frank is a complete disaster” comes from the conservative National Review, hardly an objective source.
Further, Xenos’ claim that the 2008 financial crisis was caused by “the government essentially forcing banks to give out subprime loans” is false; in fact, as we’ve noted, most of the mortgage companies pushing subprime loans before the financial crisis were made by companies not subject to the terms of the Community Reinvestment Act, which right-wingers have long falsely blamed for the crisis.
Xenos also has more partisan sources lined up to attack Cuomo, responding to Cuomo’s complaint that the Trump administration is repealing EPA water regulations by citing the conservative Heritage Foundation and an op-ed written by attorneys with the right-wing Pacific Legal Foundation.
Xenos cited nothing to back him up, however, in another Cuomo-bashing rant:
Now, when it comes to the “Consumer Protection Agency,” Cuomo probably does not have the slightest clue what he is referencing. In fact, I know he doesn’t because there is no such thing as the “Consumer Protection Agency.” What he means is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which is also a disaster. It is a bureau that is accountable to no one, yet wields serious power in its ability to enforce regulatory laws on banks including small ones and there is nothing Congress or the president can do about it. They are an agency of harassment that answers to no one. The Trump administration is arguing in court that it is unconstitutional for the head of the agency to be unfireable. But Chris would know none of this because he gets his information spoon fed to him from the Democrats.
Says a guy who gets his information spoon-fed to him by conservatives.