Currently watching the Committee on Oversight & Government Reform’s subcommittee hearing with witness Elizabeth Warren, and let me say, aren’t we glad for a recess? The last 10 minutes of the first panel was spent on the arguing of the time of the hearing? And who said what? Who’s on third, and who’s on second. To slinging accusations of: “You are causing problems” (Warren);  “you’re making this up” (Rep. McHenry); and “simmer down” (Rep. McHenry to Rep. Cummings). Wow.

Just wanted to give you a quick heads up that the hearing was moved up 45 minutes. Click here for more details.

The Florida Attorney General’s office has announced that they will begin an investigation of five prepaid card companies (First Data Corp, Green Dot Corp, Account Now Inc, NetSpend Corp and Unirush Financial Services LLC) looking to find “deceptive and unfair practices”.

“Failing to disclose fees is essentially stealing money from consumers,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement.

Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), chairman of the House Oversight TARP subcommittee, is planning on grilling Elizabeth Warren this afternoon, alleging that she may have misled Congress in previous testimony. According to Politico, McHenry is expected to boast the CFPB’s “virtually unchecked” power.

McHenry will say: “Professor Warren testified that the Bureau’s role in ongoing mortgage settlement negotiations was limited to ‘advice.’ Since her testimony, however, Congress received evidence that Professor Warren and the Bureau were deeply involved in the negotiations. …The emergence of the bureau’s ‘Settlement Presentation,’ and the fact that Professor Warren has been in dozens of meetings with federal and state officials about these settlements raises concerns about the veracity of her testimony.” http://politi.co/kUE1Sa

After passing through the Texas House of Representatives last week, two payday lending regulation bills (House Bills 2592 and 2594)  made their way through the Texas Senate on Monday. The bills will now go back to the House,  where they will need to get approval of any Senate changes before they get to Governor Rick Perry.

Sen. John Carona, R-Dallas, said his legislation is a modest step to require more than 3,500 storefront payday offices to obtain a state license and to disclose information about their fees to customers.

The legislation does not address the so-called cycle of debt — when consumers extend their short-term loans, on average a dozen times, racking up heavier fees.

Multiple Democratic sources are telling CNN that Warren would prefer a recess appointment to run the Bureau over a Senate run.

Some inside the White House would rather she run for office than face the uncertainty of a recess appointment, but said she has avoided discussing the matter openly for fear of polarizing the bureau.

“She is actively considering a run but wants to make sure that the bureau is up, operational and set for success,” one Democratic official said.

The activists are always right. How, you ask?
l) Make a loan – you’re a predator.
ll) Refuse a loan – you’re discriminating.

Moral of this story – it’s good to be an activist.

The CFPB has reached a new level (of course this headline is coming from a blogger). The latest headline when talking about the new agency and it’s power … none other than a comparison to the Japanese movie monster: Godzilla.

More on the continued saga of Dems versus GOP and the fight over the CFPB … Senator Shelby last week went for the throat and called it a “horrible agency,” according to one report.

To hear his full remarks, watch the video below beginning at 2:30.

Having already levied reporters, and even Elizabeth Warren herself, community banks are now taking to a massive ad campaign to make sure lawmakers and regulators “tread lightly on small banks.”

In recent months, the community banking industry has started an aggressive grassroots campaign, taking aim at regulation enacted in the aftermath of the financial crisis. Small banks fear new rules under the Dodd-Frank law, especially certain consumer protection provisions and debit card fee restrictions, could hurt their bottom line and even cause a few banks to fail. The Independent Community Bankers of America, an industry trade group, spent roughly $1.2 million lobbying regulators and lawmakers in the first quarter of 2011, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.