The only clear choice to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau if Elizabeth Warren.  The whole idea is her brainchild and it is crystal clear that her focus will be consumer first.  Warren also has the chops to back up her position.  Because it has been suggested that many of the employees will come from existing agencies we need someone at the head who has a clear vision of the Bureau’s purpose and mission.  The last thing that American consumers need is for the Bureau to be captured by agencies such as the Federal Reserve and the Treasury department.  It would defeat the purpose of the Bureau and put us back in the same place we were prior to its existence. 

Once under way, the agency is likely to be the most visible manifestation to consumers from the extensive financial-regulatory legislation expected to clear Congress next week. It will write rules on checking accounts, credit cards and mortgages. It will field complaints from the public about lending practices. It will enforce its rules across the economy, from big banks to credit counselors—though not auto dealers, which won’t fall under the agency’s supervision, after much lobbying.

The president’s choice of a director, subject to Senate confirmation, is almost certain to be controversial, given the power of the position and the fight over whether to create the agency in the first place.

Like Joseph Kennedy Sr., the first chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the new director will shape the powerful agency’s public image, initial priorities and starting lineup.

Democratic leaders in Congress say their top pick for the post is Elizabeth Warren, the high-profile Harvard law professor and an outspoken critic of what she sees as a too-cozy relationship between government and bankers.

Some of the candidates mentioned are:

Michael Barr, a Treasury assistant secretary and University of Michigan law professor; Attorneys general Martha Coakley of Massachusetts, Lisa Madigan of Illinois and Lori Swanson of Minnesota; Susan Wachter of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School; and Nicolas Retsinas of Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing studies.

Elizabeth Warren is the ONLY choice.

Attorney barred in the District of Columbia and California currently looking for opportunities in the private and government sectors.  Specializes in ediscovery/litigation efficiency project management but can do straight litigation or litigation management.  Feel free to contact me with opportunities at progress@progresspolitics.com