Page 2 The Skanner February 8, 2017
Bernie Foster
Founder/Publisher
Bobbie Dore Foster
Executive Editor
Jerry Foster
Advertising Manager
Christen McCurdy
News Editor
Patricia Irvin
Graphic Designer
Melanie Sevcenko
Reporter
Monica J. Foster
Seattle Office Coordinator
Susan Fried
Photographer
2016
MERIT
AWARD
WINNER
The Skanner Newspaper, es-
tablished in October 1975, is a
weekly publication, published
every Wednesday by IMM Publi-
cations Inc.
415 N. Killingsworth St.
P.O. Box 5455
Portland, OR 97228
Telephone (503) 285-5555
Fax: (503) 285-2900
info@theskanner.com
www.TheSkanner.com
The Skanner is a member of the
National Newspaper Pub lishers
Association and West Coast Black
Pub lishers Association.
All photos submitted become
the property of The Skanner. We
are not re spon sible for lost or
damaged photos either solicited
or unsolicited.
©2017 The Skanner. All rights re served. Reproduction in
whole or in part without permission prohibited.
Local News
Pacific NW News
World News
Opinions
Jobs, Bids
Entertainment
Community Calendar
RSS feeds
BE A PART
OF THE
CONVERSATION
#SkNews
Opinion
EDITORIAL: Let the Republicans Pay the Price, or We Will
P
resident Donald Trump
has nominated Judge
Neil Gorsuch to the Su-
preme Court, hoping to
cement the court’s extreme
right-wing bias for a genera-
tion to come.
For almost a year Repub-
licans refused to consider
President Obama’s nominee,
well-respected mainstream
Judge Merrick Garland. Now
Republicans are in a rush to
confirm Gorsuch, one of the
youngest nominees to the
court at age 49.
Supreme Court Justices are
appointed for life, so confirm-
ing Gorsuch would have a
long-term effect on our coun-
try. (By the way, we don’t be-
“
Bernie Foster
Publisher
The Skanner News
nomination. If they don’t what
will be next? Republicans may
never permit a future Demo-
cratic president to appoint a
Supreme Court Justice. What
they did to Judge Garland was
unacceptable and must have
consequences.
Neil Gorsuch is a judge who
has supported efforts to de-
fund Planned Parenthood
and took the side of an em-
ployer who wanted to exclude
What they did to Judge Garland
was unacceptable and must have
consequences
lieve anyone in government
should have a job for life —
even Supreme Court Justices
— because when you’re too
comfortable you tend to lose
touch with reality.)
Democrats must oppose this
contraception coverage from
its healthcare plan; a man
who hated his liberal high
school so much he started a
club called Fascism Forever. If
Gorsuch is confirmed we can
AP PHOTO/J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE
Challenging People to Shape
a Better Future Now
Supreme Court Justice nominee Neil Gorsuch meets with Senate Judiciary
Committee member Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2017, on Capitol
Hill in Washington.
expect a right-wing extremist
court for years to come.
Hats off to Sen. Jeff Merkley
who has already promised to
filibuster this nomination.
Sen. Merkley says he will not
vote for any nominee who is
not Judge Merrick Garland.
We hope every Democrat will
join Sen. Merkley to insist
that the Republicans find 60
votes for Judge Gorsuch — if
they can.
The President has encour-
aged Sen. Mitch McConnell to
use the ‘so-called’ nuclear op-
tion and change Senate rules
in order to push through this
appointment. That’s a bad
precedent, but if Sen. McCo-
nnell wants to take that low
road, then let him. Democrats
may not be able to block this
nomination for good, but they
should not make it easy.
Let the Republicans pay the
price for the last eight years
of obstruction.
Lawmakers, Lobbyists Attack Consumer Protection Agency
A
s a new Congress and
White House begin
their respective gov-
ernmental roles, a
still-growing cadre of sup-
porters and opponents are
focusing on the future of the
Consumer Financial Protec-
tion Bureau (CFPB).
Ironically, Capitol Hill’s on-
going regulatory tug-of-war
is really not a partisan issue
for much of the nation. Early
consumer polls documented
that the strongest supporters
for financial regulation were
consumers of color. Consid-
ering that Black and Latino
consumers are often target-
ed for financial abuse, strong
support is understandable.
Even a December 2016 on-
line poll conducted by Glover
Park Group/Morning Con-
sult revealed strong support
for CFPB among Trump vot-
ers as well:
By a margin of 55 to 28 per-
cent, Trump voters oppose ef-
forts to weaken or eliminate
the CFPB;
• 47 percent say the Dodd
Frank financial reforms
should be kept or expanded,
as against 27 percent who
want to see that law scaled
back or repealed; and
• 41 percent want the bureau
to be left alone, and 14 per-
cent say its power should be
increased.
So why are some Capitol
Hill lawmakers and lobbyists
still determined to attack the
CFPB and Richard Cordray,
it’s the director of the agency?
A number of recent actions
appear out of sync with even
Charlene
Crowell
NNPA
Columnist
President Trump’s base.
As early as January 11, a bill
was filed to change CFPB’s
governance from a single di-
rector to a five-member com-
mission. Nearly six years ago,
“
tion of CFPB, the specter of
its still pending regulation
hangs in the balance. After
public hearings and com-
ments, many consumer advo-
cates anxiously await rules
that would govern small dol-
lar loans such as payday and
car-title, and others affecting
debt collection and auto fi-
nance.
In the meantime, a growing
number of lawmakers, state
officials and consumer advo-
cates are raising their respec-
A growing number of lawmakers,
state officials and consumer advo-
cates are raising their respective
voices to alert consumers
CFPB opponents tried unsuc-
cessfully to create a less effi-
cient commission rather than
an accountable, single direc-
tor structure. Sponsored by
Nebraska’s Senator Deb Fish-
er, the measure was assigned
to the Senate’s Committee on
Banking, Housing and Urban
Affairs and awaits further
consideration.
On January 20, Reince Prie-
bus announced to federal
agency heads and executive
departments that a regulato-
ry freeze would take effect at
noon that same day. As an in-
dependent law enforcement
agency, many consumer advo-
cates would argue that CFPB
should be exempted from ex-
ecutive actions.
Even though the Priebus
memo made no specific men-
tive voices to alert consumers
of all at stake and their com-
mitment to financial fairness.
A total of 16 state attorneys
general agree. On January
23, Connecticut AG George
Jepsen and his colleagues
filed a motion to intervene
in a federal appeals case, de-
fending the constitutionality
of the CFPB.
Writing for the group, AG
Jepsen said, “The CFPB is the
cop on the beat, protecting
Main Street from Wall Street
misconduct. It was structured
by Congress to be a power-
ful and independent agency
that would protect consum-
ers from the abuses of Wall
Street, banks, and other large
financial institutions…. That
mission is still critical to con-
sumers today.”
The following day, Janu-
ary 24, a letter to President
Trump from 38 members
of the Congressional Black
Caucus called for Director
Cordray to remain in his po-
sition through his confirmed
2018 term. According to the
CBC members, with Director
Cordray’s leadership nearly
$30 million in civil monetary
penalties and over $400 mil-
lion in restitution went to 1.4
million minority consumers.
“Communities of color
and, indeed, all consumers
in America will benefit from
having Director Cordray re-
main in his position and con-
tinue to independently imple-
ment the mandates imposed
upon him by Congress as the
Director of the CFPB”, wrote
the CBC.
The letter to President
Trump also followed a Janu-
ary 18 guest column jointly
authored by California Con-
gresswoman Maxine Waters
and Congressman Cedric
Richmond of Louisiana, the
newly-elected chair of the
Congressional Black Caucus.
Their column declared that
CFPB Director Richard Cor-
dray had their “unyielding
support” and added that the
Bureau is “America’s most im-
portant consumer protection
agency.”
“In 2007, the American econ-
omy was shaken to its core.
Trillions of dollars in wealth
disappeared,” wrote Waters
and Richmond.
Read the rest of this commentary at
TheSkanner.com