David Nakamura and Ylan Q. Mui of the Washington Post are reporting that President Obama is angry that Senate Republicans derailed his nominee to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a new federal consumer-protection agency.

President Obama nominated former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray for the post. Nakamura and Mui say, "An agitated President Obama accused congressional Republicans on Thursday of not standing up for ordinary Americans."

They write:

“This makes no sense,” Obama declared. “Consumers across the country understand part of the reason we got into the financial mess we did is because regulators are not doing their jobs.”

This setback comes just days after the president announced that he would make economic inequality a central pillar of his re-election effort.

Nakamura and Mui add:

By blocking Cordray’s nomination, Obama said, the GOP had shown itself to be more interested in winning leverage over him than in protecting consumers from “unscrupulous operators.” Obama proposed creation of the agency after the country’s financial meltdown three years ago as a way to enforce consumer regulations and monitor abuses.

Obama could appoint Cordray when Congress adjourns next Friday and would not be empowered to block him. Senate Republicans have vowed to "technically" stay in session to keep the president from nominating Cordray while they are away.

"Technically" stay in session?

In the words of Señor Daddy Love, played brilliantly by Samuel L. Jackson in Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing, "Time out!" Blocking congressional nominations just because they can is not kosher. Can anyone on either side of the aisle say with a straight face that we don't need the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, let alone someone to spearhead it? Many Americans have been struggling for years because of predatory business practices.

Why exactly is Cordray's nomination a problem? Is it because he's a Democrat? Is it because congressional Republicans are so obsessed with their plan to see the president fail that they will not do what is best for the American people?

Read more at the Washington Post.

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