Regulators, appointed by industry to serve industry- if Bachus and Shelby have their way

Despite the massive damage caused by Wall Street and the banking industry, the Republicans in the House and Senate want to get rid of any oversight of the financial industry.

One more reason why the country has a long way to go down the derailed path before hitting the bottom.

Who’s Afraid of Elizabeth Warren?

In a recent letter to Secretary Geithner, Mr. Bachus said: “Reports about the role played by political appointees in the Treasury department — including those affiliated” with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, “an agency that does not yet have any regulatory or enforcement authority — raise further questions.”

No matter that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau became involved only when the state attorneys general asked for advice. Mr. Bachus is taking the opportunity to follow up on what he said recently: “In Washington, the view is that the banks are to be regulated, and my view is that Washington and the regulators are there to serve the banks.”

The industry is unhappy because the proposed settlement — or, you could say, its transgressions with regard to foreclosures — could cost them up to $20 billion.

Mr. Bachus would not have a direct voice in any nomination hearing, which is the purview of the Senate, but plenty of Republican senators share his views, including Richard C. Shelby of Alabama, the ranking minority member of the Senate Banking Committee. And The Wall Street Journal regularly joins inthe chorus opposing Ms. Warren’s views.