Hensarling, second from left, isn't a fan of the CFPB.

Hensarling, second from left, isn't a fan of the CFPB.

House Republicans are now expressing their opposition to the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau by stomping their feet and taking all their toys home. Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, which enjoys jurisdiction over regulatory bodies like the CFPB, says he lacks the legal authority to invite the recess-appointed director of the CFPB, Richard Cordray, to testify on behalf of the agency. “By law, the committee can receive this testimony only from a director who is appointed in accordance with the Constitution and the Dodd-Frank Act, which created the bureau,” said Hensarling.

So first they try to block the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from being created at all, because even though Wall Street fraud played a large part in that whole "massive worldwide financial meltdown" thing, it makes Wall Street sad. They couldn't successfully block it, but they were successful in watering down the role of the new agency before approving it. That wasn't enough, so they're now blocking the appointment of Richard Cordray to head the agency, demanding that the powers of the agency be further watered down before they will allow any nomination to the post to go through. And after a recess appointment to install Cordray as a temporary director while the Republicans play with their toes on the whole thing, now they're refusing to even hear from the agency chief in committee because as far as they're concerned, he's not a legitimate head for the agency.

Say what you want about House Republicans, but they're very diligent hookers. Truly a credit to the profession. We'll just leave your future lobbyist careers on the dresser here, show yourselves out.

Media folks, feel free to point out that Republican obstructionism has reached truly comical proportions. Well, it was comical two years ago—now it's just degraded to something else.