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But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house. Mark 6:4
There is no sadder moment in life than when your own "peeps" turn on you, like rancid milk in the stomach of a lactose-intolerant toddler. Thus, it must have been excruciatingly depressing when Princess Running Joke first read that the Chippewa-Cree have now added themselves to the list of parties challenging the legitimacy of the appointment of Recess Richie as Commissar Director of the Politburo CFPB, the Princess' proud concoction.
The tribal challenge is related to the declaration of war the Chippewa-Cree and other tribes made last year on the CFPB after "The Adjustment Bureau" issued civil investigative demands to that tribe, as well as the Tunica-Biloxi and the Otoe-Missouria tribes concerning the tribes involvement in online small-loan lending activities. Rumour has it that the demands were served on those three tribes by the Bureau's chief process server, George Armstrong Custer VII. Custer was last seen several months ago attempting to serve a similar demand on the Oglala Sioux, but has not been heard from since. Sioux Chief Son-of-son-of-son-of-son-of-Sitting Bull asserted that he had absolutely no idea where the missing "Yellow Hair" might be.
Not surprisingly, the CFPB has suddenly maintained radio silence over the latest challenge.
The Chippewa-Cree challenged the request in part on grounds Cordray’s appointment was illegal. Cordray hasn’t acted on the petition, which could require him to address the constitutional question, the people said. By contrast, when three other companies filed similar petitions, Cordray published responses within 90 days, records show.
James Hopper of the Otoe-Missouria company, Billi Anne Raining Bird-Morsette of the Chippewa-Cree firm and Marshal Pierite of the Tunica-Biloxi lender didn’t respond to requests for comment. Vahey, the bureau spokeswoman, declined to comment on an ongoing enforcement matter.
Expect the CFPB's Sergeant Schultz act to last for some time. There's no future in having to address the fact that the ground on which you stand is composed of beach sand.
Ballard Spahr's Barbara Mishkin points out some other interesting aspects of this situation.
The CIDs were reported to have been served last year. Assuming the Chippewa-Cree tribe filed its petition objecting to the CID within the time frame mandated by CFPB regulations (which is no more than 20 days of when a CID is served), we find it interesting that the petition does not appear on the CFPB’s website. The website shows the filing dates of petitions to set aside or modify CIDs and the dates on which the CFPB’s decisions on the petitions were issued (with links to the petitions and decisions). As to the three petitions listed, the CFPB issued its decisions within approximately one to three months of the date the petition was filed. We also find it interesting that the CFPB has not yet brought enforcement actions against the tribes.
I guess that now that other tribes have caught on to the fact that the emperor may have no constitutional clothes, the emperor sees no future in appearing in public. It looks like the tribes may be continuing in the small-loan online lending business until the legitimacy of Cordray's appointment is resolved, one way or the other. Last year, Recess Richie publicly declared that he was "zoning in" on tribal payday lending. It appears that in light of the Bureau's recess appointment Achilles heel, Cordray and his cadres may be "zoning out."
I wonder if the political hacks in The White House who were patting themselves on the back over the intrasession recess appoint idea when they first proposed it are still held in such high regard by the other members of their posse.
