From Politico: In Surprise Twist, CFPB Arbitration Rule Racks up Allies from the Right

By Lorraine Woellert

09/07/2017 05:00 AM EDT

A group of conservatives is breaking ranks with right-leaning groups to endorse a CFPB rule that prohibits financial companies from forcing customers into arbitration to settle disputes.

The rally from the right could be enough to tip the scales in the Senate, which is weighing S.J. Res. 47 (115) to overturn the bureau rule using the Congressional Review Act. While the House acted swiftly to nullify the CFPB rule, a Senate vote remains too close to call.

A poll released today by the American Future Fund, a super PAC established to support Mitt Romney's bid for president, shows broad support for the arbitration ban in states where moderate Republicans could decide the future of the rule.

In Ohio and Alaska, more than two-thirds of people polled supported the Bureau's rule, including a majority of Republicans and people who described themselves as "very conservative," the survey found.

In Louisiana, support for the rule neared 70 percent. In Maine, where Republican Susan Collins boasts strong favorability from liberals and moderates, 65 percent of those polled backed the arbitration rule.

Collins, along with Republicans Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, John Kennedy of Louisiana and Rob Portman of Ohio, hasn't staked out a position on the resolution to overturn the rule.

"The message for Republican senators is be very careful," said Nick Ryan, founder of American Future Fund. "The people are against what the Republican majority did in the House, and they're against it by pretty clear majorities."

The poll was conducted in mid-August by American Viewpoint.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is leading a campaign to overturn the rule, which businesses say would line the pockets of trial lawyers while doing little to help consumers. The Chamber's allies include a coalition of small-government conservatives such as Americans for Tax Reform and Heritage Action.

With the poll, American Future Fund joins a number of conservative voices speaking out against the Chamber, including Tea Party Nation founderJudd Phillips; Dean Clancy, former vice president for public policy at FreedomWorks; Colin Hanna of Let Freedom Ring USA; and the American Legion.

In editorials and statements, they've singled out big business as a threat to liberty and the Constitution's Seventh Amendment, which guarantees the right to a jury trial.

"This issue is one that tilts the scales in favor of big banks. It has a big-business-versus-the-common-man feel to it," Ryan said. "It's really a populist issue for us. We shouldn't be doing the bidding of big banks."

To view online:
https://www.politicopro.com/financial-services/story/2017/09/in-surprise-twist-cfpb-arbitration-rule-racks-up-allies-from-the-right-161564