Posted by Alex Heiglon June 2, 2011 6:01 PM

Elizabeth Warren is up for the position of head of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and a leading House Democrat says that some of the opposition don't want her for the job just because she's a woman.

"Some people almost unconsciously think that for a woman to be in an important position regarding the titans of the financial industry is not appropriate," top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank told the Associated Press Thursday.

When pressed, Frank did not name any people or cite any specific examples of Warren's supposed gender-based opposition.

At the same conference, Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif., said that when "the other side can't win arguments on their merits--and I would add, especially when they're threatened by an accomplished and articulate woman--that's when they make it personal." Woolsey did not provide examples or articulate on that statement.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was created last year in the wake of the financial crisis--it officially begins work on July 21.

Last month, Senate Republicans led by Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., wrote a letter to Obama promising to block any nominee to head the bureau unless some of its powers were weakened. Shelby's demands included more Congressional control over the agency's budget and replacing the director's job with a five-member commission.

Source: http://www.thirdage.com/news/elizabeth-warren-opposition-gender-based-senate-dems-say_06-03-2011