Washington ? Barack Obama promised enormous change in how our government was run.

He should live up to his word and nominate Elizabeth Warren, one of this country’s most passionate and committed consumer advocates, to head up the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which is authorized in the Wall Street reform bill that finally cleared Congress.

The bureau, to be housed at the Federal Reserve, will regulate and analyze consumer financial products such as mortgages, other types of loans and credit cards. A special unit will sound the alarm early if companies or products pose a risk to consumers.

The person who directs this bureau will have the power to create an agency to put the interest of consumers first and protect them from many shady and predatory practices from a financial industry that has run amok.

Warren is chairwoman of the congressional oversight panel monitoring the U.S. banking bailout. She is also a bankruptcy expert and has produced research that highlighted bad credit products.

Warren championed the idea of a financial product safety commission. In a 2007 article for the journal Democracy, Warren wrote that just as the Consumer Product Safety Commission was created to protect buyers against unreasonable risks of injuries, so too should there be an agency to safeguard consumers who use various forms of credit.

“Clearly, it is time for a new model of financial regulation, one focused primarily on consumer safety rather than corporate profitability,” she wrote.

Already there is concern that Warren won’t get through the confirmation process because she’s viewed as too consumer-friendly. During an interview on NPR’s “The Diane Rehm Show,” Sen. Christopher Dodd said he wasn’t sure Warren could win Senate confirmation.

Some people are questioning whether Warren will stand in the way of financial product innovation. They worry that her history of criticizing credit issuers and industry practices might result in crushing new credit products for the middle class.

But I know Warren and her work, and she’s not anti-credit. She understands that credit is necessary in an economy built on using other people’s money. I don’t believe she will stifle new credit products.

But she darn sure will do her best to make sure consumers understand the costs, risks and benefits of consumer financial products or services.