Dr. Elizabeth Warren: The One-Woman Transparency Machine
It's extremely difficult not to respect the work of Dr. Warren. Truth told, I had never heard of her before Paulson and his TARP totalitarianism blew through Capitol Hill last Fall, but her relentless pursuit of bailout sunshine and justice on behalf of taxpayers makes her unique in Washington. So we use just about every opportunity we are afforded to showcase her work.
She is your most powerful ally in DC, and is so committed to her cause that she has been reported to dream in the alphabet soup of Fed and Treasury program acronyms. You already know that she fights on your behalf as head of the COP for Paulson's malfeasance. You might be less aware, that she's been championing the creation of a Consumer Financial Protection Agency to represent your interests in Washington.
One of the few positives of Obama's speech yesterday was his mention of support for the CFPA as it makes it way through Congress. Rachel Maddow (I know, her voice alone is difficult to stomach), had Dr. Warren on last night to discuss the issues, including some honest talk about the omnipotent banking lobby. Also throwing in a clip of Warren with Maria Bartiromo from last week discussing Geithner's testimony before the Congressional Oversight Panel.
Watch (video is below)
Warren with Rachel Maddow Sep. 14
Sep 16, 2009 at 4:11 PM
Reader Comments (47)
Surprise, surprise. When Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne took over operations at Chrysler upon its emergence from bankruptcy in June, he found something of a mess, he told reporters at the Frankfurt Motors Show this week. He told the Wall Street Journal that he found, a “whole pile of surprises.” According to the paper, Marchionne added that, “We were surprised by how little had been done in the past 24 months,” he said. “I am now confident that we have the right plan and people in place.”
AP Source: Cuomo subpoenas 5 Bank of America board members over Merrill Lynch deal
Battle looming over raising the debt limit...
http://money.cnn.com/2009/09/15/news/companies/bofa_sec/?postversion=2009091518
Lehman's Collapse Exposed The Truth: We Were Deeply In Crisis Already
You gotta check this out....new global public debt clock from the Economist...ugly numbers...
* Global public debt is currently at nearly $35 trillion and is predicted to rise to $45 trillion by 2011
* US public debt is currently at $6.7 trillion and is predicted to rise to over $10 trillion by 2011
* Chinese public debt per capita is currently $649.52. In the US, per capita debt is $21,863.70 and will rise to $32,307 per person by 2011
The Final Demise of A Speculative Housing Bubble
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/09/16/2009-09-16_fbi_unit_set_for_more_antiterror_raids_in_queens_sources_fears_of_madridstyle_su.html#ixzz0RIumwlNu
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/16/ethics-panel-defers-inves_n_288611.html
The Feds are closing in on Jesse Jr....couldn't happen to a more corrupt politician...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/15/business-groups-step-up-c_n_287981.html
This is the agency Warren is discussing in the clip with Maddow...
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/15/macro-situation-notes/
How can we even talk about what output should be when that red trend line was based on an economy driven by inflated home values, excess debt, cheap money and over consumption driven by increasing home values?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125306012124114135.html#mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLETopStories
http://www.scribd.com/doc/19740234/bofaorder914
Related:
What Kind of Judge Stands Up For Truth and Justice? Rakoff...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/15/AR2009091503498.html
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&sid=aDi3gjYfB0h0
Good angry piece from Weil...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125297744960710625.html
The Devil's Dictionary -- Financial Edition
The Wall Street Crisis of 2008 Changed the Business Lexicon, Conjuring a Cloud of Acronyms, Neologisms and Euphemisms
Ambrose Evans Pritchard
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/recession/6190818/US-credit-shrinks-at-Great-Depression-rate-prompting-fears-of-double-dip-recession.html
Both bank credit and the M3 money supply in the United States have been contracting at rates comparable to the onset of the Great Depression since early summer, raising fears of a double-dip recession in 2010 and a slide into debt-deflation.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/15/opinion/15pedreira.html
Former Lehman employee whines about not getting a bailout...pathetic...
Allegations of fraud have dogged Acorn for years, sometimes resulting in convictions. Last week in Florida, authorities arrested 11 Acorn workers and charged them with submitting fake voter registration papers. Two months ago, GOP Representative Darrell Issa of California issued a 88-page staff report on the organization's activities.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203917304574414953885661772.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/09/15/eveningnews/main5313869.shtml
Acorn video that is causing all the controversy...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRJrkupmtJI
He said that while U.S. efforts to avert a financial meltdown have succeeded in the short term, regulators will eventually have to deal with deficits caused by the spending.
“The government has turned on the fire hose, and it’s a huge fire hose,” Buffett said. “We are going to have to, at some point, wean ourselves from huge deficits, and that will be very, very difficult.”
http://www.dailypaul.com/node/107252
http://centralfloridapolitics.com/2009/07/10/rep-alan-grayson-loses-millions-in-ponzi-scheme/
http://www.businessinsider.com/andy-xie-check-out-the-keynesian-disaster-in-japan-2009-9
Heaven help us if fools like Krugman get their way and we follow the same mis-guided path...
Xie mentioned zombie companies unable to support themselves and the broader economy, but which had been bailed out by the government. Chris Whalen's latest at IRA speaks to this -- our zombies are NOT (surprise, surprise) supporting the economy by extending credit. Just the opposite. And wasn't TARP supposed to be about "unfreezing" those dang credit markets? Or did they have a "meltdown"? I forget. Didn't the mixed metaphor tip Congress off that something (to mix things further) didn't add up? Well, here's Whalen.
http://us1.institutionalriskanalytics.com/pub/IRAstory.asp?tag=381
And video!
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1252912934&play=1
"Is it possible to imagine circumstances in which we *don't* follow this path? We're certainly headed in that direction. Will we turn before it's too late?"
I think we are going to have a hell of a scrape in 6 weeks as the debt ceiling gets hit and needs to be raised...fiscal conservatives will use the vote to wage a public relations battle against excessive debt...and my hope is this battle and the increasing anger about the debt will cause enough pyschological damage among proponents to prevent a second stimulus from being enacted...
Such is my hope...
I will now for the first time in my life applaud the work of Erin Burnett...holy shit...color me stunned, and dare i say it, even impressed by the banking apologista...this video just moved up to the top of the list for posting...
it's almost a cause for celebration...we have been screaming about this $13 billion for months...and the financial MSM has finally heard us...and by 'us' i don't mean us but the entire financial blogoshpere...
What might the title be:
Banking Apologista Grows a Sack And Finally Tells The Truth
http://www.thebigmoney.com/articles/impressions/2009/09/16/spawning-salmon?page=full
I am convinced that in my first month that I had a bitch-fight with Summers over on Calculated Risk...he dropped a few hints in the heat of his anger...now i'm even more sure it was him...he kept saying "if you only knew who i was, you wouldn't be speaking to me that way"
I was ripping Keynesians on the day the Stimulus was passed...I basically went to CR to pick a fight with the Keynesian academic sloths who reside there...i was not in a good mood...
I think i started the fight with a loud message calling all Keynesians generational rapists...
Good times, good times...
Here's to blue eyes.
(It's like that Who song -- "My dreams they aren't as empty...")
Crown and coke raised to your martini...
"We Won't Be Fooled Again..."
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/sep/17/senate-dems-approve-road-signs-that-tout-stimulus/?utm_source=Comprehensive&utm_campaign=f43e406a8e-In_brief_9_17-2009&utm_medium=email
DB,
I don't understand why you support creation of CFPA. Or for that matter, the creation of any new government agency. The SEC, FTC, FDIC, CFTC, Fed (ugh), along with the numerous oversight committees and panels aren't enough? The CFPA will have its own appropriations independent of Congress, as well as undefined powers over business. I've had enough government involvement in economic decision-making --- no more agencies, no more expansions of power.
I appreciate Dr. Warren's efforts and rational thinking, but disagree on her methods of reform. The CFPA is not going to reform the system--- a big government trashcan might. In it: the Fed, Fannie Mae, Freddie, rating agency monopoly, FHA, etc etc...
Ha, I can dream, right... ;)
Amen
I don't understand why you support creation of CFPA. Or for that matter, the creation of any new government agency. The SEC, FTC, FDIC, CFTC, Fed (ugh), along with the numerous oversight committees and panels aren't enough? The CFPA will have its own appropriations independent of Congress, as well as undefined powers over business. I've had enough government involvement in economic decision-making --- no more agencies, no more expansions of power.
I appreciate Dr. Warren's efforts and rational thinking, but disagree on her methods of reform. The CFPA is not going to reform the system--- a big government trashcan might. In it: the Fed, Fannie Mae, Freddie, rating agency monopoly, FHA, etc etc...
Ha, I can dream, right... ;)
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Allie, I feel generally the same as you about our alphabet soup of regulation...for the most part it is useless...but none of these regulators exists to SUPPORT THE CONSUMER...which is why the CFPA is important in my view...and it also explains why the banking and credit-card lobby is so adamantly opposed to its creation...
Credit card companies and banks have responded to the crisis in a number of disgusting ways as they try to re-build balance sheets...mostly by charging exorbitant fees and hiking interest rates, sometimes dramatically, on pre-existing balances...there are horror stories everywhere about rates getting unilaterally jacked up above 15-20% on unsuspecting consumers...
It's usury, plain and simply...Under current law, they can do whatever the hell they want...the CFPA will attempt to change that...Again, I understand the frustration with our existing regulators...but the CFPA should not be put into the same camp...
And you have to admit that this reality is VERY BAD NEWS for the banks and credit-card companies...which explains why they are fighting it so heavily...I am willing to listen to opposing views...but any argument that claims it will interfere with banks' ability to make a profit is complete bullshit...
And finally regarding the big trashcan...that just isn't going to happen, unfortunately....despite how much we might hope for it...it is a utopian dream...at least until we have one of our own in the White House...
This is how I see it and why I support it...feel free to engage and correct me...debate is healthy...
It seems they all exist to “support the consumer.” That’s their selling point. A majority of the agencies today came into being through laws specifically written to protect and support the consumer – such as the Community Reinvestment Act and Loan disclosure laws, which are really working out well.
The law of unintended consequences, laissez-faire economic policies, the federal deficit, and the bloated size and waste in government are overlooked and ignored, which is why I don’t think the CFPA is important, and why I oppose its creation. Why do you think this agency will be any different from other agencies that regulate financial sectors or consumer protection? What specifically? (I really am curious).
Of course the banks and credit-card companies oppose it too. Wouldn’t you be pissed if the government stepped in to regulate the extent of your profit? (Btw, how will it not interfere with profit-making? Aside from “consumer protection,” is that not the point of limiting rates?)
I am opposed to usury laws as well. Here’s an article that explains most of my position (http://www.thefreemanonline.org/columns/on-usury-laws/). I know it was written in 1836, but the principles still apply.
I'll throw in my two cents. You're right that the agency may do more harm than good (mission creep?). But on the specific issue of banks and cc companies ripping people off, I see some of the proposed regulations as a way to pre-empt fraud. Generally the courts should be a refuge for victims of fraud, but many cc contracts, for instance, preclude class-action law suits. Some entrepreneur with a JD would be all over this stuff, otherwise.
As I see it, the banks and cc companies have used and abused the notion of a "contract" in order to legally protect their own fraud. Govt. law and govt courts usually enforce written contracts -- even though there's not a snowball's chance that most people even know what's in their cc agreement. According to positive, govt. law, the contract is binding, but according to natural law or common sense, it's still fraud. It just has all the trappings of a "contract." If the agency or regulatory reform prevents this kind of crap from happening, I can live with that. If it results in another voracious, tax-eating agency with a bad case of mission creep, then scrap it.
Ultimately, I'm all for pitchforks and torches. Seriously. Criminals should never feel safe in a free society. Bring back the AIG bus tours. Send them down to Charlotte
Why do you think this agency will be any different from other agencies that regulate financial sectors or consumer protection? What specifically? (I really am curious).
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Because of its mission (yes there might be some creep later)...and because of the woman running it...Perhaps I shouldn't be so blind, but I trust Dr. Warren explicitly...and without having to repeat, I think James and AB made some valid points...ok, maybe AB just loves him some Elizabeth (jk), but I think and hope the focus of this agency will specifically be to protect consumers on mortgages and especially credit cards....
Time will tell...but it's an experiment i'm willing to support as it will put Dr. Warren into a position of actual power where i firmly believe she will do some good...
I enjoyed reading your response...you are an extremely bright young person who gives me faith in the next generation...i hope as you approach your late 20s that you will consider an attempt to run for Congress...seriously...
"Time will tell...but it's an experiment i'm willing to support as it will put Dr. Warren into a position of actual power where i firmly believe she will do some good..."
Alright, I'll bet you my signed copy of End the Fed that it goes horribly wrong ... :)
Now that has some value...you must be pretty confident...I ought to get odds because your bet is the easy one...considering that 95% of gov't agencies are useless, the odds say the CFPA only has a 5% chance of doing some good...so 20 to 1 against...
That's ok, I'm partial to the underdog role...
What's up with the Grayson mini-scandal where he invested in one of those 90% Stock, tax avoidance scams...?
His reasoning for getting involved seemed so fishy...I posted the link in one of these boards yesterday...
The solution to corrupt government involvement in the world of money; (or any of the other corrupt government involvements around), is to get the ^@#*^(# politicians out of what's going on and back to defending the borders and trying to deliver the mail. Let's see if they can do that before we give them anymore power to screw our lives up. The people you hope will fix things for you are the dregs of humanity. Look at their records; why do we want people like this involved in what we do?
Think about it. Without the Bush/Obama fascist government bailouts there are none of the crooked banks, etc, etc, and the taxpayers still have the X $Trillion the government stole from them. Only government allows theft like this.
Econoranter
I don't know much more than what's in the link, except that it was on all of the local channels and newspapers. (The WKMG link is the longer version of the story, http://www.clickorlando.com/news/20007006/detail.html ). It did seem fishy... but also ballsy-- use the firm for tax avoidance, make profit, sue them when they screw you over, and tell the IRS to f**k off. ..ha!
http://www.crewsmostcorrupt.org/
15 most corrupt members of congress