Not Giving Elizabeth Warren The Job Would Be The Straw That Breaks The Camel's Back

[Me.]

Treasury Makes A Mistake – Claiming They Are Not Blocking Elizabeth Warren

“It’s one thing to block Elizabeth Warren from heading the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

It’s quite another thing to deny in public, for the record, that any such blocking is going on (e.g., see this report; Michael Barr apparently said something quite similar today).

There is a strong groundswell of opinion on this issue from the left – see the BoldProgressives petition. But the center also feels strongly that, given everything Treasury has said and done over the past few months, it would be a complete travesty not to put the strongest possible regulator in change of protecting consumers. (See Ted Kaufman on the NYT’s DealBook, giving appropriate credit to the SEC, and apply the same points to broader customer issues going forward.)

This can now go only one of two ways.

1. Elizabeth Warren gets the job. Bridges are mended and the White House regains some political capital. Secretary Geithner is weakened slightly but he’ll recover.
2. Someone else gets the job, despite Treasury’s claims that Elizabeth Warren was not blocked. The deception in this scenario would be nauseating – and completely blatant. “Everyone was considered on their merits” and “the best candidate won” will convince who exactly?…cont…

http://baselinescenario.com/2010/07/16/treasury-makes-a-mistake-claiming-they-are-not-blocking-elizabeth-warren/#more-7852

[Me.]

1. More

"Despite the growing public reaction, outcome #2 is the most likely and the White House needs to understand this, plain and clear – there will be complete and utter revulsion at its handling of financial regulatory reform both on this specific issue and much more broadly. The administration’s position in this area is already weak, its achievements remain minimal, its speaking points are lame, and the patience of even well-inclined people is wearing thin.

Failing to appoint Elizabeth Warren would be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. It will go down in the history books as a turning point – downwards – for this administration.”

[DJ13]

2. +1

[Greyhound]

3. K&R for more of that "change".

[Donnachaidh]

4. the unrec squad is hitting you hard - K&R. n/t

[Me.]

9. Thanks

Guess the truth hurts

[qazplm]

5. I'll ask the same thing I asked on KOS

is Warren the only possible person on the entire face of the Earth who can head up this thing?

What happens when she leaves, does the camel's back get broken then? How about we see who is selected and then determine whether they are acceptable or not?

[Ruby the Liberal]

7. The whole concept was her idea.

She should have the crack at getting it off the ground, IMO.

[Robb]

8. I'll ask, too, does she want the gig?

...What if she endorses someone else, will that do?

[Donnachaidh]

11. what a ludicrous question!

It was answered in the previous posting. She came up with the concept. Do you think she would not want to see it to fruition?

[Robb]

12. Von Braun never rode in a rocket.

Just asking, sheesh. If you can point me to a story where she says she wants the job, I'd appreciate it.

[Hydra]

13. Sorry you feel burned

But Elizabeth Warren has been chomping at the bit to do some serious oversight and enforcement since she was appointed head of the TARP oversight commission...and was promptly left in the dark and not given the powers she needed to actually DO any overseeing.

You're basically asking if Dennis Kucinich would like a fair crack at passing a Single Payer bill or bringing our troops home.

[Me.]

10. There Is A Man Whose Name Has Been Mentioned

Can't remember or find it though it starts with a B. Not much help I know. And I'm sure there must be others though clearly as it was her idea in the first place you would think it wouldn't even be an issue. But I think the bottom line problem here is Geithner and his leanings towards Wall Street. It is suspected and most likely correct that anyone he would put in there would be more inclined towards favoring Wall Street than consumers. The incisors would be immediately pulled from the bill. Geithner has a record of bad judgment and letting his influence this pick would be a bad sign.

Tim Geithner’s Ninth Political Life

“In modern American life, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner stands out as amazingly resilient and remarkably lucky – despite presiding over or being deeply involved in a series of political debacles, he has gone from strength to strength. After at least eight improbably bounce backs, he might seem unassailable. But his latest mistake – blocking Elizabeth Warren from heading the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – may well prove politically fatal.

Geithner was a junior but key member of the US Treasury team that badly mishandled the early days of the Asian financial crisis in 1997 and received widespread criticism (Life #1). He was promoted as a result and thereafter enjoyed a meteoric rise.

As President of the New York Federal Reserve from 2003, and de facto head of the government’s financial intelligence service, he completely failed to spot the problems developing in and around the country’s financial markets; nothing about this embarrassing track record has since stood in his way (Life #2). He subsequently became Hank Paulson’s Wall Street point person for one of the most comprehensively bungled bailouts of all time – the Troubled Asset Relief Program, TARP, which in fall 2008 first appalled Congress with its intentions and then wasn’t used at all as advertised (Life #3).

TARP and related Bush-Paulson-Geithner efforts were so completely and clearly unsuccessful in October/November 2009 that the crisis worsened and Geithner was offered the job of Treasury Secretary by President-elect Obama; the incoming team felt there was no substitute for “experience”. Nevertheless, he almost failed in the confirmation process due to issues related to his taxes (Life #4) and then stumbled badly with his initial public repositioning of the TARP (Life #5), which was going to buy toxic assets again but in a more complicated way (perhaps his most complete and obviously personal political disaster to date).”…cont…

http://baselinescenario.com/2010/07/15/tim-geithner%E2%80%99s-ninth-political-life/

[Ruby the Liberal]

6. They put a lobbyist in charge of HCR

Surely they won't make the same mistake with the one thing the whole country agrees on - reigning in Wall Street.

K&R

[Hydra]

14. No, cuz you know, we "look forward..."

...to the mistakes in regulation we'll be making next week, rather than looking at how we screwed up before and not doing it again.

[voteearlyvoteoften]

15. am kick

[Enthusiast]

16. The PTB simply

will not allow Elizabeth Warren in that position for the very reasons that we want her in that position. There have been a lot of straws for me, this is just another one.

[tomp]

17. i see a third possibility

warren gets the job, executes the law to the best of anyone's ability, obama claims progress,
and the rich continue to get richer because the law isn't the salvation its proponents claim.

[anachro1]

18. With THIS administration?

That camel was assigned to a quadreplegic ward right away. Damn camel needs to be put out of her misery.

[Radical Activist]

19. Who gave the marching orders that this is so important?

I barely recognized her name two weeks ago. All of a sudden people are acting like she's Nelson Mandela. Where did this come from and why?

It reminds of the public option debate that everyone was suddenly obsessing over.

[Ruby the Liberal]

20. Seriously?

I was first introduced to her work in 2007 when SiCKO came out. Have followed her quite closely since then. PBS has done a number of specials featuring her (and Brooksley Born - the woman who warned about regulating derivative during the Clinton administration).

Do a google on Ms. Warren. There is a LOT of good information out there about her background and causes - notably bankruptcy and consumer protection.