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Elizabeth Warren In Office - But Not In Power
Banksters Cheer Tepid Rules on Anniversary of Lehman's Fall
"This sounds so bleak when I say it, but we need some delusions to keep us going."
-- Woody Allen in the New York Times"The former chairman of Lazard in London who is now chairman of Barclays, once said that the only two things that would survive a nuclear war were cockroaches and Lazard. On the evidence of the past few years, he underestimated the tenacity of the rest of the investment banking industry"
-- William Wright, Editor, Financial News, London
Hooray, Elizabeth Warren is to become a Special Assistant to President Obama in charge of setting up the Consumer Protection Bureau that she conceived. Alas, it is not to be the independent agency she wanted but a bureau within the Federal Reserve Bank, a branch of government that is really run by big banks which and did virtually nothing to protect consumers when they needed help the most.
For the Obamacrats, this is a good move in political terms because the White House had been battered by the Democratic base to appoint the outspoken Warren to the job. Asked about the issue at his recent press conference, he was his usual coy and cautious self. He said he hadn't decided.
Now he has-but not to appoint her to the job she deserves but to a post in the Executive Branch under his control and with oversight by Tim Geithner, Larry Summers, and Rahm Emanuel et al. (The White House worries that they could not win a protracted confirmation battle.)
So she's in, but hardly in charge, or able to be an independent force. Remember that quote from the Godfather taken from Chinese military strategist Sun Tsu: "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer."
The usually on-target blog, Naked Capitalism, suggests that the Warren appointment was just a way to sideline her, not put her in a position of real power. In any event, the new Bureau's rules will not be in effect until 2012, if then. So much for urgency!
At the same time, Warren has posted positively about her new job on The White House website and reports having had several meetings with President Obama.
At the same time, economics analyst Yves Smith warns, don't believe the hype: "It is now official that Warren is at best a placeholder; she cannot have much impact. She can't make much in the way of policy or personnel choices; that would encroach on the authority of an incoming director. And even her ability to influence the choice of a nominee is questionable. Her taking the advisory role now assures that the nomination of the permanent director will come after the midterm Congressional elections. Given the virtual certainty of Democratic losses, the odds are high that Team Obama will settle on a "conservative" meaning "won't ruffle the banking industry" choice, and argue its hands were tied.
On the right, Warren, a former Republican, is pictured as a bring down the banks revolutionary. The financial industry hates her, perhaps because she is too smart for them,
Progressive critics fear the Consumer Protection Bureau is only a way to placate the public by containing abuses but without doing too much harm to the bankers. One example: Credit card "reforms" do not roll back usurious interest rates. Requiring disclosure is not the same as ordering the restructuring of loans to make them affordable.
The banksters are publicly unhappy but privately know they are getting off easy. According to the Financial Times, "The full impact of the new global bank capital rules announced at the weekend is likely to be 30 per cent tougher than the headline ratio suggests, according to regulators and industry participants who have studied private banking data."
Just 30 percent! Most Americans don't realize the global dimensions of the crisis and the fact that many in the world are suffering more than we are because of unchecked speculation on Wall Street.
And, so much for the international bankers at Basel forcing their American kin to impose the tough rules that are needed. What they have achieved has been characterized as bringing forth a mouse. There is nothing in place that will stop a recurrence of the Lehman collapse two years this week, There is no real debate about whether more institutions will fail, only when,
I watched an interview on BCC's Hard Talk program with the head of Britain's Hedge Fund Association who told a hostile interviewer (or maybe an interviewer posturing as hostile") that (a) The industry realizes regulation is in its interest and (b), the reforms in America are not that tough."
When you hear a banker say that, you know that regulations so far are more of a show than anything else.
The Financial News reported that the men (and some women) once labeled the "big swinging dicks" on Wall Street are doing well, thank you. The magazine features a "where are they now" spread showing that many of the top CEOS responsible for the loss of Trillions have landed on their feet, and are now in jobs/sinecures in new firms, and live free of any fear of prosecution.
In fact the new compromised and watered down rules has actually helped the banks prosper. Here's one headline in the FT: "US financials boosted by new bank rules."
At the same time, as the economy continues its jobless non-recovery, the overall situation is bleak according to a more substantive report in the same newspaper: "Big US banks are nearing the end of another disappointing quarter for their trading businesses that has deepened fears over job losses on Wall Street."
New figures show a significant rise in poverty with one in seven barely making it. That represents 44 million people. 47 million Americans are on food stamps. One out of five children are in this group.
Earlier this week in Britain, Mervyn King the Governor of the Bank of England spoke to the Trade Union Congress. He admitted that it was unfair when banks were bailed out while there was no help was provided to workers who lost jobs when factories were closed.
Nevertheless, he appealed to the workers to accept tough austerity measures that will lead to public service cutbacks and job losses.
One union leader attacked the TUC for inviting him, calling him the devil and comparing his own union convention to church that invites Satan to give the sermon.
So called "conservatives" in the US are promoting austerity policies similar to the ones being pursued in Britain including those tax cuts for the rich. Meanwhile, there is push back as 300 economists and analysts warn that the "deficit hawks" who appear to be gaining the upper hand in our economic debates are threatening to turn an already deeply painful recession into a full-blown depression.
"The experts warned that the American economy now stands at a crucial juncture. They acknowledged that public debt is mounting, and presented a choice of two different paths to right the ship: imposing fiscal "austerity" today, in the midst of the most serious downturn since the Great Depression, or investing in the American economy -- with public spending over the short term -- in order to grow our way out of the red ink."
The alternatives are clear. Which side are you on? Denial is no longer an option
A group called One Nation is mobilizing a march on Washington for jobs and justice on October 2. Will it be big enough and noisy enough to make a difference?
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46 Comments so far
Show AllIf as it looks this is an attempt to circumvent the Senate confirmaton process, then shame on Obama agaoin.
I'm a Warren fan and the gutless wonder should have put her up, I believe she would have been confirmed. She has the right ideas.
But circumventing the Constitution and Congressional procedures must stop. The Confirmation process is there for a reason and subversion of this and the Constitution by this administration is becoming an ammunition factory for republicans.
no real change comes from within. it comes from working outside the system. replacing one face with another leaving the system intact have gotten us nowhere. it never will.
stop buying corporate products as much as possible.
start growing your own food in your backyard.
these concrete actions will get us started in the right direction.
Amen to that, Curioussteve!
"stop buying corporate products as much as possible"
When I saw the recession coming a couple years ago, I went through my expenses and managed to pare them by nearly 30% with a minimum of pain.
First thing to go, of course, was satellite TV.
Cut up all credit cards except one and don't make any purchases you can't pay for in full the next month.
Buy "used" when possible. A friend of mine found an almost new 45" HDTV at a local thrift store for $150.
Use the Internet to comparison shop for anything you have to buy new. You can often save 20-30% if you do your research.
Examine your grocery shopping list carefully. Don't buy prepared foods (most of which aren't good for you) or anything with empty calories. I managed to whittle my bill down from $140 a week to around $80.
If you're going to use your car, see if you can't plan to kill several birds with one stone. Plan your expedition so that you get as much accomplished as possible in a single trip. Car pool with a neighbor whenever possible for grocery shopping.
Just confirming what we already know: the Democrats are in the pocket of the wealthy.
What the Democrats and Obama have foisted on us is a sham. It's supposed to look like financial regulation, but it isn't.
It's really not that surprising.
Our country is owned by a tiny, wealthy elite and don't expect their servants, the Republican and Democratic parties, to do anything to change that.
Of course comments like mine are now characterised as "extremist" and "too divisive" etc. etc.
What is surprising, somewhat, is the large number of Obama true believers who are unwilling to accept the truth that he has betrayed them.
Sigh...
"The Financial News reported that the men (and some women) once labeled the "big swinging dicks" on Wall Street are doing well, thank you."
Of course they are! The system is rigged by the elite and for the elite. It's a class war that the mass media will never talk about for fear of losing their jobs.
Check this out: http://ampedstatus.com/full-report-the-economic-elite-vs-the-people-of-the-united-states-of-america: This link is an article written by David DeGraw - "Economic Elite vs The People of the United States of America" It contains well documented facts and as usual, DeGraw is on target.
Likely 'big swinging diminutive-dicks'.
(The women? I need professional help here - actually you can drop the 'here' here. Whatever.)
Meanwhile, back to what's important:
"You like my car, honey? Hop in; we'll take a drive up to the summer cottage."
The moral of the story: Some people simply have to do well.
And they need tax cuts.
[CFPB will be] "a bureau within the Federal Reserve Bank, a branch of government that is really run by big banks which and did virtually nothing to protect consumers when they needed help the most."
Well, the new agency could be placed under HUD, whose scandalous record for protecting American consumers deserves honorable mention in the Guinness Book of Records.
When the Constitution allows the Senate confirmation process to be nearly indistinguishable from the harassment by a U.S. Grand Jury, it must either be fixed or circumvented. Each Senator could assess Warren's domain knowledge by going to a public library and borrowing her books. Else, it merely serves as a malicious fishing expedition with political psychopaths looking for something ANYTHING defamatory with which to smear Elizabeth. She rather should drive home to Massachusetts, sit there, drink, and read James Lee Burke novels.
This is no longer a democracy. This no longer a democracy. Fools who haven't figured out this truth are going to voting booths in November. I'll be staying home in a drove, but I haven't picked which one yet.
Like I have said before Danny: Elizabeth Warren is like a bookkeeper for the Mafia.
I believe she has great ideas for consumer protection. What do you see that I don't?
A bookkeeper for the mafia may have great ideas, but they better not make waves. Elizabeth Warren may be a person of integrity and mean right, but Mightymight, she is working for a corrupt President and his corrupt administration.
Frankly I'm surprised she accepted the position. I wonder what she's thinkin.....
Do you want your throat cut by a dim with a shot of hope or cut cold turkey by a repug? It just boggles my mind to just contemplate how regresive these people are. how much is enough can not even get a hearing as there is no limit to the GREED. Tony
Ms. Warren should pull a Dick Cheney on President Zero and recommend herself to run the Consumer Protection Bureau!
Most cogent Z1.
The purpose of the Senate confirmation process is to allow all sides to have a shot. To ask questions, to ask for specific thoughts on specific areas...and under oath. What one side considers "harrasment" the other may not and next time they may flip their positions.
If a candidate can't hold up to that or if they are caught lying then they shouldn't have any job in our government. But cheating the process is a mark of dishonety of intent and corruption. Its there for a purpose and has worked ewell.
Horseshit. Caught lying about what? The multiplication tables are a matter of public record. [See:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiplication_tables ]
"-cheating the process is a mark of dishonesty of intent and corruption".
Good for you. You discovered the reason that Elizabeth Warren conceived of a Consumer Financial Protection agency. Go to the head of the class.
"if a candidate can't hold up to that or if they are caught lying then they shouldn't have any job in our government"
Again, you have hit the nail on the head. Our government rises and and falls upon the competence of the liars we elect and appoint. If Elizabeth Warren cannot lie through her teeth, without getting caught, she is of little or no use in government. Fortunately she is a lawyer and lawyers have an unfair advantage over people like, say, astronomers.
-or psychologists, Trylon
We can take it then you do not approve of the agency or her ideas or the person herself.
Nor that you are a fan of government.
Having a recess appointment is not necessarily indicative of dishonesty. Suppose Ralph Nader were president and the Senate, corrupt to the core as always, held up honest and high quality appointments in limbo? Then you cannot blame the candidate for a dishonest senate. In this case, recess appointments are political. As for the senate confirmation process, dishonest candidates get through too easy because of playing politics. We are at a loss either way. :(
Chinese military strategist Sun Tsu: "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer."
The usually on-target blog, Naked Capitalism, suggests that the Warren appointment was just a way to sideline her, not put her in a position of real power. In any event, the new Bureau's rules will not be in effect until 2012, if then. So much for urgency!
============
that from the article is exactly what I said.
Obama and his minions consider HER an enemy. and so they hold her hostage.
I don't know what she was thinking to accept it. perhaps she is that desperate and has been blinded by frustrations.
but this is NOT good.
I wonder if Warren is going to take the shaft and then go quietly into the night, another delusion dispensed with.
Sounds about right...
My experience with the mafia in recent years has taught me that their interest rates are actually not as usurious as those set by Wall Street. Nor are their loan restrictions as rigid. Nor do they reserve the right to only lend to corporate endeavors. Yet the public continues to demonize the mafia while wholeheartedly supporting Wall Street banksters by electing Democrats and Republicans in each end every election!
It's time we stamped out Wall Street organized crime by starting at the ballot box. Any politician who doesn't support massive corporate tax hikes, slashing the military budget, universal healthcare and ending the wars on drugs and terrorism ASAP, must be immediately labelled a Wall Street gangster and be prevented from participating in any serious political campaigns again. Also anytime it is discovered that a particular corporation participates in promoting any candidate, we must quickly rally everyone to boycott that corporations products (if possible) and/or organize public protests against the political sycophant who chose special interests over the public's needs.
Of course for any of this to happen, we would have to have an enlightened public.
Back to the drawing board.
A verbatim reinstatement of glass-steagall, COMBINED with regulators & bank examiners who are as "hard-ass" as Eliot Ness's "untouchables" will do the trick. And they would need flak vests & helmets too.
What you say about the mafia is weirdly correct. People forget how important were the mafia's contributions to the Labor Movement (weird, isn't it). Afterall, their forte is to offer a service or product that is "beyond the pale", & they know how to use muscle to get what they want (for themselves and their clients). Totally bass-ackward weird. The world turned upside-down. A dark place indeed.
Seems like most of the CD posters understand what is going on even if CD doesn't.
Everyone's got an opinion and some offer solutions. Here's mine:
Never before in our lifetimes have we come upon a time where the capitalist system is more vulnerable. We have two very simple things we can do to kick it over the cliff.
First, start advocating and supporting squatters. The entire financial system can be brought to its knees as millions of foreclosed and underwater homeowners simply refuse to leave. The bundling and selling of mortgages has created a black hole from which the Too Big To Fail banks cannot escape -- we need to find and fund lawyers willing to crash the courts with millions of lawsuits demanding that banks prove they own the mortgages.
Second, each of us and all we meet must finally get our heads around how our money supply system works. It is the greatest scam in human history and once understood can be a common ground upon which Tea Partiers and progressives unite.
Bingo Z-Man!
"Second, each of us and all we meet must finally get our heads around how our money supply system works. It is the greatest scam in human history and once understood can be a common ground upon which Tea Partiers and progressives unite."
Here are a couple of audio clips of Ellen Brown speaking about the great ponzi scheme which is our money system. for more info see www.webofdebt.com
http://www.tucradio.org/HijackingAmerica_ONE.mp3
http://www.tucradio.org/HijackingAmerica_TWO.mp3
Thanks for the links.
Try >>>Money as Debt>>>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVkFb26u9g8
excellent string of comments. The "money power",& who controls it, is indeed the very heart of ALL our problems. Stephan Zarlenga's "American Monetary Institute" has much to say on the subject, as does Richard C. Cook (mr. "credit as a public utility"). The AMI bills themselves as descendents of "the other chicago school" of economics; the one that's allied with the social credit movement. A snappy way to describe credit as a public utility would be to paraphrase rothschild's quote; "give me (mr. bankster guy) control of a nation's currency & I care not who makes its' laws"; "give 'we the people' sovereign control of our nation's credit & we needn't fear all of the banksters' bluster & shenanigans". We will have killed the raging beast that has plagued us for centuries. For this to work, however, will require the citizens to take a care-filled, "proprietary" interest in their own government. If this can't be done, then all protest is in vain & we should just fit ourselves in to the new feudal age to come (the bankster enemy is counting on this response from the people).
Think most everyone recognizes that the enemy is capitalism
and pro-corporate elected officials. There are a couple of
million ways to end it and move on to a truly democratic
economic system.
First, stop marching around with bank cards, earning money
for the banksters at every stop you make.
.
"According to all myth, the female - not the male -- gives life"
Obama read somewhere about the Warren Court, and decided to court Warren, to appease his 'base'.
Obama, as usual, even screwed up this transparent ploy. He did this much too early, with 40 something days to go before the election. By the time the election rolls around, this latest round of Kool-Aid chugging will have been exposed many, many times on so many sites as to nullify it completely. Obama, and whatever group of cynical lunkheads advise him on political strategy, think this BS will mollify the "professional left" and get them to rush to the polls to pull the lever for the D's.
In office, but not in power; kinda like the prez on down, throughout our gov't. The power's been hi-jacked to wallstreet/boston vault/city-of-london/ etc(rockefeller said this was going to happen if he has his way)...the gov't is THEIR tool (at the moment). We the people must make it OUR tool once again.Someone tell the teabaggers to aim at the right target please.
"Someone tell the teabaggers to aim at the right target please."
You can tell a teabagger, but you can't tell him (or her) anything.
Here's a theory:
Capitalism succeeded. The Majority is obese physically and materialistically. We can't consume anymore. Worse, we're rapidly losing our desire to be just consumers.
The experts call that 'demand.' Which they're all trying to stimulate. But they can't. Because we're not hungry anymore.
So, what's a Capitalist to do?
Economic Shock Doctrine. Blow up the Consumers' economy, strip them of their stuff - house, car, retirement plan, job, dignity - then sell it all back to them again during the 'recovery.'
Demand stimulated.
Just a theory...
which would be a great, albeit sinister, theory, if it weren't for the finite nature of the supply...
Hooray indeed, Elizabeth Warren is brilliant.
"The usually on-target blog, Naked Capitalism, suggests that the Warren appointment was just a way to sideline her..."
I'm not sure she can be sidelined in that her outspoken and plain view is starting to proliferate everywhere. This is the real power anyway.
We are chipping this thing stone by stone, and in the rubble we'll find sanity.
A google search reveals Dean Baker's petition signed by 300 economists wasn't even mentioned right of the Huffington Post, even by Krugman.
I sure hope my fellow posters are doing what they can to proliferate dontkilljobs.org , the comments there don't fill me with much confidence.
"The White House worries that they could not win a protracted confirmation battle."
The White House is hiding behind this excuse. Warren would have a good chance of winning a confirmation battle.
Her chances would be enhanced by a recess appointment.
Tiny Timmy Geithner has been against Warren all along. Sen. Dodd (D-Del) raised the red herring non-confirmable issue, and he is a lame duck mouthpiece for the banks and will be well rewarded upon retirement.
Obama s a complete fink and will not risk the wrath of the banksters. Instead we get this pusillanimous gesture from the greatest Uncle Tom of them all.
"The White House worries that they could not win a protracted confirmation battle."
So much for 'YES WE CAN'
Getting the Civil Rights Act passed was a tough battle but LBJ went to bat and got the votes. If only he had good judgment when it came to Vietnam...
Schecter's disrespect for Warren's judgment is palpable.Having shown plenty of resourcefulness in many other posts, and as an issues strategist, Warren is in a position to do lots of good and effectively make life miserable for the special interest bankers and their apparatchiks.--far more than Schecter's haughtiness permits.
What makes Warren influential, is that she uses "hard" and "soft" power effectively She's one tough and confident political person-- confident enough to resign from the security of Harvard tenure rather than take the usual leave of absence as other Harvard profs did going back to the JFK years.
David Cohen,
Washington, DC
Read the article sir. Schecter has RESPECT for Warren while Obama doesn't. Warren will not be allowed to be influential unless it's along the Tim Geithner lines. A DC man like you should already know that !
"She's one tough and confident political person--"
I disagree that she's a =political person=. If that were so, interest would have emerged by her late 30s or early 40s. Rather, she chose Law PEDAGOGY, a non-dramatic area of law, and BOOK WRITING - - not combative law practice involving court room appearance and sword fighting with opposing lawyers. And this is okay - but current expectations she is a legal Super Woman and Spider Girl who can face down waves of angry banksters is unrealistic. And unrealistic expectations of her are going to be coffin nails. Say that last line out loud.
Idiotically - her age is being either overlooked or ignored in relation to the physical and psychological stress of the high-profile post she is -apparently- taking on. This post carries =heart attack= as a subtitle, and would put persons 45 to 55 at risk. Why any person would want to shorten Elizabeth's life potential while proclaiming admiration and respect is at best self-deluded and narcissistic. From persons who claim to have =affection= for her it is little short of criminal. That includes Barack Obama. Warren had an excellent vision of a new federal bureau to protect Americans consumers from priapic banks. Its fruition is turning into a doorway to hell for her. My psychological predictions about individuals were rarely wrong. Here's one. Elizabeth Warren is probably going to wake up in the middle of the night crying her heart out, wishing she had never thought of the fucking CFPB in the first place, or for letting ego seduce her into not recusing herself from consideration. Elizabeth is 8 years my junior in age. She should be considering enjoyable activities for retirement. For many of us there is no guaranty we will see and experience a retirement in good health. Death is =also= what happens to us while we had other plans under vague consideration.
Most women become emotionally stronger and politically tougher as we age.
The title of this article says it all. The same could be said for Obama himself. He has the job but how much power, really?
It seems as if many if not most progressives are suckers for this BS; No power til 2012.
The banking system has been killing the planet for hundreds of years, we are one more step closer to global death while all being a conflict of self-submergence.
The prez will not do anything, Warren can't do anything. And a plan is in place, I assume, by the bank to tame us while all of this is happening.
A strong N.A.T.O. will be biggest part.
No public librarys will be part.
Structural Adjustment.
The rise of 'Christianity'.
Global genocide.
The privatization of water/arable land.
Commercial T.V. 'pitching' truth replacing science.
Being Pro-Life (i.e. pro-fear).
The destruction of Net-neutrality.
All made easy by our own fear. We are all sitting ducks waiting for the slaughter, thank you mr. prez, thank you.
So plunder is groundless and all of this done for nothing!
Obama is more and more morphing into a political Frankenstein Freak. Even Orwell could not have imagined such a creature.