In a House Oversight subcommittee meeting Tuesday, some Republican committee members used their time to attack Elizabeth Warren, who is advising President Barack Obama on the formation of a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) even accused Warren of lying to Congress the last time she had testified.
A Democrat on the committee, however, used his time to apologize for his across-the-aisle colleagues’ behavior. Rep. Joe Yarmuth (D-KY) congratulated Warren, while backhandedly insulting other committee members, implying that they were afraid of Warren’s power and effectiveness.
“The snarky comments about a Senate race, and the questioning of your veracity when there is documented evidence that you are being totally truthful indicates to me that this hearing is all about impugning you because people are afraid of you and your ability to communicate in very clear terms the threats to our consumers and the threats to our constituents and possibly very, very effective ways to combat them,” Yarmuth said. ” I congratulate you for instilling such fear in the committee, on the majority side, and in some aspects, or segments, of the business community because they understand how effective you are in getting the message out to the American people.”
Goddam right the Repugs are afraid of her! She's the really smart'n pretty girl-next-door with balls and a bat and she's not afraid to use them!
Joke Line:
The incredibly boorish grilling of Elizabeth Warren by Republican members of a House subcommittee on Tuesday raises two interesting questions: After a decade in which money lenders raped and pillaged homeowners, home-buyers and credit-card holders, why are Republicans so intent on gutting an agency that would protect the American middle class from such persistent sleazebags?
Joe, I will give you the benefit of the doubt on that question and ass-yoom you asked it with yer tongue firmly in yer cheek. You know damn well why - the Repugs work for the sleazebags.
And second: Why has the Obama Administration been so reluctant to appoint Warren director of the Consumer Protection Finance Bureau – and force a massive and very accessible public fight on an absolutely crucial economic issue: the corrupt, predatory nature of the financial community?
Much better question.
Beats me. This seems a political no-brainer. Warren is a terrific public performer, with a strong personal story. “She scares the banks to death,” a Senator told me. And she’s a savvy operator, too: She hired Holly Petraeus – wife of the General – to lead the fight against the skeevy payday lenders who surround military bases and take advantage of our young, and financially unsophisticated, military service members. Furthermore, this is a no-lose political battle for Democrats–who among us hasn’t been outraged, or ripped off by, the small print that accompanies every mortgage, credit card and home equity loan?
If you loan a barracks mate '$5 for $7' you can get tossed in the brig. Do the same thing as a civilian ten feet outside the main gate and get rich doing it and it's fine. Go Holly!
But the President has chosen not to make the fight…so far. [...] There is also the fact that Obama’s Wall Streety economic team doesn’t like Warren very much. This is a matter of real concern: Obama’s willingness to buy the Wall Street conventional wisdom has been the greatest weakness of his presidency so far–and I mean that politically as well as substantively.
Senator Al Franken and Rep. Barney Frank have both called on the President to make Warren a “recess appointment” – that is, appoint her through the back door, when Congress isn’t in session. I disagree. Obama should appoint Warren through the front door, and make this a litmus test of Republican ideology. I’d really enjoy hearing the members of Congress tell us–with the full media spotlight shining on them–why the public shouldn’t be defended against predatory lenders by a woman who has proven herself to be the most forceful and effective voice for consumer rights in the Obama Administration.
Update: The Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner, has come to Warren’s defense – and actually criticized Wall Street. Holy cow.
Holy cow indeed! Perhaps he saw the very large handwriting on the wall right behind where he will stand with a blindfold on if he doesn't get on the right side of People v Oligarchs pretty damn quick.
Note to Obama: Put Mrs. Warren in that position any way you can. Now. You showed some sack with bin Laden, use 'em again. Do not lose her to a Senate seat until she cleans up the goddam moneylenders.
She'll kick Scott Brown's ass in an election. If that's the plan to keep her from protecting consumers from Big Ripoff, it sucks.
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