A new Consumer Watch Dog Agency...R Stimulus Money Working for Us Again?

[tobee43]

not this again! please...how dumb do they really think we are?

as i was sitting down to our meager supper last evening it was a rare sit down moment for us...possibly a rare exchange of words...small general talk about what occur during our day...such a nice fleeting thought...when one of us, which shall remain nameless, yet remains shameless (and i suppose this happens when you get to be at the point of OLD married couple syndrome), clicked on CNN news.

with hesitation and with somewhat a surprising scintillated moment, forcing my eyes to shift from my plate.... i couldn't help looking up at the screen....as the nice looking TV anchor was in the middle of some type of interview....my ears began to perk up..as i began to listen...ahhhh.. what's this...? i thought...maybe a bit of "hope". i remembered "hope"...i just haven't felt it or experienced it for a while...so i didn't want to get overwhelmed with the mere possibility of maybe some help for us poor middle class may be forthcoming?????

i found myself being....for JUST a second of time. a blink mind you, became intrigued with a feeling i hadn't felt in some time...i think for a passing moment is was "HOPE"...

but the moment passed quite quickly...as i continued to watch this nice looking sweet kind faced woman...the kind of face that i wanted to bring me chicken soup when i was feeling a bit under the weather.... was just appointed by our president ( i think mentioning her salary was just a simple oversight...right? don't you think?). to be come OUR watch dog over the banks....to make certain they, the banks, maintain and apply the new banking rules as set forth by this administration...to watchdog the unfair rate hikes and so on and so forth to protect and serve the consumers!!! wow...what a mouthful of garbage was this!

now, i have no great depth or length of knowledge as to the fine credentials of Elizabeth Warren, who is a Harvard law professor and bankruptcy expert. "For two years, she chaired the panel that oversees TARP, the federal bank rescue fund "...( personally we are a yale family...so that was sorta strike one for us). now perhaps call me cautious..but lets review for just a moment ms warren's role with TARP...and what TARP has done for us...us meaning YOU, ME...your MOM...DAD...daughter, son...you get the point...

well...here's her findings.... as per Ms. Warren:

"There were no data about where this money was going," Elizabeth Warren, head of the panel investigating the bank bailout, explained in a conference call with reporters on Wednesday. "The American people have a right to know where the money went."

NO KIDDING??? duhhhhhhhhhhhh...ok so now that she's most likely gotten paid 500k to come up with that research finding... (please see...http://yidwithlid.blogspot.com/2010/...countries.html)...

i'm so looking forward to her first press conference stating....or better yet "explaining".... with us all sitting at the end of our seats...i can hear it now..."yeapers...the banks keep screwing the poor middle class our report clearing indicate THAT.....

shoot!!! there went another 1.9 million of that stimulus money again!! if i just could have 100k...we and so many other families could get back on our feet and would be set for life...when will this ridiculous spending stop!

[WhatMoney]

Are you kidding me? You write an attack post on Professor Elizabeth Warren, the most public pro-consumer advocate in the USA for the last eight years?

You need to stop reading those ultra-conservative Zionist blogs like yidwithlid.com, and get some accurate information for a change. Unbelievable!!

You are in trouble if you don't even know who your friends are...

[WhatMoney]

To aid you in your research about Elizabeth Warren I've included the Wiki page on her below. I still can't believe you've never heard of her. You must extend your media watching beyond right-wing blogs and Fox News.

Elizabeth Warren (born June 22, 1949) is an American attorney and law professor. She is the Leo Gottlieb Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, where she teaches contract law, bankruptcy, and commercial law. In the wake of the 2008-9 financial crisis, she became the chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel created to investigate the U.S. banking bailout (formally known as the Troubled Assets Relief Program). Since 2007, she has advocated for the creation of a new Consumer Finance Protection Agency which is now part of 111th United States Congress HR 3126.

On April 12, 2010, CNN reported that Warren's was among additional names being considered as Supreme Court nominees to replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens. On May 24, 2010, Time Magazine called Warren, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Chairman Sheila Bair, and Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro the "New Sheriffs of Wall Street" in a cover story. On September 17, 2010, she was named a special adviser by President Obama to oversee the development of the new consumer protection agency. Her position will include the responsibility of recommending a director for this new entity, although it is unclear whether Warren will be in the running for the director position.

Personal lifePopular works

In addition to writing more than 100 scholarly articles and six academic books, Warren has written several best-selling books. Her most recent book, coauthored with her daughter, is All Your Worth: The Ultimate Lifetime Money Plan.

Warren is also the co-author (with Tyagi) of The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Mothers and Fathers Are Going Broke TARP oversight

On November 14, 2008, Ms. Warren was appointed by United States Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to chair the five-member Congressional Oversight Panel created to oversee the implementation of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act. The Panel releases monthly oversight reports that evaluate the government bailout and related programs.

The Panel's monthly reports have covered foreclosure mitigation, consumer and small business lending, commercial real estate, AIG, bank stress tests, the impact of TARP on the financial markets, government guarantees, the automotive industry, and many other topics. The Panel has also released special reports on financial regulatory reform and farm loans. For each report, Warren releases a video on the Congressional Oversight Panel's website explaining key findings. All reports and videos are available at cop.senate.gov.

In her role as Chair of the Panel, Warren has testified many times before House and Senate committees on financial issues.

In an interview at Newsweek, December 7, 2009 entitled "Reining in, and Reigning Over, Wall Street" Elizabeth Warren was asked: "Congress is trying to reform financial regulation, and it can get a little abstract. Where should people focus?"

She responded:

"To restore some basic sanity to the financial system, we need two central changes: fix broken consumer-credit markets and end guarantees for the big players that threaten our entire economic system. If we get those two key parts right, we can still dial the rest of the regulation up and down as needed. But if we don't get those two right, I think the game is over. I hate to sound alarmist, but that's how I feel about this."

Public Service After TARP

While not officially on the short list of potential nominees to replace retiring US Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, members of the media have speculated on her potential service on the court. In an interview by Tavis Smiley, Warren was asked about serving on the Court and also about heading a potential Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. She was complimented by Tavis on her diplomatic answers and she asserted that she has not been asked to serve in either of those capacities. The Wall Street Journal has reported that Warren is the top pick of Democratic leaders in Congress to head the new consumer agency. There have also been calls for her to challenge Senator Scott Brown in Massachusetts in the 2012 election.

Recognition

Warren was named one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2009 and 2010.

In December 2009, the Boston Globe named Warren the Bostonian of the Year.

The National Law Journal has repeatedly named Professor Warren as one of the fifty most influential female lawyers, and she has been recognized for her work by SmartMoney magazine, Money magazine, and Law Dragon.

In 2009, the Women's Bar Association of Massachusetts honored her with the Leila J. Robinson Award.

Warren has been recognized for her dynamic teaching style. In 2009, Warren became the first professor in Harvard's history to win the law school's teaching award twice. The Sacks-Freund Teaching Award was voted on by the graduating class in honor of "her teaching ability, openness to student concerns, and contributions to student life at Harvard." Warren also has won awards from her students at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Michigan, and the University of Houston Law Center.

On August 13, 2010 a rap video by the Main Street Brigade was put on YouTube in an effort to encourage President Obama to nominate Elizabeth Warren as the first director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. [A rap video? OK probably not the best idea there, lol]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Warren

Here's that silly rap video - not sure which audience this is suppose to convince - Oklahoma cowboy rappers?

[WhatMoney]

Here's another video from Elizabeth Warren, talking about the new agency she's been asking for since 2007.

And more of her videos are here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYd08...eature=related

[chrisdfw]

I do appluad the zeal with which she approaches her causes. She is very very pro-consumer, almost to the point of being anti-business. I am not fan of big banks or big business in general, but I think there needs to be some balance. For so many years the government stacked the deck in favor of big business that it is very critical we don't handicap business.

All we really need is a fair playing field where property rights and rule of law is enforced. No unilateral changes to contracts after the fact (rate hikes) but also no bailouts for either businesses or consumers (mostly business) when they make bad decisions. I'd rather see banks, GM, and consumers use the normal bankruptcy process than recieve bailouts.

If there is anything positive about Warren, it is her views on Bankruptcy and against the horrible reform pushed through by the banks in the last decade. The one thing we need is stable and fair laws. Banks loaned money under one set of rules and then wanted to change the bankruptcy rules after the fact! Just like they change rates after the fact! Not right. We don't need a consumer watchdog, what we really need is a congress that sets fair rules of law and gets out of the way.

[tobee43]

yes to all the above...and remember what our president promised to save the world. or did you forget that one. a turkey in every working oven....yeap..i remember like it was yesterday.

ahhhh...whatmoney, my attack is NOT based on poor Elizabeth, of course i know who she is...as i clearly stated but didn't want to get into her personal credentials since this is NOT the point at all..i don't need another person's "view" or theory.....I WANT TO see this government in reform and action to HELP those that need it. and frankly, i'm tired of seeing the monies going to another government formulated committee having tea and cookies...(LOL....didn't mean to get your goat whatmoney! ). you know the old adage....ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER than WORDS...i want to SEE, FEEL, SMELL & TOUCH what is being done to help...i don't want to HEAR another problem discussed over and over again USUALLY TALK IS CHEAP...BUT NO MORE...IT'S COSTING YOU AND ME OUR TAX DOLLAR... i am just saying NO MORE TALKING....ever, never...again.

my point here is LOUD and CLEAR.....it's on the way the stimulus packages is being spent.


take it one step further if you must whatmoney.......and when she comes up with the report that already all know about how these millions were spent on bonus monies and garbage "pet" projects...what do you think then??? you think her findings will GET the monies BACK into the poor American Families that REALLY need the money...you think????

[catleg]

Liz Warren is a straight shooter...therefore I hope she does not take the job if offered as head of the sham Consumer Financial Protection agency. She and William K Black are the two voices that I trust unconditionally in this mess.

[tobee43]

Liz Warren is a straight shooter...therefore I hope she does not take the job if offered as head of the sham Consumer Financial Protection agency. She and William K Black are the two voices that I trust unconditionally in this mess.

please remember...i would even trust her enough to bring me chicken soup when i didn't feel well! LOL!

i don't think trust is the issue here. actually, i would not care to see one of her caliber get involved with the actual reasoning of what her exact appointed position is....which is milking stimulus monies.


in my opinion....but you know what they say about those...

[tobee43]

and let's go one step further....if we dare...


if the administration gave ms warren the actual POWER to do something...to punish...to FINE...to make responsible the parties involved then perhaps i would view this committee in a "different" light.

[mtngirl47]

Thanks whatmoney for the great info about Elizabeth Warren. I would only add that the banks hate her and are probably scared of her, not to mention all the times she has gone head to head with Geitner....that's why she wasn't nominated to head up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau yet...the Dems in Congress didn't think she could get confirmed. Speculation was, that Obama would appoint her as a recess appointment, but Dodd said then the bureau might not get funded. As a consumer that makes me say, "hmmmm, maybe this lady really is looking out for the middle class!"

Tobee---in reading your posts above, you mentioned "stimulus monies" several times in reference to the CFPB. Elizabeth Warren was the watchdog over TARP....which was the bank bailout--begged for by Henry Paulson, Secretary of the Treasury and passed by Congress in 2008 under President Bush's watch. The TARP funds are being paid back by the banks. The other bailouts for GM and AIG are not "stimulus monies" either and are also being paid back. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan which was enacted in 2009 is the "stimulus." The CFPB will be funded when budget funds are allocated.

Fox news and the right wingers can say all they want...but history will prove that this stimulus plan kept things from getting worse. Where I live, the stimulus money is still at work with several road paving projects and rebuilding a National Park visitor's center that was crumbling and didn't even have working bath rooms. Real jobs.

As for "monies back to the poor American families".....Didn't you get a tax cut? Or do you make over $250k? I own a small business and both my business and personal taxes went down when I filed in April. Ask yourself why BIG RICH corporations that are posting obscene profits and paying their executives HUGE bonuses, ask why they aren't paying taxes and why they aren't hiring AMERICANS?

[tobee43]

As for "monies back to the poor American families".....Didn't you get a tax cut? Or do you make over $250k? I own a small business and both my business and personal taxes went down when I filed in April. Ask yourself why BIG RICH corporations that are posting obscene profits and paying their executives HUGE bonuses, ask why they aren't paying taxes and why they aren't hiring AMERICANS

?


your kidding right?? LOL!! what income what tax cuts...oh my....we lost our house after 33 years....our jobs....our retirement.........no LOAN mods for us.....what????

you have missed the point once again.......

i am sick and tired of spending stimulus money on committee studying what we all already KNOW... subject matters ,when the funds could go BACK to help American families keep their homes...i don't want another dime of my tax dollar going to any do-gooder projects...i want ACTION...which speak louder than any words than anyone can write or speak.....

put some more people back in their homes...feed their children...are you all real...ONE IN FOUR child in this country are HUNGRY!!!!!!! (i just grab that from the last stat i looked up)...could be more now...

[WhatMoney]

and let's go one step further....if we dare...
if the administration gave ms warren the actual POWER to do something...to punish...to FINE...to make responsible the parties involved then perhaps i would view this committee in a "different" light.

I do believe you have sobered up after your rambling incoherent initial post in this thread, tobee. Why don't you just admit that you were "very drunk at the time", apologize and move on?

And if you need lessons on a concise pithy writing style, you can ask catleg for lessons. He seldom wastes any words when he posts.

So now that you have discovered who Elizabeth Warren is, perhaps the next step is to figure out why Obama appointed her as a special assistant to the President. It is not, as you seem to think, to just write committee reports. That was her job for the last two years as head of the Congressional Oversight Panel. And everyone including the Republicans admits she was fair and professional in that role.

Her new role is to set up the new agency she has championed for years. You should already know why Obama did not simply appoint her as the new director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. Will the BCFP have enforcement teeth? Elizabeth Warren is the best person to assure that is the case. You need to read her reports and testimony if you have any doubts.

And, since you claim to be an old man still recovering from those tear gas attacks in the 60's, I will save you the time of searching the Internet by quoting this article. That's what you should have done in the first place, instead of rambling on and entirely missing the point of Warren's new appointment.

"WASHINGTON — In a poke in the eye to the financial community, President Barack Obama on Friday named Elizabeth Warren, an aggressive consumer advocate and Wall Street adversary, to oversee creation of a new agency to regulate banks, lenders and credit card companies.

Sidestepping a Senate confirmation fight – for now – Obama stopped short of nominating Warren to actually head the new Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. Instead, his action will let the Harvard Law School professor and expert on bankruptcy move quickly to shape the bureau.

Senate Republicans view her as too critical of Wall Street and big banks. The business and banking community opposed Warren as director of the new bureau, contending she would make the agency too aggressive. Obama praised her highly.

"Never again will folks be confused or misled by pages of barely understandable fine print that you find in agreements for credit cards or mortgages or student loans," Obama said, standing alongside Warren and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner in the White House Rose Garden.

"Elizabeth understands what I strongly believe: that a strong, growing economy begins with a strong and thriving middle class," the president said. "And that means every American has to get a fair shake in their financial dealings."

Billed as a big help to abused consumers, the new bureau is charged with writing and enforcing new rules covering the largest banks to the smallest storefront payday lender. Lenders will face new restrictions on the type of mortgages they write and won't be rewarded for steering borrowers to higher-cost loans. The bureau also is to protect borrowers from hidden fees and abusive terms.

Obama named Warren a special assistant to the president, giving her an influential province from which to direct the new bureau, a central element of the sweeping financial overhaul Obama signed into law this summer. The consumer bureau was one of Obama's key demands, easy for the public to grasp in an otherwise dense rewrite of complex financial rules.

Liberal groups and many consumer advocates want Warren to be named director of the new bureau. With the advisory appointment in place, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said she would be instrumental in selecting a full-time director but hedged when asked if she would be a candidate.

Obama has had a difficult time winning Senate approval for even non-controversial nominees, and the White House believed that anyone nominated to the director's job – especially Warren – would linger without Senate action for months."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/0..._n_721307.html

[tobee43]

i don't need to have someone tell me how badly the banks ripped me off...or are STILL ripping me off...and paying MY tax dollars to have someone tell me what i already know.

that's why this country IS in this state...

i think it time for a different subject....like let's increase the denfense budget...LOL!!! i know you'll love that one whatmoney....

[tobee43]

I do believe you have sobered up after your rambling incoherent initial post in this thread, tobee. Why don't you just admit that you were "very drunk at the time", apologize and move on?

LOL!!! if you got my point to begin with...you may have in fact even agreed with me...LOL!!