Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Obama Gets Warning on Warren

And how do you spell failure? I spell it D-o-d-d.

"Warren meets with Obama about consumer agency post" by Roger Runningen and Lorraine Woellert, Bloomberg News | September 10, 2010

NEW YORK — Elizabeth Warren, the Harvard professor and bankruptcy specialist who is a candidate to lead the new consumer protection agency, has been the target of criticism from Republicans and business lobbyists for what they say is her lack of management experience and anti-Wall Street bias.

But it is okay to have a government staffed with them.

Related: The Wonder Woman of Wall Street

Senate Banking Committee chairman Christopher Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, said in July that Warren would not get enough votes to win Senate confirmation....

Related: Who REALLY Runs Washington

Really all you needed to know.

Since 2008, Warren, 61, has led a congressional panel monitoring the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. In that post, she has clashed with financial and administration officials, including Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, whom she has accused of aiding Wall Street at the expense of small businesses and homeowners....

Of course, Geithner doesn't carry a pro-Wall Street bias.

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Also see: U.S. Consumers Left Out in the Cold

You get numb after a while.

"Warren may get consumer post temporarily; Obama could avert fight over Harvard professor" by Sewell Chan, New York Times | September 14, 2010

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is considering appointing Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard University law professor and scholar on bankruptcy, to run a new consumer bureau on a temporary basis to avoid a potentially bruising confirmation battle in the Senate, according to people who have been briefed on the search....

Warren, 61, is widely admired by consumer groups and labor unions, while banks and other financial institutions have indicated that they would oppose her appointment....

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"Opposition mounts for interim appointment

WASHINGTON — Several influential senators said yesterday President Obama should not consider appointing an interim head of new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The White House is assessing the possibility of appointing Elizabeth Warren, the Harvard law professor who scolded banks while overseeing their bailout, as the temporary director of the bureau as early as this week, according to a person close to the process.

Warren was a driving force behind the creation of the agency and a key part of the Christopher Dodd-Barney Frank financial regulations law. She has been hailed for her views supporting consumers. Some Republicans, however, consider her too antibusiness and fear the bureau, with Warren at the helm, would push stifling regulations.

An interim appointment could allow Obama to bypass a confirmation battle over Warren in the Senate.

Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, said yesterday he was not enthusiastic about an interim appointment because it could jeopardize the future of the bureau by inviting retaliation by Congress, including cutting funding for the office.

So when do the WARS and ISRAEL get CUT OFF?

“You could gut this before it even gets off ground,’’ Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, told reporters. “None of us know what the outcome is going to be politically’’ in the congressional elections, said Dodd, whose committee would take the lead on confirmation of a permanent appointee.

Related: Senate Sends Along Financial Fraud Bill

Yeah, things are pretty bad when your CAREER ACHIEVEMENT is a FAILURE!

An interim appointment “will be met with a lot of opposition,’’ Dodd said. “It’s a big job, an important job. You’ve got to build the support for that institutionally’’ with Congress....

Obama’s choice could be made tomorrow or the following day, said the person, who requested anonymity.

I'm not holding my breath.

The consumer bureau will have a $400 million budget and the power to impose federal rules on mortgages, credit cards, layaway plans, and other consumer credit products.

Warren is chairman of the congressional panel overseeing the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Her criticism of Wall Street firms such as Citigroup and American International Group won her celebrity status among consumer activists, prompting business lobbyists and Republican lawmakers to question whether she can be an unbiased leader of an agency with such broad authority.

And yet Goldman Sachs looters can crawl all over the U.S. Treasury.

Un-flipping-real!

Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama, the senior Republican on the banking committee, said the leader should go through the confirmation process.

“Someone that’s appointed to that job should be vetted, examined, investigated, and have his or her qualifications for that job weighed by the Senate,’’ Shelby said.

“Elizabeth Warren, obviously, is not an objective person when it comes to the consumer issues,’’ he added.

Related: Senate Republicans Roll Over For Fed

Doesn't matter which party is in charge, does it?

“It’d be a mistake for the president to try and circumvent the Senate confirmation process,’’ said Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine.

Of course, it was okay when Bush did it.

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