Whitehouse (finally) appoints Elizabeth Warren as special consumer advisor.

by on September 15, 2010 · 7 comments

in Civil Rights, Culture, Economy

Elizabeth WarrenBy Huffington Post / September 15, 2010

The White House has tapped Elizabeth Warren as a special adviser to help set up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, affirming its support for a tough new agency charged with protecting consumers from abusive lenders.

The move allows her to act as an interim head of the CFPB and will enable her to begin setting up the agency immediately and prevent the GOP from filibustering her nomination. Warren could serve until President Barack Obama nominates a permanent director to serve the five-year term — a nomination he’s not required to make for some time. Obama also could nominate her as the permanent director in the near future, a prospect that has been discussed among top aides, according to a person familiar with White House deliberations. Warren formally will be named as a special adviser reporting directly to Obama, and serving in a similar capacity to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, later this week.

The CFPB was a cornerstone of Obama’s financial reform package and Warren is credited as the intellectual founder of the agency — a proposal she advocated three years ago. The ability of the administration to nominate an acting director to serve while the agency is launched within the Treasury Department was first reported by HuffPost in July.

For the remainder of this rather lengthy but informative article, go here.

{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }

RB September 17, 2010 at 9:28 am

Come on Huffington Post. It wasn’t the GOP that blocked Warrens permanent appointment forcing the interim appointment. It was that corrupt Dem. Senator Cris Dodd funded by the banks and pay day loan companies that blocked Warren.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/14/dodd-congress-could-defun_n_716352.html

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doug porter September 17, 2010 at 10:37 am

Top Five Things You Should Know About Elizabeth Warren
1. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was her idea. Here’s why she thinks this agency is so critical: “It is impossible to buy a toaster that has a one-in-five chance of bursting into flames and burning down your house. But it is possible to refinance your home with a mortgage that has the same one-in-five chance of putting your family out on the street.”1

2. The Republicans are so scared of her, they tried to pass a law blocking her from leading the agency. Republicans in Congress and the big Wall Street banks have always been against Warren leading the new consumer agency. Republicans even offered an amendment that was widely understood as designed to block Warren. That amendment failed.2

3. She is one of the most prominent, successful and fierce female lawyers in America. Coming from working-class roots, she graduated from high school as a debate star at 16. She finished law school when she was nine months pregnant. And she has repeatedly been named one of the fifty most influential female lawyers by the National Law Journal and was twice nominated as one of Time Magazines 100 Most Influential People (among other honors).3

4. She spoke truth to power about the failed foreclosure program. The Home Affordability Modification Program was supposed to save homeowners from losing their homes but has left many deeper in debt than they were before. Warren used her position on the Congressional Oversight panel to bring the voices of these disaffected homeowners right to the decision makers in the administration and demand accountability.4

5. She may have actual superpowers. She once calmed the entire crowd of an NBA game with her encyclopedic basketball knowledge. She explained the financial meltdown so clearly to Jon Stewart he said it made him “want to make out with” her. And there’s a viral rap video about her.5

Sources:
1. “Making Credit Safer: The Case for Regulation,” Harvard Magazine, June 2008

2. “GOP Tried To Block Elizabeth Warren From Heading Agency She Proposed,” Huffington Post, October 27, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=90368

3. Elizabeth Warren Wikipedia Entry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Warren

4. “Elizabeth Warren is Bostonian of the Year,” The Boston Globe, December 20, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=90369

5. “How HAMP Makes Elizabeth Warren The Only Choice For Consumer Protection,” The New Deal 2.0, July 22, 2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=90370

Got a New Sheriff, Main Street Brigade
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6W0vCgMRX0o

“Elizabeth Warren is Bostonian of the Year,” The Boston Globe, December 20, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=90369

“Jon Stewart to Elizabeth Warren: Let’s Make Out,” Talking Points Memo, January 27, 2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=90371
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Frank Gormlie September 17, 2010 at 10:39 am

Here’s a quote deep into the article: Later that year, her opposition widened to include much of the House GOP. Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee introduced an amendment to the pending financial reform legislation intended to prevent Warren from ever heading the agency. It was defeated.

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RB September 17, 2010 at 11:11 am

Warren would have been a great selection.
And Dodd is just a corrupt bum, IMO.

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RB September 17, 2010 at 11:13 am

Oh sorry, I forgot about that bum thing.
I don’t mean homeless.

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Frank Gormlie September 17, 2010 at 11:26 am

Dodd has really pissed me off lately! He’s been very disappointing this last year. He came out early and publicly against the public option in the health reform debate. And now his opposition to Warren …. geez! He is retiring this year. But he had made a name for himself over the years for being a principled Senator.

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RB September 17, 2010 at 12:37 pm

Dodd has been the Chairman of the Banking Committee since 2006.
We sure could have used some banking regulation during his term as Chairman.
Instead Dodd collect campaign contributions from the industry he was overseeing and received a VIP loan with much lower interest rate from Countywide before they went under. This loan was a violation of the Senates ethics rules.

Anyone want to bet that Dodd will end up working for or lobbing for the financial industry?

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