Republicans to filibuster Cordray's nomination to head Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

President Obama flanked by Sen. Warren and Richard Cordray. (wikipedia)

Just got this email from Elizabeth Warren. Let’s help her get Rich Cordray nominated to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that she founded.

Virginia,

We fought to create the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to keep credit card issuers, mortgage lenders, and student loan marketers from cheating people.

We fought the big banks and their army of lobbyists. We fought hard, and we won.

But some Republicans and lobbyists are still fighting this agency. They have thrown up a filibuster to stop Rich Cordray's nomination to head the consumer agency. They think a filibuster can shut down the agency and protect the big banks from any meaningful consumer protection rules.

Rich Cordray is up for a vote this week, and I need you to fight harder than you've ever fought before if we're going to defeat this filibuster.

Tell the United States Senate: It's time to confirm RichCordray right now.

Outside the halls of this Congress and the fancy lobbyist offices across Washington, no one wants more fine print and more tricks and traps.

No one thinks it's ok to cheat regular people and cut special deals for giant banks.

And no one wants to take the cops off the beat so big banks can break the rules without being held accountable.

I'm new to the Senate, but I don't understand why we accept a system where this kind of political stalemate won't end in more government or less government, but just in bad government.

And I don't understand why we would let an honorable public servant like Rich Cordray get stuck in this nonsense. I don't understand why, when everyone says Rich has been a fair and effective leader, that he can't get a vote on his appointment.

By speaking out and working together, we got a strong consumer agency. Now with your help, we'll do the same to finally give that agency a director.  Sign up now to say enough is enough.

Let me be clear to those who think this filibuster will shut down the work of the new agency: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is the law and it is here to stay.

Do your dirtiest with obstructing the confirmation of the director, but the agency will keep on doing what it does best -- fighting for people.

Thank you for being a part of this,

Elizabeth

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Elizabeth Warren thanks Bill Clinton

Elizabeth Warren earned my respect the day she first set foot on the national stage with her work in establishing the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The U.S. senator- elect for the state of Massachusetts demonstrates a strength of character too often missing in American politics. For one thing, Warren deftly sidesteps Rovian-influenced Dems who would like to see party leaders like the Clintons and Obamas at one another’s throats.

As a Warren supporter from the get-go, I continue to enjoy emails from her campaign headquarters. Most recently, she reminds us that in her efforts on behalf of the middle class, she’s following in the footsteps of Bill Clinton, and she invites us to join her in thanking him:

Virginia,

Bill Clinton made headlines for his political speeches this year, but it is his tireless work to improve people's lives and create opportunity that really inspires me.

He often says that hard work, intelligence, and ability are equally distributed -- but opportunity isn't. That's why the Clinton Foundation focuses on providing opportunity where President Clinton sees it lacking, both here in the United States and around the world.

The election is over, and there's a lot of work ahead. But while we have this moment to catch our breaths, can you join the Clinton Foundation and me in thanking Bill Clinton for his tremendous efforts to help hard-working families?

If you've heard me on the campaign trail, you know how hard I've been fighting for real investments in our future -- putting the conditions in place so that the next kid can get ahead, and the kid after that, and the kid after that.

Bill Clinton has spent his whole career fighting for the same thing.

Since leaving office, his foundation has helped provide access to life-saving HIV/AIDS medicine to over 4.5 million people. They've helped small business owners, smallholder farmers and entrepreneurs gain access to markets and investment capital to help their businesses flourish. They've helped our children have better schools, cleaner air and healthier nutrition so they all have the chance to succeed.

For nearly 40 years, Bill Clinton has continued to give a boost to people here in the United States and around the world to live their dreams.

I've told Bill Clinton personally how grateful I am for his leadership. Can you send him your own thanks today as well with a personal note?

Thank you for being a part of this,

Elizabeth

Will Obama take his cue from Elizabeth Warren in his reelection campaign?

Put aside the fact that President Obama caved to Republican resistance in his failure to nominate Elizabeth Warren to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau she created and consider this:  

Paul Starobin at the New Republic now suggests that President Obama take his cue from the scrappy defender of the middle class in his reelection campaign.

Pointing out that the women’s vote may be even more critical in 2012 than it was in 2008, Starobin writes:

Elizabeth Warren is poised to thrash Scott Brown in their marquee U.S. Senate race in Massachusetts, and the reason is simple: Women voters love her. In the most recent poll, in December, Warren and Brown were virtually tied amongst men, but Warren led by 13 percentage points, 51 percent to 38 percent, amongst women.

Warren’s commanding lead is not about her gender (Masssachusetts has never before elected a woman to the Senate or governor’s office: Brown defeated Martha Coakley just two years ago) or even her party (the state has a history of voting for GOP moderates like Brown: Think ex-Governor Mitt Romney and, further back, Senator Ed Brooke.) Rather, she owes her ascendency to the fact that her communitarian message resonates so strongly with females.

President Obama ought to pay heed: Warren’s campaign can offer important lessons to his own. He too will need to secure women voters if he wants to earn re-election. And he, too, could do so by adopting Warren’s proud communitarian appeal.

Starobin continues:

THE PUREST DISTILLATION of the Warren message can be seen in the video, shot back in August during her appearance at the Massachusetts home of a supporter, which went viral on the Internet and alternately met with applause amongst liberals and apoplexy amongst conservatives.

It’s easy to see why. With evident passion, Warren weighs in against George Bush’s “tax cuts for the rich” and, hands knifing the air, rejects the notion that she is stirring up “class warfare.” Not at all, she says. “There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. Nobody. You built a factory out there? Good for you. But I want to be clear: you moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for; you hired workers the rest of us paid to educate…” It was a riveting performance that proved her skill as a retail politician, someone able to relate to regular folks—there was not a trace here of the Harvard Law professor with a specialty in bankruptcy statutes or the policy wonk whose 5,000 word treatise in Democracy led to the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

According to the Civic Practices Network:

Communitarianism emerged in the 1980s as a response to the limits of liberal theory and practice. Its dominant themes are that individual rights need to be balanced with social responsibilities, and that autonomous selves do not exist in isolation, but are shaped by the values and culture of communities. Unless we begin to redress the balance toward the pole of community, communitarians believe, our society will continue to become normless, self-centered, and driven by special interests and power seeking.

Starobin concludes:

… Communitarianism is not only about ideals, but about practical action. Obama needs to talk more about his particular policy proposals and how they link up with America’s “underlying social contract,” in Warren’s phrase. That’s perhaps the most promising way to reconnect his campaign, so far lacking in any sense of grand aspiration, with its natural demographic base.

Congratulations to Elizabeth Warren for igniting a conversation in the public domain about a too long-neglected topic: the American social contract.

Protecting consumers: Cordray hits the ground running

Richard Cordray. Photo courtesy of wikipedia.com.

In the interval between the NH and SC primaries, the GOP is likely to turn its attention back to its efforts to undermine Obama’s recess appointment of Richard Cordray to direct the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. That’s why Elizabeth Warren is rallying the troops to defend Cordray and the agency she founded.

I just got this email from the Warren campaign:

Virginia,

On the second day of a new job, most people are still filling out paperwork and finding the cafeteria.

But not Richard Cordray.

Just one day after President Obama appointed Richard to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau -- bypassing the Senate Republicans -- he got to work.

He made clear his intent to use his authority as Director to level the playing field for middle class families and to rein in the sorts of abusive lending practices that nearly brought down the economy.

With Richard Cordray on the job, consumers already are seeing a big difference. We want to show Rich we're with him, and Elizabeth is going to personally deliver our online card to him when she next sees him. If you haven't signed it yet, there's still time.

Please join Elizabeth and tell Richard Cordray we're with him all the way: Sign our online card in the next 24 hours and help send an important message of support.

Many outside analysts and observers expect there will be fierce legal challenges to Cordray's appointment from those who want him out.

Republicans are still reeling over their inability to block his nomination, and the big banks have a lot on the line with the new agency's success. We've also seen Wall Street continue to set new spending records hiring lawyers and lobbyists to shift attention away from their wrongdoing.

We've worked hard together to get this far. With Richard Cordray in place at the new consumer agency, we can start moving toward real accountability over the big banks and better protections for consumers.

Please join Elizabeth in telling Richard Cordray we stand with him in this important fight for middle class families and in showing the momentum behind his leadership.

The public is paying attention to this fight -- including thousands who signed our petition urging that Rich get this important job. Middle class people in Massachusetts and around this country are tired of getting hammered by the same characters time after time.

This is a big deal for everyone who thinks it's time for a level playing field that gives middle class families a fair chance to get ahead.

Thanks for your support,

Mindy Myers
Campaign Manager
Elizabeth for MA

Obama gives Richard Cordray a recess appointment as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Richard Cordray, photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

I received word this morning of Obama’s recent appointment of Richard Cordray as the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in an email from Elizabeth Warren:

Virginia,

This is an important day.  Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau gets its first director -- and its full powers.  President Obama gave Richard Cordray a recess appointment that Republicans cannot block.

Please join me and tell Richard Cordray we're with him all the way: Click here to sign my online card now and deliver a strong message of support to an important advocate!  

For months, determined as ever to protect Wall Street and the big banks instead of you, Republicans stymied the consumer agency from doing its job. Republicans demanded changes that would weaken the agency and its ability to protect you, and they filibustered the nomination of Richard Cordray as its director.

The big banks were winning once again until today -- when President Obama gave Cordray a recess appointment!

This is a big deal for middle class families in Massachusetts and across our nation.

For more than a year, we've seen and heard reports exposing how some of America's largest financial institutions broke the law. Maybe that's why Wall Street continues to set new spending records hiring lobbyists to shift attention away from their wrongdoings.

As a result, those who broke our economic system haven't been subject to full scrutiny.  But with Richard Cordray in place at the CFPB, we can start moving toward real accountability over the big banks.

Please join me in celebrating the end of the Republican roadblock preventing the consumer agency from moving forward -- and tell Richard Cordray we stand with him in this important fight for middle-class families.

The public is paying attention to this fight -- including thousands who signed our petition urging that Rich get this position.  

We've worked hard together to get this far.  We should celebrate -- and keep right on working.  Let's show there's real momentum behind Cordray's leadership.

Thank you for being a part of this,

Elizabeth Warren

  

Elizabeth Warren surges past Scott Brown in latest poll

Joe Battenfeld at the Boston Herald reports on the latest Warren vs. Brown poll numbers:

Warren leads Brown by a 49-42 percent margin, outside the poll’s margin of error of plus or minus 5.3 percentage points. That number includes voters who say they are "leaning" for either candidate. But even without the "leaners," Warren still leads by a 46-41 percent margin, barely within the margin of error.

In the meantime, Warren is once again battling Republican attempts to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Here’s your opportunity to stand with Elizabeth in holding Wall Street accountable (letter from Elizabeth excerpted below):

It has been more than three years since the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression. It's long past time we stop just talking about accountability from Wall Street and the big banks that broke the system -- and start demanding it.

Washington must hold the big banks accountable for irresponsible and illegal actions, the point of an op-ed I published today in Politico. Real accountability won't be easy, but the first steps toward overcoming Wall Street's armies of lobbyists and making sure everyone follows the law are simple:

1. The Senate must confirm Richard Cordray as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

2. Our state Attorneys General and federal enforcement officials must investigate the illegal actions that broke the economy and, when evidence warrants, prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law.

3. Congress must stop the late-night budget tricks designed to weaken agencies responsible for enforcing the laws.

Will you join with me in signing on to these key ideas to ensure real Wall Street Accountability?

Please sign on to my plan to hold Wall Street accountable now. I need your help to show what kind of grassroots strength exists for these critical ideas.

Thank you for joining me in this critical fight.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Warren

Elizabeth Warren leads Scott Brown in a general election match-up

She's got spine!

Breaking news from the Elizabeth Warren campaign in MA:

The first independent poll since Elizabeth announced her candidacy was released today:

The poll, by Public Policy Polling, shows Elizabeth Warren leading Scott Brown 46%-44% in a potential general election match-up.

Working men and women all across Massachusetts are frustrated with Washington and want someone on their side. They know Elizabeth will fight for them in the United States Senate.

But we know there's still a long way to go before any votes are cast in this election, and polls will go up and down. So we need your help to capitalize on our early momentum and build a strong grassroots campaign for the long haul.

Click here to spread the word to your friends and family on Facebook -- and share the following message:

Elizabeth Warren leads Scott Brown 46-44 in the latest poll. Join Elizabeth's grassroots campaign today -- and join the fight for working families! http://elizabethwarren.com/announcement?sc=fbs.sp4117941

Or, send this tweet to your friends on Twitter:

Latest poll: @ElizabethForMA leads Scott Brown 46-44. Join her campaign for middle class families: http://elizabethwarren.com/announcement?sc=tws.sp4117941 Please RT!

People clearly responded to Elizabeth's call for Washington to stand on the side of working families as she traveled all across the state during her campaign kick-off last week. You could feel the energy and enthusiasm at every stop along the way.

What's important to Elizabeth is fighting for middle class families and changing the rules in Washington so working people in Massachusetts can get ahead.

Thousands of people like you across Massachusetts -- and across the country -- have joined Elizabeth to continue the fight on behalf of working families.

Now we need more people to stand up and fight, too.

Click here to share the news on Facebook or post on Twitter -- and help us build a strong grassroots campaign that can win on Election Day.

Thank you,

Doug Rubin
Senior Advisor
Elizabeth for MA

Elizabeth Warren is ready to name and shame?!

Elizabeth Warren testifies.

Good for Elizabeth Warren; she’s got plenty of adversaries who deserve to be named and shamed. Nancy Scola at the Atlantic writes:

Elizabeth Warren is ready to name and shame. After 10 long months spent crafting a brand-new federal agency in her image and likeness, years before that willing the institution into statutory existence, only to be passed over on Sunday in favor of Richard Cordray just as the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is moving out of beta, Warren, on a press call late yesterday afternoon, was eager to share her clarity on who's to blame for the especially precarious position the new federal-friend-to-the-American-consumer now finds itself in.

Those enemies of Warren, of the CFPB? Republicans, first and foremost, namely Senate Banking ranking member Richard Shelby (R-AL) and the forty three other Republican senators who signed a letter to Obama in May raising heck over the "unfettered authority" the CFPB had supposedly been granted by the Dodd-Frank Act, passed in the wake of the mortgage meltdown. That's no surprise. But Warren's also annoyed with the press for buying the GOP's story that it's simply a more efficient consumer advocate they're eager for, when really what Republicans want is for the CFPB to die an early death. She also blames her own political naiveté. She's been "too busy busting [her] tail" in starting an agency, she says, and didn't pay all that much attention to those inside the Beltway sharpening their knives. Some heard those noises over at 1600 Pennsylvania. Perhaps she's heard the chatter that Obama was more sold in public than in private on her eventual appointment as CFPB's first-ever director. But Warren gives Obama and fellow Democrats a pass.

Read more:

The status of financial reform: consider the assault on Elizabeth Warren

President Obama signed into law Dodd-Frank, the financial reform package last July. In a Newsweek article today titled The Billion Dollar Bank Heist, Gary Rivlin explains how conservatives are trashing the law’s provisions:

Take what’s been happening with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which is the law’s most significant and controversial provision. The agency is set to go live next week, except that Republicans in the Senate have made it clear they won’t confirm anyone to serve as its head unless the agency is radically scaled back. All told, Dodd-Frank has some 300 provisions, and the bulk of them are under attack by a number of foes, from bankers to check-cashing companies to free-market Republicans.

Rivlin goes on to describe the treatment Elizabeth Warren is getting from opponents of Dodd-Frank:

 Or consider the assault on Elizabeth Warren. The Harvard Law School professor first proposed the idea of a consumer-protection agency in 2007 and has since become a lightning rod for conservative anger over financial reform. On Meet the Press, Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, cast Warren as an ideologue hellbent on creating an agency that “could be a serious threat to our financial system.

“Why would anyone want to gut the consumer agency before it has had a chance to help a single family?” Warren asked in an email exchange with NEWSWEEK. Warren, of course, knows that the answer to that question lies not just with the big banks that don’t see anything in it for them, but also with the fringe lenders who stand to lose the most in the face of a strong consumer-protection agency. These include check cashers, pawnbrokers, and payday lenders (who make high-interest loans against a person’s next paycheck).

 Warren knows, too, that she has become a piñata in the political arena precisely because the consumer bureau she dreamed up is so popular. If the Republicans can dirty Warren and cast doubts on her creation—and, by proxy, the rest of financial reform—they can potentially strike an even bigger victory: undermining one of the sturdiest planks in the president’s reelection platform.

 Maybe the miracle is that Dodd-Frank passed in the first place. The financial-services sector was hit hard by the economic meltdown, so banks spent less on lobbyists and in campaign contributions, according to the watchdog organizations that monitor outside spending on politics. But by all accounts that slowdown was brief. As soon as reform became a threat in 2009, banks ratcheted up spending again. Luckily, they had plenty of cash on hand—courtesy of the federal bailout.

 Read the entire article here:

You gotta love Elizabeth Warren

If you've seen and heard Elizabeth Warren, head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,  making the rounds to school the public on financial matters, you have to love her. She dives in during discussions of weighty financial issues with the likes of Jon Stewart and provides clear, cogent explanations for the current state of our economy - plus, she offers a straightforward path to fixing it.

It seems that Warren's grasp of financial matters carries over into her personal life as reported in the upcoming January issue of  Vogue Magazine. Amy Parnes writes in Politico:

Elizabeth Warren is known for her frugality — after all, she's helping the Obama administration whip the financial industry back into shape. Still, her extreme thriftiness might surprise you. During an interview with Warren earlier this fall, Vogue contributing editor Rebecca Johnson was taken aback by one of Warren's money-saving habits.

Read More: