Thirty-nine Democrats, including a substantial portion of the House Financial Services Committee, have signed on to a letter distributed by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) supporting Elizabeth Warren to run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that will come into being as part of the financial reform bill to be signed today by the President. Warren, a favorite of progressives, invented the concept of a federal consumer protection agency for financial products, yet some reports with anonymous sources say top officials at the White House are resisting naming her to be the first director of the agency.
House Financial Services Committee Chair Barney Frank has signed the letter, along with members of the committee Jackie Speier, Mary Jo Kilroy, Keith Ellison, Luis Gutierrez, Maxine Waters, Brad Miller, and others. The full list is below:
Rep. Luis Gutierrez, Rep. Lloyd Doggett, Rep. Keith Ellison, Rep. Gary Peters, Rep. Jackie Speier, Rep. Brad Sherman, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, Rep. Raul Grijalva, Rep. Nita Lowey, Rep. Barney Frank, Rep. Al Green, Rep. Lois Capps, Rep. John Olver, Rep. Maxine Waters, Rep. Brad Miller, Rep. Jim McDermott, Rep. Earl Blumenauer, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, Rep. Mazie Hirono, Rep. Maurice Hinchey, Rep. George Miller, Rep. Jerry Nadler, Rep. Niki Tsongas, Rep. John Sarbanes, Rep. Joe Sestak, Rep. Martha Fudge, Rep. Marcy Kaptur, Rep. Elijah Cummings, Rep. Peter DeFazio, Rep. Pete Stark, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, Rep. Tim Walz, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Rep. Rush Holt, Rep. Steve Driehaus, Rep. Lynn Woolsey, Rep. Michael Capuano, Rep. Steve Lynch, Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy
Members of the House Democratic caucus have extended the deadline to the end of today to sign the letter before it goes to the President. For his part, Barack Obama plans to announce a director of the CFPB quickly after signing the bill, according to Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin.
Wolin also again denied that Treasury Secretary Geithner opposes Warren as the head of the consumer protection bureau, again falling back on the familiar refrain that she is “well-qualified.”
UPDATE: Politico’s Morning Money floated the name of Bill McDonough, a former President of the NY Fed (1993-2003) and an ex-Vice Chair at Merrill Lynch, to head the board. Wow.




17 Comments

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No, but, see, we have to be realistic and stuff:
Liberals: too pathetic for words.
my prediction…BHO will let Warren take her rightfull position,after todays shitstorm
I’ll you know what a brick if Obama picks her. Obama signed a pact with some high cabal (pick your conspiracy-maybe he’s just a liar!) to always make sure he shits on progressives. Can’t have someone honest and real in finance! That WON’T do.
My rep, Jackie Speier, was a signer. Proud.
Obama wants her like Clinton wanted Lani Gunier
Grayson didn’t sign?
So was that letter “sternly worded”?
If the Dems were serious about trying to retain control of congress after November, they would pick Warren then sit back and let the Repubs dig their own grave.
Wow! 39 signatures in a 435 house, less than 10%. Color me, once again, unimpressed by too-little-too-late Maloney.
Wow. Lani Guinier! Thanks for the memories from the way-back machine. Wish I was as unnaive back then as I am now, which is still too way naive. Put someone up in the exclusive purpose of having the opposition knock them down. Who coulda thoughta that? And how many times have the Ds pulled that on the progressives? Let me count the ways.
What does Rupe say??
More kabuki. Nothing to see here, move along.
From the Department of whoever controls that … the people are free to do as they are told … remind them Elizabeth Warren is not on the list of acceptable choices …
Stop the charade … select one of the false choices presented.
Everything changed after John Lennon; what don’t they get ?
That was as close as they will ever come.
I agree totally. Kurtz should have ended that paragraph and omitted the words, “What’s less clear is whether…” and should have simply stated, “[A]ny legitimate candidate would spark the kind of fight Democrats are looking to avoid.” However, the operative words in this situation are “legitimate candidate”. Obama will definitely not choose a legitimate candidate. He’s already looking at a Wall Street sneak-thief, along with a former Clinton Cronie. The canard they are looking to avoid a fight is nauseating. They are not concerned about a fight. They are concerned that Warren will stop them in their march toward greater power and more money. We will see Obama nominate an oversight lord who is, in fact, a Geithner, Summers, Rubin BFF who will do everything to increase the greed and decrease the security of the American people. Obama and his men crushes will dump on us big time for the next two years. They are putting all their chips in the fact that the people will not want another Bush or McCain in the White House from 2012 thru 2015. They may, however, be sorely mistaken and we may be grossly screwed. This entire traitorous administration and the wet noodle congress are our worst nightmare come true.
Appoint Elizabeth Warren! – - to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. She is in effect the godmother of this unit designed to protect consumers from predatory tactics of purveyors of financial instruments such as credit cards, mortgages and other loans. Professor Warren (of Harvard Law School) has spent the last couple of years, while leading the TARP oversight committee, urging the creation of an agency focused on consumer financial issues, some of which contributed to the financial crisis.
During the typical flawed legislative process, the financial reform law was weakened by placing this unit within the Fed and by inserting exemptions such as auto loans.
Professor Warren has been engaging and impressive in her role in TARP oversight and in her many television appearances explaining and promoting financial reform. I join leading economists and many others (although not Treasury Secretary Geithner) in urging the appointment of Elizabeth Warren.
homer http://www.altara.blogspot.com
Absolutely agree. The Republicans in Congress and the Senate have enjoyed the luxury of the critical, arms-crossed posture too long. Make them fight on something. No more “threat” of filibuster. Let them defend their line in the sand. This giving up without a fight is totally turning America off to politics and leaving the spoils to the fat cats and the lobbyists. It is un-American and shameful.
It would be as good for the Democrats to fight and lose one as it would be to fight and win one.
Elizabeth Warren will not be selected to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for the same reason the agency will be buried in the Fed. The Obama Administration is opposed to consumer finance protection.
The White House wants something labeled “consumer finance protection” so Obama can take credit for it. In typical Obama style, they will maintain the dishonest pretense that Obama supports real consumer finance protections, even though he doesn’t. Just like they maintained the dishonest pretense that the President supported a “strong public option” even as he sent Rahm Emmanuel to the Senate to kill it.
President Obama is not a liberal. His administration has been implementing a pro-Big Business, pro-Wall Street agenda. Any liberals who still support this President are simply bending over and grabbing their ankles and asking Rahm Emmanuel to let them have it.