I bet Obama, Holder and Geithner are pissed. I think I saw Eric Schneiderman on a missing persons ad on the side of a milk carton at my local 7-11

Now that the “settlement” is legally completed is this anything more than grandstanding kabuki or can Warren vitiate the settlement and start over?

just remember to stay out of small planes. (RIP Paul Wellstone)

That was my first thought, but maybe she is looking for a loophole.

What would almost be braver than taking on Wall Street: exposing government regulators for the protectors of big business that they are.

I hope so, if she turns into the Waxman of the Senate my morale will be even lower. I like her much more than Obama and my honeymoon with him only lasted til Big Pharma.

Yves Smith at nakedcapitalism.com has been connecting the dots.
I hope Warren is reading her.

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/01/bank-of-america-foreclosure-reviews-why-the-cover-up-happened-part-iiib.html

Yeah, the whole thing smells of DC Potemkin village crap. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if Schmuck Schumer (D-GoldSacks) went up to Warren and said something like “OK Liz, banks are safe, time for you to put on the dog and pony show for the little people”

Kabuki again anyone ? it never loses luster,does it ?

my honeymoon lasted one month- the rahm appointment. I knew we had a stealth corporate, Clinton like tool. Good to know dem primaries for leadership positions do not result in change

I hope it’s not theater. That would be exceedingly karmic, given how they blocked her from leading the CFPB.

I hope they regret it. I hope they eventually regret it from jail cells, though I’m certainly not holding my breath.

This could be interesting or a brutal case of Same Shit – Different Day.

I wouldn’t hold my breath

Is her demand a sternly worded letter? (we all know what happens to those)

Sadly, I meet your cynacism and raise it by 5….

I hope I’m totally wrong, but anymore, I believe nothing good will come out of corporate-owned, corporate-run Senate.

Good luck to Warren. Bc she’s new, I’ll give a teeny-tiny chance to prove me wrong, but I’m sure not holding my breath.

Who is the Eric Holder I keep hearing about?????

I thought Big O appointed Rahm rather quickly after his election in 2008?? Seems to me, I lost interest & regretted my vote much more quickly than one month… seems like it was within days. But too lazy to look it up. Know what you mean, though, and sadly that Rahm appointment said it all.

Or near subway platforms.

Go Elizabeth!

Everybody in DC seems to be a big fan.

Once again tremo, not necessarily mutually exclusive. :-)

CFPB is already compromised. Some of the best points on the reality of the housing market are detailed in a series of articles by Mike Whitney.
Here are just a few…
Kabuki or not, it’s time people snapped out of it about “the American Dream” of family-home ownership. It’s a racket.

http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/10/18/the-consumer-financial-protection-bureau-plans-its-first-big-sellout/

“So now we know why the banks fought tooth-and-nail to prevent Elizabeth Warren from heading the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). It’s because they were already planning their next big coup and didn’t want Warren in a position where she could make waves.
Here’s the story from the Wall Street Journal:
“Federal regulators are considering giving mortgage lenders protection from certain lawsuits…
The potential move, which would be a partial victory for mortgage lenders, is part of a broader effort to write new rules for the U.S. housing market in the wake of the mortgage meltdown. The proposal for the first time would establish a basic national standard for loans, known as a ‘qualified mortgage.’ (“Home Loans May Get Shield”, Wall Street Journal)…”

“More from the WSJ:
“As part of its deliberation, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is considering providing a full legal shield for high-quality loans that qualify, mandating that judges rule in lenders’ favor if consumers contest foreclosures, these people say….
The shield against lawsuits would be a welcome move for mortgage lenders. Seven major U.S. banks have spent more than $76 billion on mortgage-related costs and litigation since 2008, according to Credit Suisse Group.
Ahhh, so that’s it. The banks want blanket legal protection when they boot people out of their homes. Nice. They want the CFPB to stipulate what’s meant by “qualified mortgage” so they can twist its meaning like a pretzel and not be challenged in court. Of course, consumer groups don’t like the idea of immunity– the so-called “safe harbor” provision–because they think that it will pave the way to more reckless and predatory lending. But mealy-mouth CFPB director, Richard Cordray, disagrees…”

http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/12/18/the-mysterious-new-housing-bubble/

“So, here’s how it’s going to go down: Bernanke’s going to twist arms at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to define a “qualified mortgage” in a way that allows the banks to dump their garbage loans on Uncle Sam without any risk to themselves. Once the new regulations are in place and the banks get the “safe harbor” provision they want; they’ll start issuing mortgages to anyone who’s strong enough to sit upright and put a “X” on the dotted line, which is how we got into this mess to begin with.

http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/01/25/the-all-powerful-fed/

“Like we said earlier, a healthy (housing) market is characterised by low unemployment, solid wage growth, and low personal debt levels. These are the conditions that support new homes sales, move up sales and organic sales. They are the life’s-blood of the industry. This new wave of speculation has been brought on by the Fed’s zero rate policy and QE which have generated an ocean of liquidity looking for higher yield. In other words, there’s tons of money sloshing around the system looking for a place to go. This is why the yield on junk bonds is at all-time lows, because the Fed’s easy money policies have created uneven inflation in various financial assets. Now the trouble is spilling over into housing. Here’s more on the same topic from OC Housing News:
“The massive amounts of money hedge funds are spending on foreclosures clearing impacting the real estate economy. Last year several dozen investment firms backed by $6 to 8 billion in private equity hedge funds announced plans to purchase between 40,000 and 80,000 previously foreclosed homes….
Just last week Blackstone Group LP, the largest U.S. private real estate owner, accelerated purchases of single-family homes as prices jumped faster than it expected. According to Bloomberg, Blackstone has spent more than $2.5 billion on 16,000 homes to manage as rentals, deploying capital from the $13.3 billion fund it raised last year, said Jonathan Gray, global head of real estate for the world’s largest private equity firm. That’s up from $1 billion of homes owned in October, when Blackstone Chairman Stephen Schwarzman said the company was spending $100 million a week on houses.” (“Housing speculation explodes but with institutional investors this time”, OC Housing News)
So this is what a recovery looks like?
Give me a break. This is a disaster. The Fed’s policy is not creating more jobs or contributing to growth. It’s fueling another speculative ponzi-bubble that will lead to another meltdown…”

What a great post – I live in an area, where of the eleven homes I have to go by to get to the main road, some seven have been foreclosed, or teh owners jsut barely saved their home from the jaws of the Shark Now Known as the Banking Industry. One of the foreclosures had a woman very motivated to get it into the hands of a family. On three occasions, her “short sale” by “her bank” attempts were met with derision. Now the home sits empty with huge notices that 1) it is not a rental and 2) anyone destroying the bank’s property will be in big trouble for their vandalism and trespassing.

The banking industry will do everything they can to keep the homes off the market until such time as the homes are worth more to rent.

I wouldn’t rule her out. Remember, she was tossed the nomination to be the Democratic candidate for Teddy’s Senate seat as a sop. The people giving it to her never thought she’d win. Nor did people like Yves Smith.

So 1/2 – 2/3 of all mortgage holders were left out of the 2012 AG “settlement” with the banks due to being owned by Fannie or Freddie, and now there are millions more left out in the cold due to the fact that this “settlement” is with only 10 out of the 14 banks involved? Where are the stories and outrage about that? I fall into both of those categories and am pissed as hell that no one, absolutely no one, is effing looking out for me and the others that in this category!

Does Yves like Warren now? For the longest time she was selling Warren short.

Yeah, well let me know when something substantive happens.

Only The Shadow knows… :~)

Go, Elizabeth!!!

I believed in her from the start. And I got over any potential disappointment a long time ago. I like her SO much I’d even forgive her for folding or playing kabuki. As a Senator she does have power ~ if she has the *balls* to use it. I think she does.

She’s been through a lot ~ one tough player that’s for sure.

Publicizing what happened is the first step towards changing public opinion. And then something could happen.

I will keep watching. And cheering. We won’t come any closer to the real deal, that much I do know for sure.

Here, here. She’s gonna be in demand on the chicken dinner circuit in 2014 and beyond. The lady is money!! VP, perhaps. Elizabeth will have lots to say about a challenger to the Dem. orthodoxy of Hillary, Oh, Hillary in 2016. So will Feingold and Dean. Everything that was old (Pre-Obama) will be fought anew, again. And, Harkin’s endorsement will not be for the Prez to take yet another 4 year vacation. It will be to well him to get lost!

I wonder when Warrens requests and investigation come to a pathetic, inconclusive end, if this moon-eyed drivel about progressive heroes in the Democratic Party will finally terminate and we can return to objective strategies to disrupt the oligarchy of the duopoly. I can only hope. Charlie Brown might have even got clued in by now.

Elizabeth had better watch out or the Democrats will make her eat her lunch all by herself.

In the past couple of days Yves has done four massive exposure articles demonstrating Bank of America’s involvement in the supposed screenings of mortgages to uncover harm to those suffering foreclosure. She interviewed many of the workers in this process, who were hired by BofA and supervised by them. Her findings are nothing if not devastating. The entity supposed to be conducting these screenings was very much out of the picture – BofA got it all done the way they wanted to.

I should think Ms. Warren has been reading along with the rest of us at nakedcapitalism.com. Stellar reporting by Yves.

Because Yves believed that Warren had more power outside the senate than inside it as a junior senator in a hidebound institution whose leadership is compromised and whose procedures are ossified.

There’s a reason her fellow blogger Lambert calls the Democratic Party a “roach motel” for progressive organizing and fundraising efforts.

From energy to housing…. The corporate fist would make even Jerry Mohoney’s head spin. Seems America can get no relief from the rock salt laced Vaseline?

Paul Winchell Jerry Mahoney Knucklehead
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7vc_vGP5_s

The Tootsie role and boxing gloves… For Fun and Profit? Today we have an extraction process. A sophisticated, picking of gold filings out of teeth, while those with a societal pathological disorder called “hoarding,” can never get enough, in a rigged system designed to line pockets with gold, at the expense of the republic and the governed.

The American people are knuckleheads, objects simply to be “used” for a “means to an end,” by corporate fascists.

This is what the review of these settlements will reveal. We the American people have been and are being used, like a cheap Bangkok whore.

Oh, yes, 2016 is looking very, very exciting for Warren, no matter what happens ~ VP contention is so interesting. I expect her to be in the primaries so she can spread her message. She will be where Hillary was in 2008!!!!! Just imagine!!!!!!

Biden – Warren 2016? Phenomenal!

Good to see D-team fanboy/girl-ism is alive and well. There are couple posts above that really should embarrass any thinking adult.

Again, tell me when something substantive happens.

I won’t hold my breath.

? I didn’t count her out.

And I always thought she would win. I think Obama thought so as well.

Her salary at Harvard surprised me. Still, she didn’t raise $40 million from her fellow college professors.

Meanwhile, vote left of Democrats whenever you can.

No matter what anyone thinks of Warren, this thread is a hoot. As for Warren, I’m grateful she beat Brown. Beyond that, I will wait and see. And whether she is another Wellstone or another Lieberman, ultimately, there is just so much one lone Senator can do. Just ask Sanders.

I just clicked on your link to Yves Smith. That article is from July 2011. The election was well over a year later.

It’s no surprise that a well-liked incumbent was, at that point 25 points ahead of someone who had not even begun to campaign yet. (Cf. Hillary’s 30 point lead over Obama when the primary fight began in 2007)

No one serious predicts an election result more than a year before the election. I can only conclude that Smith was desperate to fill space.

The news that Obama offered Rahm the job was in the papers on November 5.

I’m guessing Obama may have approached Rahm before the election. It is not like Obama to make a public announcement if there is a chance his first choice would turn him down.

I know Rahm made noises at the time about what a hard decision it was. And maybe it was a hard decision. But I think Rahm had already made his decision before he made those noises. It was a little showmanship for the masses, methinks.