Tag Archives: Elizabeth Warren

Elizabeth Warren Grills Financial Regulators: ‘People Want to Know’ (Video)

Senator Elizabeth Warren is seriously kicking financial regulators’ butt..

AATTP

Elizabeth Warren, the Democratic Senator from Massachusetts, grilled two financial regulators this Thursday as to why the men were favoring big banks over families that are struggling.

The questioning took place during a Senate Banking Committee hearing where Warren took aim at Daniel P. Stipano of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Richard Ashton of the Federal Reserve. The line of questioning centered around the Independent Foreclosure Review, which investigated foreclosure abuses that ended in January with a $8.5 billion settlement.

Warren claimed the two were withholding data obtained from the investigation. She asked whether they planned to disclose evidence of illegal activity to families who were in the middle if litigation with the banks for the wrongful disclosures, with Ashton responding that they had not made a decision.

“So I just want to make sure I get this straight,” Warren continued. “Families get pennies on the dollar in the settlement for having been the victims of illegal activities or mistakes in the banks’ activities. You now know individual cases where the banks violated the law and you’re not going to tell the homeowners, or at least it’s not clear if you’re going to do that?”  She added,

People want to know that their regulators are watching out for the American public, not for the banks, and the only way that we can evaluate whether or not you’re doing your job is if you make some of this information publicly available.

Watch Senator Warren in the video below.

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“Crazy righty: Karen Finney’s not black enough”: Salon’s Joan Walsh

Crazy righty: Karen Finney’s not black enough

Another RWNJ gets it all wrong…

Salon

Hey, Reince Priebus: Here’s some more top-notch minority outreach from your partners at the right-wing Media Research Center.

MSNBC just announced that Karen Finney, a network political analyst and former communications director of the Democratic National Committee, will host a new weekend show.MRC director of media analysis Tim Graham immediately Tweeted:

MSNBC touting Karen Finney as another African-American host. Would the average viewer be able to guess that? Or is Boehner a shade more tan?

— Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) April 2, 2013

Finney is African-American, although MSNBC didn’t particularly “tout” that in its press release; it mentioned that she was the first African-American communications director of the DNC and is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists. I’m not sure what would cause Graham to even muse about her racial bona fides, let alone share his idiocy publicly. When mocked on Twitter, he just dug his hole deeper:

Judge pic here: http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/04/02/karen-finney-named-new-msnbc-weekend-host/ …

Graham’s buffoonery reminded me of when former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown mocked and questioned Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s American Indian background, and when Tucker Carlson accused Barack Obama of exaggerating his “black” accent when speaking to black ministers. “This accent is absurd,” Carlson told Sean Hannity last year. “This is not the way Obama talks. It’s put on, it’s phony.” I observed at the time that there seemed to be an epidemic of white guys ruling on the correct way for other people to identify themselves in ethnic terms. Graham makes it a trend.

In a 2010 Huffington Post piece Finney wrote about being the descendant of slaves on her father’s side and Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee on her mother’s side.  Maybe it’s too much to ask that Graham inform himself about the biological and cultural diversity of African-Americans. It’s not too much to ask, though, that he shut up about his ignorance, but I won’t hold my breath.

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Elizabeth Warren’s First Senate Banking Committee Hearing

Pic of the Moment

Democratic Underground

Senator Warren: ’Why aren’t more bank execs in jail?’

The Senator says, “I’m just concerned that too big to fail has become too big for trial.”

“Too big for trial,” that’s a powerful tagline to hit the Goldman Sachs crowd with. It’s a brilliant turn of phrase.

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Outrageous! Washington’s jaw drops at possibility of AIG lawsuit…

This week the AIG board will consider whether to join a $25 billion lawsuit. | AP Photo

Unbelievable…

Politico

Remember when AIG took a $182 billion bailout only to turn around and hand out seven-figure bonuses to the same guys who tanked their company?

Grab the pitchforks — it gets better.

Now the insurance organization might join a lawsuit against the U.S. government over the terms of the bailout — saying the deal that saved the company cheated shareholders.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner — who faced calls for his firing over the AIG bailout — and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke are furious, according to one Democratic lawyer. Other officials inside the agencies were angered by the news, too, sources in the department told POLITICO.

Neil Barofsky, former inspector general for the Wall Street bailout said AIG’s possible lawsuit would be a “giant middle finger to the taxpayer.”

One of President Barack Obama’s top aides agreed: “Definition of Chutzpah: AIG, saved by taxpayers, contemplating suit,” David Axelrod tweeted.

Many Treasury and Fed insiders have long believed the terms of the AIG bailout — which only wrapped in recent weeks — were far too generous, not too punitive as the lawsuit is expected to contend.

This week, the AIG board will consider whether to join a $25 billion lawsuit over whether the terms of the bailout were unfair to shareholders, who claim they were deprived of billions of dollars.

AIG began airing ads in recent weeks that say “thank you” to Americans for the rescue — a sentiment AIG’s CEO Robert H. Benmosche assured is sincere in a statement the company released Tuesday night.

“AIG has paid back its debt to America with a profit, and we mean it when we say thank you to the American people,” said Benmosche.

He went on to explain that the company has no choice but to consider suing the government. “At the same time, the board of directors has fiduciary and legal obligations to the company and its shareholders to consider the demand served on us and respond in a fair, appropriate, and timely manner. Tomorrow’s board meeting is about listening to all of the parties involved and gaining a thorough understanding of the issues. We anticipate making a decision in the next several weeks.”

The Treasury and the Fed haven’t released official responses to the news of the potential lawsuit, first reported by The New York Times.

One former administration official, who worked on the AIG bailout, was in a state of disbelief.

“I can’t imagine that they will actually do it. Because whatever recovery they might possibly gain would be totally swamped by the enormous hit to their reputation,” the former official said. “What I don’t understand is why they have not ruled it out already. They have had plenty of opportunity to do so.”

Continue on Page 2…

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Desperate Scott Brown loses nice-guy image

Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown

In my opinion,  Brown’s “nice-guy” image has always been a facade…

Daily Kos

The Scott Brown that showed up at Thursday’s Massachusetts Senate debate, “condescending, snide, repetitive, off topic, rote, eager to get personal,” and “dark, hyperkinetic,” is apparently the Scott Brown that is going to stick around through the rest of this election season. Elizabeth Warren is surging in the polls, and Brown’s desperation is showing.

Brown is shedding his Mr. Nice Guy image and going on the attack. Warren is trying to make the race a referendum on a potential Republican Senate and less about personality—a contest she’d have difficulty winning against the likable, everyman Brown. [...][A]fter months of warm ads showcasing the senator as a down-to-earth family man and consensus-seeking moderate, Brown debuted a more combative strategy during the debate. The senator’s invective toward Warren only accelerated over the weekend during numerous campaign stops. [...]

Brown batted away questions about whether his comments signaled he was set to embark on a more negative campaign, but did allow, “The true Elizabeth Warren is coming out and will continue to come out.”

Brown apparently thinks the “true Elizabeth Warren” is in the personal issue he just can’t get over, her heritage. This is where the truly nasty Brown emerges, in his latest ad.

Brown won’t run on or answer to the actual issues of this campaign. He’s running a campaign heavy on resentment of gender, class, and background, the kind of campaign that  Richard Trumka warned voters against  falling for. Last week’s debate made it abundantly clear that Brown doesn’t have a defense against his votes to protect millionaires and Big Oil. All he can do is to try to change the subject.

In doing so, in becoming attack Brown, he loses the main thing he has going for him with non-Republicans, his nice-guy, non-partisan, above the fray image. Instead of exposing Warren, Brown is exposing his own true self. And his true self is an asshole.

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Elizabeth Warren Leading Scott Brown In Two New Polls

Elizabeth Warren Scott Brown

Great news!

The Huffington Post

The polling bump produced by the Democratic National Convention appears to have helped more than just President Barack Obama, as two new polls in Massachusetts also show a parallel rise in the standings of Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren.

The two new polls, both released on Sunday, show Warren with slim leads over Republican Senator Scott Brown. The first, conducted by Western New England University’s Polling Institute (WNEU) in partnership with the website MassLive.com, shows Warren leading by 6 percentage points (50 percent to 44 percent). A previous WNEU poll fielded in June had shown Warren with a narrower 2-point edge over Brown (45 percent to 43 percent).

The second new poll, from Public Policy Polling (PPP), a firm that conducts surveys for local Democratic campaigns, gives Warren a 2-point advantage (48 percent to 46 percent). Warren’s margin on the new PPP survey represents a net gain of 7 points from its previous poll, conducted just before the Republican convention, which had Brown ahead by 5 (49 percent to 44 percent).

The WNEU poll used live interviewers to call for a full week, from Sept. 6 to Sept. 13, beginning on the final night of the Democratic convention. PPP’s automated recorded-voice methodology called for three days, from Sept. 13 to Sept. 16.

Despite the different methods, the two polls produced very similar snapshots of attitudes toward the two candidates. Both show net positive job approval ratings for Scott Brown as they did earlier in the year, and both now show net positive favorable ratings for Warren. Both also indicate improved ratings of the rivals following the party conventions and months of campaign advertising.

Continue reading here…

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Wednesday Blog Roundup 9-12-2012

Ryan Running Ads for Re-Election

Elizabeth Warren bouncing back in polls

The Latest ‘Liberal Media’ Conspiracy Twist

Romney slams Obama over Libya, Egypt attacks

Video: Learning how to be president from Barack Obama

Obama Refuses to Meet With Netanyahu, Or Maybe He’s Just Busy

Biden Invites Shanksville Firefighters to the White House for a Beer

Sloppy & Wrong: 11 Fox & FriendsCorrections, Clarifications, And Apologies

Romney ramps up campaign schedule as Obama enjoys post-convention bounce

You Didn’t Say That: How Fox Helps Romney By Distorting Obama Quotes

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Scott Brown Touts Praise For Ad From Conservative Blog That Claims Obama Is Muslim

Scott Brown: What About All The Rich Schoolteachers?

This really dumb Senator who won Senator Ted Kennedy’s seat  needs to stop pandering to right wing radicals…unless of course he  is a right-wing radical.

The Huffington Post

Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) is raising money off praise from a conservative blogger who believes that President Barack Obama is Muslim.

In an emailed pitch last week, the Massachusetts Republican boasted that his latest ad — which seeks to tie Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren to Obama’s “you didn’t build that” comments — has been “cheered across the nation by patriots.” He then lists several positive reviews, including one from the conservative blog Libertarian Republican that claimed Obama is a Muslim as recently as last week.

“It has been called ‘powerful,’ ‘devastating,’ and ‘quite possibly the greatest ad for 2012 by any candidate in either party,’ ” Brown wrote in the fundraising appeal, which ends with a request for $100, $50, or $25 donations.

The third accolade comes from Libertarian Republican, which has suggested or stated that Obama is a Muslim on several occasions, although the president has repeatedly described himself as a Christian. As recently as Saturday, Libertarian Republican editor Eric Dondero wrote a blog post about the start of Ramadan under the headline “America’s Muslim President celebrates Islamic holiday.”

Dondero told The Huffington Post on Friday that he was pleased to hear the Brown campaign was promoting his endorsement of the blockbuster ad.

“I think Sen. Brown has always had an appeal to the libertarian wing of the GOP,” Dondero said. “He’s a fiscally conservative, socially tolerant Republican, kind of like a William Weld-type from the 1990s, and we love him.”

Dondero added that it is a “fact” that Obama is Muslim, pointing to a 2008 interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos in which the president references ”my Muslim faith” while acknowledging that his opponent then-Republican presidential candidate John McCain had denied such rumors.

The implication that Obama was proclaiming his own Muslim alliance was rated“false” by the urban legend-vetting website Snopes.

A Brown spokeswoman declined to comment Friday.

A Pew Research Center survey released Thursday shows that some Republicans continue to wrongly name Obama’s religion. Among the most conservative respondents, 34 percent said Obama is Muslim, a 14-point increase since Pew asked the same question in October 2008.

Warren’s campaign deferred to the Massachusetts Democratic Party when asked for comment.

“Scott Brown’s decision to cite praise from an extreme, far-right-wing website like this in a personal fundraising appeal speaks for itself,” spokesman Matt House said in a statement.

Dondero’s views on religious affiliation are not limited to Obama. Earlier this month, Dondero called Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) a member of “America’s Muslim Brotherhood,” echoing a controversial claim by some Tea Party lawmakers that the Islamic terrorist organization is trying to infiltrate the federal government.

In a live chat with Boston.com readers Friday, Brown kept the spotlight on the Dondero-backed ad. “The people of MA will have a very real choice this November,” Brown wrote in response to a submitted question about his major differences with Warren. “I would refer people to my ad ‘Let America Be America Again.’”

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Elizabeth Warren: America’s Future ‘Going To Be Very Different Depending On Who’s Governing’

The Huffington Post

The Obama 2012 campaign on Friday released footage of Elizabeth Warren’s interview for “The Road We’ve Traveled,” the upcoming documentary about the Obama presidency.

“Why didn’t someone wave a magic wand and make it all better?” she said. “Because that’s not how the world works. It took a long time to shake the foundations of America’s middle class. But it also means it’s also going to take some time to put it back together.”

Without mentioning names, Warren also took a shot at Obama’s Republican rivals.

“This next election is about the direction that our country takes, it’s about whether or not we are going to be a people that say, ‘I got mine, the rest of you are on your own’,” she said. “What our future looks like is going to be very different depending on who’s governing.”

Warren, who is currently running for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts, is an outspoken advocate for financial reform and a strong critic of the financial institutions involved in the 2008 economic crash. A founding figure of the Consumer Protection Finance Bureau, she once said that Wall Street “broke this country.”

Though Warren appears in the film, she isn’t always so supportive of the president. Last week, she told the Washington Blade that Obama “needs to evolve” on same sex marriage.

Watch the full clip above.

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Thursday Blog Round Up

Time for Mitt Romney to attack Newt Gingrich?

The politics of TV: What Democrats and Republicans watch

New Rick Perry ad has 30,000 dislikes on YouTube and counting

Newt Gingrich promises to name John Bolton Secretary of State

Elizabeth Warren Leading Scott Brown By Biggest Margin Yet

Protesters Occupy Posh Newt Gingrich Fundraiser

Newt Gingrich Is in Love With Himself

8-Year-Old to Bachmann: ‘My Mommy’s Gay But She Doesn’t Need Any Fixing’

Bachmann: Bookstore Confrontation With 8-Year-Old Was ‘Reprehensible’

Earth-Like Planet Kepler-22b To Get Its Close Up Summer 2012

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