Elizabeth Warren Embarrasses Hapless Bank Regulators At First Hearing (VIDEO) - HuffPo

[WillyT]

Elizabeth Warren Embarrasses Hapless Bank Regulators At First Hearing (VIDEO)
Ryan Grim - HufPo
Posted: 02/14/2013 5:14 pm EST | Updated: 02/14/2013 5:35 pm EST

<snip>

WASHINGTON -- Bank regulators got a sense Thursday of how their lives will be slightly different now that Elizabeth Warren sits on a Senate committee overseeing their agencies. At her first Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing, Warren questioned top regulators from the alphabet soup that is the nation's financial regulatory structure: the FDIC, SEC, OCC, CFPB, CFTC, Fed and Treasury.

The Democratic senator from Massachusetts had a straightforward question for them: When was the last time you took a Wall Street bank to trial? It was a harder question than it seemed.

"We do not have to bring people to trial," Thomas Curry, head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, assured Warren, declaring that his agency had secured a large number of "consent orders," or settlements.

"I appreciate that you say you don't have to bring them to trial. My question is, when did you bring them to trial?" she responded.

"We have not had to do it as a practical matter to achieve our supervisory goals," Curry offered.

Warner turned to Elisse Walter, chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, who said that the agency weighs how much it can extract from a bank without taking it to court against the cost of going to trial.

"I appreciate that. That's what everybody does," said Warren, a former Harvard law professor. "Can you identify the last time when you took the Wall Street banks to trial?"

"I will have to get back to you with specific information," Walter said as the audience tittered.

<snip>

More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/14/elizabeth-warren-bank-regulators_n_2688998.html

[OldDem2012]

1. Boom! nt.

[ananda]

2. Whoa!

Good for her!

We need more legislators like Warren!

[colbertforpresident]

24. For sure

yes we do need more like her.

[freckleface]

3. New sheriff in town, y'all!

[likesmountains 52]

4. Great clip, but could not help noticing all of the bottled water with their labels

all facing the cameras. Is there some kind of bottled water supplier was going on?

[RC]

12. That is our Royalty there.

They have people that are paid to get heartburn over the least little thing out of place. That is why the water bottles are lined up that way.

[Larry Ogg]

63. This portion of Diss the Senate dog and pony show is brought to you by...

Last edited Fri Feb 15, 2013, 10:48 AM - Edit history (1)

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We now return you to our regularly scheduled program of Diss the Senate.

Who would have ever noticed...

[LonePirate]

5. Love her! I wish she had been in the Senate as the mess unfolded in 2007-2009

At least she is wasting no time putting those agencies on notice. Almost makes me wish I lived in MA so I could vote for her.

[think]

6. Now we're cooking with gas! K&R!

[Safetykitten]

7. I LOVE HER!

[sheshe2]

8. She is A Force to be Reckoned with!

My Senator from Mass. Go Senator Warren!

Thank you, WillyT

[napi21]

9. Thannk you Mssachesetts for electing the most effective senator the Dems have!

I think we all knew Liz was going to retain her independant, tough, and fearless demeanor after she got to Washigton, as most of the MEN do not! Hooray for Liz! May she serve a vey very long position in theSenate!

[CTyankee]

64. YES! Thank goddess for Elizabeth! Long overdue...

[Left Coast2020]

103. Yes. She could be the Chip Kelly of the Banking Committee

Get the crooks, listen to the testimony, get them deposed, and then bring charges--all in a short period of time--so to speak.

In other words, she needs a touchdown against the scumbags who brought this economy to its knees. I use Chip Kelly as example because thats was his MO: score quickly and often.

[Liberal_Dog]

10. Oh Yeah!!

K & R.

[whatchamacallit]

11. bannedfromkos does not approve

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

108. Who from Kos?

[Sekhmets Daughter]

13. I think she may still have some campaign debt...

I think I'm going to have to donate. She's awesome.

[Firebrand Gary]

14. Willy, thank you for posting this.

Watching this video earlier today I could not help but fall in love all over again with Elizabeth Warren. The elegant way she came across in making her point, I thought was so remarkable and classy. We couldn't hope for a better contrast than Senator Warren and Senator Cruz.

[vlyons]

62. Alas Ted Cruz is my senator

At first, I thought was an ambitious hot dog. Now I KNOW that he's a vicious rabid cur dog. How would you like to do business with this man?

[Firebrand Gary]

104. I am so sorry for your situation. =(

Just repeat after me "Texas Bluification", "Texas Bluification", "Texas Bluification"... #Itgetsbluer

[trublu992]

15. Can we please clone her?

she needs to be in the House as well as a regulator in the SEC and adviser to Pres That's all

[Chalco]

16. I love this woman more than I can say. nt

[Berlum]

17. Thank you for standing up for the American people, Senator Warren

[joeunderdog]

28. "Too BIG to Fail has become Too BIG to Trial."

WOW. Wall St. has a new Public Enemy#1.

She talks like us, not a politician. She's fucking incredible.

[meow2u3]

18. Sen. Elizabeth Warren: a bankster's worst nightmare

[TeamPooka]

19. k+r!

[dhill926]

20. Fantastic!!!

K & R....

[wildbilln864]

21. awesome! k&r!

Someone with some spine!

[Hotler]

22. Gee! Just think how if over four years ago...

President Obama called Eric Holder into his office and said "I don't care if you have to arrest the CEO's on Wall St. for jaywalking, you get them before a grand jury. " Things would be today. Instead we got the President going on Sixty Minutes and saying Wall St. did nothing illegal.

[MannyGoldstein]

31. And that they're smart businesspeople.

And most of his staff and cabinet come from Wall Street.

And Dimon and Blankfein are regulars at the White House.

And...

[bvar22]

86. He didn't just say they did nothing illegal.

He said they are entitled to their obscene bonuses!

"We can't begrudge them their wealth."

"They are just savvy businessmen."

"Its the Free market."

"Look at all the baseball players."
--- President Obama defending the Wall Street Bonuses

[frylock]

95. look at all the baseball players wrecking the economy..

what a stupid remark. thank you for treating us like idiots, mr. Harvard law man sir.

[Rider3]

23. Amazing woman!

So admired! Proud to have voted for her!

[forestpath]

25. Wow...such a rarity to see a Democrat actually like a Democrat anymore!

[dreamnightwind]

49. +1

Great to see she's giving them a little hell.

[joeunderdog]

26. "we correct deficiencies"

Yeah, I'm sure a homeless, penniless victim of banks who institutionally BREAK banking LAWS loves to hear that this is called a "deficiency." Sick.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

27. "We don't have to bring people to trial to achieve our supervisory goal."

You do now, you asshole.

[reformist2]

29. If big banking corporations are people, I hope some of them get the death penalty.

[MannyGoldstein]

30. My God! It's like she's channeling President Obama!

[Euphoria]

32. Sorry, but I think it's the other way

...around.
President Obama is now, maybe/sometimes, channeling Senator Warren!

[MannyGoldstein]

38. I was being sarcastic.

Sorry, too dry!

[Larry Ogg]

66. Please use the sarcasm tag Manny...

Obama's idol worshipers, might take you seriously.

[Euphoria]

72. Ah, sorry. Should've figured it out

because you, Manny, pretty much always get it right.

Dry martini anyone?

[KansDem]

74. Okay if I stop by after 5pm?

[Euphoria]

83. Only if you bring the olives

and I don't do any flavored martinis. But hey, that blue martini looks a lot like Obama-blue, so maybe I'll consider.

[mountain grammy]

36. More like FDR.

[ProSense]

84. Imagine if she

was head of the CFPB.

Elizabeth Warren grills banking regulators at first hearing

<...>


Warren ousted Republican Sen. Scott Brown in November in a hard-fought campaign. She was President Barack Obama's first pick in 2011 to head up the government's newly established Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an entity the former Harvard University law professor and attorney helped create. But Republicans in Washington essentially killed her nomination, citing her record of taking on big banks and Wall Street. That opposition helped boost Warren's reputation and led Democrats nationwide to embrace her decision to run for U.S. Senate.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/elizabeth-warren-grills-banking-regulators-first-hearing-161535327--politics.html

Things worked out great. She is in the right role at the right time.

[MannyGoldstein]

85. Thank goodness

that it was Obama's plan that she end up in the Senate Banking Committee, channeling him.

[dorksied]

33. Fantastic. I cannot WAIT til she runs for POTUS

[abelenkpe]

39. Me too! :) nt

[onestepforward]

34. Awesome! n/t

[mountain grammy]

35. President Elizabeth Warren, 2016, and America has a chance.

[lonestarnot]

37. Bazing Senator Warren. I love you!

Will she run for President?

[Le Taz Hot]

40. If we don't put this woman in the White House

this country is irredeemable. Could we have 99 more Senators just like her, please?

[rhett o rick]

77. I'd really be interested to know how much financial help she got from the DSCC

as compared to the Blue Dogs. I know she got a lot of financial help from outside the Party from groups like moveon, PCCC, DFA, etc.

My point is, I would be surprised if the DSCC is particularly interested in cloning Sen Warren.

[Le Taz Hot]

78. I'm sure Elizabeth Warren wouldn't exactly

be the DSCC's/DNC's pick for a presidential candidate. You'll hear time and again how she's "unelectable." If/When she runs it will have to be a grassroots candidacy. But I'm convinced she could win. Not only the nomination but the presidency. She's just too common sense and speaks "regular folks." She's the real thing and I think that comes across, and not just to Democrats. I think she'd bring in people that don't normally vote. I think she could bring in moderate Republicans.

[rhett o rick]

88. The problem she faces is that she is way to progressive for the party machine.

The elite overlords would definitely not allow it. I dont believe she would be where she is without help from outside the party structure.

[Iwillnevergiveup]

41. And sometimes

it was better for a bank to fold rather than go to trial. Cynical is the word that comes to mind along with greedy, of course.

So wonderful to see this video on the same day Ted Kennedy's rant on increasing the minimum wage was resurrected. Some great folks have come out of Massachusetts.

Huge K&R

[DeSwiss]

42. K&R

Big Banks Are Told to Review Their Own Foreclosures

NYT - DealB%k
By JESSICA SILVER-GREENBERG and BEN PROTESS
February 12, 2013

Washington is seeking help from an unlikely group in its effort to distribute billions of dollars to struggling homeowners in foreclosure: the same banks accused of abusing homeowners with shoddy foreclosure practices.

MORE

- Even when you win an inning, the game is still rigged......



My recommendation for new banking regulators:

[BlueStreak]

43. YES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally we have a Senator who isn't afraid to ask the most basic questions.

And what isn't clear from that clip is that settlements are paid by the institutions, and they are basically pocket change.

Trials can include felony charges with the real possibility of jail time for the people who committed these crimes. For these assholes to brush that off is really astounding.

[GiveMeFreedom]

82. You are half right

And what isn't clear from that clip is that settlements are paid by the institutions, and they are basically pocket change.

Pardon me, not to interrupt, but they are also using the money they stole to pay us back with.

I think that completes the equation.

Thanks for the post.

edit:title

[hay rick]

44. Make an example.

Well done. Elizabeth Warren prefaces her question by suggesting that if a big bank expects that the penalty for bad behavior will be a consent decree and a fine that can be paid from a portion of the proceeds from their bad behavior- then they will have very little incentive to refrain from bad behavior. She states the obvious, but that makes the follow up question (when was the last time you took a big bank to TRIAL?) devastating when the answer is "never" or "don't know."

I thought it was hilarious that Curry, from OCC, was the first one to speak up and the first one to fall on the punji sticks. A discussion of his agency's handling of the recent Independent Foreclosure Review here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/12525602

Yves Smith weighs in on the settlement here: http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/02/occ-compounds-botched-foreclosure-review-process-with-barmy-plan-for-distributing-peanuts.html

Warren rightly points out that if a party (any government regulatory agency, for example) is unwilling to go to trial, they have reduced leverage in negotiations. The recent OCC settlement is a poster child for this phenomenon. Here's what Smith has to say about the OCC's pretense that the settlement they got was good for homeowners:

Just focus on the cash portion, which is $3.3 billion across the ten servicers in the settlement. The other forms of relief, paralleling the state attorney general/Federal settlement, either aren’t worth much (writing off deficiency judgments) or are for things the banks were inclined to do anyhow.

495,000 complaint letters were filed. The estimates of serious harm from the whistleblowers at the Bank of America site in Tampa Bay ranged from 10% to 80%. The average was 33%, and the estimates also clustered around 30% to 40%. So we’ll use 30%...
...
You get $18.75 billion. Let’s say maybe the temps were too generous and their estimate is 1/3 too high. You still get $12.5 billion, nearly four times the amount for the banks to divvy up. And you’d have some less large payouts for the people not seriously harmed. If you would have qualified for a mod but the bank never processed your application, or were denied a mod incorrectly, that’s a $15,000 award. The folks who were processing mod complaints say they saw another 30% to 40% instances of less serious harm. So if you assume a $15,000 payout for another 20% (that’s conservative, the real number is probably closer to 30%), you get another $1.5 billion.

$14 billion, which is a conservative estimate of what the banks should have been required to cough up, is more than four times the only part that the OCC got that really matters, hard dollar payments to borrowers that suffered real losses. No wonder the banks are perfectly happy to pay out $2 billion to consultants who made a mess of things. Those madcap consultant were as clever as foxes.

But hey, one quarter of a fair settlement is better than no settlement at all. Elizabeth draws the obvious conclusion- we need to make an example of someone or we will never get fair settlement agreements or discourage banks from engaging in bad behavior.

[MannyGoldstein]

45. Every time I watch that video it gets better.

Brava!

[caledesi]

46. Thanks WillyT! nt

[progressoid]

47. We need more like her!

[longship]

48. "Too big to fail has become too big for trial...

That just seems wrong to me."

BAM! Warren kicks it up a notch!
R&

[MissMarple]

53. Bingo! Classic line.

Too big to fail has become too big for trial.

Robin Hood moment, most truely so.

[JDPriestly]

51. Thank you, Elizabeth Warren. Finally a Senator with integrity.

Finally.

[burrowowl]

52. Go Elizabeth!

[johnnyreb]

54. Bless you Senator Warren!!

Was *any* of this on cable news? (Probably take too much time away from the cruise ship story.)

[juajen]

55. Women are like chocolate: Soft, sensuous, filling and full of good things that bring life to the

weariest day. Beautiful, exhilarating and brave. Hooray for Hillary and Elizabeth! Long may they wave!

[Larry Ogg]

71. Their both of the same gender, and then the comparison ends...

Elizabeth Warren doesn't act, or talk like a conservative, and has never been a Republican that calls herself a Democrat.

But yes... Hooray for Elizabeth!

[Hulk]

56. ooooh, the banks aren't going to like this lady for the next six years!

Let's expose these white collar criminals for what they really are. Good for you, Senator Warner!!

[snort]

57. WOW! WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW!

WOW!

As one of many who had the TBTF fuck me over, this makes me really happy.

She is fantastic!

[Scuba]

58. Thank you Senator Warren (you too WillyT)!!!!!

[EastKYLiberal]

59. Nice to have her and the President on our side. nt

[Zorra]

60. She'll do far more than embarrass them if we elect her prez in 2016. nt

[tclambert]

61. Such a simple question. With such devastating effects.

[reformist2]

68. It shows just how corrupt Washington is, that nobody has ever challenged them before.

[malaise]

65. I love Elizabeth Warren

She tore them a new one

[reformist2]

67. She makes it SO clear these "regulators" are all lap dogs. They should all be fired.

[malthaussen]

69. Elizabeth Warren FTW

Ya know, I just love somebody who asks a simple question and doesn't accept weasel words as an answer. Wish a few of our media pundits would do this once in awhile.

Of course, Warren doesn't have to worry about having her access pulled.

-- Mal

[cate94]

70. That was awesome!

Nail on the head with her last statement:

"I'm concerned that too big to fail has become too big for trial. That just seems wrong to me."

[horseshoecrab]

73. Massachusetts' new Senior Senator...

Elizabeth Warren is simply incredible and she is on our side for sure!!!

[MrYikes]

75. Yes, she is great.

I am off to write to my senator asking that he befriend Warren and become a warrior himself on any topic of his choosing.

[hamsterjill]

76. She is brilliant!

I love how she keeps her cool, and yet just keeps plugging at them!

Thank you, Elizabeth, for being brave enough to stand up for ordinary citizens!

[DFW]

79. They all squirmed and couldn't bring themselves to say "never"

Which said "NEVER" louder than any direct admission ever could.

[limpyhobbler]

80. She's great!.

[Raffi Ella]

81. K&R

Thank You, Senator Warren!

[bvar22]

87. Hooray for Senator Warren!!!

...but it is really sad that this is so remarkable.
This should be the NORM,
not the EXCEPTION.

I wish I could see this,
and say (yawn)"Just another Democrat doing their job."




You will know them by their WORKS,
not by their rhetoric, promises, or excuses.
[font size=5 color=green]Solidarity99![/font][font size=2 color=green]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/center]

[Blue Owl]

89. A couple slingshots like this just might bring some Goliaths down

[Coolest Ranger]

90. I love it. They stopped her from being in charge of the very agency

she helped to create. But she ran for Senate and now has even more power.

[MirrorAshes]

91. I love her so much.

Teddy's seat is once again filled with the heart and tenacity of a Lion.

[liberal_at_heart]

92. She is just so freaking awesome!

[Prism]

93. And these are the *regulators*

If there has been a clearer illustration of what's wrong with the regulators' relationship with corporations, I've not seen it.

She nailed them to the wall, and it only took her four minutes to do it.

[frylock]

94. pwn@ge

[LiberalLovinLug]

96. Thankyou Elizabeth

[Douglas Carpenter]

97. Elizabeth Warren for President 2016

[lexw]

98. AWE!!!!!! SOME!!!!!

[Blanks]

99. She is very impressive.

I hope she doesn't have any skeletons in her closet. If she goes after bankers like this; we will hear about every thing that she has ever done that could even be perceived as wrong.

I hope she gets some support on this from other senators.

[RT_Fanatic]

100. I applaud Senator Warren

We in Pennsylvania wish with all our hearts that we had a senator like her.

One thing I noted was that the Wall Streeters never answered her questions. Is it possible to "embarrass" people who have no shame?

[chase48]

101. This Cherokee is very proud of Elizabeth

I and a lot of Oklahomans supported Senator Warren with our monies, I feel so proud that we Oklahomans helped her to that senate seat, I stayed up just to witness some teeth in that senate being Elizabeth! All those wall street CEO's are guilty of the felony fraud, they are all thieves and should be in a federal pen for tanking our economy, but fraud didn't start with those crooks, it began with the real estate Associate that started those NINJA real estate sales, no job, no income, no assets mortgages, he got a commission, passed on to his Realtor who approved the fraud so he got a commission, sold to Goldman Sachs that got those crappy loans rated AAA, they both committed fraud, then bundled them and then tanked AIG buying negative insurance, betting they would fail, all those banks made a ton of fraudulent profits, sold them to credit unions and investors all over the world, knowing they were toxic and would fail and did fail, cashed in their credit defaults swaps,(insurance policy's) when home owners defaulted when they could not pay their ARM mortgages(adjustable rate mortgages), those banks knew those mortgages were toxic and knew home owners would default, that is about the same as premeditated murder, so senator Warren is saying , these guys are guilty of felony crimes, why are they not being prosecuted? I would like my president to ask the same question, and I believe all those commissions should be returned to the victim, the home owners, just sayin!

[Owl]

102. I love Elizabeth Warren!

Wow, that was awesome!

[Brother Buzz]

105. Pee-wee Herman chimes in

Glad I wasn't on Carnival Triumph, don't live in Russia and wasn't being asked questions today by Elizabeth Warren. TGIF!!

[upi402]

106. lulz

[truedelphi]

107. What we are all witnessing is the end of any type of democracy in our God-forsaken nation

It's nice that one junior Senator is asking questions. But what is most important is that in our country, our electoral system gives us a choice between two people, both of whom are for the Big Financial Firms. The appointments the winner of that debacle makes are what the game is all about. Like the "Onion" reported the other day, the remaining 47 members of the Middle Class were all very happy to hear Obama's pronouncements of going to bat for them during his SOTU. I almsot laughed but it's not funny - there are around 47 members of the Middle Class left standing.

Obama could be appointing people like Neil Barofsky to head the Treasury or SEC. He could be appointing people like Sheila Bair. Or for that matter, Mr Sandy Weill (As long as Sandy keeps to his ideas about breaking the banks up.)

Instead we have had four years of Tim Geithner, and now we get Jack Lew. Right now the USA is a nation wherein for every dollar of profit generated in the country, some 47 cents are going to the coffers of the world's largest banks and financial firms.

In our parents' generation, this was something like 8 to 9 cents out of every dollar of profit.

And the whole system is one giant Ponzi scheme. Plus the system is suffering with the afflictions that the Mafia used to utilize ramped up a 1,000 notches. I remember my dad grumbling abut the poor saps in Chicago who borrowed money from Guido, for 150% interest per year. Now some fifty years later, and we all are hearing that the Big Banks are lending money out to the community on Main Street once again. But what they mean by that is an individual can go into ta PayDay loan firm and get a loan for which they will be required to pay some 900% interest!!!