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RiverLover

(7,830 posts)
Mon Jan 12, 2015, 11:30 PM Jan 2015

Elizabeth Warren wins: Banker drops out of Treasury job nomination

Elizabeth Warren wins: Banker drops out of Treasury job nomination
By Katie Lobosco @KatieLobosco January 12, 2015: 7:33 PM ET



Elizabeth Warren wins: Banker drops out of Treasury job nomination
By Katie Lobosco @KatieLobosco January 12, 2015: 7:33 PM ET

Elizabeth warren antonio weiss Sen. Warren criticized Obama's pick, Antonio Weiss, for being too close to Wall Street.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
Team Warren picked up a win in the fight to keep Wall Street insiders out of Washington this week.

Antonio Weiss was up for a top-ranking position at the Treasury Department, but has now asked President Obama to withdraw his nomination.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren and other Democrats had attacked Obama's pick saying that it would be yet another instance of putting Wall Street regulation in the hands of Wall Street.

Weiss, head of global investment banking at Lazard, withdrew his nomination because he does not want the Treasury to have to go through the lengthy confirmation process that it would entail, his spokeswoman said.

As an undersecretary, Weiss would have been tasked with overseeing U.S. banks and financial regulations.

"The risk of another financial crisis remains too high, and we should be strengthening financial reforms, not rolling them back to benefit Wall Street," Warren said Monday in a statement.

Related: Elizabeth Warren is worth millions

The senator from Massachusetts has a lot of supporters from the left who view the news as a victory.

"The last thing the Treasury Department needed was another Wall Street Banker in a key policy position," said Murshed Zaheed at CREDO, a progressive advocacy group.

>>>>But, Weiss isn't completely losing out. He was offered and has accepted a position as a counselor to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew. It's a role that doesn't require confirmation by the Senate.


I wonder if he'll still get his $22 million "bonus" for snagging a high ranking federal oversight position...

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merrily

(45,251 posts)
1. Don't breathe too easily 99%. Geithner had a lot to do with shaping post-TARP regulation.
Mon Jan 12, 2015, 11:40 PM
Jan 2015

And Bernanke and others, like Summers, who urged Bubba to lobby Democrats for passage of Gramm, Leach Bliley (aka repeal of Glass Steagall).

So, even if you get strict enforcement, which is always unlikely with the federal government, we still have to worry about what is and is not prohibited, limited, regulated, etc.

As Warren often points out, the game itself is rigged. So, while ensuring that people at least follow the rules of the game helps some, the rules themselves that need drastic changing. That said, if you hear the word "reform" these days, don't expect much that is good.


ETA: None of the above was meant to take away from Warren's opposition to putting yet another fox in charge of the rigged henhouse. She did a good thing.

Phlem

(6,323 posts)
2. Absolutely.
Mon Jan 12, 2015, 11:55 PM
Jan 2015

I completely agree.

I think of it as the first step in million miles.



Besides,

with out Warren and Bernie would we be having this conversation right now?

Definitely a good thing.

merrily

(45,251 posts)
3. The recent national conversation about the 99% began with with the Occupy movement,
Tue Jan 13, 2015, 12:01 AM
Jan 2015

especially the Boston segment of it. (I read somewhere that it was the Boston segment that took the "99%" concept from Orwell's writings and gave it new currency (so to speak.) But, Warren has indeed furthered it greatly, adding her voice to that of Sanders and some others.

Phlem

(6,323 posts)
5. Exactly.
Tue Jan 13, 2015, 12:05 AM
Jan 2015

It's going to take many more people to continue to carry the flame. I agree with you on Occupy and I'm so happy it didn't end there.

RiverLover

(7,830 posts)
7. Warren is taking that OWS movement & making it the 90%. Probably more realistic.
Tue Jan 13, 2015, 12:07 AM
Jan 2015

But she admired the Occupy Wall Street movement quite a bit



And conservatives are trying to paint her the hypocrite because she's wealthy.

They don't get we don't care, and we admire that, because she made those big $ without having to crush others.

merrily

(45,251 posts)
9. When Orwell first wrote about the 99%, he may well have been accurate. One danger of
Tue Jan 13, 2015, 12:11 AM
Jan 2015

continuing to use 99%, as one DUer once pointed out to me, is that people like Bill Maher can attempt to speak from within the 99% about the "very very rich."

Phlem

(6,323 posts)
10. "And conservatives are trying to paint her the hypocrite because she's wealthy."
Tue Jan 13, 2015, 12:16 AM
Jan 2015

N.S.

News flash, it is highly conceivable that one can be quite wealthy without making everyone else live on dirt.

Also the vote, they vote with millionaires even though their not. "Because they're going to be one someday", yep, every stinking person can be a millionaire all at the same time in the US all at once.

Ouch it hurts.

The stupid, it's like Kryptonite! Must go.....

sabrina 1

(62,325 posts)
15. Yes, exactly. And it's funny to watch the third wayers constantly pretending that OWS 'failed' and
Tue Jan 13, 2015, 03:45 PM
Jan 2015

then go on to tell us 'why'! Lol!

That movement scared the hell out of Wall St and still does. They did more than even they intended. They changed the conversation and shone a bright light on Wall St.

RiverLover

(7,830 posts)
4. I hear ya. So very true. But shine a light on the roaches, and they scatter.
Tue Jan 13, 2015, 12:02 AM
Jan 2015

We just gotta have people like Liz to keep shining that light & we can help her out with that too!!

merrily

(45,251 posts)
6. If only it were that easy. But, as Phlem alludes to, every journey of 1000 miles begins with a
Tue Jan 13, 2015, 12:05 AM
Jan 2015

single step. And Warren is one of the few in power who got to steppin' boldly in that direction!

Phlem

(6,323 posts)
12. You know what has me semi troubled is,
Tue Jan 13, 2015, 12:21 AM
Jan 2015

the layman's perspective, not saying I'm all that.

I was just perusing a few sites and got this quite a few times in one form or another: "Now, the Democrats come out with helpful legislation, when they're not in power".

I'll not point to recent events or what we as a group know but just take it from a casual perspective.

There's some truth in that.

RiverLover

(7,830 posts)
13. Liz sponsored a bill in 2013
Tue Jan 13, 2015, 12:36 AM
Jan 2015

~the 21st Century Glass-Steagall. It got shot down by rethugs & wall street dems.

I think alot of good legislation like this was presented & shot down while we had the senate. The Wall Street/fake dems are just as bad as rethugs. And they're going to be helping the rethugs out quite a bit over the next 2 years. Because they're on the same side, just with different letters.

We've got to find replacements for them, with you know, um, Democrats. Real ones.

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