Obama in typical fashion perhaps passed up the chance to clearly show he is on the side of consumers of banking services, credit chards, mortgages, but displease the financial elite and of course the GOP. He is trying to compromise. He has put Elizabeth Warren under Geithner and made her an advisor to the creation of the Consumer Watch Dog Agency set up under the Financial Reform. This way Obama can avoid a confirmation fight with the GOP and the blue dog Dem devotees of big finance. On the plus side, for a change he will at least have someone around him advising who is not part of the old Wall Street crowd of folks like , Geither, Summers and their patron Bob Rubin-- the guys who brought us the financial debacle. What do you think? Bold enough to be effective with the majority of Americans who are not responding to Obama's mild calls for patience? The best Obama can do? I'm not sure, but tend to think he was too timid.
From what I've read there's lots of speculation that he will officially appoint her to head the agency as well, but this way she gets to set up the agency her way even if she doesn't get confirmed. Seems like a win for progressives more than a compromise.
Elizabeth Warren is one of the few out there who actually understands the fundamental reasons we are struggling and is in a position to maybe do something about it. I am all for giving her as much responsibility, influence and air time as possible.
So let's see: Option #1: Go around the Senate and appoint her as his personal advisor (she would report directly to Obama, not Geithner) and head the creation of agency starting now. Better yet, she could serve for multiple years without Obama actually nominating anyone for the post. Option #2: Nominate her for the post, wait many months for the confirmation process, and possibly have her filibustered forever and delay the creation of the agency entirely. You seem more interested in fighting political battles than having solutions that actually work and make progress. Why anyone who likes Warren would oppose this amazes me. It accomplishes everything that you want without having to wait and deal with the Senate. The move allows her to act as an interim head of the CFPB and will enable her to begin setting up the agency immediately and prevent the GOP from filibustering her nomination. Warren could serve until President Barack Obama nominates a permanent director to serve the five-year term -- a nomination he's not required to make for some time. Obama also could nominate her as the permanent director in the near future, a prospect that has been discussed among top aides, according to a person familiar with White House deliberations. Warren formally will be named as a special adviser reporting directly to Obama, and serving in a similar capacity to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, later this week.
Good response. I know I could count on you to defend Obama. You might be correct, especially from the viewpoint of just this particular agency. You have me almost convinced. I do think that Obama might be losing a good opportunity to show the nation which side he is on and perhaps help save some seats in Congress, which is part of a much larger picture. This has been discussed for months and he does need to show folks clearly which side he stands on. To repeat: Well this is necessary and after all he is president and not just a wonk at a think tank. Winning political battles is necessary if we are to turn this country around.
I'd prefer, instead of him fighting a political battle so that he might able to help the country down the line, he actually just skipped a step and just did something that helped the country. For example, putting Warren in charge of that agency instead of spending 6 months fighting to put Warren in charge of that agency... Along the same lines, I wish Obama would just recess appoint all his outstanding appointments instead of waiting on the Senate if they aren't going to act.
And most everyone can count on you to say Obama isn't accomplishing enough, no matter how much of the Dem agenda he implements. People like you will never be satisfied because you interpreted the 2008 election as a mandate to turn the country into the left ditch. As far as Obama "showing folks clearly which side he stands on", to you that means show folks that he's an uncompromising left-winger. The trouble is, when the vote was taken, everyone except far lefties and far righties seemed to realize Obama was NOT a leftist zealot. My suggestion to you is get over it and accept reality. At no point in time did he campaign as a hard-core lefty. If he did, McCain would have been elected. Thanks Captain Obvious! Very typical. Zealots at both ends of the spectrum like to fight for the sake of fighting. Obama has fought (and won) many a political battle since taking office and "has the scars to prove it". The changes will be long-term and significant. I definitely think he'comes across as too professorial, but (like it or not) being wonkish hasn't stopped major legislation from getting passed.
Well Obama is making some good political moves, too. I like his support for the Dream Act. Let Latinos know whose on whose side. Hope it is not too late to fire up the base. ********** Obama Promises to Push for the DREAM Act September 16, 2010 5:34 PM PrintRSSShare:EmailMoreFarkTechnoratiGoogleLiveMy SpaceNewsvineRedditDeliciousMixxYahoo ABC News' Sunlen Miller reports: President Obama met privately in the Oval Office today with Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY) and Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) whom he assuring them that he would push to help get the DREAM Act passed. “The president made it absolutely clear to us that he would leave no stone unturned in order to accomplish an approval in the Senate of the DREAM Act," Gutierrez said from the White House driveway this afternoon. “We asked them to put the full weight and might and the full influence of the White House and his personal energy and commitment behind it.” The DREAM Act would help undocumented students who came to the US before age 16 become legal residents after five years by completing higher education or military service. Mitch McConnell, the top Senate Republican said on Tuesday that the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell repeal and the DREAM Act were “extraneous measures that have nothing to do with defense,” making the bill “needlessly controversial.” Sen. Menendez defended the move today following the Oval Office meeting, saying it is “appropriate” and that he hopes Republicans will join Democrats on this. In a paper statement following the meeting Rep. Luis Gutierrez, the bill’s sponsor, said today he’s certain the House has the 218 votes to pass it if the Senate can. "With the White House standing with us and the Senate poised to act, I think we are seeing the [immigration reform] effort begin to bear fruit. There are at least 218 votes in the House to pass the DREAM Act. The House is ready to act. We call on the Senate to pass the bill," he said in a statement. At the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Dinner on Wednesday evening the president personally vouched for the bill. “The Senate is going to have a chance to do the right thing over the next few weeks when Senator Reid brings the DREAM Act to the floor. Keep in mind, in the past, this was a bill that was supported by a majority of Democrats and Republicans. There’s no reason why it shouldn’t receive that same kind of bipartisan support today.” The president said he will do “whatever it takes” to help pass the bill so he can sign it into law, “It’s the right thing to do. We should get it done. “ In the meeting today Sen. Menendez also discussed the broader need for immigration reform that he plans to introduce in the coming weeks. “The President told Senator Menendez that he looks forward to reviewing the bill, noting that he strongly supported the proposal that Senate Democrats outlined earlier this year,” the White House said in a paper statement following the meeting. “The President reiterated that the strength of that proposal was that it was based on the bipartisan framework developed by Senators Schumer and Graham.” http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/09/obama-promises-to-push-for-the-dream-act.html
Well we can agree that he comes across as too professorial and that is too bad as it will increase the chance of him losing his electoral support in November and lessening the chances of him getting his agenda passed.
Obama being professorial won't affect November much. As someone said a couple of administrations ago, "It's the economy stupid!" This is the main reason why the Dems will get pounded. Plus, after paddling the GOP three times in a row, it was time for the worm to turn, especially in a mid-term election. I saw this coming after Obama's won. The elation felt by unrealistic liberals and Dems who forget history made me roll my eyes. It was just a matter of time before Obama became battle-scared and beleaguered just like every single president in history. If he was the leftist zealot you wanted instead of a left-of-center mainstream liberal, Obama's presidency would be marked by numerous defeats and his presidency would be broken by now. You won't agree, but Obama's presidency may actually be helped if the GOP took the House, because it would force them to act responsibly for a change (or be outed as kooks). It also wouldn't hurt if a couple of Tea Partiers joined the Senate and put their ignorance on display. After all, Harry Reid needs to go and Sharron Angle would be great fodder for Dems in 2012. The comment on Angle is meant with only a small amount of sarcasm.
I sure hope not, but this is the danger. Koodoos for mentioning Born who should go down in financial history as a hero.
Glynch... There's a lot of stuff I wish Obama would do or wouldn't do, but you have to give the man his due. He has pushed through one of the most ambitious opening agendas of any President in history and to do it in this climate of 60 votes in the Senate is remarkable. And I agree with Major here... the confirmation process has been hijacked by the Repubs and there is no reason to delay and every reason to push forward and get this thing set up and making a difference for people before 2012. If you nominate and wait for confirmation, the Repubs are going to do everything they can to delay through the next election. That said, I do agree with you and disagree with A_3PO's contention that GOP control of the House might be good for Obama. It would be ugly. There would be no constructive work coming from a GOP House... they would drum up ridiculous investigations and use the power of the House to slow or shut down government. They would not compromise on anything, (as they have proven over the last 2 years) and they would do anything they can to chip away at HCR implementation. I suspect Obama could run very well against that, but in the meantime, the country suffers immensely.
Well I am more inclined to give Obama his due recently. I think that in the last few weeks he is getting that he must come out stronger and more politically against this obstruction anc clearly signal the vast majority that he on their side and not that of the Wall Streeters and the elite. We will see if this is just a feint to get out his base which he was letting wither or whether he has finally learned that he must to a meaninful extent be in permanent campaign mode, when the opposition is, if he is to accomplish much of his agenda
http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/19942/the-hoops-takeover-is-nearly-complete Elizabeth Warren is apparenly a Rockets fan.
