Consumer Law

Joe Nocera Criticizes the Republicans Who Attack Elizabeth Warren

By Jeff Sovern

by Jeff Sovern

Here.  An excerpt:

And thus the real purpose of the hearing: to allow the Republicans who now run the House to box Ms. Warren about the ears. The big banks loathe Ms. Warren, who has made a career out of pointing out all the ways they gouge financial consumers ? and whose primary goal is to make such gouging more difficult. So, naturally, the Republicans loathe her too. That she might someday run this bureau terrifies the banks. So, naturally, it terrifies the Republicans.

That's to be expected.  But here's another excerpt that illustrates a problem that could have been avoided:

It?s not just the House Republicans either. Already the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has reverted to form, becoming once again a captive of the banks it is supposed to regulate. (It has strenuously opposed the efforts of the A.G.?s to penalize the banks and reform the mortgage modification process, for instance.) The banks themselves act as if they have a God-given right to the profit they made precrisis, and owe the country nothing for the trouble they?ve put us all through. The Justice Department has essentially given up trying to make anyone accountable for the crisis.

Full post as published by CL&P Blog on March 20, 2011 (boomark / email).