How a Previously Qualified Elizabeth Warren became Unqualified, According to a Previously Progressive Chris Dodd
July 27: Chris Dodd says of Elizabeth Warren, “She’s qualified, no question about that”
August 9: Katrina vanden Heuvel tweets that several sources have told her Elizabeth Warren would be nominated “next week”
August 12: Warren meets with Financial Services Roundtable President Steve Bartlett and then meets with David Axelrod at the White House to discuss the CFPB position
August 13: Robert Gibbs acknowledges that Warren had been meeting about the CFPB position, but says no announcement would be made in the next week
August 17: Chris Dodd raises questions about whether Warren can manage anything to suggest she may not be confirmable even while he admits she has “a great campaign”
“My simple question about Elizabeth is: Is she confirmable?” Dodd said during a visit Tuesday with The Courant’s Editorial Board. “It isn’t just a question of being a consumer advocate. I want to see that she can manage something, too.”
But when pressed about where he stands, Dodd said: “If the president wants to name her and it goes through the hearing process, then fine, he’ll have my support. But she has to tell me more than just she’s a good consumer advocate or that’s she’s got a great campaign.”
I guess the only question this chronology leaves is whether or not Dodd is acting at the behest of his future employers, the banks, the White House, or both.
It always seemed silly to me, the lengths to which progressives went to defend Dodd when he helped to weaken the AIG bonus provisions early in 2009. It was an effort to counteract White House scapegoating. But it was also wishful thinking, the idea that he was forced to legislate against his will.
I go with both.
I’ve always kept in mind Phil Ochs’ line about Dodd’s dad when identifying which class he belongs to:
“I believe in God and Senator Dodd and keepin’ old Castro down.” Says it all for me.
Peace Corps or no Peace Corps he’s been part of the oligarchy since birth.
one Harvarfd graduate friend of mine (he is 67) said it was standard procedure for the priviliged kids to join Peace Corp to stay out of the military and dodge the draft. He said this was common knowledge and well known strategy used by the priviliged.
Sounds like Dodd fits nicely into that category
Your scenario assumes that there is some sort of difference between orders coming from the White House and orders coming from the banks.
The WH at least helped push Dodd out (if they didn’t lead the effort) in favor of Blumenthal; is there any reason to believe there was not discussion of a position for him once out of the Senate?
I thought Dodd had serious health issues.
Odd when you see someone turn against former teamates, but it happens all the time in pro sports–and likely for the same reason.
ew “I guess the only question this chronology leaves is whether or not Dodd is acting at the behest of his future employers, the banks”
It would appear his history of working for the banks would confirm that question.
What was his personal Countrywide deal? Was he in there when Glas/Steagal went down?
———————————————————————
Dodd ““If the president wants to name her and it goes through the hearing process, then fine, he’ll have my support. But she has to tell me more than just she’s a good consumer advocate or that’s she’s got a great campaign.”
Did Dodd miss Elizabeth Warren’s questioning of Geithner and the Wall Street fat cats? Where was he? Her ability to zero in on the relevant issues , dig in her heels was clear to the peasants
The Obama administration will have a peasants rebellion on their hands if they do not nominate Elizabeth Warren. Are they going to keep ignoring that the majority of the people have little to no faith in our congress or executive brnnch. Do they want to restore some confidence or not?
Did a previous Ew thread about the dissapearing and reappearing torture tapes dissapear?
Nope all posts are there.
Thanks must be confusing it with something I was reading over at Juans place
I’m assuming there is a contingency clause in the offer letter he got from his future employer (whoever that may be) that he either torpedoes Warren or the deal is off… but, that’s just a wag ; )
It was my first thought…if he can’t block a nomination while he’s IN congress, who’s he supposed to influence when he’s out?
dooddodd has a political shelf life of four friggen monthswho cares what he thinks
Obama is the source of the log jam here
President Obama coulda used a recess appointment and
dooddodd could go pound sandI think our President is hidin behind the
dooddoddObama doesn’t even need to do a recess appointment; the mechanism for naming an acting head pending confirmation is somewhat uniquely written right into the bill forming the agency. Obama could have appointed her the second he signed the bill and she could serve for as long as wanted in that pending capacity.
so why are we talkin bout blamin a
dooddodd man walkin ???(duckin & runnin)
Because if we can’t blame Dodd, then the only person left to blame is Obama. And it can’t be Obama’s fault. So let’s blame Rahm.
Boxturtle (We need to be careful blaming Obama, the SOB alredy wants us all drug tested)
Says it all.
So, behold the strategic foreclosure. People know that it’s a three-card monte for the little folks. So they are bailing ahead of time now. Wait till that tsumami hits. I think there will be a sea change in inter-generational demographics, housing ownership, job locations, etc.: the whole jobs/housing formula. It will be like Poland: a paid off house is gold, passed on for generations, the inheritor simply works where the house is. An even worse scenario is Japan. Don’t even think about that one.
Here in my hell-hole doing research on HUD and FHA backed mortgages I’m now of the opinion that HAMP failed because it was never meant to succeed. I’m finding inflated mortgages being paid off by the government dollar for dollar, so why would a bank renegotiate with a the borrower when it knows that HUD and the government will pay off the full amount on foreclosure. Last property I looked at lenders put out $380 grand on 2 inflated loans then having to take the property back, to get HUD to pay off the primary at $305K then the government sells this piece of shit for just over a hundred grand. I think Warren knows that this is going on, and will fight for cramdown, which might end up shining a light on Geithner’s Maiden Lane crap.
Right know I don’t see her getting the job. Dodd’s the muscle to make that happen.
Yes, and by stringing borrowers out that apply under HAMP – often, if not usually, actually leeching them with extended test payments and all kinds of charges – and then foreclosing and getting compensated, it is just a giant scam and continued rip off of the average guy and enrichment of the banks.
1hit 1der: THANK YOU, this is exactly the kind of ‘swarming’ info that i think the inertnets are terrific at getting in our consciousness…
it is often difficult to tell what is going on inside an actual scam, EVEN WHEN you have information of it in front of you; your recognition of what you saw is impressive, you have the soul of a True Reporter… please don’t stop…
thanks again
art guerrilla
aka ann archy
eof
It did succeed
But, not for the people they said it was for (average people)
It succeeded for the people it was meant to be for (the banksters)
Lots of voters in Connecticut are thinking after reading Dodd’s quote, “Pot — Kettle.”
Dodd must think no one was watching and listening to Warren in action.
Hope folks are siging everything they can sign in support of Warren and contatcting their Reps.
He thinks he’s got nothing to lose and a corner office to gain.
Boxturle (I suspect he’s also thinking stock options)
ot
the Leveretts and Juan Cole have some good ones up about the push for Iran
Over at Race for Iran
“CAN THERE BE A REAL IRAN DEBATE?”
“The Atlantic continues to heat up its “bomb Iran debate” by highlighting the views of Elliot Abrams, Patrick Clawson, Martin Indyk, Karim Sadjadpour, and a few other like-minded Iran “experts.” It is remarkable how The Atlantic seems to have systematically excluded analysts who do not support either bombing Iran or active support for the overthrow of the Islamic Republic. It really is becoming Iraq all over again. Below, and in subsequent pieces, we will feature the views of important analysts who should have been included in The Atlantic’s one-sided discussion to make it an actual “debate.” We will break down the real debate into a series of important questions that are becoming prominent in public discussions on Iran in the United States. ”
—————————————————
Prof Cole at Informed Comment
Bolton was Contradicted by Bush on Iran’s Bushehr Reactor
Posted on August 18, 2010 by Juan
Former US ambassador and perennial angry old crank John Bolton is so upset about the possibility that Iran’s Bushehr nuclear reactor will soon go live that he says Israel has a window of only 8 days to attack it and destroy it. (After a reactor is already working, bombing it would turn it into a dirty bomb and harm large numbers of civilians, which even Bolton isn’t yet in favor of).
_—————————————————–
CAN ANYONE EXPLAIN WHY RACHEL, CHRIS MATTHEWS, DYLAN RATIGAN, ED, KEITH OLBERMANN NEVER EVER HAVE PROF COLE OR FLYNT OR HILLARY MANN LEVERETT ON TO DISCUSS IRAN OR THE I/P CONFLICT. HAVE NEVER SEEN THEM ON ANY OF THEIR SO CALLED PROGRESSIVE PROGRAMS. HOOEY
Have you called or emailed their shows? No one here is on their pay roll. Rant away. It doesn’t mean I disagree with you, but yelling here just gets other people angry. Is that what you want?
To Leen and every one else. I’m sitting here watching the news that our last combat troops are leaving Iraq. Like, this is some kind of victory. What? They’re just going over to invade Iran. Or joining the troops in Afghanistan. I’m so sorry the media is playing into this game. Imagine. There are people woo hooing right now.
Of course I have contacted MSNBC. And you may or may not know they do sweep through EW’s once in a while. And I can tell you for sure that I have had many successes at getting guest on both the Diane Rehm show and Talk of the Nation via what you refer to as “ranting”. By asking people to contacting those new outlets. It actually works sometimes
Dodd was very close to Munzuillo the CountryWide CEO that wrote a bunch of sub prime crap that we are still paying for collectively . WE the People need Cramdown we need it now. Seriously if we can’t get even Prof Warren then we really ought to think about who we run against Obama in the next primary
If they do not get Warren I think the lid is going to blow off.
She would make a great Presidential candidate. Could you see what’s her name Sarah Palin run against Elizabeth Warren. Just would not be right
I mean, no one really believed Oilbummer would appoint this mildly reformist woman? The Dems are a reichwing party, like the Rethugs. Oilbummer only cares about the rich plutocrats, the “savvy bidnessmen,” as he says.
Oilbummer is a Manchurian candidate for the evil capitalist oink oinks. He will NEVER appoint this woman! Never! I’ll bet the house on it, man.
You would be correct.
I used to like Dodd. but I think he’s been bought and paid for and has to try to keep Warren out of that position for his future master…and what kind of high paying job he’ll get with them.
I thought there was some new rule about revolving doors enacted so this couldn’t happen. I guess they forgot
That sounds right on the money, Kassandra. There is ALWAYS the economic motive (= obscene levels of wealth accumulation) behind these seemingly inexplicable character changes. That could certainly be the case with the increasingly loathsome Dodd.
Lo, how the mighty have fallen.
Chris Dodd, former defender of the Constitution, former FISA foe (http://crooksandliars.com/2008/01/15/dodd-facing-fight-within-his-caucus-on-fisa), former torture foe (http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102×3860594). That was then. He has learned not to buck the corporatist Democratic Party campaign for social darwinism at home and eternal war everywhere else.
Now big banking’s bitch. Rahm’s rubber stamp. Obama’s surrogate.
Shite. I sent this guy money for his pres campaign, although I always had serious reservations about his support of Lieberman and Don Imus (in the “…nappy headed hoes…” incident.)
Thank god someone’s standing up for keeping womens out of the economic/financial sector.
I was just waiting for ol’ Gibbsy to say, The CPFB is only a sliver of this frumiously wondrous FinReg bill!
I don’t think you can list them as separate entities.
Am I the only one watching tv right now? Doesn’t this mean we’re going to invade Iran? Am I overwhelmed by the heat? Okay, fine. Warren should get the job and Dodd need to go to an little tiny island somewhere. But, stll, there’s breaking news!
It’s a lot less pressure to watch Entertainment Tonight. :-)
What are you saying about people who frequent this site? There are a huge amount of comments about the questionable spines of those in our government. Mirror anyone?
I hear ya, though. I worked in the entertainment industry most of my life. I could give a flying…Oh, and a little girl in LA is missing.
I just thought this site stayed focused on the important breaking news. Bad me.
Just wait…there’ll be a post up, soon. Everyone screaming. You know it’s going to happen. But, me? I’m talking to myself and I’m going to go make dinner now.
I think they do. I was just trying to cheer you up. Looks like I had the opposite effect : – (
I do appreciate the effort. I do. :/
Aren’t you glad to be an American home making dinner rather than an Iraqi shivering in the dark as the US troops pull out and the nonexistent government disintegrates?
Why, yes I do. What made you think I felt otherwise?
I think it’s a very important story. That’s why I lifted it up.
Oh, I agree wholeheartedly.
Dodd has always covered for the power elites. Look at his dysmal performance during the House Select Committee on Assassinations during the late 1970s. He carefully avoided actually investigating the killing of JFK, preferring instead to uphold the official mythology.
Dodd is a perfect example of why nothing changes in Washington, DC.
Sign Bernie Sanders’ petition to appoint Warren here.
Thanks for the link. I’ve signed a similar petition previously, but obviously our voices have not yet been heard.
Bob in AZ
One wonders, indeed, how golden the slide into lobbying, er, advising — isn’t that what Daschle calls it? — will be for Dodd if he can squelch the appointment and confirmation of Elizabeth Warren….
24 carat.
ot: ACLU sues for government surveillance records of former Hawthorne man
Sounds like Dodd plans to do as much damage to us as possible before he leaves (thank god) in November. What a turncoat he turned out to be! Though, to be fair, he’s really only reflecting this administration’s love-fest with Wall Street and its defense of anything they do.
Marcy, just wanted to leave a note. It is finally over! After Shock and Awe, the Plame outing, Mission Accomplished, Libby’s conviction and commutation, and Rove’s slinking departure, it’s finally over.
Wish it were so, and hope it is so. This mess will haunt us for years to come.
The only open question is WHICH future employer Dodd is speaking for, now.
I think he’s covering all the bases — short term and long term.
I just got back home after 8 hours of driving, and will read through the comments in a moment, but this just in from the Rachel Maddow show:
The last “Combat” brigades have left Iraq. According to Maj. Gen Lanza, the War in Iraq is over! Well, that’s not exactly what he said; what he said was, “Well, I wouldn’t call it a War.”
So, either he “misspoke,” or this has wide-ranging consequences: Therefore, Iraq is no longer a war zone. ISTM this has implications for the status of some prisoners (“detainees”) in Guantanamo and elsewhere whose status might be affected? As well as other sequelae?
Bob in AZ
It could be interesting. Especially since, IIRC, when the US was going through and turning all its torture hovels in Iraq over to the Iraqi gov, the military/cia had a couple hundred or so detainees that it wasn’t ready to turn over and … so it didn’t.
It’s been hard to find out what ever happened to them and the press the reported on it originally seem to have just dropped that story. It would be against the Geneva Conventions IF they are not POWs and not being treated as POWs, to take them out of Iraq. And they haven’t been treated as POWS – so ??
I remember the young gentlemen being interviewed who yakked up the fact that we’d been able to release and turn over thousands – maybe even tens of, but we couldn’t let go of these 2-300 or so bc they were really bad guys. Apparently oblivious to the fact he’d just been saying that we were holding thousands (for year and without recourse for most of them) who weren’t actually bad guys that any one knew for sure at least.
Golly gosh, we wouldn’t violate Geneva!
PBS once did an in depth program on Bubba Clinton and The Chiquita Banana Corporation. It would be good to see the same done to Dodd starting with, and I’m sure many of you people remember, the theatrics Dodd displayed from the get-go on the morning of the great announcement that the financial sky was falling. He insisted we should all follow Paulson’s leadership and deliver bailouts immediately and the hits kept coming since then. Yes the money men are boxed in tight over dear Lizzy.
A-Hasn’t she already been running that committe/panel thingy she was appointed to be Reid and B-when did Dodd develop his abilities to analyze management skills (he’s run … what, other than a campaign? maybe something, but I’m sure not aware of it)
OT, but this is a great McClatchy article, summarizing all the foreign investigations of Bush torture and comparing to the Obama/Dem Congress noversight.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/08/18/99359/detainee-torture-cases-proceed.html
Really well done piece.
She’s been running the Congressional Oversight Panel (COP). I think what Dodd is bloviating about is that she doesn’t have any experience managing a large bureaucracy, which the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection will surely become. I don’t know how big a staff COP has, but it’s probably not that big, and it probably doesn’t have a very large budget, as the CFPB surely will.
Of course, a similar lack of experience was no obstacle to Barack Obama becoming elected President of one of the largest bureaucracies in the world. But nevermind. Dodd is obviously grasping at straws, or reflecting the blowback he’s getting from Republicans and corporatist Democrats on the relevant committee that will hold confirmation hearings of the first Director.
As a next step, someone needs to identify all committee members who will be conducting hearings on Obama’s appointment, whomever it is, so that we can start writing to the corporatist Democrats on the committee who may be resisting Warren’s appointment.
Bob in AZ
It is the Senate Banking Committee; here is the membership.
Sure the Repubs probably don’t want her (although Grassley seems to like her); but with Dodd determined to stop her for Obama and the banksters, and Richard Shelby as ranking minority member, chances of stalling her out in committee long enough to where the Senate makeup has changed after the election is VERY good. Don’t bite off on the happy talk, the boys don’t want her.
Oh, and by the way. If for any reason Tim Johnson is unavailable because of illness or any other Dem doesn’t show up; and if Dodd and Bayh vote against Warren (more than possible) she won’t even get out of committee.
Thanks for the link to committee members.
Tim Johnson used to be OK before his stroke, but since then, its like the Republicans have seized control of his staff. And Bayh would vote against her, because he’s not running for re-election, and probably feels immune from public pressure. I think Dodd could be swayed by public attention.
But the reverse logic could work, too. I’m looking at you, Sen. Bennett (R-UT) and Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH)!
Bob in AZ
Voting against Warren is voting against the American people
The only person I know who actually got a HAMP refi through– after they’d been rejected first, of course– had to get their US Senator’s office involved (Isakson, ranking Republican on Appropriations, apparently nobody in government enjoys a pissed off appropriator). A Senate staffer bitched out someone at Tsy sufficiently for it to flow downhill to the bank. A few days later, lo and behold, the bank called the homeowner to say, of course the refi was approved, the rejection was sent by accident.
O/T Verrrrry interesting on several different levels.
Halliburton wins Iraq oil contract
“An Iraqi oil official has said Iraq, along with oil and gas major Royal Dutch Shell and Malaysia’s Petronas, has awarded a contract to Halliburton to drill 15 oil wells in the giant Majnoon oilfield, Reuters has reported. Petrofac also secured a contract to build two crude processing plants with a capacity of 50,000 barrels per day (bpd) each and to rehabilitate the existing crude plant, the official added. “These contracts are part of implementing the preliminary plan to develop Majnoon oilfield for the next two years,” the oil official told the news service on condition of anonymity.”
LINK.
CIA forms new center to combat nukes, WMDs
“The CIA is opening a counterproliferation center to combat the spread of dangerous weapons and technology, a move that comes as Iran is on the verge of fueling up a new nuclear power plant.
“CIA Director Leon Panetta said Wednesday that the new unit would place CIA operators side by side with the agency’s analysts to brainstorm plans to “confront the threat of weapons of mass destruction – nuclear, chemical and biological.”‘
LINK.
Hopefully Micheal Ledeen, Reuel Marc Gerecht, Feith etc are not part of the new CIA WMD team. How hard is it to hold someone accountable for the Niger Documents?
It requires looking backward. That always gives ObamaLLP’s DOJ a crick in the neck.
Boxturtle (Why didn’t the CIA ALREADY have a WMD team?)
I wsh they’d stop carping about that Iranian reactor. It gives the Iranans absolutely nothing they haven’t already got except more electricity. There’s no weapons risk until it’s refueled years down the road. And Iran has an agreement to ship the spent fuel out of the country.
I don’t turst Iran worth a darn, but the fact that they have no reprocessing capability and aren’t making any is telling. And shipping their nuclear waste out of he country rather than having to build their own Yucca mountain is a good deal for them.
Boxturtle (If they’re building a bomb, it will be built on U235)
Thnx for your comments.
Did you also see @ 68? Isn’t it just fascinating that the only entities in the US to gain anything positive from this massive deception and waste of national treasury and lives is Dick “Dick” and his Halliburton buddies?
That’s grossly unfair. Blackwater, BP and most defense contractors have also done very well.
Boxturtle (The war is just the GOP’s idea of a jobs program, ya know)
Anyone remember when the thing about Obama was that Democrats shouldn’t nominate him over Hillary because he wasn’t “electable?” Anyone else see the parallels with Chris Dodd’s maunderings over whether Warren is “confirmable?”
Trust the talking head gasbags to ignore things like “is she the right person for the job” or “will she do a good job” and focus on the horse race.
Dawn Johnson was left twisting in the wind for 14 months with no apparent support from WH.
If Elizabeth Warren’s nomination isn’t aggressively fought for, I’ll probably stay home in November.