There is a report out late Wednesday by Jake Tapper of ABC that President Obama will announce Elizabeth Warren as special adviser to the new consumer protection agency.
Warren will launch the agency and spearhead the writing of rules without Senate confirmation. My guess is her role is far from formality and will be a detriment, obstacle or major boost for the poor soul who ends up with the nomination that might slip by the Senate for confirmation.
Warren is more than qualified for the job. That’s not the issue. The politics of the job is an entirely different matter.
After all, what perverted mind in the Senate would actually want a proven consumer advocate for such a job. Goodness, gracious, folks. The audacity of such a thought.
Can one imagine her writing rules that might favor a credit consumer and not a loan shark, or a bank, or those paupers on Wall Street. Heavens, no.
For just once. Why can’t the public have an advocate they can believe in and who will fight for them. Why not a lobbyist on their side. For once the lenders are on a playing field where all the cards might not be four aces in their hand.
Elizabeth Warren should be a slam dunk but instead is treated like a coach ousted from the game and told to sit in the cheap seats.
I would have preferred to see Warren as the actual nominee, not another czar, and expose the jerks who flail against her as to the merits of her qualifications.
President Obama cannot afford a political confirmation battle over an agency chief that will drag on for months. To allow the agency to get out of the starting blocks is a wise decision considering the politics.
But some time the president is going to have to bite the bullet, draw a line in the sand and shove a nomination down the throats of the Senate. And when an anonymous Senator puts a hold on the nominee, call him out by name and shame the fool.
Obama has to stop playing footsies with Republican Senators, most of whom hate his political guts. By now one would think he cannot change Washington politics as he envisioned during the presidential campaign.
If he showed some spunk by his actions, maybe, just maybe, his base might get charged up and show some enthusiasm. His base is not always right, perhaps too selfish, but in this case they nailed it and support Elizabeth Warren like a bar of Ivory soap — 98.6%.
Cross posted on The Remmers Report
Comments are welcome. Link to my blogsite or go to my email address at [email protected] . Remmers’ varied career spans 26 years in the newspaper business. Read a more thorough resume on The Remmers Report.
Jerry Remmers worked 26 years in the newspaper business. His last 23 years was with the Evening Tribune in San Diego where assignments included reporter, assistant city editor, county and politics editor.