The Spanish Inquisition, Republican Congressional Edition

For an obscure subcommittee hearing broadcast on C-Span, it was pretty exciting TV.  It was also a pretty disgusting display of Republican mendacity.  But what else is new?


The title of the latest attempt to sling more mud on Elizabeth Warren and her Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was "Who's Watching the Watchmen?" But Democratic TARP and Oversight member Carolyn Maloney quipped today that it might more aptly have been named "Let's Pretend the Financial Crisis Never Happened."


And the Chairman of the Subcommittee had a typical Republican doublespeak of an opening statement too. "The American people have a right to know," Patrick McHenry (R-NC) was essentially complaining, "if the government is overreaching and unfairly protecting the American people by cracking down on the poor maligned banks and credit card companies!"


 The nature of the Republican questioning of Warren today by Subcommittee Chairman Patrick McHenry (R-NC),  was typically inquisitorial. McHenry's first lame tactic was to accuse her of having the nerve to talk to state attorneys general and the Dept. of Justice over the mortgage fraud settlements, and doing so behind the Republicans' backs, and then committing perjury by omission!  Apparently, he was under the mistaken impression that Warren needs Congressional okay before speaking with any government agency, and that she needs to report such discussions to him.  In person, presumably.  He pretty much accused her of lying to Congress.  He repeatedly interrupted her attempts to answer his questions with the usual prosecutorial "It's either a yes or a no!"


(McHenry, incidentally, has reason to hate and fear Warren. He came under fire last year while he was "investigating" the Countrywide subprime mortgage scandal, and it turned out he had accepted $5500 from the Countrywide PAC for his reelection campaign, and kinda-sorta forgot to let anybody know. But Chris Dodd got a sweetheart deal from Countrywide too, so they couldn't very well give Dodd a pass and then pick on McHenry, could they?)


The hearing had originally been scheduled for Tuesday morning, but was delayed until afternoon because of Bibi Netanyahu's joint session of Congress address.  Warren had another meeting scheduled, but agreed to answer questions for an hour. But when it came time for her to leave, a desperate McHenry (whose bullying questions had failed to break her), accused Warren of bailing out before her time was up.  When she tried to explain that her truncated testimony had already been agreed to by his own staff, he shrilled: "You're making that up!"


As Warren sat there, her mouth agape, Democratic committee member Elijah Cummings calmly noted that McHenry was again accusing her of lying.  McHenry sulkily backed down.


Earlier, Cummings had urged Warren to stay on in her position as head of the agency she had created after the financial meltdown of 2008. "I'm begging you to keep up the fight," he pleaded, noting that the full impact of the chicanery of the big deregulated banks had yet to be felt among his constituents.  Houses are still being foreclosed, the unemployment rate is still sky high, the banks have yet to be held accountable.  Warren's bureau is the only federal government agency to be focused exclusively on the consumer rights of families.


Cummings noted that while the banksters haul in an annual $59 billion in overdraft fees alone, the CFPB operates on a shoestring budget. Warren said that although the spending cap on the agency is $600 million, she expects it to operate for only half that amount next year.


Meanwhile, The New York Times was reporting that certain "Democratic officials" have been urging Warren to run against Scott Brown in the Massachusetts Senate race next year rather than stay on in the Bureau. These officials naturally are anonymous. This might sound like somebody helping her get into politics, but to me it smells more like a gentle nudge under the bus, and a way to make her go quietly away.  Her putative boss, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, has made no secret of his lack of enthusiasm for both her and the bureau.  Wall Street is not interested in consumers.  Geithner is obviously not interested in consumers.  Watch out for attempted "bipartisan compromises" down the road.


And watch out for next week, when Obama will have a golden opportunity to recess-appoint Warren during the Senate vacation.  Congressional Democrats have already written him a letter urging him to do just that.  This is one of those times to hold the president's feet to the fire as he has so famously urged his "base" to do.  And Warren herself has stated she has no plans to run for any political office.  She is staying right where she is.


And well she should. She is as popular in the U.S. as Obama apparently is in Ireland.  Since a primary challenge to him now seems out of the question, there is always 2016. She would win in a landslide. NY State Attorney General Eric Scheiderman might be a shoo-in too. Between the two of them, we have many fat little bankster rolling heads to look forward to. But watch out too for even more Republican smear campaigns while we're waiting for the roll-o-rama. 

She's Not Going Anywhere

Update:  some video from the hearing:


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/43160971#43160971

McHenry later told Politico he was shocked at what he called Warren's "blatant sense of entitlement". The MSM, let me add, is spinning this story as a spat between Warren and McHenry.  I watched the whole hearing and can attest that this North Carolina boor of a man had it out for her from the get-go: he essentially called her a liar a few minutes into the testimony, was rude and hardly allowed her to answer a single question.  If anything dragged the proceedings out, it was McHenry's grandstanding.  I don't think I could have been as cool and civil as Elizabeth Warren.  Watch the whole thing on C-Span and decide for yourself.

Update II 5/25 -- here is a petition going to President Obama asking that he recess-appoint Elizabeth Warren:

http://act.boldprogressives.org/sign/sign_warrent_recessappointment/?source=bp

He's Not Only Nuts. He's a Heartless Tool

I missed this appearance by former Florida Congressman Alan Grayson on MSNBC last Friday.  Grayson, opining on Republicans in general and Paul Ryan in particular, nails it:

http://youtu.be/BM7u74sHUNk

Said Grayson, in his inimitable Grayson way: "We’ve got 40,000 Americans under the age of 65 who die every year, because they can't afford to see a doctor when they're sick. And now they want to extend that [tragedy] to the most infirmed, most victimized, sickest part of the population, our senior citizens, so that more will die. I honestly believe that if Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck announced one day that they were in favor of the Black Death, you’d see every Republican primary candidate for President go along with it."

I don't know if Grayson plans on running for public office again any time soon, but just on the basis of this graphic of Ryan (credited to "Blue Gal") in the email he sent me this morning, I will vote for him.  I don't care if I am a legal resident of his state or not.  Maybe he will return to his native New York and run here.  We need him.

And here is a petition to be delivered to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in anticipation of that den of vipers' vote on the Lyin' Ryan Medicare Kill Bill: http://dscc.org/.  Just be forewarned that every time you sign one of these petitions, you will receive daily emails from Democratic senators thousands of miles away begging you for money.  When I signed petitions for Single Payer in 2009, I got appeals for donations from Oregon, Illinois, California -- and even a note from Patrick Leahy's wife asking me to sign his birthday card.  You can, of course, always unsubscribe once all this stuff starts jamming your inbox. 

You Want Paul Ryan to Control Your Thoughts, Says Paul Ryan

There is no official transcript available yet from today's "Meet the Press", but I watched it twice to make sure I heard Paul Ryan right.

Confronted by David Gregory over poll results that show 80 percent of Americans don't want Medicare touched, Ryan replied that he doesn't listen to polls.  "Leaders are elected to lead and are supposed to change the polls because that's what the country wants," he said.

Ryan was essentially making the outrageous claim that once politicians are elected, they no longer need listen to the will of the people.  Well, we already knew that, but somebody finally came out and said it.  Moreover, it is Ryan's job to change what people only imagine they are thinking.  People cannot think for themselves and if they do express a thought, it is the job of Paul Ryan to tell them they are wrong, because deep down, they want somebody to tell them they are wrong.  Paul Ryan is certifiably nuts.  Anybody claiming the whole purpose of his life is to be a general in the "Battle for Fiscal Sanity" is certifiably nuts.  Anybody going on "Meet the Press wearing a day-glo orange tie is certifiably nuts.
  
But do you think David Gregory actually followed up, and tried to explain the meaning and purpose of polls to this reincarnation of Joe McCarthy?  Of course not.  He was more interested in asking if Newt Gingrich blew it when he called Ryan a right-wing radical social engineer, instead of pointing out that Gingrich was actually right for once in his life, regardless of his intent.

 Ryan blithely went on to pontificate that his plan would spare the current crop of seniors from having their lives disrupted, by generously waiting to privatize kill Medicare until the under-55 crowd reaches retirement.  He remains convinced that the over-55s are a bunch of self-interested old geezers willing to eat their own young in their quest for a comfortable old age on endless life support. And that they will all vote Republican to show their gratitude. In the same foul breath of Doublethink, he claims that the under-55s receiving his fiscally responsible junk vouchers will have the added satisfaction of enriching private insurance companies while giving the finger of contempt to government-run Medicare.  Plus, they are getting their ten-year warning of Endtimes.  And if Obama doesn't fix Medicare today, then he will be killing the current selfish old recipients that Ryan, in his infinite calculating wisdom, had decided to spare!  What was that you said about social engineering?

The Ryan Plan = "Saturn Devouring His Child" (courtesy of the addled artistic brain of F. Goya)

You know somebody is dangerously disturbed when even Newt Gingrich looks reasonable in comparison.  And I finally figured out that the reason the pundits all call Ryan "serious" is because of his facial expression. The guy never cracks a smile, not even a forced politician smile. 

 And he's even leaving the door slightly ajar, down the road, for a possible presidential run?  Bring on the Rapture, quick! 

Obama Facing Democratic Pressure on Warren Appointment

Since the Republicans have made it clear that they will block any nominee to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a group of House Democrats is putting the pressure on President Obama to recess-appoint Elizabeth Warren to head the agency she herself created. Rep Barney Frank (D-MA) was blunt: it's now or never. Not only is the Senate minority vowing a fight, the House Republicans are attempting to defund and disempower the agency.  So Obama must make the choice of either caving to Republican extortion or appointing Warren during the Senate recess the first week in June. Under the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Law, a permanent appointment must be made by a July deadline.

Here's the text of the letter to Obama, now being circulated in the House for signatures:

May 18, 2011
Dear Mr. President,
We appreciate your leadership last year in supporting the strong financial reforms in the Dodd-Frank bill that responded to the financial meltdown on Wall Street that led to the worst recession since the Depression.
A key element of that effort was the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with the goals of making prices clear, risks clear, making financial markets work for families and particularly protecting service members and their families from abusive financial practices. Since you appointed Professor Warren to "stand up" the bureau, she has laid the foundation as a strong advocate for consumers--something that seems to strike fear among those who are opposed to reform.
Regretfully, Republicans in the Senate have now made it clear that they oppose reform. They have vowed that they will not allow consideration of any nominee to head the CFPB until the bureau is weakened. They would rather hold your appointment hostage and obstruct the process than make sure consumers have a strong advocate on their side.
Since Republican Senators have said that no one is acceptable unless the law is weakened, we would urge you to nominate Professor Warren as the CFPB's first Director anyway. If Republicans in the Senate indeed refuse to consider her, we request that you use your constitutional authority to make her a recess appointment. We can think of no better person to be the first Director of this incredibly important consumer financial protection regulator.
Sincerely,

The letter was written by Carolyn Maloney of New York, Ralph Ellison of Minnesota and Brad Miller of North Carolina.  The White House, which has been less than enthusiastic about Warren, has declined comment.

 Warren herself is scheduled to testify before the House Oversight Committee on Tuesday. According to The Hill blog, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), the ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, said Thursday he had not seen the draft of the Obama letter, but said he had no problem with the president using a recess appointment to name Warren as director.

“Not only no problem, but what’s the alternative?” he said.

Obama is in a squeeze play. He has had a year to make up his mind. His time is up. 

The Corporate States of America: Toxic Waste Edition

Only in a banana republic can a CEO of an anti-union corporation just found criminally responsible for polluting the earth with radioactive waste suddenly become a government-appointed expert on waste in health care spending.  David Cote has jumped on board yet another Obama Administration PR initiative, this one called Partnership for Patients.


This is the same David Cote, you may remember from a previous post, who locked out a Steelworkers Union local last year after members blew the whistle on dangerous conditions at the Honeywell plant in Metropolis, IL The company was found guilty and paid a hefty fine, but the money and accountability didn't come from Cote or any other human. Nobody went to jail.  In fact, the scandal (which received virtually no coverage in the mainstream media) did nothing to affect his close personal relationship with Barack Obama. Despite cries of anti-unionism from labor leaders, Obama invited Cote to join him on his India trade junket last year.  He had already tapped him for the infamous Deficit Reduction ("Cat Food") Commission which advocated "reforming" Social Security. 


And now, besides being a leader on foreign labor relations and the deficit, Cote is also apparently an expert on health care, and its runaway costs. To prove it, he co-authored, with HHS Secretary Kathleen Sibelius  an editorial in the Philadelphia Inquirer.  At least the opening sentence was somewhat honest, conceding that "many" Americans actually do get health care. I guess his definition of many excludes the 50 million-and-growing uninsured Americans who are just a drop in the bucket  out of a total 300-odd million citizens --  maybe only a fifth or sixth.


But back to PP, which may as well stand for the Public/Private Cabal.  Right off the bat, when you see the words Public/Private, the stench of the neo-fascist corporative takeover of the USA assails your nostrils. And now that the Cat Food Commission and its particular rancid odor has gone into the great circular file destination of all wasteful programs addressing waste, a new one will take its place in the wonderful world of Political Kabuki Theatre. From the editorial:

" That's why the Obama administration and employers such as Honeywell have joined doctors, nurses, hospitals, health insurers, and patient advocates to launch the Partnership for Patients, an unprecedented alliance that will promote innovations to improve hospital care and reduce wasteful spending nationwide".

According to Chilmark, a health care policy research group, PP is just another feel-good publicity stunt to appease the deficit hawks and pump up the Affordable Care Act.  It takes a problem we can all agree needs addressing: the shocking morbidity and mortality levels in American hospitals -- and then spends $1 billion to bring in Honeywell, G.E. and some other conservative-placating corporations to help figure out how to reduce physician reimbursements and trim Medicare and Medicaid costs. This is $1 billion that we can apparently afford to spend, while Home Heating Assistance and block grants to poor neighborhoods were deemed wasteful by this purportedly Democratic White House.  This is akin to the CEO-laden White House Commission on Jobs and Competitiveness taking the place of truly addressing the defacto 25 percent unemployment crisis in this country.


And speaking of jobs, those whistle-blowing Honeywell union members are nearing the first anniversary of their lock-out by Cote.  They recently traveled to New Jersey to confront Cote and the Board of Directors over their status.  From the Steelworkers' website, here is an update with video.


And speaking of Metropolis, home city of Superman, even our favorite comic book action hero is apparently fed up with the USA, and is renouncing his American citizenship.  It apparently has more to do with his disgust with American foreign policy than with the toxic sludge of Honeywell, but I'm sure once he gets wind of this latest public/private corporate hypocrisy he will petition to have the statue erected there in his honor removed as well.



Truth, Justice, and the Corporate Way



Comments

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The Pig Men Cometh

"The pig-man! I saw a pig-man! He was just lying there and then he woke up. He looked up at me and made this horrible sound, eeeeaaaahhh, eeeeaaaahhh." -- Kramer.

 " I wish there were pigmen. You get a few of these pigmen walking around and suddenly I'm looking a whole lot better. Then if somebody wants to fix me up at least they could say, 'Hey at least he's no pig-man!'"  -- George Costanza.


Well, George, you are in luck.  We are flush with pig-men these days.  Let's start with just two examples who will make even George Costanza and Seinfeld look like sensitive, post-feminist kinds of guys.


We'll get the newest one out of the way first. In what has got to be the oxymoron of the century, Socialist Banker Monsieur Dominique Strauss-Kahn of the International Monetary Fund  was busted for allegedly attacking a chambermaid in a posh $3000 dollar a night hotel. NYC cops actually dragged him off his cushy Air France first class seat and hauled him in.  Of course, there is always the possibility that he was set up, Eliot Spitzer-style, but the fact that Milord fled the scene without even taking his cell phone does not bode well.  Of course, the story is plastered all over the front page of The New York Times, which usually doesn't do tawdry unless it's elite tawdry.  Remember the Brooke Astor elder abuse case?  When the rich and famous commit crimes, or are victims of them, that gets the front page treatment. But the dozen prostitute corpses dumped on Long Island? Not so much.

What was pretty hilarious is that the Dominique story came out at the exact same time as Maureen Dowd's column on corsets, cleavage and fishnets.  She chronicled the new TV season, which is heavy on retro sexist treatment of women. Sad to say, it seems we are looking backwards. Women are again fair game.

And then there is our own homegrown pig-man, John Ensign of Nevada, who finally quit the Senate when even the Senate couldn't cover for him any more.  The Department of Justice has known for over a year now what he was up to, but didn't prosecute him.  I suppose that it's all part of Barack Obama's Grand Plan of Always Looking Ahead and Winning the Future.... never looking back, or in this case, even sideways.  As an added bonus, there is now a third pig-man in the mix -- Senator Tom Coburn of the C Street Coven or Cabal or whatever right-wing front group lives and operates in that rent and tax-free den of religious iniquity.  Coburn was the alleged go-between in the payoff to Ensign's mistress (victim?) and her husband. Since Tom Coburn is the pig-man who held up the National Women's Museum and many other bills out of pure spite last year, I would love to see his rump in a grinder. It would absolutely distract me from all the other distractions.

Here is the full report in case it's raining where you live and you have an hour to spare.  It is sleazy and quite dramatic, even containing an intro with the cast of characters.  It seems it was much, much worse than your ordinary affair. The woman apparently was coerced into it by Ensign. My only question is what took so long for accountability to come into play.