- MENU
- HOME
- SEARCH
- WORLD
- MAIN
- AFRICA
- ASIA
- BALKANS
- EUROPE
- LATIN AMERICA
- MIDDLE EAST
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Argentina
- Australia
- Austria
- Benelux
- Brazil
- Canada
- China
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- India
- Indonesia
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Japan
- Korea
- Mexico
- New Zealand
- Pakistan
- Philippines
- Poland
- Russia
- South Africa
- Spain
- Taiwan
- Turkey
- USA
- BUSINESS
- WEALTH
- STOCKS
- TECH
- HEALTH
- LIFESTYLE
- ENTERTAINMENT
- SPORTS
- RSS
- iHaveNet.com: Politics
by Robyn Blumner
Joseph Conrad wrote in the novel "Lord Jim": "You shall judge of a man by his foes as well as by his friends." I agree. Richard Nixon's famed enemies list, compiled by the president's top aides, included an array of people who tried to do good in the world, people like Daniel Schorr, the civic-minded
Similarly, we can learn a great deal about the new congressional leaders in the House by considering their "enemies." One of those is Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard Law professor and an indefatigable activist for the middle class, who was enlisted by President Barack Obama to set up the new
They hate her.
The bureau's job is to protect consumers from predatory credit card and banking practices. It was Warren's idea. She has researched and written for years about how hidden fees and costs continue to trick financial consumers. She's a natural choice to head up the new office. But Warren is like poison to the
Warren's name must send tendrils of smoke out of the ears of Republican Rep. Spencer Bachus of Alabama, the new chairman of the
It's nice to know that Bachus learned so much from the 2008 financial crisis. He later tried to partially backtrack from his startling remarks, but, like the drunken rants of Mel Gibson, one's unvarnished truth is easy to recognize.
Bachus' views stand in polar opposition to Warren's. In a speech last year, Warren gave a clear-eyed historical account of how financial regulation was instrumental to a rising middle class. After describing how her grandmother, who died in 1970 at the age of 94, had suffered early in her life through the insecurities of a boom and bust America, Warren noted that the reforms enacted after the Great Depression brought remarkable security and prosperity to America's middle class.
Warren pointed to the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, which protects bank deposits and separates Wall Street risk-taking from community banking, as well as to the
Then came deregulation, Glass-Steagall's repeal, and a flat lining of incomes for average workers, who turned to credit to stay afloat. With no cop on the beat, as Warren likes to say, the financial sector saw an opportunity for exploitation. Credit card companies, mortgage banks and lenders of every stripe made a fortune by lowering themselves into the mud, using "tricks and traps" to nab consumers with hidden fees, "gotcha" penalties and ballooning interest charges. To them, the financial products consumer is a golden patsy, and Warren's efforts take a hatchet to their money tree.
Bachus fiercely opposed the creation of the new bureau and will use his chairmanship to interfere with Warren's efforts. In November, Bachus cosigned letters to the inspectors general of the
Apt here, is the ancient adage that "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." As a perceived enemy of Republicans in
AMERICAN POLITICS
WORLD | AFRICA | ASIA | EUROPE | LATIN AMERICA | MIDDLE EAST | UNITED STATES | ECONOMICS | EDUCATION | ENVIRONMENT | FOREIGN POLICY | POLITICS
The Enemies of Our Enemies are Our Friends | Politics
© Tribune Media Services