Is Elizabeth Warren the Sheriff of Wall Street?<\/p>\n
Richard Borosage writes: \u00a0Time Magazine hails Sen. Elizabeth Warren as the \u201csheriff of Wall Street.\u201d Her effectiveness stuns the powers that be.<\/p>\n
Fox News\u2019 Melissa Francis says people on Wall Street think, \u201cElizabeth Warren is the devil.\u201d Bill O\u2019Reilly fulminates that she\u2019s a \u201csocialist,\u201d yet \u201cin demand, a woman of stature.\u201d The Wall Street wing of the Democratic Party accuses her of \u201cMcCarthyism\u201dfor outing think tank scholars who argue the brief of their deep pocket contributors. The Economist muses on the \u201cmystery of Elizabeth Warren\u201d who has made herself into a \u201cnational politician\u201d even though she isn\u2019t running for president.<\/p>\n
Senator Warren has earned the brickbats and the praise because she\u2019s willing to take on the most powerful financial interests in the country in defense of everyday Americans. She is a first term minority party senator, but she has already earned a national following and is transforming our political debate and disrupting the corrupted politics of Washington.<\/p>\n
A Senate hearing last month illustrated the traits that make Warren so effective and so invaluable. Republicans brought Primerica President Peter Schneider to testify against the proposed rules \u2013 championed by Warren and President Obama \u2013 that would protect the retirement savings of working people from sketchy financial advisers more concerned about fleecing their clients than serving them.<\/p>\n
Schneider portrayed his company as dedicated to everyday Americans, clients who make as little as $30,000 a year, from homes \u201call too often \u2026 headed by a single mother.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all agree that we must act in a client\u2019s best interests,\u201d Schneider said, while opposing the proposed Obama rule requirements as so costly that Primerica would be forced to abandon its vulnerable clientele.<\/p>\n
Senator Warren once more had done her homework. \u00a0\u00a0Primerica advisers were being sued for pushing firefighters and others nearing retirement to swap government guaranteed pensions for much more risky market investments that would earn Primerica far more fees. The company had put aside over $15 million to cover expected liability from 238 of these retirees.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you believe,\u201d Warren asked, \u201cthat people like these firefighters from Florida who are near retirement and have secure pensions with guaranteed monthly payments should move their money into riskier assets with no guarantees, just before they retire?\u201d<\/p>\n
It takes courage to challenge the Wall Street barons accustomed to getting their way in Washington. It takes intelligence and hard work to know enough to expose the hypocrisy and lies that are trotted out to justify rigging the rules.<\/p>\n
Somehow this former law professor is pitch perfect in her ability to frame complicated issues for Americans to understand. Her speech at the 2012 Democratic Convention \u2013 \u201cPeople think that the system is rigged against them. And here\u2019s the painful part: they\u2019re right\u201d<\/p>\n
But she is more than a gifted orator. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau \u2013 that she not only conceived but, against all odds, got enacted in the Obama financial reforms \u2013 has already returned over $10 billion to 17 million Americans tricked by deceptive credit card and other financial ripoffs. She\u2019s championed student debt relief, expanding Social Security, breaking up the big banks, reinstating the Glass-Steagall wall between taxpayer guaranteed deposits and Wall Street\u2019s casino. And she\u2019s only just begun.<\/p>\n
W-T-W.org notes: \u00a0Warren thinks about the problems she presents and deeply understands them. \u00a0For instance, she has taken what is mistakenly regarded as a right wing position that too many colleges exist in America; they charge too much and invite students who can sign up for debt but will not find a college education useful.<\/p>\n
Her personal poise, her clear convictions and her direct charm should not be under-estimated.<\/p>\n
Is Elizabeth Warren the Sheriff of Wall Street? Richard Borosage writes: \u00a0Time Magazine hails Sen. Elizabeth Warren as the \u201csheriff of Wall Street.\u201d Her effectiveness stuns the powers that be. Fox News\u2019 Melissa Francis says people on Wall Street think, … Continue reading ![\"Elizabeth](\"http:\/\/www.w-t-w.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Elizabeth-Warren.jpg\")
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