The War on Warren - Krugman

[groovedaddy]

Last week, at a House hearing on financial institutions and consumer credit, Republicans lined up to grill and attack Elizabeth Warren, the law professor and bankruptcy expert who is in charge of setting up the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Ostensibly, they believed that Ms. Warren had overstepped her legal authority by helping state attorneys general put together a proposed settlement with mortgage servicers, which are charged with a number of abuses.

But the accusations made no sense. Since when is it illegal for a federal official to talk with state officials, giving them the benefit of her expertise? Anyway, everyone knew that the real purpose of the attack on Ms. Warren was to ensure that neither she nor anyone with similar views ends up actually protecting consumers.

And Republicans were clearly also hoping that if they threw enough mud, some of it would stick. For people like Ms. Warren — people who warned that we were heading for a debt crisis before it happened — threaten, by their very existence, attempts by conservatives to sustain their antiregulation dogma. Such people must therefore be demonized, using whatever tools are at hand.

Let me expand on that for a moment. When the 2008 financial crisis struck, many observers — myself included — thought that it would force opponents of financial regulation to rethink their position. After all, conservatives hailed the debt boom of the Bush years as a triumph of free-market finance right up to the moment it turned into a disastrous bust.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/21/opinion/21krugman.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha212

[DCKit]

1. It doesn't help the Republics that she's smarter than all of them put together, either. nt

[DirkGently]

2. Don't mess with our 'lisabeth. She's the best we've got. Unimpeachable.

[housewolf]

3. Yesterday I warched a replay on CSpan of a House hearing where Elizabeth was the only witness

Man, were they ever rude and cruel to her! It was unbelievable. Some of them fired question after question at her without giving her a chance to respond. They were looking for a "yes" or "no" answer and when she wanted to give a more nuanced reply, they wouldn't listen. Then accuse her of not answering, and close by making an assumption that her answer was whatever they wanted it to be. They hated her, and they hate that there's no an organization that will protect consumer rights and even more, they hate that it's not subject to Congressional oversight.

The behavior of some of them (not all) was appalling, to say the least.