House, Senate Democrats Keep Mobilizing for Warren - FDL

[WillyT]

House, Senate Democrats Keep Mobilizing for Warren
By: David Dayen Monday August 9, 2010 2:24 pm

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Following up on the story about two top House Democrats seeking a personal meeting with the President to discuss the Elizabeth Warren nomination for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Senate side has two new endorsers, including the number two in the Democratic leadership.

Heads up: Add Dick Durbin and Carl Levin to the list of Senators backing Elizabeth Warren as Obama’s key consumer cop on Wall Street. That makes a total of 15 Senators supporting her. Is momentum building in her favor?

Durbin, who is a particularly interesting addition because he’s a close ally of the president, came out for Warren in the middle of a speech on the Senate floor last week that passed unnoticed, strongly endorsing her as “aggressive” and “intelligent”:

“It is critical that the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection be put in place with a director who is aggressive, intelligent, and understands the challenge they will face; a director who is fair, one who believes in the power of the marketplace but understands that markets work better if everybody participating in those markets benefits; a director who will listen to what bankers are saying but can see through them when they try to slant lending markets too far in their favor; a director who thinks, first and foremost, about how American families can thrive in today’s complicated economy.

“Fortunately, there is a person who can fill that job effectively. Her name is Elizabeth Warren.”

And Senator Levin came out for Warren in a letter to the President.

Levin echoed Carolyn Maloney in saying that the relative success of the bureau depends on the strength of its initial leader.

So we have 15 on the Senate side now, and 63 on the House side. Maloney and Barney Frank, the two seeking a meeting with the President on the matter, hope to exceed that 63 number with their new letter, and they will try to garner signatures during tomorrow’s emergency session of the House.

Meanwhile, about the only member of Congress to speak out in opposition to the nomination is Chris Dodd, who is being deliberately unimaginative and obtuse in his faux-concern for a drawn-out nomination fight. There’s no reason to be concerned about that at all, since the Treasury Secretary could appoint Warren as acting director without Senate confirmation needed, allowing her to get a head start on the bureau while giving the Senate a chance to offer advice and consent.

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Link: http://news.firedoglake.com/2010/08/09/house-senate-democrats-keep-mobilizing-for-warren/

:woohoo:

:kick:

[WillyT]

1. It's A Good Thing...

:D

:kick:

[nashville_brook]

2. big yay for Durbin and Levin!

[mucifer]

3. Durbin is a good sign. He has a lot of influence with Obama.

When Obama was the Jr. Senator from IL Durbin had a huge office and Obama had a tiny office (due to seniority). Durbin gave Obama some of his space.

About a year later he sent out an email to all of his supporters encouraging us to write to Obama and ask him to run for president.