Are Treasury’s Knives Coming Out Against Elizabeth Warren?

[ProSense]

AlterNet / By Zach Carter

Are Treasury’s Knives Coming Out Against Elizabeth Warren?

In recent weeks, Treasury officials have leaked details about Warren to Politico to smear her reputation.

After several weeks of officially pleasant interactions, signs are emerging that the Treasury Department’s knives may be coming out against Elizabeth Warren. In recent weeks, Treasury officials have leaked details about Warren to Politico as part of what appears to be an effort to paint her as some kind of prima donna. These relatively silly stories raise troubling questions, however, about what Treasury officials may be leaking with fewer fingerprints and greater ramifications.

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Both of these represent the kind of meaningless, issue-free pseudo-news that serves as Politico’s bread-and-butter. The actual complaints themselves, of course, are preposterous. Warren is painting her office and making media appearances—exactly the sort of things you’d expect the head of a new federal agency to be doing during her first weeks on the job. But look at the frame Treasury is putting on the stories. In both, Warren is portrayed as an ego-centric fluff-monger, not a serious policymaker. Look at fancy Elizabeth Warren painting her office! Our humble boss Timothy Geithner would never do such a thing!

Just days before an election, it’s somewhat astonishing that Treasury officials would be working the media to smear Warren instead of, say, talking about the economy. And it’s certainly counterproductive for Treasury to be creating these distractions for the new, can’t-be-independent-soon-enough agency as it sets out to re-regulate Wall Street.

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If in fact Treasury officials played any sort of role behind the Times story, it’s hard to state just how disgusting such behavior would be. The article in question is an outrageous smear targeting Raj Date, one of the most committed and effective consumer advocates in the United States. No reporter who had even tangentially covered the Wall Street reform bill would have written it, and the fact that the Times’ editors allowed it to be printed is a grave embarrassment. Few people I’ve spoken to say they’d be surprised if it was planted by somebody pursuing an agenda against Warren and the CFPB.

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Zach Carter rips the NYT for its hit-piece on Raj Date and Elizabeth Warren

Why would the Treasury come out against Warren if she is a tool? Confusing.

[gateley]

1. Oops. I'd better read this before I automatically start bad mouthing Geithner. nt

[necso]

2. My guess is,

that if the republicons take over either house, they'll try to find some way to keep the CFPB from operating -- or at least amounting to much.

The CFPB isn't big-time-fraudster friendly.

And republicon politicians know what side their bread is buttered on... and who's buttering it. (Although some people (including many republicon/teabagger supporters) seem to have conflated (been induced to conflate) the ability of the large corporations (and the powerful more generally) to do pretty-much whatever-they-want with individual freedom (the freedom to be defrauded, poisoned, etc, I suppose; and suchlike contradictories).)

[playstation]

3. ?

"...Warren is painting her office and making media appearances—exactly the sort of things you’d expect the head of a new federal agency to be doing during her first weeks on the job. ..."

Is she the new head of that agency?

[depakid]

4. LOL it's not Warren who's the tool!

These folks are from the same camp that went after Brooksley Born (who it so happens was proven right).

Unfortunately, Obama in an historical display of poor judgment went appointed and went along with failed regulators and economic advisers who time and again got it wrong.

And it looks as though we're about to see the political consequences of that manifest in all of its "glory."