Are Treasury’s Knives Coming Out Against Elizabeth Warren?

[tpsbmam]

http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy/2010/10/29/are-treasury%E2%80%99s-knives-coming-out-against-elizabeth-warren/">Zach Carter (AlterNet Economics Editor)writes:

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.

Then yesterday, in Politico’s Morning Money column:

NEW PAINT JOB – We also hear that while Warren is out west, her Treasury office is getting a makeover (Warren will have digs both at Treasury and the CFPB’s L Street headquarters). That’s something of a rarity for Treasury officials, who usually leave their offices as-is. There is much internal debate as to exactly what color it is that is going up on Warren’s walls. One person called it “Arizona sunset,” another “terra cotta.”

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!

Suspicions are growing that these stories are plants coming from within Treasury, including a NY Times story that reportedly grossly misrepresented Raj Date, a senior adviser to Warren. The NY Times

article completely misconstrues Date’s work on financial reform, ignores his years of work pushing for stronger consumer protection, and falsely portrays Date as some kind of nefarious subprime hooligan.

To the contrary, says Zach Carter and reform advocates, in an article titled http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy/2010/10/27/raj-date-is-the-best-thing-to-happen-to-consumers-since-elizabeth-warren/">Raj Date Is The Best Thing To Happen To Consumers Since Elizabeth Warren, he says

When Elizabeth Warren hired Date as an adviser for the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, it was the best possible hire she could have made, and activists continue to celebrate the decision with good reason.

Ahhhhh, herein he sealed his fate IMO:

As the Wall Street overhaul moved through Congress, Date was one of the strongest voices for serious reform. He conducted powerful research demonstrating the need for new safeguards in everything from auto loans to proprietary trading, and advised members of Americans for Financial Reform (disclosure: I joined AFR’s steering committee in August of this year) on just about everything that mattered during the legislative debate.

This is all happening under the radar as people focus on elections. Time for us to start making noise again -- don't let them get away with this! Contact the White House and let them know we're watching and we continue to stand up for the great Elizabeth Warren!

(It's also worth reading the rest of the AlterNet pieces -- I had to leave lots of info out in the interest of time so I can pick my friend's kid up from school & copyright issues.)

[jgraz]

1. This assumes that the knives were ever put away.

[ProSense]

2. It's a

conspiracy

Weren't you just making the case that Elizabeth Warren is a tool?

[jgraz]

3. LBLNGF

[ProSense]

4. .

LBLNGF