The audacity of advocating for Main Street America...
Elizabeth Warren - Barack Obama's special adviser to the CFPB (the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) was on Jon Stewart a couple of weeks ago discussing the trials and tribulations facing the nascent bureau. It’s not as though other newly formed government agencies don’t have their problems or issues. But this particular bureau has the nerve to actually want to protect the average American. God forbid that should ever happen. Jon Stewart of The Daily Show drove home the point. “It’s a bureau looking to protect consumers from corporate malfeasance. Obviously, there is massive Congressional resistance to it.”
What resistance? Tons. The very appointment of Warren had to be as a special adviser to avoid the rancor of a Senate confirmation and probable filibuster. Watching the three-part interview is an education in how the corruption at the federal level has made it nearly impossible for any actually advocating “We the People” to get anywhere.
When it comes to Main Street America advocacy - the enemy never sleeps...
The deeper issue for me is this: Americans are working harder than ever. Their eye is on the ball, but not THAT ball. They are bouncing too many of their own balls just to stay alive. People aren’t apathetic, they are overwhelmed and exhausted. Survival is job one. Those who are employed are working harder and longer for much less.
When the CFPB was created it was forced front and center into the public consciousness by people like Warren who were willing to work the news and late-night comedy circuits such as Chris Matthews, Rachel Maddow, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and Bill Maher. Kudos to Warren for stumping for her bureau with such dedication. By keeping in the public eye, Warren was able to give the CFPB the push that it needed to be born. “We the people” knew what it was about and we were all for it. It was politically untenable NOT to support it.
When victory was declared - Main Street America took it for granted that they won...
When the bureau was finally created under the umbrella of the Federal Reserve the people thought they had won something and went back to work. They didn’t keep their eye on THAT ball any longer. But special interests never slept. They saw it for what it was - a major threat to the status quo - and by stealth of night, they did everything possible to kill it.
The trouble here is that “We the People” can never rest because “They, the Special Interests” are awake 24/7 ready to anything and everything it takes to secure their future - the future of the big banks and Wall Street - all at the expense of Main Street.
We can not sleep because they WON’T SLEEP.
Now, Elizabeth Warren is back - slamming away - keeping the antics of the special interests front and center.
Further Reading:
The long knives are already out for Elizabeth Warren and the CFPB
©2011 - RMGHicks - http://www.therobberbaroneconomy.com
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