With the passing of the financial regulatory bill by the Senate, and Obama’s signing it (likely by next Wednesday), a new government entity will be set up, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.
The person responsible for this idea is Harvard Law Professor and TARP oversight person, Elizabeth Warren. But Huffington Post reports in at least two articles (including a lead one yesterday) that Warren’s appointment for this position is opposed by none other than Timothy Geithner. See “Obama Praises Elizabeth Warren But States ‘There are Other Candidates As Well’ To Lead CFPB” at Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/16/obama-admin-praises-eliza_n_649224.html
We all remember Geithner, W’s pick for head of the New York Fed who fell asleep at the wheel during the financial crisis. Despite that, he parlayed his failures into becoming Treasury Secretary under Obama and along with W’s Paulson, Geithner and Obama fashioned TARP. That gave trillions to banks and Wall St. including to Goldman Sachs, where Geither worked with former Goldman Sachs CEO Robert Rubin.
Both the Associated Press and Huffington Post are reporting that while Obama is praising Warren (who wouldn’t) he is also considering two other people for the job mentioned. One of them is Michael Barr, who works in the Treasury Department under, you guessed it, Timothy Geithner.
From the AP:
A person familiar with the White House deliberations said Obama is also giving serious consideration to Michael Barr, an assistant treasury secretary who has been one of the architects of the administration’s regulatory plan, and Eugene Kimmelman, deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department’s antitrust division. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the deliberations are ongoing.
It turns out that Barr also has ties to former Goldman Sachs chief Robert Rubin: he was an assistant to Rubin. Rubin and Goldman Sachs basically own Obama. Goldman Sachs was the biggest contributor to both Obama as a senatorial candidate and also to his presidential campaign. Rubin was also a huge donor. Note too that Geithner himself is a Goldie and also worked with Rubin.
Obama’s ties to Rubin and Goldman Sachs go back at least as far as April, 2006, when Obama made the opening speech at the Hamilton Project. It is funded by Robert Rubin and Goldman Sachs. In his speech, then Senator Obama paid lavish tribute to “my friend Bob” [Rubin] and called for more NAFTA-like “free trade” pacts (making a sham of his supposed anti NAFTA position in the Democratic primaries in 2008). Obama also called for more outsourcing of jobs overseas. Critically too, he called for cuts to entitlements (meaning social security). That is Robert Rubin, Goldman Sachs, and the Hamilton Project’s real agenda.
For more on the Hamilton Project, see “Obama’s Smoking Gun: His Hamilton Project Speech” at http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/17984
Note that as President, Obama has set up a supposed “Deficit Reduction Commission” whose real purpose is to gut social security. He nominated at least two board members, Alice Rivlin (who also has ties to the Hamilton Project) and Anne Fudge (ditto) who are in favor of privatizing social security. Both Obama and his Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, have a huge grudge against progressives who they fight against while attempting to “deal” with the GOP. That’s why Rahm swears at progressives all the time. That’s why Obama has essentially frozen progressives out of his administration favoring Blue Dog Democrats (like Ken Salazar), political hacks (Joe Biden) and Republicans (Robert Gates). That’s why Obama & Rahm are engaged in a battle with a real progressive, Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, over the financial “reform” bill. Feingold says the bill is too weak. Feingold also called out Obama on his “health insurance” reform bill, calling it the bill that Obama essentially wanted: meaning a program that strengthens insurers but does little for average Americans. That’s why Obama disagrees with David Obey on Afghanistan and on budgeting more for teachers, not wars.
Back to Elizabeth Warren now. She is a lady of immense intellect and integrity and has zero ties to Rubin, Goldman Sachs and the Hamilton Project. But Michael Barr does because as noted, he worked as Rubin’s assistant.
Barr is connected through his Rubin-Geithner connections to Goldman Sachs while Elizabeth Warren is a threat to those very substantial economic and financial interests. Guess who will get this job? Expect either an outright nomination of Barr (with a few statements to the effect that yes, Warren would have been a good choice but they couldn’t get her nomination through the Senate). Or, expect Warren to get appointed by Obama (since she is so well known and connected to this idea) but Obama will treat her nomination exactly like Dawn Johnsen’s: left to twist in the wind. After it languishes, he will then select Barr.