Democratic candidate for US Senate
Democratic candidate for the US Senate in Massachusetts and Professor of Law (on leave) at Harvard Law School; author of The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-Class
Mothers and Fathers Are Going Broke and co-author of All Your Worth: The Ultimate Lifetime Money Plan; former chair of the Troubled Assets Relief Program's Congressional Oversight Committee
Senator Elizabeth Warren Focused on Today — Not 2016 Pollsters and partisans of both parties think there's a good chance Democrats could lose control of the Senate in this year's midterm elections. What will that mean for a higher minimum wage and reducing interest on student loans? Elizabeth Warren was elected Senator from Massachusetts after helping establish the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau . In her first term, she's often mentioned as a potential candidate for president, and her recent memoir, A Fighting Chance , reads like a campaign biography. During a book tour, she's joined us in the studios of KCRW in Santa Monica.
JP Morgan's Long Shadow: Big Banks and Presidential Politics JP Morgan Chase survived the financial crisis with its reputation in tact as the best managed bank on Wall Street. CEO Jamie Dimon has been a voice against increased regulation. Now the loss of $2 billion on risky trading has tarnished the bank and raised questions about Dimon himself. Should JP Morgan-Chase and others be reigned in before taxpayers get left on the hook? We hear from Elizabeth Warren , who chaired the Congressional Oversight Panel that oversaw TARP and is now a Democratic candidate for the US Senate in Massachusetts, and from Romney campaign advisor Vin Weber.
Big Banks and Presidential Politics During the financial crisis, JP Morgan Chase got almost $400 billion in taxpayer loans to protect it from failure. It survived the financial crisis with its reputation in tact as the best managed bank on Wall Street. CEO Jamie Dimon has been a voice against increased regulation. Now the loss of $2 billion on risky trading has tarnished the bank and raised questions about Dimon himself. Can JP Morgan Chase and other banks be trusted to use better judgment or is it time for stepped-up regulation? Democrats and Republicans disagree. We talk with financial expert and Democratic US Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren and Vin Weber with the Romney for President campaign.
An Endgame in Sight for Finance Reform As the Senate gets ready to vote on finance reform, The Financial Times has headlined, “Wall Street lobbyists braced for defeat.” Banks are highly unpopular this election year, and some conservative Republicans may join forces with liberal Democrats to crack down. But--even if Goldman Sachs could lose a big chunk of its profits—critics say the reforms deal more with symptoms than causes. Should states get back the authority they once had to protect consumers?
One Year after the Wall Street Meltdown Henry Paulson had been the CEO of Goldman Sachs, a Republican and a free marketeer. But as George W. Bush's reluctant Treasury Secretary, he engineered the biggest government intervention of modern times. During 15 months of the financial meltdown and the $700 billion Wall Street bailout, he sat for eight hours of taped interviews with Todd Purdom, whose " Confessions of Henry Paulson " are in this month's issue of Vanity Fair magazine.
One Year after the Wall Street Meltdown Henry Paulson had been the CEO of Goldman Sachs, a Republican and a free marketeer. But as George W. Bush's reluctant Treasury Secretary, he engineered the biggest government intervention of modern times. Barack Obama promised big change, but he picked as Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, who also played a key role in the Bush Administration's Wall Street bailout. More institutions than ever are "too big to fail" and, while the President's warned against excess risk, he has not said they wouldn't be bailed out again. The new regulations he has proposed may have trouble in Congress, which is gearing up for another election year. The TARP and the federal stimulus might have saved the economy, but what's been done to prevent another recession as bad as the one we're in now?
The Obama Financial Bailout: Change or More of the Same? Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner's speech on economic recovery was delayed for a day so President Obama could build support for the stimulus plan . Today, Geithner got what Obama promised would be his “day in the sun.” Conceding that Americans have “lost faith” in government bailouts, he proposed a package worth one and a half trillion dollars of combined taxpayer and private money
Treasury Secretary Unveils Financial Bailout, Obama-style Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner's speech on economic recovery was delayed for a day so President Obama could build support for the stimulus plan. Today, Geithner got what Obama promised would be his “day in the sun.” Conceding that Americans have “lost faith” in government bailouts, he proposed a package worth $1.5 trillion of combined taxpayer and private money to avoid what he called “complete collapse of our financial system.” Conceding that's a big number, especially when Americans have “lost faith” in government action, he promised accountability and transparency, acknowledging "that the cost of a complete collapse of our financial system would be incalculable for families, for businesses and for our nation.” We look at his much-anticipated plan and see what it means for banks, businesses, homeowners and taxpayers.
Can Barack Obama Follow the Money? At Barack Obama's request, President Bush will ask Congress before he leaves office for the second half of the $700 billion financial bailout . But the first half was so badly spent that Congress may not go along.
Can Barack Obama Follow the Money? Lawmakers in both parties are outraged that the Bush Administration lost track of $350 billion, the first half of last year's massive financial bailout . Today, at Barack Obama's request, President Bush agreed to ask for the second half, so Obama will have it as soon as he takes office next week. We hear how banks refused to account for their use of taxpayer money, while there was no effort to prevent mortgage foreclosures. What's Obama saying to assure Congress he can do better?
Is the threat from Russia missing from the Russia meddling probe? There's much being made about the Trump administration's possible ties with Russia. But the bottom line is Russia's effort to influence American democracy. Do the President and his aides care enough to take action before voters go back to the polls?
The longest US war: Will Trump send more troops to Afghanistan? The Trump White House is divided over the Pentagon's request for more troops in Afghanistan—where the US has been fighting for the past 16 years. Is there a formula -- either for "victory" or a political settlement? Is there an end in sight for America's longest war?
The Trump agenda: where's the beef? President Trump says big things are happening. After celebrating a House bill on health care, he doesn’t yet have Senate agreement. With James Comey’s public testimony scheduled tomorrow, the President today tweeted his selection of a new FBI Director. Is the Chief Executive all style and no substance? Later, terror attacks in Iran and conflicting claims about who’s behind them.
Human Rights in the era of Donald Trump President Trump’s UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, said today the US might pull out of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. Serious violators of human rights are members of the Council itself–and a US resignation could make things worse. Later on today’s show, now that he’s into his second term, comedian turned US Senator Al Franken is telling jokes again.
