Director, Public Citizen's Congress Watch Committee
Director of the Congress Watch committee for Public Citizen, and member of the Executive Committee of Americans for Financial Reform, a coalition of about 250 labor and consumer groups who have worked for financial reform
Elizabeth Warren and the Politics of Consumer Protection Wall Street's worst nightmare is a heroine to consumer advocates. When has a Harvard professor of bankruptcy been the subject of an admiring rap video? Elizabeth Warren, who helped force a Bureau of Consumer Protection into the Finance Reform bill, was appointed today as a White House advisor. How much clout will she have in the future? Instead of heading up the new bureau, she will report to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, an occasional foe. Will she have the power to write tough rules for mortgages, credit cards and payday loans? Will she ever be asked to enforce them?
How was the trip? President Trump's travels got less fun as he went from the Middle East to Europe.
Terrorism and tweets, hate speech and murder Just days before an election, Britain is coping with a rash of deadly terrorism, and Prime Minister Theresa May is on the defensive. And again today, President Trump has tweeted criticism of the Mayor of London. Later, a double murder in Portland, Oregon has revealed the ugly past of a supposedly “progressive” city. One immediate question: is “hate speech” protected by the First Amendment?
Ex-FBI Director Comey tells his side of the story Today, former FBI Director James Comey came close to calling the President who fired him a liar. The White House denied the claim and called it insulting, but Republican Senators did not challenge Comey’s truthfulness. Many questions remain: did the President try to obstruct a federal investigation? Later, we’ll go behind the “velvet rope” for a look at 5-Star health care for the richest Americans.
Replacing Obamacare: Now you see it… now you don’t As the Senate deliberates replacing Obmacare, health coverage for millions of people is at stake. There've been no public hearings, and a draft measure won't be made public. Is the House version so unpopular that that Senate is hiding a version that looks much the same?