Appoint Elizabeth Warren Now

It really is very simple.

Will the President name the best leader -- Elizabeth Warren -- to head the Consumer Finanical Protection Bureau? Nominate her. Challenge the Senate Republican threat to filibuster her (or any) nomination. And if a minority blocks her confirmation, name her in a recess appointment. more »

Faced with a rapidly growing groundswell for Elizabeth Warren to head the new Consumer Financial Protection Agency, the Senate Republican leaders employed the ultimate obstruction on behalf of their Wall Street donors. It's up to us to make sure the public knows whose side they are on. more »

“There is only one person who should lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and that is the brilliant advocate who championed it, the remarkable administrator who has helped get it off the ground, and the middle class champion who will make it work – Elizabeth Warren.”

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A group of Democratic representatives has joined consumer groups- along more »

The post-bin Laden afterglow is fading. Those video clips of his home movies seem like scenes from a reality show, not glimpses of an Existential Threat. It's the master terrorist as an addled Ozzy Osbourne, minus the Beverly Hills couturiers and groomers. And while a few people might wait for bin Laden to sing Ozzy's "Iron Man" -- "Nobody wants him/he just stares at the world, planning his vengeance" -- our attention-deficit nation is getting ready to move on.

Significantly, while the President's overall approval rating jumped 11 percent after the killing, his economic approval fell and reached a new low: Only 34 percent approved of his handling of the economy, while 55 percent disapproved.

People were happy to see 9/11 avenged, but there's another lesson in that 11% boost, too: The public wants its President to be clear-eyed, resolute, and able to make tough decisions under pressure. We know now that the President can be (and just as importantly, can appear to be) as steely-eyed and decisive as the best of them.

They can't kill Bin Laden again. Al Zawahiri's a distant number two, and after that the terrorists' names are so little-known that our national game of Call of Duty: Black Ops will quickly descend into Trivial Pursuit. So what's next? Hmmm: Steely-eyed. Calm under pressure. Making the tough calls ... wonder where else those Presidential skills might come in handy?

Here are four "bold" and "gutsy" moves the President can make right here at home that would be good for the country ... and good for him: more »

When Elizabeth Warren, the White House adviser who is setting up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, went to speak before the U.S. Chamber of Commerce this morning, one of the things she compared the visit to was the Biblical story of Daniel in the lion's den. more »

The bankers are endangering innocent people, their pals are roughing up the law, and the people who should be helping out are sitting on the sidelines doing nothing You can almost hear Tex Ritter singing "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darlin'," the theme song from High Noon.

You remember High Noon. That's the movie where Gary Cooper plays Will Kane, a retired gunslinger who can't find anybody to help him defend the town from a dangerous gang. In fact, the townspeople give him almost as much trouble as the gang does.

The financial system has its own sheriffs, and bankers behaved like an unruly mob with one of them this week. Meanwhile Democrats were characteristically diffident and Republicans formed a stone-throwing mob of their own.

Red Lights Everywhere

The lawmen - both women, in this case - were being baited, taunted, and thwarted at a time when the economy's dashboard is flashing red with warning signs. A lot of people think Wall Street banks are healthy again because it's making a lot of money. But they were making lots of money right before the last crash, too.

A new report from from Bloomberg Government confirms that the "too big to fail" banks at the heart of the last crisis and TARP bailout have become bigger since the crisis, not smaller. Bloomberg Government reports that "the number of 'too big to fail banks' will increase by 40 percent over the next 15 years," adding: "Today, the top 10 banks hold 77 percent of all U.S. bank assets, compared with 55 percent of the total assets in 2002."

Here's another flashing red light: The Federal Reserve's chief bank regulator said 30% of the banks in this country have "less than satisfactory" supervisory ratings. Banks are "stabilizing" overall, said Patrick Parkinson, but banks in this country are "still in the repair and recovery stage."

Meanwhile the FDIC reports that 884 banks, nearly 12% of the banks in the country, are in danger of failing. more »