Last Wednesday we blogged about a provision in the so-called "cromnibus" bill that eradicated the "push-out rule" in Dodd-Frank, giving the big banks, lead by Citigroup a huge victory. Our meme demonstrated Elizabeth Warren's role in pushing back against the provision. Over the weekend she waged a valiant fight against the provision which puts American taxpayers on the hook if, and when, the banks gamble money and lose. Sadly, Warren's efforts failed. The big banks won. Warren did succeed, however, in rallying liberals to the cause. She did not go down without a fight.
On Friday Night, Elizabeth Warren stepped to the Senate floor to challenge the Citi- provision. The speech she delivered rattled Washington, and some see it as historic. John Nichols at the Nation compared it to William Jennings Bryan's famous "Cross of Gold" speech. And it has Michael Tomasky calling Warren "the most powerful Democrat in America" saying "there's no other Democrat with that kind of following." The Huffington Post said her speech was a barn-burner, and "electrifying," saying the speech could make her the next president.
Her influence is startling Washington insiders notes Bloomberg. This same provision easily passed the House when it was originally introduced. This time, it barely squeked by -- thanks to Warren's efforts.
Warren's speech excoriated the banks and the administration's coziness with Wall Street. She named off ten former Citi officials who the administration named top posts at the Treasury Department. And she took on Citi's criticism of Dodd-Frank that it wasn't "perfect." Warren acknowledged that Dodd-Frank was not, in fact, perfect saying "I agree with you that Dodd-Frank wasn't perfect. It should have broken you in pieces."
Warren's bold stance against the big banks and for ordinary people -- even showing willingness to take on the President from her own party -- have won her an enthusiastic following among progressives and populists. The Progressive Magazine extolled Elizabeth Warren's virtues in an article in the aftermath of valliant stand against the "Cromnibus" bill, calling her performance "gratifying." Ruth Conniff, writing for the magazine, interviewed young women for her piece on Warren. One woman, Adriana Cortes, exclaimed to Conniff that Warren was amazing, "she's doing a really good job going after the banks, and folks who are responsible for the economic situation we are in."
Warren says she is not running for president, but that isn't stopping a plethora of groups from trying to draft her for a presidential run. There is Ready for Warren, the Move On backed group, Run Warren Run, and now there's a large group of former Obama campaign staffers who are urging Senator Warren to take on the establishment, and Hillary Clinton's presumed 2016 Democratic Coronation, and run for president. For now, that's not happening. But there is a great deal of energy behind such prospects.
Watch her speech below:
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