April 7, 2011
Former presidential candidate and consumer advocate Ralph Nader in a letter to the editor featured on Madison.com advocated his belief that President Obama should pick Special Treasury Dept. Adviser Elizabeth Warren to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Here is an excerpt from the letter:
“An interesting contrast is playing out at the White House these days — between President Obama’s praise of General Electric’s CEO, Jeffrey Immelt, and the silence regarding the widely desired nomination of Elizabeth Warren to head the new Consumer Financial Regulatory Bureau within the Federal Reserve.
On one hand, Obama appointed Immelt to be chairman of the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, while letting him keep his lucrative position as CEO of General Electric. At the announcement, he said that Immelt ‘understands what it takes for America to compete in the global economy.’
Did Obama mean that Immelt understands how to avoid all federal income taxes for his company’s $14.2 billion in profits last year? Or that Immelt understands how to get a federal bailout for GE Capital and its reckless exposure to risky debt? Or that GE knows how to block unionization of its workers here and abroad?”
Nader went on to praise Warren’s history of consumer activism and her ability to help those “harmed by injustice in the financial services industry.” He also criticized Obama for submitting to pressure from Wall Street and particular politicians who do not want to see Warren nominated for CFPB director.
“Obama has obliged these forces again and again, most recently with the appointment of William M. Daley as his chief of staff,” Nader wrote. “Selecting Warren would always be remembered by Americans across the land. Not doing so would not be forgotten by those same people.”
Click here to read Nader’s full letter.
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