(UPDATES to correct Tom Curry is comptroller of the currency in graf 2, sted FCC representative.)
Massachusetts' new U.S. senator, Elizabeth Warren, asked a group of bank regulators on Thursday to tell her about the last few times they'd taken the biggest financial institutions on Wall Street to trial.
There were no good answers. The comptroller of the currency, Tom Curry, said,
We've had a fair number of consent orders. We don't have to bring them to trial.Warren shot back:
I understand that you say you don't "have" to but my question is when is the last time that you did?Silence.
Politico reported her grilling "generated serious fireworks." One top bank executive emailed:
While Senator Warren had every right to ask pointed questions at today’s Senate Banking Committee hearing, her claim that ‘nobody believes’ that bank books are honest is just plain wrong. As Federal Reserve Governor Tarullo explained in response to her question, the low valuations are more likely due to continued economic uncertainty and concerns on the part of investors regarding the impact on banks' profitability due to the hundreds of new regulations, higher levels of required capital, and significant activity restrictions.That of course is just hooey. If it weren't we might know the identity of the anonymous bank executive.
Here's the real evidence that Warren is a force to be feared: The same anonymous bank executive emailed:
Perhaps someone ought to remind the Senator that the campaign is over and she should act accordingly if she wants to be taken seriously.Then he called her an "extreme fringe freshman senator."
That's exactly what they do in Washington when someone threatens them: They marginalize them by saying they're crazy.
Keep it up, Liz.
