"Elizabeth Warren to Obama: ‘You Had Me at Predatory Lending’"

[Pirate Smile]

Elizabeth Warren to Obama: ‘You Had Me at Predatory Lending’

By Paul Bedard
Posted: May 23, 2011

She’s smart, Harvard educated, TV attractive, and a bit nerdy just like her new boss, President Obama. But the coupling of Obama and Elizabeth Warren, the president’s choice to lead the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, didn’t just happen in some Washington personnel office. As Warren explains it, their first encounter was a Hollywood moment.

It took place way back in September 2003, when the little-known Illinois state senator began his bid for the U.S. Senate. Obama needed money, so he tapped alumni and faculty of Harvard Law School, from which he and his wife Michelle had graduated. Their favorite professor, David Wilkins, hosted 30 to 40 potential donors in his home. “I suggested that he come to Cambridge, and I would host a fundraiser for some of the people who also knew him as a student or had heard of his reputation while he was here,” Wilkins recalls.

-snip-
Warren recalls entering the home as the sun was setting and seeing a tall, slim man standing in a back room. He held out his hand and their fingers touched. “Just like in the movies,” says Warren, who recently revealed the story to students at the Clinton School of Public Service in Little Rock, Ark. At that point, she recalls, Obama said “predatory lending.” “On and on and on, and I never get a word in,” she adds of the discussion. As he summed up, Obama flashed his famous toothy grin, knowing he had won her over. “Well?” said Obama. Warren reached for a line from the popular 1996 movie Jerry Maguire: “You had me at ‘predatory lending.’ ”

-snip-
He says Warren wasn’t the only Obama-ite created that night. “By the end, every single person in the room left as a rabid Obama supporter, a network we relied upon the next time we hosted a fundraiser for him shortly after he announced for president. We had 250 people crammed into that back room and Fox News camped outside our door,” he says. “The rest, as they say, is history.”

http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2011/05/23/elizabeth-warren-to-obama-you-had-me-at-predatory-lending

I can visualize her saying this in her slightly breathy voice. :)

[AndiMer]

1. Recommend

;-)

[Pirate Smile]

2. kick

[Kdillard]

3. I love her so much. Hopefully there is a recess appointment in her future.

[Pirate Smile]

4. A recess appointment can only last through that particular Congress (I believe) so I wonder if she

can keep her current spot until after the '12 election and then get a recess appointment which would last until the next Congress is sworn in in January 20, 2015 - or that may be pushing it. :)

[vroomvroom]

8. Couldn't Obama just recess now, and again in '12? nt

[Pirate Smile]

10. If he could, I don't know why Presidents wouldn't just do that all the time. Seems like an easy way

to bypass the Senate. I always thought the drawback was that it only lasts for that one Congress - 2 years max. I don't think they can do it again with the same person in the same spot for the next Congress.

[dreamnightwind]

5. The hunter was captured by the game

"At that point, she recalls, Obama said “predatory lending.” “On and on and on, and I never get a word in,” she adds of the discussion."

Somehow I don't think Geithner and Summers were by his side while he said these things.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

6. Wait a minute: I thought Obama was the "black mascot" for Wall Street?

:sarcasm::sarcasm:

[Pirate Smile]

7. heh

[vroomvroom]

9. Good Money says he will never Recess Appoint Her (Open Serious $Bet)

Liberal_Stalwart71, i will love to bet you a friendly wager of $20 (or more if u like) via PayPal that Obama will never appoint Warren. She is hated among his inner friends so it cant happen. Please, i encourage you to take my bet...PM me and i will provide you my email address if you are willing to take on the bet. I am serious.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

15. I'm not willing to take a bet; however, I'd like to wait and see what happens.

Remember, the president's "friends" warned him against moving ahead with health care reform, and he went against most everyone's wishes.

I'm more inclined to wait and see what actually happens rather than jumping the gun and not giving the president the benefit of the doubt.

[no limit]

11. I just wish we could have elected that guy president

[PragmaticLiberal]

12. Believe it or not...we did.

[no limit]

13. I guess I'm just not pragmatic enough to believe it :)

welcome to DU.

[jenmito]

14. I hope the Repubs. don't pull some maneuver that doesn't allow Obama to make any recess appointments

as has been reported might be the case: http://www.americanbanker.com/news/senate-gop-block-appointment-1037183-1.html

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

16. Doesn't matter. The Obama haters here on DU would *STILL* blame him rather than

Senate rules or anything the Republicans do. You see, that's the knee-jerk reaction when it comes to Obama Derangement Syndrome: don't acknowledge constitutional or parliamentary rules; act as if the president is a dictator, not a member of one of THREE co-equal branches of government; blame him FIRST and foremost, not what the Republicans did. It's very sad.

[dreamnightwind]

17. Wow

I don't think there are many people like that on here. People want real change in a progressive direction (which coincidentally is exactly what this country needs to cure its many ills). If Obama fights on our side instead of fighting against our side, we'll have his back no matter what.

[jenmito]

18. Wow`

I think you ought to look around the site and READ a little to see how right the poster is. Obama has done more for us in his first 2 1/4 years than most presidents.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

19. Thanks, j! It is indeed true that some DU Democrats act as though Obama should be able to

snap his finger and get things done. It's ridiculous!!!

[jenmito]

20. You're welcome, LS! You are 100% correct.

:hi:

[dreamnightwind]

21. Then who you refer to when you use the word "us"

is not an "us" that I belong to. Still waiting for that change, and a leader who genuinely tries to deliver it, rather than serve his corporate masters or legitimize Republican framing of what the agenda is, and continuing Republican policies. I was a huge Obama supporter and would love to be able to support him now, but I support policies, not individuals. Enjoy your wonderful presidency, maybe we can improve Congress some, wouldn't hurt.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

23. However, that will ONLY succeed if we run more progressives at the local and state levels.

He can't do it alone. He needs an army of strong progressives fighting at his side. Being pissed off and not voting only ushers in MORE Teabagger/Republican/wingnuts. That does not of us any good.

Let's unite NOW!! Work to elect MORE progressives. It's Obama's second term. He'll be free to act as he really wants to, not having to worry about reelection...

[dreamnightwind]

24. Sounds like we're on the same side here

I agree that electing more progressives is a huge step for reform.

I don't agree that Obama is working for progressive causes. He can change the entire frame of debate. He could have done it from day 1. Instead he did this tightrope thing trying to keep repubs happy, the finance industry happy, and the U.S military serving the interests of global capital. Geithner, Summers, Petraeus, McChrystal, Clinton running State Dept., Rahm, kept Bush tax cuts, Patriot Act, Romney Care, we all know the story. Progressive issues weren't any significant factor in how he attempted to balance on his tightrope. He legitimized nearly every Repub talking point by acknowledging the basic validity of it then tacking ever so slightly to the left of it. This country had risen up in the 2008 election in a massive repudiation of the road we had been on. Instead of changing roads and directions, Obama just moved the country from the fast lane to the slow lane in its road to ruin.

I would love to see a serious primary challenge, if for no other reason than to force a debate on the many issues where Obama never even made the case for the progressive position. Looks like that's not going to happen though.

If he's the best we can get, you're right that electing more progressives is the best way to progress. If he's the best we can get, God help us.

[Adam Notsmith]

22. That's funny

Too late to R, but K is no problem :-)