Big Banks

 

When lawmakers in Washington chose the banking industry over the American people, Senator Elizabeth Warren launched into full fight mode. In recent weeks, Warren has fearlessly clashed with 16 members of her own party who are supporting the Bank Lobbyist Act, a bill that would roll back regulations on the same Wall Street banks who contributed to the 2008 financial crisis.

As Warren has emphasized repeatedly, the Bank Lobbyist Act would be detrimental to both working families and the US financial system. "The People of Massachusetts didn't send me here to fight for big banks. They sent me here to fight for them," she wrote in a post on Medium on March 8.

But, as soon as Warren began speaking out, she was blasted for dividing the Democratic Party in an important election year. Barney Frank, champion of the Dodd-Frank bank regulation bill, called Warren's actions self-defeating and a mistake.

And when Warren used her opposition to the Bank Lobbyist act in a fundraising email, the outcry Democrats grew even louder. A Democratic aide whose boss is reportedly frustrated with Warren told Politico, "This is Republicans dream to see Democrats work across the aisle and Elizabeth Warren kill them for it."

Warren acknowledges that she is a thorn in the side of her colleagues over this matter, but her principles are too strong for any other course of action.

"Calling out members of my own party who are supporting the #BankLobbyistAct doesn't make me the most popular kid on the team. But that's not why I ran for the Senate," she tweeted.

Failing to persuade moderate Democratic colleagues to budge on the Bank Lobbyist Act, Warren has proposed a whopping 17 amendments to the bill, tackling forced arbitration clauses, preventing deregulation for banks which have outsourced jobs, and much more.

Once again, Elizabeth Warren is proving herself to be a champion of consumers and working families, even if when it makes her unpopular with powerful people.