This video is almost an hour long (start it at around minute 6), but does an excellent job of summarizing and quantifying many of the issues we kick around on FG. It’s worth the watch when you’ve got the time.
Elizabeth Warren is Brilliant
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{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Maybe I’m mixing up my folks, but isn’t she the one that warned about the toxic assets/housing market crash in 2007? She tried to investigate it and got shut down by Congress & the White House Staff? I could be wrong, but I think that was her; she is brilliant!
I know it’s a more complex, but what jumped to my mind was – the gold standard…
Nixon finally ended what remained of the gold standard in 1971. Thus, unchained, our wealth has been violently eroded through unchecked and continual inflation. Hence the need for two family incomes…
Now, crunch time is here. Two family incomes are not enough. I have met women working THREE jobs. They were like Zombies. What about the family, the children, the mental health.
The system is broken. We need to fix it.
following pulled from wikipedia:
Post-war international gold-dollar standard (1946–1971)
Main article: Bretton Woods system
After the Second World War, a system similar to a Gold Standard was established by the Bretton Woods Agreements. Under this system, many countries fixed their exchange rates relative to the U.S. dollar. The U.S. promised to fix the price of gold at $35 per ounce. Implicitly, then, all currencies pegged to the dollar also had a fixed value in terms of gold. Under the regime of the French President Charles de Gaulle up to 1970, France reduced its dollar reserves, trading them for gold from the U.S. government, thereby reducing U.S. economic influence abroad. This, along with the fiscal strain of federal expenditures for the Vietnam War, led President Richard Nixon to end the direct convertibility of the dollar to gold in 1971, resulting in the system’s breakdown, commonly known as the Nixon Shock.
A.F.: Go to http://www.newworldeconomics.com/archives/
Plenty there, but the best is down in 2007 and “The Real Prices of Commodities”. There are parts, but the oldest 2 are Metals and Grains.
When combined with “The value of today’s dollar vs. 1854 dollar” http://www.newworldeconomics.com/archives/2007/041507.htm , it’s a very solid presentation of the inflation problem and why gold should always be compared to what it buys, not to the paper dollars, which no longer have any basis in reality.
For entertainment, there’s also Gerald Ford’s “Whip Inflation Now” speech:
http://www.newworldeconomics.com/archives/2007/072207.html
I’ve been following her since she first started to show up in the media. Every time I her speak, I wonder how the hell are they going to try to shut her up. Not only does she completely understand the system, she is wonderfully droll and funny to boot….I think I’m in love.
OH – MY – GOD!!! Thanks for posting this, Tommy. She delivered this speech in early 2007?!?! So much applies to me, I’m stunned. I’ve been telling my woes on my blog in bits and pieces but she nailed most of it: Outsourced from P&G to HP; stagnant income; re-financed my modest suburban home at a ridiculously inflated value which provided a downpayment on a cafe for my wife to run. She had a stroke the month before we opened. We cost our health insurance so much, is it any wonder I was picked “at random” when they had to downsize the next year? I cared for her & the cafe but her health declined, business declined, we had to close because we couldn’t pay all our bills and stay alive at the same time. Lawsuits, liens, another major health crisis, this time uninsured. Bankruptcy, food stamps, minor son gets Medicaid. Unemployed adult son & girlfriend move in, more food stamps, soon a baby is born about the same time my unemployment runs out. A three-generation household in poverty. Still have a mortgage so meet with foreclosure prevention tomorrow, meet with welfare/medicaid again Tuesday. It would be a fascinating academic study for Elizabeth Warren acolytes, but it’s really happening to me. That Crashing Sound is the deliberate and systematic destruction of the American middle class. Or maybe it’s just me. http://thatcrashingsound.blogspot.com/
“Now, crunch time is here. Two family incomes are not enough. I have met women working THREE jobs. They were like Zombies. What about the family, the children, the mental health.”
That instantly reminded me of when our buddy GW confronted a woman working three jobs with this:
“You work three jobs? … Uniquely American, isn’t it? I mean, that is fantastic that you’re doing that.” —President George W. Bush, to a divorced mother of three, Omaha, Nebraska, Feb. 4, 2005
Yeah, fuckin’ fantastic.
@Steve,
I’ve only recently caught up with her. I mean, WOW. She is such a threat as both a competent, calm speaker AND a Harvard prof. That’s got to really suck. She totally kicks ass.
@Barry,
I don’t know what to say. Sorry seems inadequate and you don’t seem like the type for pity. I’ll say: despite being kicked around and marginalized you are very valuable to me. While it may not help pay the bills, you’re on my mind a lot these days.
I started my “county government” career in the food stamp/medicaid office.
There are basically two types of people that apply for this type of assistance… the “generational” poverty group, and the “situational” poverty group.
I think our previous poster would qualify for the ‘situational’ type. These types of folks are becoming the norm; the folks we see more and more of, and there’s no hope we can offer except the meager offerings of food stamps, and medicaid if you have a child in the home.
Generational poverty is one thing; they learn to “suck off” the system because that’s what their folks did/taught them. However, these ‘situational’ folks are struck in their pride b/c they have to ask for assistance at all!
An economy, operating the way it should, w/a health care system that supports them, a tax system that supports them, and a community system that supports them – should never have to ‘tap’ this type of assistance for more than a one time affair.
I see more and more folks tapping this type of help as a ‘norm’ only because the “system” isn’t supporting their work & skills. Like ‘she’ said, the middle class are becoming the ‘lower’ class, and the ‘poverty’ class.
The rich get richer, the poor get poorer… and the “pressure cooker” of reality mounts itself for a [physical-in your face] revolution.
It’s only a matter of time.
Barry,
It’s not you man. I work with unemployed people every day (helping w/resumes, cover letters, etc.) and I feel so deeply for everyone. It’s not you, it’s not your skills, it’s just the state of things now – the home for the wealthy while the rest of us run their rat-race/entertainment.
You may not feel good for taking public assistance (and I honestly understand that), but I want you to know that you’ve paid into that system for years and it’s (supposed to be) there for people in situations like yours! YOU HAVE A RIGHT to any and all assistance you get.
I wish I had encouraging words to share/offer. I hope/pray that God/Universe/Whatever – sets things right for you soon.
Hang in there man.
Tommy, if you haven’t already seen this, you will get a kick out of it. It’s Warren on the Daily Show in April ’09. There’s two parts:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-april-15-2009/elizabeth-warren-pt–1
The thing that sets Elizabeth Warren apart from so many others is her GENUINE concern and compassion for the people of this Country. By applying her expertise to quantifying (collecting the data + presenting the facts),UNDERSTANDING, and translating what is happening to her fellow Americans – she becomes a powerful force!. Listening to her choice of words…they reflect a refined simplicity and clarity that only comes about when a person is truly engaged in something they are passionate about.
Tommy – I was also floored and disgusted by GW’s response to the 3 jobs lady he encountered. The situation was completely over his head!
Ric – thanks for the insight on the “situational” recipient. I saw updated food stamp numbers released today and they are staggering (breaking all previous records).
Like Steve, I’m in LOVE with this beautiful soul.
Barry – I LOVE you too.
We’re rooting for you here as well, Barry….
These are the times that try men’s souls, but I feel I am finally finding my voice and it gives me a strange sense of exhilaration. I tell my story, like Tommy senses, not for pity but for empathy, to let people feel that it could happen to them, that it WILL happen to some of them.
@Rik, thanks for your support. I can tell you do good for people.
@Susan Marie, bless you, sweetheart!
@Tommy, I want to thank you for your leadership and your compassion. I don’t know if you all know each other personally and hang out and have back-yard barbeques and such, but this is starting to feel like a resilient community. Thanks for allowing me to become a part of it. Keep up the good work!
@Steve, thanks to you too! I opened the comment form then got called away to do a foot-rub, then chores.. Missed you, bless you!
Steve,
Just checked out the Jon Stewart link. Oh man, fantastic.
“Are you about to curse?”
and, “Capitalism without bankruptcy is like Christianity without Hell.”
I loved it! Thanks.
Barry,
“I am finally finding my voice and it gives me a strange sense of exhilaration.”
I don’t think it’s easy to come into such a forum and be so forthright. I think your voice is important, so let it sing.
We don’t hang out on the weekends and barbecue, but I bet that would be intense. For some reason the “FG Cafe” seems to be becoming a place where people can come breath a little bit of free air.
I second the thanks to Tommy for his leadership – good point Barry.
Well… if there’s ever a “FG Convention” I’d do everything I could to attend… especially w/brews & BBQ.
I KNEW IT WAS HER!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.alternet.org/economy/147788/elizabeth_warren_uncovered_what_the_govt._did_to_'rescue'_aig,_and_it_ain't_pretty/