Elizabeth Warren Makes me All Warm Inside

I have such a crush on Elizabeth Warren.  I am smitten.  I’ve watched The Coming Collapse of the Middle Class so many times I’m starting to feel a little dirty.  Here it is, in case you haven’t made this amazing woman’s acquaintance as of yet.

Today’s New York Times has an article on Elizabeth (yes, we are on a first name basis, though she is not aware of my existence).  Her passionate advocacy for the rest of us in the face of unrelenting influence peddling and pressure from the Financial, Insurance and Real Estate (FIRE) industries is beyond inspiring.  It’s sexy.  Jon Stewart nailed it in this exchange with Elizabeth the last time she was on his show:

“This is America’s middle class,” she recently said on “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart.” “We’ve hacked at it and pulled at it and chipped at it for 30 years now and now there’s no more to do. We fix this problem going forward, or the game really is over.”

“When you say it like that and you look at me like that, I know your husband is backstage, I still want to make out with you,” Mr. Stewart responded.

Brilliant.  I so envy Jon Stewart.

Unfortunately, the consumer financial protection agency that Elizabeth has been championing is looking a bit punch drunk and staggered here in the final rounds of the legislative battle over financial reform.  Sen. Chris Dodd appears to favor burying the consumer agency in the bowels of the Federal Reserve (OK, probably not Dodd’s favored choice of words).  We’ll see.

RadicalNota