Washington Watch w/Roland Martin, 03.14.10 [Transcript]

March 14, 2010 by Roland
Filed under Washington Watch

MR. ROLAND MARTIN: At the top of our agenda this week, Democrats in the Senate unveil new legislation to rein in the risky banking practices that caused the financial collapse – but will it protect us? Democrats eliminate a Republican filibuster as a stumbling block to finishing healthcare reform, but will the Democrats trip over themselves on the way to final passage? And a serious health threat among African- American women has the CDC sounding the alarm.

Our “Washington Watch” newsmaker this week: chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel, Elizabeth Warren on how she’s got the taxpayers’ back. Plus, U.S. Congressman Ed Meeks and Ed Towns on why the Congressional Black Caucus is lobbying for jobs with President Barack Obama.

And in our “Washington Watch” news panel: April Ryan, White House correspondent for American Urban Radio Networks; Sonya Ross, news editor for the Associated Press; Cornell Belcher, Democratic political strategist and Obama campaign pollster; and Armstrong Williams, nationally syndicated TV and radio host of “The Right Side.”

Plus, my exclusive interview with Winnie Mandela on the similarities of the South African and African-American experience following historic presidential elections. All that and more today on “Washington Watch.”
(SEGMENT 1)

MR. MARTIN: Lots of folks in Washington, D.C., talk about being for the people, protecting their interests; but the reality is many of them don’t. But there’s one person in this city who actually focuses on average Americans and saying, “I’m going to speak on their behalf,” and that’s my next guest, Elizabeth Warren, Chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel – or, some, they refer to her [as] “TARP’s watchdog.”

Glad to have you on the show.

MS. ELIZABETH WARREN: Thank you. It’s good to be here.

MR. MARTIN: Let’s jump right into it. Is this town, frankly, full of a bunch of wusses, people who talk a good game and totally punk out and are all about the special interests and not the average American sitting at home?

MS. WARREN: You know, I – I have to tell you I’m not a Washington person; I’m a schoolteacher. I ended up in this place, and I – you know, I thought I was kind of sophisticated. I’d seen the movies. I’d heard of lobbyists. But I didn’t know it was going to be like this. This just amazes me. I had lunch with somebody yesterday who told me that the Wall Street banks have hired 34 lobbying firms.

MR. MARTIN: Just the banks.

MS. WARREN: Just the – [chuckles] – banks. The lobbying firms – just to kill the Consumer Financial Protection Agency. And I love this part: they hired a 35th lobbying firm just to coordinate the other 34, so they make sure they’re in every senator, every congressman’s office, morning, noon, night, midnight, handing them every piece of paper and every dollar they possibly can. I – I’ve never seen anything like it.

MR. MARTIN: Well, what amazes me is … we saw in – in 2009 – we saw the administration, we saw members of Congress standing up, pounding their fists, pounding the table, talking about how these banks have been operating, how they have been totally messing over the American people; but then again, it was all talk. And – and I was very critical even of the White House of, frankly, coming to the game nine, ten months late, saying, “Hey, we want to drop a $90 billion tax on these folks to get our money back.” And I’m sitting here saying, “I’m sorry. If I’m a banker, and all you’re going to do is just simply give me a tongue lashing, I don’t care. I’ll take it, and I’ll still give out my billion-dollar bonuses.”

MS. WARREN: That’s – I – I think that’s exactly right. You know, what really bothers me about this whole process is the game that seems to be going on now is what I think of as the “complexity machine.” And that is there are all these lobbyists who are trying to figure out a way to just raise a lot of smoke –

MR. MARTIN: Right.

MS. WARREN: — and just say, “Well, uh, derivatives, uh – [clears her throat] – and a consumer agency. See, we’d have to – [unintelligible]. Then we[‘ve] got to move it in the Fed. Then we’ve got to” – dah, dah, dah, dah, dah. And the whole idea behind it is to make it so complicated, that there’s screen, there’s cover, [so] that some guy can stand up and say, “Well, I” – you know, “I’m for the people, but on this particular thing I’m voting,” actually, with the banks. And that’s the whole game – is to create cover.

MR. MARTIN: Right.

MS. WARREN: It amazes me.

Did you see this Frank Luntz memo?

MR. MARTIN: No, tell –

MS. WARREN: So –

MR. MARTIN: — us about it.

MS. WARREN: — so – well, like I said, I’m not one of these people.

MR. MARTIN: Right.

MS. WARREN: So, anyway – so, he’s the guy, allegedly, who killed healthcare reform.

MR. MARTIN: Um-hum. And, of course –

MS. WARREN: He came up –

MR. MARTIN: — of course, Frank Luntz is a pollster. You often see him on Fox, and so he’s one of these prominent – prominent pollsters out there, largely for Republicans –

MS. WARREN: Yeah.

MR. MARTIN: — but, again, it all depends upon the issue. They’ll jump sides.

MS. WARREN: You bet.

MR. MARTIN: But –

MS. WARREN: — so, he – he’s the one, allegedly, who came up with “death panels” –

MR. MARTIN: Right.

MS. WARREN: — and all the things that started backing people off healthcare reform. So, a few weeks ago, a memo leaked, and the memo is about how Frank Luntz has laid out in 17 pages how you can vote with the banks, but use language that –

MR. MARTIN: Right.

MS. WARREN: — indicate[s] you really do hate ‘em ‘cause you’re on the side of the people. You know, it — … it’s a level of just flat-out lying –

MR. MARTIN: Right.

MS. WARREN: — that … really does – it not only leaves me breathless; it leaves me feeling – it leaves me feeling spiritually depleted. You know? Is – is there just nothing here that we hold on to?

MR. MARTIN: What I don’t get is everybody in terms of the American people – I think, because … typically, … people hear – people say this – take your pick – Republicans, Democrats, independents cannot stand how Wall Street is screwing the average person. So, why is it that this administration does not take – and also members of Congress – Democrats, who run the House and the Senate – and maybe … Congressman Barney Frank is a little bit more t- – obviously … tougher than –

MS. WARREN: Um-hum.

MR. MARTIN: — Senator Christopher Dodd. But why is it that they [don’t] simply say, “Look, we’re not going to be on your side. We’re going to take the case right to the American people” –

MS. WARREN: Yeah.

MR. MARTIN: — “and, trust me. When they begin to apply the pressure, none of you will be able to withstand it”? Why do they all just sort of back up and are … so afraid and timid?

MS. WARREN: You know, I – I don’t understand this. If we can get some clear votes – clear votes –

MR. MARTIN: Um-hum?

MS. WARREN: — I know how those votes will come out. Let me give you an example of that. One of the things we talk about with this Consumer Financial Protection Agency is that we want two-page credit card agreements, two-page overdraft agreements, two-page mortgages, so people can make comparisons. They can see what the stuff –

MR. MARTIN: Right.

MS. WARREN: — costs. They can see what the risks are. They’ll be bound. They’ll pay for – honestly for what they got, but not the tricks and traps. How does that poll? So, AARP put out a poll last week about whether or not people want the twopage credit card agreement – the clear, small agreements they can see. No tricks, no traps. You ready for this? I’ve never seen a poll like this. 96 percent of Americans said, “That’s what I want.”

MR. MARTIN: Right.

MS. WARREN: 96 percent. And here’s the best part. 91 percent: “That’s what I strongly want. This is what I am” –

MR. MARTIN: Right.

MS. WARREN: — “willing to shout over.” And, yet, this has been hung up now in Congress for a year.

MR. MARTIN: We saw this week where Senator Dodd frankly said, “I’m moving forward without the Republicans.” They’re protesting. Senator Bob Corker out of Tennessee has been – he wants this agency, consumer panel – I mean they’re changing the language every, single day – not to, frankly, regulate pawnbrokers and – and all these payday lenders, frankly, who’re just totally pimping the Black community left and right, but also people all over – especially poor people, regardless of their color. And on this show, we’re all about action. What should the person at home, watching – what should they be doing?

MS. WARREN: So – you know, I’m glad you asked this. I’m going to tell you what they should do. Go to FunnyOrDie – right? It’s a – it’s a –

MR. MARTIN: FunnyOrDie?

MS. WARREN: — FunnyOrDie.com.

MR. MARTIN: Okay.

MS. WARREN: All right? It’s a website. And the reason I say FunnyOrDie is because it’s going to be the easiest way to find your way –

MR. MARTIN: Okay?

MS. WARREN: — into this. FunnyOrDie now has a video, and it’s the former Presidents from “Saturday Night Live” –

MR. MARTIN: Um-hum?

MS. WARREN: — and they get together, and they basically say, you know, “We all broke it. We broke it going back as far as Carter.”

MR. MARTIN: Um-hum?

MS. WARREN: “We used to have a financial system that worked,” and, you know, “I broke a piece, and then you broke a piece, and then another one broke a piece.” And they’re all giving advice to Barack Obama. And at the end of the day, it’s – it’s pretty obscene –

MR. MARTIN: Um-hum?

MS. WARREN: — and there may be some people who may not want to watch it all the way through, but at the end of the day the point is Ronald Reagan leans over to Barack Obama in this, and he said, “As George Washington said to John Adams, ‘Tag. You’re it!’” [Chuckles.] And – and … that’s the point. You’re just going to have to get out there and do what’s right. But here’s the nice part. At the end, there’s a phone number, and there’s a website link, and that’ll get you in to the people who say, “I have had enough, and I am making those phone calls.” If we don’t take back our government, it’s not just shame on our government; it’s shame on us.

MR. MARTIN: And, actually, they’re telling me that we have a clip of that, so let’s take a look at this.’

MS. WARREN: Good.

[VIDEO CLIP.]

PRES. BARACK OBAMA: [Played by Fred Armisen.] These banks and the credit card companies, they’re ripping off the people with almost no regulations. FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA: [Played by Maya Rudolph.] Go to bed, sweetheart. Your heart will tell you what to do.

PRES. OBAMA: Okay. [Turns off the bedside table lamp.]

[A FIGURE SHROUDED IN FOG OPENS THE BEDROOM DOOR. IT’S PRES.

BILL CLINTON. ANOTHER SHADOWY FIGURE IS BEHIND HIM. ]

PRES. BILL CLINTON: [Played by Darrell Hammond.] Boo-oo-oo! Boo-oo-ooo!
MRS. OBAMA: [Frightened.] Yaah!

PRES. CLINTON: [Chuckles.] Relax. It’s just us. [Chuckles.]

[PRES. CARTER TURNS ON THE LAMP.]

PRES. BILLY CARTER: [Played by Dan Akroyd.] Mr. President, you have to establish the Consumer Finance Protection Agency. People are tired of bein’ ripped off by credit card companies and banks. [Fiddling with something.] Never could get this right!

[PRES. REAGAN ENTERS THE ROOM.]

PRES. RONALD REAGAN: [Played by Jim Carrey.] There you go again….

PRES. BARACK OBAMA: What you’re saying is I should clean up this mess that you-all created.

PRES. REAGAN: It’s a bitch. It’s a bitch, but as George Washington once said to John Adams – [pokes Pres. Obama] — “Tag. You’re it!” [Dashes off.]

[JUMP TO THE ONCE AGAIN DARK BEDROOM, AND PRES. OBAMA

AWAKENS WITH A START AND SITS UP. HE’S BEEN DREAMING.]

PRES. OBAMA: [Breathing hard.]

MS. OBAMA: What is it, honey?

PRES. OBAMA: Wake the Cabinet. We’ve got work to do.

[JUMP TO MESSAGE SCREEN WITH CONTACT INFORMATION AND VOICEOVER: ‘CALL YOUR SENATORS NOW. 866-544-7573, WWW.MAINSTREATBRIGADE.ORG, WWW.FUNNYORDIE.COM.]

VOICEOVER: The banks have billions of dollars to spend to get their message out, but your speech is free. Contact your senators about the CFPA.

[END OF VIDEO CLIP.]

MR. MARTIN: I … want to go to this. You – the panel that … you’re over, the recent report, warned that half of commercial loans will be underwater a year in, and even more will be — … need to be [re]financed in the next two years. But also, I’ve seen data that says that for African-Americans, because of – in terms of where wealth is created – homeownership – that Black America could potentially lose half of its wealth as it relates to this homeownership problem. That is stunning.

MS. WARREN: Yeah. This is not just stunning; we’re talking about potential social upheaval in the United States that’s going to have implications for generations to come, because basically this is how it’s worked over the last 50 years. The way families have built up wealth is – White families have done it through a combination of homeownership and stock and 401(k)s and a lot of other things. I’m talking about big –

MR. MARTIN: Right.

MS. WARREN: — groups. The African-American community has not been able to participate as much. They’ve done it through their homes. That’s part one. Then what happened is during the deregulated, crazy years, the subprime mortgage lenders, they didn’t just sell to anybody who was a homeowner. They put African-American families dead in the middle of the bull’s-eye. They said, “We’re going after them.” If you look at zip codes – here’s one.

MR. MARTIN: Um-hum?

MS. WARREN: Zip codes that are predominantly African-American – middleclass, African-American neighborhoods were more likely to end up with subprime mortgages than poor, White neighborhoods.

MR. MARTIN: And … in those cases, people who actually qualified for prime loans –

MS. WARREN: Exactly!

MR. MARTIN: — they still gave them subprimes.

MS. WARREN: They still gave them subprimes. So, that’s the second part of the story. Now we’re hitting the fallout from that. We’re watching home values drop. Obviously, we’re watching mortgage foreclosures. So, this is having a devastating impact in the African-American community. Keep in mind this is about your wealth right now. It’s about your retirement. It’s about whether or not you have any kind of cushion. Somebody gets sick. Somebody needs to go a nursing home. That’s what the home was – kind of that final thing for a family. It’s whether or not you[‘ve] got anything give to your kids. You know, being able to roll forward to your kids, whether it’s debt, or whether it’s ownership of a home – that’s a huge difference in where the next generation ends up.

And what we’re talking about with this crisis is we’re just taking a bunch of middle-class people, hardworking people, people who played by the rules, and we’re just knocking them out of the middle class. We’re saying, “You go back down to the lower class.” That’s the impact of this crisis.

And, you know, I feel like I’m watching a slow-motion train wreck. You remember? There were two proposals from the Bush administration. They were worse and worser. I mean I – they just – nothing. Right? Nobody did anything under them. The Obama administration – I do believe [its] heart was in the right place; but the program [was] too small, too limited in scope. They’ve inched it up by pieces, but they’re not inching it up fast enough.

So, I think we really have to have a very serious conversation about who is supposed to bear the losses here. We keep pushing it on – as if the only options are, “Well, it’s the homeowners,” or maybe the government picking up a little. How about those banks –

MR. MARTIN: Right.

MS. WARREN: — who made all the profits on the upside? How about all those investors –

MR. MARTIN: And I think what the –

MS. WARREN: — who got the big bucks?

MR. MARTIN: — and I think what these banks are doing right now is they’re simply saying, “Okay, fine. We know this economy is inching s-“ – “closely turning around. So, what we’ll do is – we’ve got the bank bailouts. We’ve actually propped up our balance sheets, so now … we’re going to sit on these homes” –

MS. WARREN: Yeah.

MR. MARTIN: — “kick the folks out, wait for the market to rebound, and we’re going to turn right back around and sell these homes, because we want to protect these investors, who don’t want to have any losses.”

MS. WARREN: That’s right. That’s right, you know? And they would say to themselves, “And that’s exactly what we’re supposed to do, ‘cause we’re here to watch out for our investors. That’s our job. That’s our job.”

Well, you know, it isn’t. I mean this is where we –

MR. MARTIN: Especially – what gets to me is, “We saved your butt.”

MS. WARREN: [Chuckles.] That’s exactly right!

MR. MARTIN: [Chuckles.]

MS. WARREN: “What part of ‘we bailed you out’ do you not understand?” Because that’s the part that really gets to me. Look at the arc of this. They started out making their profits by preying on American families. And then what did they do? They built enough risk into the system. They took all these risky mortgages. They put them together. They sell them into the system, [so] that they bring this economy to the brink of absolute collapse. They turn around to that same set of families, basically, and they say, “Hey, listen. You[‘ve] got to kick in the tax dollars to save us.” Now they’re back in the profits, and they’re using their profits to go lobby Congress to make sure none of –

MR. MARTIN: Right.

MS. WARREN: — rules change[s]. Keep it all just as it is, while they sit on a growing inventory –

MR. MARTIN: About thir- –

MS. WARREN: — of our homes.

MR. MARTIN: — 30 seconds. People at home – there’re a lot of things they can be focused on. What is the one … issue? Is it this particular agency – this consumer protection agency – that they should be fighting for right now?

MS. WARREN: It’s this consumer agency. The consumer agency –

MR. MARTIN: For it to be independent.

MS. WARREN: — is independent. If we have an independent agency, over time – this is the big difference: mortgages, credit cards, payday loans – this is where we can start to turn things around. This one’s worth fighting for.

MR. MARTIN: All right, folks. We got our marching orders. Now it’s time to get to work. Elizabeth Warren, we appreciate it. Thanks a lot.

MS. WARREN: Thank you.

MR. MARTIN: Love to have you back.

MS. WARREN: Thank you. I’d love to come back.

MR. MARTIN: Thank you.

Coming up later on “Washington Watch,” Winnie Mandela warns against expecting massive change from President Barack Obama after only a year in office, but first, our “Washington Watch” roundtable will weigh in on the ongoing battle between the Congressional Black Caucus and President Barack Obama. They are April Ryan of American Urban Radio Networks; Democratic strategist Cornell Belcher; and “The Right Side”’s Armstrong Williams.

[END OF SEGMENT.]