Obama treats tax dodging GE's Immelt better than consumer advocate Elizabeth Warren by Ralph Nader

[Better Believe It]

President Obama Treats Tax Dodging GE's Immelt Better than Consumer Protecting Elizabeth Warren

In The Public Interest
Open Letter to President Barack Obama
By Ralph Nader
April 1, 2011

Dear President Obama:

An interesting contrast is playing out at the White House these days -- between your expressed praise of General Electric's CEO, Jeffrey R. Immelt and the silence regarding the widely desired nomination of Elizabeth Warren to head the new Consumer Financial Regulatory Bureau within the Federal Reserve.
On one hand, you promptly appointed Mr. Immelt to be the chairman of the President's Council on Jobs and Competitive, while letting him keep his full-time lucrative position as CEO of General Electric (The Corporate State Expands). At the announcement, you said that Mr. Immelt "understands what it takes for America to compete in the global economy."

Did you mean that he understands how to avoid all federal income taxes for his company's $14.2 billion in profits last year, while corralling a $3.2-billion benefit? Or did you mean that he understands how to get a federal bailout for GE Capital and its reckless exposure to risky debt? Or could you have meant that GE knows how to block unionization of its far-flung workers here and abroad? Perhaps Mr. Immelt can share with you GE's historical experience with lucrative campaign contributions, price-fixing, pollution and those nuclear reactors that are giving people fits in Japan and worrying millions of Americans here living or working near similar reactors.

Compare, if you will, the record of Elizabeth Warren and her acutely informed knowledge about delivering justice to those innocents harmed by injustice in the financial services industry. A stand-up Law Professor at your alma mater, author of highly regarded articles and books connecting knowledge to action, the probing Chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel (COP) and now in the Treasury Department working intensively to get the CFRB underway by the statutory deadline this July with competent, people-oriented staff.

There were many good reasons why Senate leader Harry Reid (Dem. Nevada) called Professor Warren and asked her to be his choice for Chair of COP. Hailing from an Oklahoman blue-collar family, Professor Warren is just the "working class hero" needed to make the new Bureau a sober, law-and-order enforcer, deterrer and empowerer of consumers vis-à-vis the companies whose enormous greed, recklessness and crimes tanked our economy into a deep recession. The consequences produced 8-million unemployed workers and shattered trillions of dollars in pensions and other savings along with the dreams which they embodied for American workers.

Much more than you perhaps realize, millions of people who have heard and seen Elizabeth Warren rejoice in her brainy, heartfelt knowledge and concern over their plight. They see her as just the kind of regulator (federal cop on the beat) for their legitimate interests in a more competitive marketplace who you should be overjoyed in nominating.

Yet there are corporate forces from Wall Street to Washington determined to derail her nomination -- forces with their avaricious hooks into the Republicans on Capitol Hill and the corporatists in the Treasury and White House.

You have obliged these forces again and again over the last two years, most recently with the appointment of William M. Daley, recently of Wall Street, as your chief of staff.

How about one nomination for the People? The accolades on hearing the news of Elizabeth Warren's nomination may actually exceed the enduring indignation were she not to be nominated. Just feed the Senate Republicans to the mass media that would cover the nomination hearings, all that calm, solid, wisdom and humanity that she communicates without peer. See who prevails.

Selecting Elizabeth Warren and backing her fully through the nomination process will always be remembered by Americans across the land. Not doing so will not be forgotten by those same persons. This is another way of saying she has the enthusiastic constituency of "hope and change" -- that is "change you can believe in!"*

I look forward with many others to your response.

Sincerely yours,

Ralph Nader

PO Box 19312
Washington D.C., 20036

*If you doubt this observation and would like to see one million Americans on a petition favoring her selection, ask us and see how long that would take.



-------------------------------------------

Note to moderators:

Here's a new link to the article at a website that does not have any copyright posted that I've been able to locate.

http://www.nader.org/index.php?/archives/2257-Open-Letter-to-President-Obama-on-the-Nomination-of-Elizabeth-Warren.html#extended

[Scurrilous]

1. @#$% Ralph Nader. n/t

[ThomCat]

6. So, you disagree with what he has to say in this article?

:shrug:

I thought it was well written and made a really good point.

[AlabamaLibrul]

62. Great minds discuss issues, small minds discuss people. nt

[RZM]

94. No offense, but that's pretty bad

People are legitimate topics for great and small minds alike.

[_ed_]

67. Cursing Nader is much easier than dealing with his facts

.

[jojog]

71. Fact: Tax avoidance is not a crime.

Immelt is accountable to the share holders. If he did not do everything possible to help the bottom line he would be committing a crime.

[_ed_]

72. Fact: Nobody forced Obama to hire Immelt

He could send a message about corporate thieves whose lobbyists secure tax cuts for them at the expense of working people and the elderly BY NOT HIRING CORPORATE WHORES IN HIS ADMINISTRATION! Or changing the tax code.

Instead, Obama hires corporate cheats, and allows his administration to meet with lobbyists across the street from the White House to avoid his "transparency" rules.

[jojog]

73. You are correct - Change the Tax Code.

In the mean time using words like whores,thieves and cheats is not necessary.

[_ed_]

74. Yes it is

for people who care more about lining their pockets than they do their own country -- and the politicians that reward this behavior.

[bahrbearian]

75. Yeah an I sure Immelt will be the 1st voice in changing the Tax Code.

I remember him calling for that 10 years ago.

[kenfrequed]

87. Apparently Ralph can't win

If he tries to work within the system by influencing democratic politicians to do what is undeniably the right thing he gets this.

[G_j]

2. K&R

[snooper2]

3. Ralph Nader, what a tool...

[ThomCat]

7. Who is he supposedly a tool of?

And what does that have to do with this article?

Attacking the messenger is a logical fallacy and shows sloppy thinking.

Can you address the article? Do you have anything to contribute regarding the content of what he had to say?

[snooper2]

26. Nah, just wanted to comment on Ralph Nader...Have you met him?

I have..

In Crawford TX during a protest against Chimpy's war. He's a tool....

Kind of funny watching him yap while his mic wasn't working for the first 10 minutes, then they got it working and he mumbled a little and had to go.

Of course my interaction with him was all of 25 seconds as he was being "escorted" to his car by his "people"....



He's a tool

[ThomCat]

30. Whether you like him or not, you still haven't commented

on what he had to say.

On a discussion board, that is usually the purpose, to comment on the topic under discussion. Not to simply snipe and insult the authors.

Do you have anything intelligent to contribute on the topic?

[Bluebear]

40. That answers THAT question.

[snooper2]

66. Nope, not really interested in the diatribe...

Better Believe it never answered my question on when the next CD is coming out though...

[ReggieVeggie]

36. yeah, right

whatever you say :crazy:

[sabrina 1]

10. I like that the people have a tool who consistently speaks up for us.

Wish we had more tools like him, the other side has so many, including elected officials.

Can't disagree with him at all in that letter. The treatment of Elizabeth Warren by Congress has been shameful. She is being smeared in the WSJ and anywhere they can find a way to try to discredit her.

Good for Nader for standing up for her, someone needs to.

[ReggieVeggie]

32. a tool of Elizabeth Warren???

:crazy:

[_ed_]

68. Brilliant, reasoned response to his criticism

Or do you not care at all about the issue he wrote about.

[Enthusiast]

97. Yeah, a tool of powerful wealthy corporations

engaged in dodging taxes.:sarcasm:

[Blue_In_AK]

4. K&R

I don't care what anyone says -- I LIKE Ralph Nader.

[Better Believe It]

8. But he breaks into ballot boxes and steal votes and elections!

Good thing we have the Supreme Court around to stop such attempted thefts!

:sarcasm:

[Blue_In_AK]

11. Yep, that about sums it up.

[G_j]

12. and I heard he used mind control

to make people vote for him against their will...

[Wilms]

35. And he stands in the way of people voting. He PERSONALLY purged the FL voter rolls.

:sarcasm:

[Better Believe It]

45. And he forced 250,000 registered Florida Democrats to vote for George W. Bush!

[Taverner]

5. Nader said it, so it must be false, right?

:eyes:

[G_j]

9. well, pretty much the opposite, of course.

that's why people who hate him seldom address what he actually says.

[Taverner]

13. That's the thing with Nader. He was always right.

Back in 2000 he was right. Both parties acted and looked the same. Granted, running for prez did more damage than good, but it wasn't because he was saying wrong things.

[fascisthunter]

22. they can't handle the truth

and it's why they despise the man so much.

[Taverner]

24. And to think, he's partly why we have seatbelts in every car

Before his Corsair campaign, seatbelts almost never came with cars

[Enthusiast]

98. That's another reason to hate him!

:grr:



















:hide: :sarcasm:

[Capitalocracy]

106. And I'm just one of those who would be dead otherwise.

Very much dead I would be, indeed.

[Enthusiast]

109. You too?

I celebrate the use of seat belts. I have noooo sentiments of an over-reaching federal governments in regard to seatbelts. Without the use of seatbelts I would have been dead decades ago.

[roxiejules]

60. He warned us

about Obama's ties to corporations during the election.

[Taverner]

108. Yes, but quite honestly so did everyone else

Except Dennis Kucinich, and when he didn't get the nom, he stopped running

[in_cog_ni_to]

15. Of course.

He hasn't said anything right on DU since he caused the SCOTUS to appoint the idiot-in-chief as President. It was all Nader's fault we lost FL. Screwed up ballots, blackbox voting, Gore and the RW SCOTUS had nothing to do with it. :eyes:

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

14. Yep. No surprise. K&R

[shraby]

16. Nader had a lot more credibility years ago, but that's not true

any more.

[Better Believe It]

18. I believe that Nader has more credibility among progressives now than ever before.

Only a small minority of people continue to peddle the bogus charges made during the "swiftboat" like character assassination campaign against Ralph Nader.

[SidDithers]

19. I don't think you know what the term "swiftboat" really means...nt

Sid

[ReggieVeggie]

33. it means "weak Democrat"

[Enthusiast]

99. Rather Democrat with integrity. nt

[_ed_]

69. Only with you

Who are you speaking for?

[SidDithers]

17. Fuck Ralph Nader...nt

Sid

[wildbilln864]

20. k&r! nt

[itsrobert]

21. Fuck Nader!

n/t

[Better Believe It]

23. Thanks for the bump. And you're now on my ignore list.

Since you'd rather engage in personal attacks rather than civil debate and discussion.

Bye.

[itsrobert]

25. BOO HOO

FUCK NADER!

[SidDithers]

28. Congratulations...

:thumbsup:

Sid

[bluestate10]

39. Fuck Ralph Nader. If I am not already on your ignore list, put me on it. nt

[Better Believe It]

47. Wish granted. You're now on my ignore list because you'd rather engage in personal attacks ....

rather than civil debate and discussion.

Bye.

Oh .... thanks for the bump.

[ReggieVeggie]

43. I don't put anyone on ignore

I probably should, but I don't.Just too much damn fun :evilgrin:

[kenfrequed]

88. Yeah

I have the same problem. I end up having the same arguments with the blue dogs and those here that castigate the left again and again. I just can't stand to put someone on ignore.

[Better Believe It]

102. I don't mind engaging more conservative DU'ers in hard but civil debates.

But, when someone mainly engages in personal attacks, preferring that over debates, I generally put them on ignore.

I'd rather do that than read their stream of off topic personal attacks.

[phleshdef]

27. Another reason Nader could never be President. He is completely ignorant as to how appointments work

And he is being a dishonest ass as well. He knows good and well that Warren hasn't been officially appointed because she probably won't be confirmed. The Republicans have held up much lesser positions than her hypothetical position for 2 years now. At least, this way, at least she can actually DO something.

Nader represents everything thats wrong with the fringe of the progressive side of things. He will put principle before progress towards those principles. And its not because of the greatness of the principles (though they are great principles to have) but its because their HIS principles. The fact that their his are what matters, not because they are good or bad. Its all about feeding his ego. And apparently he will continue to grow old and die while grasping for attention the whole way down. Accomplishment doesn't matter. People like Nader care more about who can beat their chest the hardest and loudest in the name of progressivism, not actually who achieves solid, tangible results towards actually having it.

[ReggieVeggie]

34. so ONCE AGAIN it's about how weak Democrats are

not about trying to do what's right

[phleshdef]

46. It has nothing to do with weakness. Progressive Democrats are only as strong as their filibuster...

...proof majorities in congress, which is something they haven't ever really had, at least not in decades.

You just don't get it. If progressives don't have half + 1 seats in the House, 60 PROGRESSIVE seats in the Senate and a willing President, then the most progressive legislation will be blocked or somehow filibustered at all costs.

If America wants progressive solutions, America has to elect enough progressives to get it done or its not going to happen.

[ReggieVeggie]

51. well, we elected Democrats

so what the hell happened?

[kenfrequed]

89. Interesting isn't it?

The republicans can ram through the most regressive appointments and the worst legislation and push us into stupid wars and the Democrats roll over because the repukes frame things and scream and rant and make wild noise.

We can't frame any issue or appointment, even the most obvious piece of legislation or fight back agaisnt extendign tax cuts to the wealthy when 61% of the population favors raising taxes on the wealthy to balance the budget.

Is Ralph Nader the thing that is wrong with this picture? Or is it our own expectations? There are those in the corporate wing of our own party that have convinced our leadership that stopping the fight is more important than winning the fight. That is what is really wrong and that is why we floundered and lost even though we had the best chance for progressive reform in 20 years.

We should have rolled out our best policies and forced the republicans to pay a political price for each and every fillibuster. They were one of the most obstinate and oppositional congressional minorities in the history of the United States and the people damned sure should have been hearing about it.

[davidthegnome]

29. I'm one of those who likes Nader

I was even tempted to vote for him - I didn't, but I certainly thought about it.

A lot of the things he says in the article are things I've been thinking myself....

"At the announcement, you said that Mr. Immelt "understands what it takes for America to compete in the global economy."

Did you mean that he understands how to avoid all federal income taxes for his company's $14.2 billion in profits last year, while corralling a $3.2-billion benefit? Or did you mean that he understands how to get a federal bailout for GE Capital and its reckless exposure to risky debt? Or could you have meant that GE knows how to block unionization of its far-flung workers here and abroad? Perhaps Mr. Immelt can share with you GE's historical experience with lucrative campaign contributions, price-fixing, pollution and those nuclear reactors that are giving people fits in Japan and worrying millions of Americans here living or working near similar reactors."

Some good questions, Mr. Nader.

[bvar22]

31. Nader is SUPERMAN.

According to many here,
the wimpy little Consumer Advocate single handedly knocked the wheels off the entire Democratic party in 2000!


Was Nader really that strong?
OR
Was the Clinton Anti-Working Class legacy coupled with Gore's "Centrist" messaging that weak?

Answer that question correctly,
and WIN more elections.



If you're not FOR this New WAR,
You're with The Communists AlQaeda The Terrorists Saddam Qaddafi!!!

[Ramulux]

61. I also wasn't aware...

of what a sin it was to participate in our democracy. There are more than 2 political parties in this country, its fucking insanity to get mad at someone for running for president as a third party candidate and doing well. No one forced anyone to vote for Nader, they voted for him because they agreed with him and if democrats handle that, then they dont believe in the concept of a representative democracy.

[bahrbearian]

78. Yes, Ramulux for the Win.

[xchrom]

37. Recommend

[DeSwiss]

38. K&R n/t

[pinkkillersheep]

41. I love Elizabeth Warren. I wish more people knew about her. nt

[dionysus]

42. how's ralph's raytheon stock doin?

[howaboutme]

49. Link or Proof please?

We all agree that words on a forum mean nothing, and come to think of it neither do links. In reality we know almost nothing about these people who have the public's ear. Much is an orchestrated charade. :-)

Bill Clinton is touted as a hero around here and 10 years later we find out his decisions have been major factors in lost USA manufacturing, the financial services catastrophe, the deregulation of derivatives commodities, bank deregulation and Citi Groups illegal merger. He signed the legislation that has led to the biggest failures in government leadership, while some will still claim he is a saint. He now has a son-in law that is a hedge fund guy so that should make him feel comfy. Read Matt Taibbi's book Griftopia for some excellent insight.

The trouble with politics is that the masses get either hooked on individuals or turned off without any basis, other than they like one thing or dislike another, and it is about as rational as picking the Steelers over Eagles.

It's a big elite club out there and those who are trying to expose it, such as Nader, Kucinich and Bernie Sanders often step on some serious partisan toes. They then get blowback from the elite mass media who can often convince many that the sun rises in the west. The media says all sorts of unjustified stuff. Any candidate who threatens the financial elite and status quo is going to be trashed in the media. They tried to do it with Ron Paul in the Repub primary and he was eventually proven correct on the harm of Federal Reserve, and his credibility on this is now beyond manipulation of the media.

[dionysus]

54. a primer

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=3352440&mesg_id=3352594

[kenfrequed]

90. Ok...

He was worng on that case, but I believe the poster was requesting a specific link to the suggestion you made to where Nader was invested. This was just a red herring to a red herring.

[dionysus]

101. ok

http://dir.salon.com/politics/feature/2000/10/28/stocks/index.html

"If LaDuke is looking for Occidental stockholders to criticize, she might want to look a little closer to home. In the financial disclosure form Nader filed on June 14, the Green Party presidential candidate revealed that he owns between $100,000 and $250,000 worth of shares in the Fidelity Magellan Fund. The fund controls 4,321,400 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock.
"
snip
"The Occidental projects are so beyond the pale about what's reasonable and moral in this modern era," says Patrick Reinsborough, grass-roots coordinator for the Rainforest Action Network. Reinsborough says that his group has been primarily targeting Gore and Fidelity Investments in general, Fidelity Magellan being part of the Fidelity Investments mutual funds network, as well as the one with the largest quantity of Occidental stock. "We have called upon Ralph Nader -- as we would call upon any citizen -- to either divest from Fidelity or to participate in shareholder activism," Reinsborough says. "Gore has much more long-standing links to Occidental Petroleum."

snip

But even if Fidelity were to divest its holdings in Occidental, it holds shares in so many companies Nader has crusaded against, it's hard to escape the conclusion that Nader's participation in the fund is supremely hypocritical. The fund, for example, owns stock in the Halliburton Company, where George W. Bush's running mate, Dick Cheney, recently worked as president and COO. The fund has investments in supremely un-p.c. clothiers the Gap and the Limited, both of which have been the target of rocks by World Trade Organization protesters, as well as Wal-Mart, the slayer of mom-and-pop stores from coast to coast.

snip

Nader spokeswoman Laura Jones says that only the candidate himself can answer questions about his personal investments. Nader could not be reached for comment.

and

http://www.xtimeline.com/evt/view.aspx?id=71536

According to the mandatory
fiscal disclosure report that he filed with the Federal Election Commission in
2000, he then owned more than $3 million worth of stocks and mutual fund
shares; his single largest holding was more than $1 million worth of stock in
Cisco Systems, Inc. He also held more than $2 million in two money market
funds. Nader owns no car or real estate, and says he lives on US$25000 a year
and gives most of his stock earnings to many of the over four dozen non-profit
organizations he has founded.

Based on previous
disclosure forms, his stock portfolio (through the Fidelity Magellan Fund)
includes: Halliburton, Occidental Petroleum, the Limited, the Gap, Wal-Mart,
Exxon-Mobil, Shell Oil Company, Sunoco, Texaco, Chevron Corporation, Raytheon
(a major missile manufacturer), other various defense contractors, and
Bristol-Myers Squibb.

In 1990, Forbes magazine
reported that Ralph Nader lives in a $1.5 million mansion that had the deed
under his sister's name.

[kenfrequed]

107. So...

The article did state that Gore had longer ties to Occidental petroleum. But both Nader and Gore have worked on causes that would negatively impact their own investment portfolio in this case.

So are you requiring all leftists and progressives to be 100% pure? Would you rather eliminate all voices of people that stand against corporate dominance, pollution, war, greed, etc in favor of the most mealy mouthed weak and bought-out politicians available?

Additionally the article from the year 2000 states that the lists of what he had investments on were partially based on disclosure reports from previous years. Does that mean he has to travel back in time to purify his name even more?

Seriously, this is Bunk. None of the Nader bashers here would ever require this kind of purity from the centrist DLC democrats that many of them seem to favor. It is just so beyond the pale, really. When progressives find people that are willing to speak out and are 80-90% correct on their behavoir and the issues then we are lambasted for the 10% of the time they are off merely because we refuse to accept politicians that are only with us 50% of the time.

It really is an unfair set of rules.

[snagglepuss]

91. I see a smear, zero proof. Please cite a source that shows Nader invests

in Raytheon.

[dionysus]

100. ok. granted the articles are old;

http://dir.salon.com/politics/feature/2000/10/28/stocks/index.html

"If LaDuke is looking for Occidental stockholders to criticize, she might want to look a little closer to home. In the financial disclosure form Nader filed on June 14, the Green Party presidential candidate revealed that he owns between $100,000 and $250,000 worth of shares in the Fidelity Magellan Fund. The fund controls 4,321,400 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock.
"
snip
"The Occidental projects are so beyond the pale about what's reasonable and moral in this modern era," says Patrick Reinsborough, grass-roots coordinator for the Rainforest Action Network. Reinsborough says that his group has been primarily targeting Gore and Fidelity Investments in general, Fidelity Magellan being part of the Fidelity Investments mutual funds network, as well as the one with the largest quantity of Occidental stock. "We have called upon Ralph Nader -- as we would call upon any citizen -- to either divest from Fidelity or to participate in shareholder activism," Reinsborough says. "Gore has much more long-standing links to Occidental Petroleum."

snip

But even if Fidelity were to divest its holdings in Occidental, it holds shares in so many companies Nader has crusaded against, it's hard to escape the conclusion that Nader's participation in the fund is supremely hypocritical. The fund, for example, owns stock in the Halliburton Company, where George W. Bush's running mate, Dick Cheney, recently worked as president and COO. The fund has investments in supremely un-p.c. clothiers the Gap and the Limited, both of which have been the target of rocks by World Trade Organization protesters, as well as Wal-Mart, the slayer of mom-and-pop stores from coast to coast.

snip

Nader spokeswoman Laura Jones says that only the candidate himself can answer questions about his personal investments. Nader could not be reached for comment.



and

http://www.xtimeline.com/evt/view.aspx?id=71536

According to the mandatory
fiscal disclosure report that he filed with the Federal Election Commission in
2000, he then owned more than $3 million worth of stocks and mutual fund
shares; his single largest holding was more than $1 million worth of stock in
Cisco Systems, Inc. He also held more than $2 million in two money market
funds. Nader owns no car or real estate, and says he lives on US$25000 a year
and gives most of his stock earnings to many of the over four dozen non-profit
organizations he has founded.

Based on previous
disclosure forms, his stock portfolio (through the Fidelity Magellan Fund)
includes: Halliburton, Occidental Petroleum, the Limited, the Gap, Wal-Mart,
Exxon-Mobil, Shell Oil Company, Sunoco, Texaco, Chevron Corporation, Raytheon
(a major missile manufacturer), other various defense contractors, and
Bristol-Myers Squibb.

In 1990, Forbes magazine
reported that Ralph Nader lives in a $1.5 million mansion that had the deed
under his sister's name.

[dionysus]

44. was you sayin somethin?

[Raine]

48. I don't like Nader but I agree with him on this.

Pretty obvious that the corporate heads are Obama's friends and any one sticking up for the ordinary person is not.

[howaboutme]

50. Don't know Nader well enough to say if I like him, but

I've read and heard enough from Nader that I like what he says. He's anti-corporate and anti-imperialism and anti-neocon and that's good enough for me. The three biggest threats to the USA he opposes, while both Parties appear to support them.

Is the anger at Nader because of Gore? He didn't cause Gore to lose, the crooked voting machines, Supreme Court and a huge lack of chutzpah on Gore's part to force a recount is why Bush got appointed.

We have a political duopoly that appears to have more in common that favor the banksters, elite, more wars, more for foreign aid, and less for Americans, and the status quo of more opportunity and lower taxes for those already with more. There is little concern for average Americans.

[ReggieVeggie]

52. what's not to like?

he points out stuff that other people don't want to

Is that ego? Is that "enabling" Republicans?

[howaboutme]

65. Exactly

I see both Parties as compromised by certain very powerful special interests that in reality pull the strings that are against the interests of most average Americans. Few will touch or be critical of these entities because they know it could cost them an election. I'm speaking of the big Wall Street banks, the many big multi-national businesses, and country specific lobbies such as AIPAC. We need to start taking care of America for Americans, and not for the international banks and corporations that have no special connection to the USA. Most outrageous of all is allowing lobbies for other countries to have undue influence over our government.

All of these interests want rubber stamp representation, and they oppose those who speak up or are diligent. They will find ways to neutralize conscientiousness in favor of cronyism.

[Lorien]

53. It's funny how those who attack the messenger are also the same people who

were angry about some issues under Bush that they now support. No principles, only politics.

[PassingFair]

64. +1

It's not considered corporate-whore-dom when it's
OUR team!

[Autumn]

55. Damn good letter. Ralph does this well

IMO he is a good advocate.

[ProSense]

56. Ralph Nader is a clown

<...>

Compare, if you will, the record of Elizabeth Warren and her acutely informed knowledge about delivering justice to those innocents harmed by injustice in the financial services industry. A stand-up Law Professor at your alma mater, author of highly regarded articles and books connecting knowledge to action, the probing Chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel (COP) and now in the Treasury Department working intensively to get the CFRB underway by the statutory deadline this July with competent, people-oriented staff.

There were many good reasons why Senate leader Harry Reid (Dem. Nevada) called Professor Warren and asked her to be his choice for Chair of COP. Hailing from an Oklahoman blue collar family, Professor Warren is just the “working class hero” needed to make the new Bureau a sober, law and order enforcer, deterrer and empowerer of consumers vis-à-vis the companies whose enormous greed, recklessness and crimes tanked our economy into a deep recession. The consequences produced 8 million unemployed workers and shattered trillions of dollars in pensions and other savings along with the dreams which they embodied for American workers.

Much more than you perhaps realize, millions of people, who have heard and seen Elizabeth Warren, rejoice in her brainy, heartfelt knowledge and concern over their plight. They see her as just the kind of regulator (federal cop on the beat) for their legitimate interests in a more competitive marketplace who you should be overjoyed in nominating.

Yet there are corporate forces from Wall Street to Washington determined to derail her nomination—forces with their avaricious hooks into the Republicans on Capitol Hill and the corporatists in the Treasury and White House.

<...>

He's writing an open letter to the President to appoint Warren to head the consumer bureau, which was made possible by the President's Wall Street Reform bill that Nader repeatedly denounced? The bureau that the President appointed her to get up and running?

If he's going to grandstand he should at least get the name of the organization right, it's the Consumer Financial Regulatory Protection Bureau.

Based on the title of the OP, how the hell does Nader know how the President treats Warren?

[kenfrequed]

93. Hmm wait a minute

Because Nader believed that the bill was too weak should he not be allowed to voice his opinion about how a weak reform bill could be best implemented? Or who would be the best person to be in charge of the organization that this legislation created? I mean if he thinks its a lemon does that mean he should be banned from making lemonaide?

I'm sorry but your putting purist requirements on him and on progressives that may not support him, but DEFINITELY support what he put to pen in that letter. It really is an absurd qualification you are making.

[BobbyBoring]

57. I agree with everything he says

And I would love to hear what anyone that says "Fuck Nader" or "He's a tool" has to prove him wrong.

Obama talked about transparency in his campaign. He's transparent alright. A lot of people can see right through him. The thing that pisses me off the most is his blatant, in our face, appointment of people like Immelt. Obama is the tool. The tool of big corpra.

[Better Believe It]

58. Well, this should be OK to post since I can't find any copyright posted on the link.

[bertman]

59. REC and KICK. Good work, Ralph. nt

[Altoid_Cyclist]

63. What is it about Mr. Nader that strikes a nerve with so many "progressives" here?

Is it the fact that he dares to speak the truth about Pres. Obama?

I would think that by now the cry of "he cost Gore the election" would have gone the way of the Dodo. Whether you like Mr. Nader or not, one fact that's hard to overlook is that his letter is on target. GE has caused pain and economic hardship for so many Americans due to their corporate policies and political maneuvering. I don't imagine that what is currently taking place in Japan will strengthen their image to the rest of the world either.

Meanwhile, Mr. Nader and Ms. Warren have done more for the average American during their careers than Mr. Immelt could (or would) ever imagine doing.

You can blame the messenger all that you want, but the facts get in the way of substantive criticism when it comes to actually refuting the OP or Mr. Nader.

[_ed_]

70. Yes,

people who criticize Nader (especially without any facts) simply hate the fact that he points out that the Emperor Obama has no clothes. Hating the source is easier than dealing with the facts.

[bahrbearian]

79. Are you sure they are "Progressive"? Or are they Regressing?

[Le Taz Hot]

80. One should be careful about putting

progressives and the Party Faithful into the same category. They are often ideologically and diametrically opposed.

Edited for gooder grammar.

[Better Believe It]

81. Thanks for the gooder grammar! I likes it!

:hi:

[Le Taz Hot]

105. I sometimes

edit for speeling, too. ;-)

[Altoid_Cyclist]

95. You're right. I keep forgetting that this site has as Bahrbearian noted above,

regressed in certain areas. One of those areas is the questioning of certain dubious appointments or non-appointments.

[ReggieVeggie]

85. He's someone they can blame for their own shortcomings nt

[AllTooEasy]

104. he wants to take away athletic scholarships away from kids who can't afford...

...a higher education otherwise. I earned an electrical engineering degree from the Univ. of MD., paid for by an athletic scholorship. My choices were the scholarship or minimum wage work. If it was up to Nadar, I would have had no choice.

Thanks Nadar for being a royal dick about helping poor people!

[bahrbearian]

76. K&R Yeah Nader

[Le Taz Hot]

77. K & R

Good article.

[MilesColtrane]

82. Nader = instant unrecommend

[Better Believe It]

83. You be smart!

:silly:

[femrap]

84. I read that

Immelt went to Japan and stated that General Electric will take NO RESPONSIBILITY for the nuclear power plant problems.

Eerily, his name his Immelt.....I'm Melt. As in meltdown.

I hope his appendage melts.

[raouldukelives]

86. K&R

[JoePhilly]

92. Puxataweny Phil comes out to see his shadow more frequently that Nader does.

Phil comes out once each year ... Ralph only comes out every 4 or so.

[Enthusiast]

96. Well....K&R.....nt

[AllTooEasy]

103. Love Warren, Nadar is a tool

He wants to take athletic scholarships aways from kids who can't afford college. For what, to concentrate more on academics?! I thought greater access to a higher education was a good thing!!!

Good thing I earned my electrical engineering degree from the Univ. of MD via an athletic scholarship before Ralph got some power.