Elizabeth Warren has some words for those who might stand in the way of her crusade for the middle class.
"They lost."
Warren's official title is a lot to say. That was fitting on Monday night, because she had a lot to say on MSNBC's "Rachel Maddow Show."
According to Maddow, the Assistant to the President and Special Adviser to the Secretary of the Treasury on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau wound up "demonstrating tonight why she is both of those things, and one of our nation's most eloquent voices on these very, very, very, very central issues."
Warren drew a sharp contrast between average Americans and opponents of her new agency, pointing out that 96% of the country wants to get rid of the fine print in certain financial contracts. That overwhelming majority doesn't seem to leave much room for partisanship -- so why might certain interests try to stand in her way?
"I'm really surprised by this move," said Warren. "Following the Great Depression, it took 50 years before anyone started chipping seriously away at the new reforms that had been put in place to protect us ... It's just a matter of months until people are talking about how to undercut this new Consumer Financial Protection Agency. This new agency has not yet drawn breath."
Warren explained that one of her objectives was to help consumers with debt. "It doesn't take tax money to do that. What it takes is leveling the playing field, it's saying, 'look, we just want some basic fairness here.' The pricing has to be clear up front, the risk has to be clear up front, and it has to be easy -- up front -- to make comparisons among products. That means getting rid of fine print. That means no more tricks and traps in the game. When that happens, more money stays in the pockets of American families and less of it drains out to the financial institutions that have become so powerful."
Warren's message for her opponents was up front, too.
"The Wall Street lobbyists said they would kill it before it was ever born. They lost. And they lost because this is an agency that really is there for middle class families."
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