After President Obama backed off his campaign promise to aggressively push “cram down” (ie. the bill allowing bankruptcy judges to force banks to rewrite home loans so as to prevent foreclosure), it’s fair to be concerned that his calculated behavior on that bill might preview such behavior on other bills. As the Washington Independent reports, it wasn’t that Obama was too busy or too distracted to push cramdown – it was a deliberate tactical decision to publicly push the popular bill, but then not actually use any political capital in Congress to make the bill a reality. The motive for the two-step is obvious: Obama aims to get public credit for populist positions, while wink-and-nodding his way to moneyed-interest appeasement – in this case, the banking industry.
So I’m wondering – is this what’s going on on the Employee Free Choice Act? Obama has consistently told public audiences that he supports it, but it’s pretty clear he hasn’t used his political capital in Congress to push it very hard. Some may float the Secret Pony Plan theory – the idea that Obama is waiting for the perfect time to push it, or is employing some other good-natured strategery aimed at passing the bill but that us fools outside the Beltway can’t possibly understand.
I’d like to believe that – and indeed, that may end up being true – but the fact that there is now an army of Democratic Party-affiliated corporate lobbyists being paid to stop EFCA makes me think something else may be dictating Obama’s hesitation. And the fact that a few of the billionaires closest to Obama are publicly opposing EFCA makes me even more suspicious:
May 7 (Bloomberg) — Three Chicago billionaires who helped fund President Barack Obama’s election campaign are fighting legislation he backs that would make it easier for unions to organize hotels they own.Penny Pritzker, Obama’s campaign finance chairwoman and a director of Global Hyatt Corp., has told the president she is opposed to the measure, known as card check, said a person familiar with the situation. Neil Bluhm, a partner in Walton Street Capital LLC, also opposes the bill, the person said. Lester Crown, chairman of Henry Crown & Co., criticized the proposal in an interview.
These aren’t people who casually oppose EFCA – these are people whose families became billionaires, in part, because laws like EFCA aren’t on the books and thus workers haven’t been able to bargain for better wages. That’s not an exaggeration – the Pritzker family made its billions in the hotel industry – an industry whose business model is based on making sure workers don’t form unions and continue to be paid substandard wages.
The Bloomberg piece features a low-level White House spokesman insisting that Obama supports EFCA, and I think that’s true – I think Obama in his heart probably does support EFCA. But the lesson of the cramdown debate is that what he may or may not feel in his heart is far less important than whether he’s willing to push legislation with the full-force of his political capital.
To be clear: We don’t know if we’re going to get a cramdown-style two-step on EFCA – but we do know that A) Obama hasn’t pushed EFCA that vigorously B) Democratic corporate lobbyists with strong connections to the D.C. insiders who serve in his administration are against it and C) the billionaires who underwrote his campaign are against it. It’s not an ideal dynamic, and if we refuse to push Obama on EFCA out of some sycophantish sense of “loyalty” and the White House ultimately doesn’t push EFCA vigorously, we can’t say we didn’t have ample evidence suggesting we should have made more demands.
(h/t on catching the Bloomberg story to FDL’s Jane Hamsher)
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This is absolutely true! I am a Countrywide, now Bank of America customer who is being forced into a wrongful foreclosure. Obama knows damn well that he is playing both sides of the coin in this matter. I qualify in every way for his new housing plan; however, the banks aren't handing out any relief to our families. I joined a website called loansafe.org and there are hundreds of thousands not getting any relief through this plan. Why? It's simple. There are no repercussions to the bank if they don't qualify you even though you do qualify. Yes, the bill passed in the Congress to allow bankruptcy judges to modify loans, but that was like a one hit wonder, forgotten overnight. How does Obama expect his plan to work if he isn't pushing that legislation to pass in the Senate with the same urgency he forced on the Senate to pass the economic recovery plan! He needs to wake up and realize that the mortgage meltdown caused by these greedy sobs is what started this mess in the first place, and until he shows us that he is serious about helping the middle class that are funding these greedy irresponsible banks, then we are not impressed one bit! I am about to loose my house for no good reason at all.
The banks own Obama from the FED on down. What a mess this is turning into.
Good luck Christina.
What the banks are doing is, what they should have done all along. Use the borrowing criteria used prior to the rat-politicians, and private organizations like ACORN, who intimidated the banks and lending institutions into loaning money to home buyers who didn't qualify in the first place.
Thousands of people are loosing their homes because they didn't have the way or means to pay for that house in the first place. And now they suggest that they get special treatment and be allowed to re-negotiate a contract to allow them to stay in a house they should have never had in the first place, on the feeble argument of, ” we were duped”?!! This tells me they want somebody else to pay for their lack of personal responsibility!!
Duped? You don't know how to read, or use some simple math to figure out if you can afford the damned house?!! You could of paid a CPA or lawyer a few dollars to help you ascertain your position?!!
The first person you should be pointing your finger at is, YOURSELF!!
Hello I agree with Christine about the banks, and the snobs that run them. They are very Predatorily little rich snobs that do not care about their American fellow human kind. They prey upon the American poor to make themselves so much richer while our children can go hungry, and cry out in the night because they do not have food to eat or decent used clothes to even wear. These giants need to be brought down more than a few notches. They even prey upon the very young and naive. The banks makes promises, sure if you loose your job or can't find a job, sure we will work with you. Guess what, they'll sued the you know out of you and foreclose on your home. They do not care that they rob children of food to eat or a shelter to sleep beneath. They take food out of the mouth of babes to feed their own selves. Predatorily lending goes on with college students as well. The same banks makes promises to college students that oh yea sure we will work with you. Then they do not. They are scam artists and are nothing but a bunch of Madoff's in sheep's skins. These banks do not care that they take food from the mouths of babies. As a matter of fact, why do you think that Bush signed the bankruptcy reform in 2005? He is just like them. They all want to take little food away and rightful shelter lodgings away from people and their children. They only do it line their own pockets. They eat steak, lobster, and expensive caviar, however, we the poor and hard working eat fish sticks and pork and beans, that is if we are lucky. Where is the justice for these predators? There is no justice other than we the poor and hard working and our children are robbed every day by these high society rich people that are not in touch with reality. I have preyed to the dear Lord that President Obama and the new Democratic Congress can stop these thieving predators from robbing Americans of our rights as their fellow human beings for the right for shelter, clothes, and especially food for American children. I wholly and truly believe that our new president and congress need to reverse the bankruptcy reform signed by Bush who was and is obliviously out of touch with reality.
Sheila
From Missouri
Hello I agree with Christine about the banks, and the snobs that run them. They are very Predatorily little rich snobs that do not care about their American fellow human kind. They prey upon the American poor to make themselves so much richer while our children can go hungry, and cry out in the night because they do not have food to eat or decent used clothes to even wear. These giants need to be brought down more than a few notches. They even prey upon the very young and naive. The banks makes promises, sure if you loose your job or can't find a job, sure we will work with you. Guess what, they'll sued the you know out of you and foreclose on your home. They do not care that they rob children of food to eat or a shelter to sleep beneath. They take food out of the mouth of babes to feed their own selves. Predatorily lending goes on with college students as well. The same banks makes promises to college students that oh yea sure we will work with you. Then they do not. They are scam artists and are nothing but a bunch of Madoff's in sheep's skins. These banks do not care that they take food from the mouths of babies. As a matter of fact, why do you think that Bush signed the bankruptcy reform in 2005? He is just like them. They all want to take little food away and rightful shelter lodgings away from people and their children. They only do it line their own pockets. They eat steak, lobster, and expensive caviar, however, we the poor and hard working eat fish sticks and pork and beans, that is if we are lucky. Where is the justice for these predators? There is no justice other than we the poor and hard working and our children are robbed every day by these high society rich people that are not in touch with reality. I have preyed to the dear Lord that President Obama and the new Democratic Congress can stop these thieving predators from robbing Americans of our rights as their fellow human beings for the right for shelter, clothes, and especially food for American children. I wholly and truly believe that our new president and congress need to reverse the bankruptcy reform signed by Bush who was and is obliviously out of touch with reality.
Sheila
From Missouri