2016 Postmortem

thesquanderer

(11,989 posts) Sun Feb 7, 2016, 01:24 PM Feb 2016

Annoying Hillary rhetoric - Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Last edited Sun Feb 7, 2016, 02:08 PM - Edit history (1)

Okay, I know this is minor, but it irked me.

Twice this week, Hillary boasted that she called for a Consumer Protection board even before it was created. Well tell me, who calls for something AFTER it exists?

Seriously, the first time, I thought it was just clumsy phrasing when speaking off the cuff. But when she basically repeated the same line the following night, that's when I knew it was calculated rhetorical bullsh*t. What an accomplishment, she didn't wait until after something existed to call for it! It's just another example of sentences that sound better than their actual content supports.

From the Town Hall on Wednesday:

There was no doubt that I took on a lot of what was going down on Wall Street, including calling them out on the mortgage issues, calling for a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau even before we got one created

then from the debate on Thursday:

I called for a consumer protection financial bureau before it was created.

and yes, her delivery emphasized the "before it was created" part.

3 replies

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Highlight:

Annoying Hillary rhetoric - Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Original Post) thesquanderer Feb 2016 OP

WaPo 2014 story on how the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau came about Jarqui Feb 2016 #1

Clinton was calling for consumer protections Floridanow Feb 2016 #2

My point was about her rhetoric. thesquanderer Feb 2016 #3

Jarqui

(10,126 posts)

1. WaPo 2014 story on how the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau came about

Reply to thesquanderer (Original post)

Sun Feb 7, 2016, 02:03 PM

Feb 2016

Elizabeth Warren started it with this magazine article
http://democracyjournal.org/magazine/5/unsafe-at-any-rate/

A watchdog grows up: The inside story of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/01/11/a-watchdog-grows-up-the-inside-story-of-the-consumer-financial-protection-bureau/

No mention of Clinton in either article

S. 2280 (109th): STOP FRAUD Act introduced by Obama Feb 2006
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/109/s2280

Obama Sept 2007 speech discussing tightening laws and regulations related to mortgages
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/17/us/politics/16text-obama.html

Obama Nov 2007 discusses credit cards and what he'd do
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/12/21/obama.trans.americandream/

In Jan 2008, Clinton got on board with Elizabeth Warren's proposal

Floridanow

(74 posts)

2. Clinton was calling for consumer protections

Reply to thesquanderer (Original post)

Sun Feb 7, 2016, 03:53 PM

Feb 2016

As far back as 2003. What is your point?

thesquanderer

(11,989 posts)

3. My point was about her rhetoric.

Reply to Floridanow (Reply #2)

Sun Feb 7, 2016, 05:49 PM

Feb 2016

I'm not saying she was or wasn't for consumer protections... that's a whole other conversation, and one with its own controversy, in terms of how she flip-flopped on the bankruptcy bill. Like so many things, if you look, you can find her on whatever side of the position you'd like.

My point was about her use of language... statements which sound really strong, but when you analyze them, there's less there than met the ear. In this case (an admittedly minor example), she could have said "I supported the creation of the consumer financial protection bureau." (I don't know for a fact that she did or didn't, but I'm giving her the benfit of the doubt that she did.) Fine. But to make it sound like a bigger deal, she adds that she called for its creation even before it existed. Wow, impressive! It sounds good, until you stop and reazlie that it's impossible to call dor something's creation after it exists. So it's just more verbiage that sounds good, but actually says nothing. And that's how a lot of her statements strike me. They sound good, but when you really look at it, she doesn't say very much.

Her answer about euthanasia at the Town Hall last week is another example. It was a beautiful preamble to an answer that never actually came. All those words, and in the end, all she really said was, "yeah, that's a hard one."

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