Elizabeth Warren Interviewed By Bill Maher On Credit Card Legislation, Usury (VIDEO)

TARP watchdog Elizabeth Warren sat down for an interview with Bill Maher on last night's episode of "Real Time." One of the topics she and Maher discussed was the current credit card legislation and how usury has regained a place within our society. Warren stated that this is the reason we needed a credit card bill of rights, to prevent companies from arbitrarily raising interest rates and burying people in a mountain of debt. Maher took another angle, saying it proved that we really just don't treat each other very well.

Watch a clip of the interview below.

Comments

[MoeJava]

a grand example of usery is walking into a PayDay Loan place. 391% for a 2 week loan.
at least, that's what is allowed in Washington state.

[Tulka2]

Holy Smokes! Walking to Rome on one's knees for forgiveness seems an appropriate punishment.

[23000Days]

Someone has set the comments to "justify center".....

[MoeJava]

getting more political every day... even in formatting!

[kapalabhati]

Funny!

[Tulka2]

I sort of like it

When this happens.

It makes us all

Poets.

[kapalabhati]

And funnier! Y'all are hot tonite!

[Slagfish]

"Capitalism is the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men for the nastiest of motives will somehow work to benefit us all." John Maynard Keynes

[Tulka2]

In this same episode of Bill Maher's show, Real Time, the fellow who co-wrote the HBO series "The Wire" came out. Davie somebody. He is brilliant and far-seeing....began his career as a "Baltimore Sun" reporter. He made the obvious, but often ignored, observation that democracy does not equal capitalism. I paraphrase, "Capitalism can be a great wealth engine, but it is a terrible mistake to think capitalism is a structure for a civilization".

[23000Days]

Capitalism and greed are mutual synonyms.

[Tulka2]

Simon. David Simon is the brilliant fellow who wrote "The Wire" which is just as powerfully written for this time as anything Charles Dickens ever wrote about his.

[olmossy]

Speaking of Keynes who I admire. I heard Ron Paul when ask who he balmed this present mess on Actually say" Keynes" Imagine blaming the man whose theorys FDR used to save this Country , which worked fine up until the late 70 when the Capitalist started taking it apart., for all this mess. He wouldn't blame it on the greedy Banks or Wall Street. What a charlaton.

[Tulka2]

Take a deep breath and face it folks. The Bush goons pulled off the biggest heist in human history as they walked out the door.

[ncmom54]

by golly I think you're right!

[Tulka2]

"You don't need to rob a bank if you can own one". - ?

[23000Days]

Van Ect Hotline's prediction of the day is that Bernanke will be replaced in Jan. '10, for failing to be firm and reel in major banks.

If so, Ms. Warren would be an ideal replacement.

[Tulka2]

Good call!!

[SgtLucifer]

Great book to read, folks! :- "The Wrecking Crew - How Conservatives Rule" by Thomas Frank

[Disuberence]

Another one is "The Shock Doctrine" by Naomi Klein.

[olmossy]

I don't sleep as well as I did before I read the Shock Doctrine, I don't see the world the way I did before either.

[Martee]

I just LOVE Betty Warren!

[ByersL]

She did really well, I was surprised. Of course we know she's smart, but it showed she has a really nice sense of humor as well.

[HekmabaJuzimax]

I agree! I hope she comes back as a guest, she's very informative.

[Queenhuh]

Corruption starts at the top then trickles down to the individuals who don't have the brains to rationalize morals and ethics from sheer greed and crime. Our politicians are the ones who must set the standard and the high bar. This hasn't happened.

[Tulka2]

Let us fervently hope for statesmen instead of politicians. Obama is a start and it's cause we bought him. He's our guy. He's in the oval office because of small donations from the internet machine. If you are interested in the vital subject of Public Financed Elections....? I urge you to google "Change Congress". They have a good video which speaks to the current crisis.

[Tulka2]

Bill Maher does not have anywhere near an enlightened view of human nature. For that i go to the Dalai Lama who says he sees most people as basically cooperative and loving. I like Bill Maher. I just don't look to him for a balanced view of human nature. He is stuck in being a little boy and it's probably rude of me to notice, but he does put himself out there and it needs a response.

High Victorian times had a lot in common with this time we have just seen on Wall Street. There's even a Bernie Maddoff in _Little Dorrit_ called Mr. Merdle. The problem then, as now, was not human nature. The problem then, as now, was a lack of regulation of banking principles. Most good citizens want a level playing field. Every game has rules as Ms. Warren so quickly put it.

[DC]

Bill Maher is cynical in a good way, but has no depth. No real intelligence. (Jon Stewart does.) Besides, Maher is a non-critical shill for special interests. Watch carefully.

[HekmabaJuzimax]

Dudes, he's a comedian, for cripes sake. No, not that sake, I mean the liquid kind. Bottoms up!

[leorising]

No depth, I agree. Maher's humor is basically, "I think this is stupid. Don't you think this is stupid?" Not my idea of stunning synthesis or insight.

[doublebishop]

Elizabeth Warran for President!

[Tulka2]

Wink. How about first President of the World Federation?

[Decipherer]

Try "Warren."

[olmossy]

By Golly , I'll secound that!

[MissingAmerica]

I respect this woman. She made sense here and was just as honest on The Daily Show. I hope she can do some good. Problem at this point is that she is having to fight a Congress which doesn't seem to feel the need to stop us from being gouged and bankrupted by the financial industry.

[leorising]

Lest we forget, the nascent new usury bill to top interest rates at 50% just FAILED. !!!

Perhaps our congresscritters need an application of the clue bat? Several thousand emails in their boxes with would be a starting point, at least...

[CptKendrick]

Whoah. Look at that picture on the home page again of her.
(The still picture on the homepage...not the video).

How did she get a light saber?

[Tulka2]

She has honestly earned her Jedi saber. (wink)

[epiphany1234]

I didn't see all of the show but Bill's take on usury was strange.... that people in America are not nice to each other. Why didn't he come out and ask the real question, namely why isn't the government actually outlawing usury as practiced in these times by American credit card companies. They should stop nibbling around the edges and just do the right thing -- OUTLAW USURIOUS practices in all areas of business.

[lauram]

The House tried but the Senate shot it down. http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&session=1&vote=00191. The bastrds in the Senate are owned by bankers. Period. We're scrod.

[Tulka2]

I too was surprised that he didn't even seem to know that the definition of usury is charging over 10 percent and for the first 1000 years usury was a serious mortal sin back in the day when clearing up a mortal sin might well mean walking to Rome on your knees.

[DC]

Why? Because he is a dimwit.

[EJW342]

His point was that people are bad to other people. A conservative point of view - people by their nature are greedy, and cheat and so on. That people are only looking out for number one. I don't believe this; I believe that people are taught by 'our system' (education, religion, etc) to be that way but we are not inherently evil. I believe, generally speaking, people in groups tend towards evil and lies (group think, fear, etc) but that individuals really don't want to hurt anyone else. A few sociopaths, yes; but in general, no.

It's our society, our system, that is at fault, not the people subjected to that system. Torture is a good example, in many ways it does more harm to the torturer then the victum. It certainly does more harm to the culture that promotes it. Read history, preferably from a non-US source.

People are inherently good, honest and kind and it is our responsibility to see that our systems become so as well.

[Tulka2]

So thoughtful. Yes, history demonstrates people tortured are most always innocent and they are tortured for who they are, not what they know.

[WritusMaximus]

She's aware she has no power. All she can do is talk and hope it will miraculously change minds in Washington---NOT!