Elizabeth Warren On The Daily Show: If We Don't Act 'The Game Really Is Over' (VIDEO)

On Tuesday night's Daily Show, bailout watchdog and financial reform advocate Elizabeth Warren told Jon Stewart that "this is really the moment" that will determine the future of America's middle class -- the system must be fixed or "the game really is over."

Warren, who chairs the Congressional Oversight Panel created to monitor TARP, said: "It is simple. This is America's middle class. We've hacked at it and chipped at it and pulled on it for 30 years now. And now there's no more to do. Either we fix this problem going forward or the game really is over."

In recent months, Warren has repeatedly warned that America's middle class is on the verge of collapse. In an essay for the Huffington Post last December, she raised the possibility: "America without a strong middle class? Unthinkable, but the once-solid foundation is shaking." A few days later, she told MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski "We are at serious risk in America of having 'middle class' no longer synonymous with the old notions of security and solid, but instead meaning living one paycheck to the next, living one bad diagnosis or pink slip away from financial collapse."

Warren has been the TARP oversight chair since November 2008, and Stewart asked her why the system hasn't been fixed yet.

"Well, these guys really do get it." Warren told Stewart -- the CEOs, bankers, and people in power -- "They get it. And they work best behind closed doors." If the decisions are in their hands, she said, "Nothing, nothing will change. You know, I want to turn to these guys sometimes, and I want to say: what part of 'we bailed you out' do you not get? These are people who would not have their jobs because they would not have their companies."

"The chips are all on the table," Warren added. "We are going to write what the American economy looks like for 50 years going forward. And right now the CEOs have any real change bottled up in the Senate."

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Comments

[DebtNavigation]

12:58 PM on 03/25/2010

If the government fails to act, that leaves the people. It's not "game over" it's "Game On!"

In Mexico in the mid-'90s Wall Street engineered a currency coup that tripled the debt owed by small businesses and family farms and also allowed for them to be massively ratejacked on top of it. Mexicans consequently formed the "el Barzon" movement and pushed back Wall Street and deposed their ruling party of 60+ years. In this country YouTube phenom Ann Minch has already declared the debtors' revolt and begun going after them http://www.revoltstartsnow.com

If you've been pushed under, you can read every other page of my book for free: http://www.scribd.com/doc/25443175/Debt-Hope-Down-and-Dirty-Survival-Strategies-Evaluation-Version-Complete

[mphseason]

10:10 PM on 03/16/2010

This is the person whom needs to Be sitting across from the President every morning and advise him what "Reality" is. There are too many people advising President OBama that have their own interest, and don't give a damn if USA goes in the trash. They have their millions...............

[Weehawk]

10:55 PM on 02/26/2010

Hey, you guys all remember that kid's game, Monopoly? Well, do you remember how it always ends? If you're the winner, you already know who you are. Everyone else face it, game over and we lost.

[farmilyman]

09:12 AM on 01/29/2010

She does a lot of chopping but no chips are flying............She means well but nobody seems to listen to her.

[condor101]

08:53 AM on 01/29/2010

Game over. They won!

Fortunately, I'm in an industry that is still doing well, even in the awful economy.

But I'm not buying anything that's not essential. I'm hoarding my money in four currencies. ;))))

[FernandoRuiz]

10:20 AM on 01/29/2010

Man with Americans like you, I doubt we would have made it through the revolutionary war

[condor101]

01:42 PM on 01/29/2010

You can fight the war on the American Empire.
Me? I have my nose to the grind stone and I want to make as much money as possible so I don't have to worry about healthcare and other essentials of life. The government is not going to give it to me, so it's up to me to be wealthy and enjoy life with my friends and loved ones.

[SunnyBlueSkyDay]

11:42 PM on 01/28/2010

This women is so smart I have been listening to her for years! Why is Washington not?! why didn't she get Timothy Geithner's job....things would be so much better. Listen up people and follow her direction...don't be fooled by all the other smoke in mirrors in Washington.

[BankerTee]

06:59 PM on 01/28/2010

I think Elizabeth Warren has tasted a bit of fame, and now she's addicted to it! She's found out that if she sounds baseless populism (bankers want to destroy America) and with high sentiment (the middle class in America will disappear), she'll be beloved by a media who is given to much sensationalism.

I was a big fan of hers when she was first introduced as the head of TARP, but now she's gone off the deep end, just trying to keep her face on TV, and so will say anything.

Rather disappointing ... but predictable

[Skygazer]

03:50 AM on 01/29/2010

You know with a handle like BankerTee, Whatever you say about this woman certainly does not have a lot of credibility and if you're meaning to sound like a tool, you're doing a good job.

[BankerTee]

09:11 AM on 01/29/2010

Of course ... as we've all learned, always judge a book by its cover!

Rather smart to impugn my credibility because of my handle, rather than because of what I say.

[jalowe1957]

05:26 PM on 01/28/2010

If Obama had even a scintilla of common sense, he'd be listening to Elizabeth Warren instead of the ethically compmomised policy wonks with severe curvature of their moral and ethical spines.

[PotomacOracle]

08:01 PM on 01/28/2010

You are so right.

Eizabeth Warren understands that we are in crisis.

Wall street does not like to use that word because it suggests they were not smart enough to anticipate the financial fraud and got caught with their heads up their asses. Which is exactly what happened.

[BankerTee]

11:34 PM on 01/28/2010

I certainly hope Obama is not listening to her. She's an opportunitist looking for air-time, rather than a tactial politicial with good grasp of policy and serving a diverse constituency.

[FernandoRuiz]

10:17 AM on 01/29/2010

And Im sure you have the "tactical political knowledge" to be able to judge the head of a congressional oversight comittee on TARP. Im sure what youve accomplished in your life must simply dwarf Warren's am I right? Also, I thought advocating for the middle class was "serving a diverse constituency". Why should she serve the banks as well? Why should any one serve them at all? Why should we be held hostage by them?

[Lisa Divens]

06:12 PM on 02/01/2010

Oh brother.

[oldwhitewomantoo]

12:21 PM on 01/28/2010

This woman is the ONLY person I trust at this point when TARP and the financial sector is discussed.

President Obama -- please follow her lead! She is speaking the truth.

[bluepond]

09:52 AM on 01/28/2010

The middle class needs the corporations to provide jobs. The corporations need the middle class to consume their goods. They both need the lower classes to preform the poop-work and service jobs. The poor need the rich and middle class to keep them alive. The United States needs the rest of the world to import our goods, and they need us to do the same. We all need each other to rescue us from natural disasters, see Haiti... we can easily be next. When will we as a species realize that we can't exploit or cripple one group without damaging our own self-interests? Teach entanglement. Preach the obvious.

[Inghram]

01:19 PM on 01/28/2010

FANNED!

[RTIII]

08:46 PM on 02/01/2010

We _have_ been next.

Remember Katrina.

Thanks for all the help.

-not-
.

[DavidWyld]

08:25 AM on 01/28/2010

This is a very good look at where we stand today - sort of a "Financial Crisis 102" - and BTW - Elizabeth Warren has consistently gotten things right as she predicts where we have been heading since the onset of the panic of 2008!

[HenryDavid]

02:31 AM on 01/28/2010

I've enjoyed seeing the occasional videos of Liz Warren. I'd like to see more. She's refreshing, and I translate that as honest and candid.

If the President really wants to give the American people some transparency, he should give Liz a position of real power and let her loose. We can all benefit from her ability, clarity, and candor.

[nopilikia]

03:51 AM on 01/28/2010

Indeed we could.

[nopilikia]

12:13 AM on 01/28/2010

NOTE TO WALL STREET BANKERS AND THEIR CONGRESSIONAL BUDDIES: Do everything in your power, move heaven and earth to keep this woman from being appointed to run any Federal agency that could remotely regulate you. Failure to do so will place you all in harm's way.

[helen]

01:58 AM on 01/28/2010

Define harm.

[nopilikia]

03:21 AM on 01/28/2010

Most likley put a stop to the unregulated gambling on CDSs which would result in huge writedowns for the mega-banks in American and around the world on their CDSs. That in turn would cut "profit margins", and cause salary caps, put end to bonus payments whether you make money for the company or lose it,, no big bucks from lobbyist or sweetheart deals to Congress to name afew. I'm sure you can think of some.

[truthbuster]

11:44 PM on 01/27/2010

The ultimate problem is a culture based on materialism. Many are chasing the almighty buck in the false pursuit of satisfaction. The game is over.

[nopilikia]

12:23 AM on 01/28/2010

No game. Now days most Americans are chasing the almighty buck to put food on the table and keep the lights and heat on.

[ClassicalGas]

12:57 AM on 01/28/2010

Now, yes - as a result of being a culture based on materialism. See "The game is over."

[CousinStewie]

10:58 PM on 01/27/2010

What exactly does Elizabeth Warren do besides come on the Daily Show and scare the crap out of us about how blind and ineffective our government is. Shouldn't she have more power to get something done and freakin' save us. Shouldn't she be SCREAMING on a daily basis with a bullhorn in the streets of Manhattan or Washington? What is her job besides softly admitting she doesn't know where the money is?

[nopilikia]

12:51 AM on 01/28/2010

Why scream? The fact that the Adm., Congress, and Main St media ignore Ms Warren is deafening.

[nopilikia]

12:56 AM on 01/28/2010

Of real note, look what response numbers Ms Warren garners on Huff Post when she speaks.