From the White House Facebook feed:
Elizabeth Warren is taking your questions today on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a watchdog for the American consumer. Ask your question in the comments section below then tune into the live chat at 1 PM EDT on Facebook.
This is an opportunity to interact directly with Elizabeth Warren and hear her responses to questions about the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. It is literally a live Q&A session, without the filters of the corporate-owned media.
UPDATE 10:27 AM CDT: Thanks for the recs, folks. Use this as a live blog when the event starts.
The White House is engaging in an unprecedented level of direct digital democracy, made possible by live streaming video on the web and new social networks. This, to me, is one of the most exciting aspects of the Obama Administration, and an oft-overlooked component of his leadership. Where voters across the country have felt an increasing disconnect between their lives and what happens in Washington, the White House has been working to improve interactions between federal agencies, local governments, and citizens.
As a political operation, Organizing for America has rightly received much of the attention for its efforts to help the Democratic National Committee. In just 3 weeks from today, we will see if the gamble made by President Obama, Tim Kaine, and the Democratic Party will pay off. The organization and training of neighborhood team leaders in key states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, and California is being turned into the most extensive GOTV operation in Democratic Party history. And as DSCC Executive Director JB Poersch wrote in a recent fundraising email:
Every race is tied.
While Republicans rely largely on old media, robocalls, and ads from anonymous outside groups, the Democrats are relying on good old fashioned community organizing, neighbor-to-neighbor contacts, and a data-driven campaign to target those voters who are most likely to deliver a Democratic victory.
But the White House has a different role than OFA. The White House is the actual government - i.e., the Executive Branch that enacts legislation and regulates commerce. That's what makes the CFPB so important, as this video demonstrates:
Wall Street is set to pay over $140 billion in salaries and bonuses this year, a new record after last year's record payday. The titans of finance have had to work very hard to bring the stock market from its March 2009 lows to its current situation, and there is still more work to be done there. But while Wall Street continues to cash in on bank bailouts, Fed rate easing, and the free money that's been available through various federal government interventions, unemployment continues to languish around 9.6%. Social Security isn't going to deliver a cost of living increase this year (again). Millions of American homeowners are still asking, "Where is my bailout?!"
Elizabeth Warren's involvement in the development of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is likely to make a serious impact on reining in the excesses and abuses of our financial services sector. The tragedy is that she comes in about 30 years too late, after Reagonomics and Bushonomics have brought us to the worst economic disaster since the 1920s, when a similar stock market crash led us to the Great Depression. Warren's efforts will come too late for millions of families who have lost jobs, pensions, and homes. Many families have lost the confidence that the American dream is within reach. And it is likely that around 50-55% of American voters will stay home this fall, believing that there are no good choices in the upcoming midterm elections.
You won't hear about Elizabeth Warren's Facebook appearance on the corporate-owned media. They don't want you to know about it because they don't want to lose market share. The corporate-owned media wants voters to stay discouraged, isolated, and frustrated.
Don't let them win.
Vote.
Update: From the comments, an easy way to sign up for daily email updates from the White House.
UPDATE 11:41 AM CDT: The event is set to start in about 20 minutes. Would love to see what questions Kossacks have - post in the comments, please!
UPDATE 1:02 PM CDT: The event is now over. I wonder how much coverage this will get in the MSM...