WEBVTT - Senator Elizabeth Warren Talks Credit Card Caps, Powell

0:00:02.520 --> 0:00:08.560
<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. Joining us now for

0:00:08.600 --> 0:00:12.639
<v Speaker 1>more as Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, ranking member

0:00:13.000 --> 0:00:15.680
<v Speaker 1>on the Senate Banking Committee. Senator, it's always a pleasure

0:00:15.720 --> 0:00:18.040
<v Speaker 1>to have you on Bloomberg TV and radio. This is

0:00:18.079 --> 0:00:21.040
<v Speaker 1>obviously one of those days where we need to compare

0:00:21.200 --> 0:00:23.919
<v Speaker 1>notes with you here, and I will note the fact

0:00:23.960 --> 0:00:27.120
<v Speaker 1>that you delivered an important address earlier today at the

0:00:27.200 --> 0:00:29.680
<v Speaker 1>National Press Club. It wasn't about Jay Powell. It was

0:00:29.720 --> 0:00:31.720
<v Speaker 1>about the future of the Democrat Party, and I know

0:00:31.760 --> 0:00:35.919
<v Speaker 1>affordability and the economy were key components of your address.

0:00:35.960 --> 0:00:38.560
<v Speaker 1>You posted on social media after you left the club

0:00:38.960 --> 0:00:42.400
<v Speaker 1>that President Trump called you after you mentioned him in

0:00:42.479 --> 0:00:44.400
<v Speaker 1>your speech. What did he have to say.

0:00:45.159 --> 0:00:48.839
<v Speaker 2>Well, the speech had been about how Democrats need to

0:00:48.880 --> 0:00:52.560
<v Speaker 2>get out there and fight to lower costs for American families.

0:00:52.840 --> 0:00:55.480
<v Speaker 2>I pointed out that Donald Trump had run for office

0:00:55.600 --> 0:00:58.400
<v Speaker 2>and every day for a year he promised that on

0:00:58.560 --> 0:01:01.680
<v Speaker 2>day one he would lower cost for American families. He

0:01:01.720 --> 0:01:03.960
<v Speaker 2>gets elected, and so the reason he got elected was

0:01:04.000 --> 0:01:06.920
<v Speaker 2>because he promised on day one to lower costs. It

0:01:06.959 --> 0:01:09.640
<v Speaker 2>has been a year now and the cost of groceries

0:01:09.720 --> 0:01:11.640
<v Speaker 2>is up, The cost of healthcare is up, the cost

0:01:11.640 --> 0:01:14.080
<v Speaker 2>of housing is up, the cost of utilities is up,

0:01:14.560 --> 0:01:18.480
<v Speaker 2>all because of Donald Trump and Republican policies. And I

0:01:18.520 --> 0:01:21.640
<v Speaker 2>said it's time both to hold Donald Trump accountable and

0:01:21.760 --> 0:01:24.720
<v Speaker 2>for Democrats to get in there and put out our

0:01:24.840 --> 0:01:28.880
<v Speaker 2>proposals to lower costs and to show that we're willing

0:01:28.959 --> 0:01:32.720
<v Speaker 2>to fight for them. And after that speech was over,

0:01:33.160 --> 0:01:36.119
<v Speaker 2>Donald Trump gave me a call and we talked about

0:01:36.160 --> 0:01:39.920
<v Speaker 2>things we could do to lower costs for American families.

0:01:40.360 --> 0:01:43.480
<v Speaker 2>That is my job, That is the job of Democrats,

0:01:43.520 --> 0:01:46.360
<v Speaker 2>that is the job of Congress and the president of

0:01:46.400 --> 0:01:47.320
<v Speaker 2>the United States.

0:01:48.000 --> 0:01:50.840
<v Speaker 1>Well wait a minute here, so he called you in

0:01:50.920 --> 0:01:54.400
<v Speaker 1>the spirit of cooperation, Senator, I guess I just assumed

0:01:54.440 --> 0:01:56.200
<v Speaker 1>he was not a fan of your speech. Is this

0:01:56.240 --> 0:02:01.160
<v Speaker 1>the same Donald Trump who wants to ban invests, institutional

0:02:01.200 --> 0:02:05.240
<v Speaker 1>investors from buying single family homes, to stop defense contractors

0:02:05.240 --> 0:02:10.360
<v Speaker 1>from issuing dividends and stock buybacks, wants to start lowering

0:02:10.440 --> 0:02:13.360
<v Speaker 1>interest rates. A lot of these are pages out of

0:02:13.360 --> 0:02:15.600
<v Speaker 1>your book, right, Are you guys going to collaborate on

0:02:15.639 --> 0:02:16.200
<v Speaker 1>these issues?

0:02:17.520 --> 0:02:21.840
<v Speaker 2>Same Donald Trump? In fact, we specifically talked about putting

0:02:21.840 --> 0:02:27.080
<v Speaker 2>a cap on interest rates on credit cards and about

0:02:27.160 --> 0:02:30.680
<v Speaker 2>getting this road to Housing bill that has passed the

0:02:30.720 --> 0:02:35.360
<v Speaker 2>Senate unanimously to build up more housing supply and bring

0:02:35.440 --> 0:02:39.280
<v Speaker 2>down costs. It's hung up by Republicans over in the House.

0:02:39.360 --> 0:02:43.000
<v Speaker 2>Democrats are already we have voted for it, We're ready

0:02:43.000 --> 0:02:45.680
<v Speaker 2>to go, but the Republicans in the House are holding

0:02:45.680 --> 0:02:49.160
<v Speaker 2>it up. And Donald Crump just hasn't delivered on either

0:02:49.280 --> 0:02:52.480
<v Speaker 2>one of those. So my view is, no more talk,

0:02:52.800 --> 0:02:56.200
<v Speaker 2>Let's actually deliver for American families. That's our job.

0:02:57.600 --> 0:02:59.959
<v Speaker 3>So Senator Warren, you sound like you had this common

0:03:00.600 --> 0:03:03.120
<v Speaker 3>with him. There are some similar issues here. Would you

0:03:03.200 --> 0:03:06.520
<v Speaker 3>be willing to work with the president work together to

0:03:06.600 --> 0:03:10.360
<v Speaker 3>handle affordability for the American people, or do you fight

0:03:10.480 --> 0:03:13.520
<v Speaker 3>back with everything going on right now in the midterms

0:03:13.600 --> 0:03:14.560
<v Speaker 3>right around the corner.

0:03:15.639 --> 0:03:19.960
<v Speaker 2>Absolutely, my job is to be here to fight to

0:03:20.080 --> 0:03:23.680
<v Speaker 2>lower costs for American families, and that is what all

0:03:23.760 --> 0:03:27.480
<v Speaker 2>of my Democratic colleagues are here for. The speech I

0:03:27.520 --> 0:03:31.079
<v Speaker 2>was giving today was about how we best do that.

0:03:31.600 --> 0:03:33.799
<v Speaker 2>Do we decide that we're going to lay out our

0:03:33.840 --> 0:03:36.880
<v Speaker 2>agenda and try to soften it up in order not

0:03:37.040 --> 0:03:41.880
<v Speaker 2>to offend any billionaires or corporate CEOs, or are we

0:03:42.160 --> 0:03:45.680
<v Speaker 2>actually going to get in this fight, full throated all

0:03:45.720 --> 0:03:50.240
<v Speaker 2>the way, and show with concrete proposals that we are

0:03:50.280 --> 0:03:53.320
<v Speaker 2>willing to make a difference in people's lives. We are

0:03:53.360 --> 0:03:57.200
<v Speaker 2>willing to fight to unrig an economic system that keeps

0:03:57.240 --> 0:04:01.040
<v Speaker 2>working better and better for the billionaires, worse and worse

0:04:01.120 --> 0:04:07.200
<v Speaker 2>for everyone else. I believe that Democrats must must win

0:04:07.560 --> 0:04:09.920
<v Speaker 2>in November twenty twenty four. And the way we do

0:04:10.040 --> 0:04:13.640
<v Speaker 2>that is we build real credibility on the issue of

0:04:13.760 --> 0:04:15.920
<v Speaker 2>lowering costs for American families.

0:04:17.240 --> 0:04:21.039
<v Speaker 3>Senator, I'm curious in this conversation with President Trump did

0:04:21.080 --> 0:04:24.320
<v Speaker 3>the investigation into fed share Powell come up.

0:04:25.120 --> 0:04:27.800
<v Speaker 2>So look, I'm not going to talk about details in

0:04:27.839 --> 0:04:30.279
<v Speaker 2>a conversation, but I just want to say it was

0:04:30.440 --> 0:04:35.600
<v Speaker 2>all about costs, about how we reduce costs for American families.

0:04:36.000 --> 0:04:38.760
<v Speaker 2>And I've had proposals on the table for a very

0:04:38.800 --> 0:04:42.920
<v Speaker 2>long time. Donald Trump has talked about proposals that would

0:04:43.000 --> 0:04:46.839
<v Speaker 2>reduce costs, but so far had lifted a finger to deliver.

0:04:47.400 --> 0:04:50.720
<v Speaker 2>So for me, it's put up time. You really want

0:04:50.760 --> 0:04:53.320
<v Speaker 2>to make some change. Donald Trump could help make some

0:04:53.480 --> 0:04:56.520
<v Speaker 2>change right now, and that's what I want to see

0:04:56.600 --> 0:04:59.360
<v Speaker 2>us do. I'm in this vice all.

0:04:59.240 --> 0:05:01.920
<v Speaker 1>The way is incredible. Are you guys going to appear

0:05:01.960 --> 0:05:05.159
<v Speaker 1>on stages going to Detroit tomorrow? This is cats and

0:05:05.200 --> 0:05:07.479
<v Speaker 1>dogs living together, Senator, I'm not even sure what to

0:05:07.520 --> 0:05:08.159
<v Speaker 1>ask you next.

0:05:08.960 --> 0:05:14.920
<v Speaker 2>Look understand, American families have been telling us now an

0:05:15.000 --> 0:05:19.200
<v Speaker 2>election after election after election, yea, that their finances are

0:05:19.200 --> 0:05:22.520
<v Speaker 2>getting more and more stressed, that they are more and

0:05:22.600 --> 0:05:27.000
<v Speaker 2>more worried about their economic security. And right now, after

0:05:27.080 --> 0:05:29.680
<v Speaker 2>Donald Trump has been president for a year, it has

0:05:29.760 --> 0:05:31.839
<v Speaker 2>all gotten worse. I don't know if you all saw

0:05:32.040 --> 0:05:35.200
<v Speaker 2>just announced a couple of weeks ago that since Donald

0:05:35.200 --> 0:05:39.400
<v Speaker 2>Trump has been president, home mortgage foreclosures have gone up

0:05:39.560 --> 0:05:43.960
<v Speaker 2>twenty one percent. Costs have gone up in category after

0:05:44.080 --> 0:05:49.039
<v Speaker 2>category after category. And it's about tariffs, It's about corporate consolidation.

0:05:49.720 --> 0:05:51.800
<v Speaker 2>There are a lot of things the Republicans have been

0:05:51.839 --> 0:05:56.480
<v Speaker 2>doing all to drive up costs for families. Families cannot

0:05:56.800 --> 0:06:01.080
<v Speaker 2>take it anymore. My pitch today in this speech is

0:06:01.080 --> 0:06:04.839
<v Speaker 2>that Democrats, this is our moment to rebuild trust with

0:06:04.880 --> 0:06:08.960
<v Speaker 2>the American people. After all, the Democratic Party, we're the

0:06:08.960 --> 0:06:13.160
<v Speaker 2>ones who brought America social security in the forty hour

0:06:13.320 --> 0:06:17.520
<v Speaker 2>work week and the minimum wage, and unemployment insurance and

0:06:17.720 --> 0:06:23.080
<v Speaker 2>Medicare and Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, and housing

0:06:23.200 --> 0:06:27.520
<v Speaker 2>for first time home buyings and housing for veterans. We

0:06:27.600 --> 0:06:30.000
<v Speaker 2>got out there and fought for those things that help

0:06:30.120 --> 0:06:34.599
<v Speaker 2>build a more financially secure middle class. It is our

0:06:34.800 --> 0:06:38.400
<v Speaker 2>time now to get back in that fight full throated.

0:06:38.880 --> 0:06:41.680
<v Speaker 2>Not to send it down because some billionaire might say, WHOA,

0:06:42.160 --> 0:06:45.160
<v Speaker 2>that means I'll have to pay more taxes. That's too bad.

0:06:45.680 --> 0:06:47.679
<v Speaker 2>Our job is to be in the fight to lower

0:06:47.720 --> 0:06:51.680
<v Speaker 2>costs for American families. And I'm all in, well, you.

0:06:51.680 --> 0:06:53.719
<v Speaker 1>Got the cap on credit cards. We could just keep

0:06:53.720 --> 0:06:56.279
<v Speaker 1>on going here, Senator, But I have to ask you

0:06:56.320 --> 0:07:00.200
<v Speaker 1>about this whole J. Powell affair. Just for starters, the

0:07:00.200 --> 0:07:04.040
<v Speaker 1>man you famously called a dangerous man in a hearing

0:07:04.080 --> 0:07:07.599
<v Speaker 1>in the Senate, we're now hearing about this investigation that

0:07:07.640 --> 0:07:10.960
<v Speaker 1>could bring criminal charges. Do you support that probe?

0:07:11.200 --> 0:07:14.440
<v Speaker 2>No? I do not. I think we're all clear. What's

0:07:14.480 --> 0:07:17.280
<v Speaker 2>going on here. Is it as a pretext for Donald

0:07:17.320 --> 0:07:21.320
<v Speaker 2>Trump to be able to take control of the Federal Reserve.

0:07:21.640 --> 0:07:23.559
<v Speaker 2>I don't have to remind you all and the people

0:07:23.560 --> 0:07:27.600
<v Speaker 2>who listen to this program about the importance of FED independence,

0:07:28.040 --> 0:07:30.480
<v Speaker 2>so that whatever it is the FED is deciding on

0:07:30.560 --> 0:07:34.920
<v Speaker 2>monetary policy. We should have confidence that that decision is

0:07:34.960 --> 0:07:39.320
<v Speaker 2>based on their best assessment of the data about inflation,

0:07:39.680 --> 0:07:44.800
<v Speaker 2>the data about unemployment, the data about GDP growth and investment,

0:07:45.400 --> 0:07:48.760
<v Speaker 2>and not about politics. But we know the temptation for

0:07:48.840 --> 0:07:51.920
<v Speaker 2>every president as you start to come into a tough election,

0:07:52.440 --> 0:07:55.680
<v Speaker 2>if they could control interest rates, it would be to

0:07:55.760 --> 0:07:59.120
<v Speaker 2>roll those interest rates down to deuce the economy, so

0:07:59.160 --> 0:08:02.120
<v Speaker 2>there'd be a lot of cheap money flowing through the

0:08:02.200 --> 0:08:06.200
<v Speaker 2>economy shortly before the election. Now that may work for

0:08:06.240 --> 0:08:10.240
<v Speaker 2>the election, but it's terrible for the economy long term,

0:08:10.440 --> 0:08:13.720
<v Speaker 2>and it undermines confidence in the FED that they are

0:08:13.720 --> 0:08:18.720
<v Speaker 2>making good economic decisions. So Donald Trump looked from the

0:08:18.720 --> 0:08:21.680
<v Speaker 2>first day basically that he got in office, he said

0:08:21.720 --> 0:08:24.720
<v Speaker 2>he wanted to fire Jerome Palell. He's tried to fire

0:08:25.160 --> 0:08:28.720
<v Speaker 2>Lisa Cook. He has openly said that he will not

0:08:28.760 --> 0:08:32.280
<v Speaker 2>appoint anyone to be FED chair who is not willing

0:08:32.360 --> 0:08:36.559
<v Speaker 2>to be a sock puppet that is agree with Donald Trump.

0:08:36.679 --> 0:08:40.600
<v Speaker 2>No matter what Donald Trump says, all of those are

0:08:40.600 --> 0:08:46.360
<v Speaker 2>about Donald Trump exercising control over the FED, destroying FED independence.

0:08:46.880 --> 0:08:49.920
<v Speaker 2>And that's what this probe is. It's a pretext. It's

0:08:49.960 --> 0:08:52.280
<v Speaker 2>a way to try to knock the legs out from

0:08:52.360 --> 0:08:56.640
<v Speaker 2>Jerome Powell. I'm no Jerome Powell supporter, but I am

0:08:56.640 --> 0:09:01.839
<v Speaker 2>a supporter of FED independence and reaponization of the Department

0:09:01.920 --> 0:09:06.120
<v Speaker 2>of Justice is fundamentally wrong. Congress has a role to

0:09:06.160 --> 0:09:09.640
<v Speaker 2>play here. Congress does not have to approve a new

0:09:09.800 --> 0:09:14.800
<v Speaker 2>Federal Reserve chair, and Congress could investigate what the Justice

0:09:14.800 --> 0:09:18.240
<v Speaker 2>Department is up to using its power in a way

0:09:18.360 --> 0:09:18.640
<v Speaker 2>like this.

0:09:19.559 --> 0:09:21.800
<v Speaker 1>Well, you might investigate what brought the President or I

0:09:21.800 --> 0:09:24.120
<v Speaker 1>guess the DOJ to this point. The President, to be clear,

0:09:24.160 --> 0:09:26.000
<v Speaker 1>says he wasn't part of this. But before you leave,

0:09:26.040 --> 0:09:29.400
<v Speaker 1>a Senator, how about Bill Poulty, the FHFA director, was

0:09:29.440 --> 0:09:32.319
<v Speaker 1>with us this morning on Bloomberg. He refuted our own

0:09:32.360 --> 0:09:37.920
<v Speaker 1>reporting that Pulty is the main instigator in these charges

0:09:37.960 --> 0:09:40.880
<v Speaker 1>against Powell and led the President in this direction. If

0:09:40.880 --> 0:09:42.760
<v Speaker 1>you are going to follow up on this, will use

0:09:42.800 --> 0:09:46.960
<v Speaker 1>subpoena Bill Poulty to testify before the Banking Committee.

0:09:47.559 --> 0:09:51.120
<v Speaker 2>I would be very glad to subpoenable Bill Poulta to

0:09:51.200 --> 0:09:54.720
<v Speaker 2>testify for the Senate Banking Committee. Obviously, we need the

0:09:54.720 --> 0:09:57.880
<v Speaker 2>cooperation of the Republicans to get that done. But yes,

0:09:58.160 --> 0:10:01.079
<v Speaker 2>by Gollie, you should come and testify under oath.

0:10:02.920 --> 0:10:04.520
<v Speaker 1>It's great to have you back, Senator. Thank you for

0:10:04.559 --> 0:10:07.920
<v Speaker 1>the time, as always, Elizabeth Warren, the Democrat from Massachusetts,

0:10:08.000 --> 0:10:09.000
<v Speaker 1>on Bloomberg, we thank you