A Fighting Chance (71 page)

The battle over changes in the bankruptcy laws spanned a decade, from the National Bankruptcy Review Commission’s earliest days to the final passage of the new laws. Commission members, including Representative Mike Synar, the Honorable Robert E. Ginsberg, and Brady Williamson, led the group through extraordinary challenges. Melissa Jacoby helped us through each policy twist and turn, along with Elizabeth Holland, Susan Jensen, and other staffers, as they worked to make the Commission’s process and recommendations rigorous. When the credit industry came to Congress with an agenda and lobbying dollars in hand, the speeding train looked unstoppable. As this book recounts, the leadership of Senator Edward Kennedy fundamentally changed the nature of the battle. Without his work and that of his then-counsel, Melody Barnes, the fight would have been over before it ever started. Maureen Thompson helped organize volunteers’ efforts, as she worked tirelessly to fight off the industry-backed bill. Other lawmakers whose leadership in this fight was essential included Senators Richard Durbin, Charles Schumer, Paul Wellstone, Russell Feingold, and Christopher Dodd, and Representatives John Conyers, Jerrold Nadler, William Delahunt, and Martin Meehan. Each of them was willing to stand up to powerful forces. And they did more than stand up; they worked hard and they committed their overworked staffs to the fight as well, expending time and effort on issues that would otherwise have been ignored.

As it has done since the bankruptcy laws were revised in the 1930s, the National Bankruptcy Conference offered in-depth analysis of each iteration of the proposed law. The leadership of J. Ronald Trost, Douglas Baird, Ken Klee, Rich Levin, Donald Bernstein, Melissa Jacoby, and many more made a big difference. Commercial law professors from around the country organized communications to Congress sharing their grave concerns about the proposed law’s impact. Against the odds, that legislation was delayed until 2005, which is a testament to the dedication of more people than can be named here.

As the economy crashed in 2008 and Congress passed a $700 billion bailout bill, our little oversight panel did its best to bring some accountability to the system. I’m grateful to Majority Leader Harry Reid for the confidence he showed in a professor from Massachusetts to be part of the oversight group. Someday I hope he’ll tell me how it was that he picked me. I am also grateful to my dear friend Damon Silvers, deputy chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel and longtime policy leader at the AFL-CIO, and all-around smart, strategic, and brave guy who was ready to march into battle to take on the big guys. Damon has been a lifelong defender of working people, and I embrace any chance to fight alongside him. I also appreciate the efforts of Richard Neiman, who worked in careful detail on every element of every COP report, and former Senator Ted Kaufman, who took over COP when I left and saw that it landed safely. I also offer a special thanks to Mark McWatters and Ken Troske, who often started from different places than Damon, Richard, and I did, but who were strong advocates for making the reports smart and insightful, and who were willing to go wherever the data took us. My respect runs deep.

While COP panel members pressed government officials and bankers in public, a nonpartisan group of talented and dedicated professionals were working hard behind the scenes. As executive director, Naomi Baum led the group with amazing skill, always driving the process forward in an honest, evenhanded manner that made each report stronger and that helped us build public confidence in our efforts. As we added more capacity, the COP staff helped us conduct vigorous oversight in the midst of the economic crisis. They dug deep to get the information we needed, crunched numbers to follow the money, and put together hearings across the country to shed light on how Treasury’s actions were helping (or not helping) the American people. In addition to the senior staff I mentioned in the book—deputy director Tewana Wilkerson, lead attorneys Steve Kroll and Sara Hanks, and ethics counsel Wilson Abney—there were almost eighty COP staffers, detailees, and interns, many of whom stepped away from careers, came out of retirement, or deferred other job opportunities to help us. Key people included senior policy advisor Alan Rhinesmith; attorneys Elizabeth MacDonald, Thaya Brook Knight, and Beth Davidson; communications directors Peter Jackson and Thomas Seay; hearing lead Patrick McGreevy; research analyst Isaac Boltansky; chief clerk Joan Evans; Nicole Callan, who kept us all organized; Michael Negron, who played a critical role in getting the panel set up; and Caleb Weaver, Ganesh Sitaraman, and Dan Geldon, who also helped get us off the ground. I deeply appreciate their hard—and careful—work.

The effort to get the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau passed into law was yet another David vs. Goliath fight. I mentioned in the book some of the key people who helped us beat the odds and win, including Michael Barr and Eric Stein at the Treasury Department, Heather Booth and Lisa Donner at Americans for Financial Reform, Dan Geldon—then working at the Roosevelt Institute—Travis Plunkett at Consumer Federation of America, Ed Mierzwinski at US PIRG, Congressman Barney Frank, and Senator Chris Dodd. But they formed just the tip of the iceberg. Andrew Rich and Mike Lux were particularly helpful in supporting this work and putting wind in our sails. And so many people in consumer groups, labor unions, netroots organizations, and civil rights groups worked tirelessly for more than a year on this fight. Nearly every week, we were on conference calls setting our strategy and making plans, and I got to see firsthand how effective nonprofits (even ones with very few resources) can be when they are standing up for working families. In addition, many bloggers took on the cause, and so many foundations, think tanks, and individual people made financial reform their fight in ways that provided enormous value. They strengthened the hand of the those in the administration and on Capitol Hill who wanted a strong agency and who spent countless hours working to get the details right. I have no doubt that the agency never would have happened without the dedication of many, many people.

I have already mentioned some of the individuals who helped build the CFPB, but I also need to say a special thank-you to all the bureau’s staff. People from all walks of life heard the call of public service and came to help build the consumer agency. Building an airplane while you fly it is not an easy task, and we could not have accomplished anything without the hard work of exemplary public servants. I am particularly grateful to the CFPB executive committee for their help in making our vision of a strong consumer agency a reality: Wally Adeyemo, Sartaj Alag, Steve Antonakes, Rich Cordray, Raj Date, Patrice Ficklin, Dan Geldon, Gail Hillebrand, Len Kennedy, Peggy Twohig, Elizabeth Vale, and Catherine West. Their work was tremendous, bold, and visionary, but always executed with the care demanded in a very challenging environment. Other members of the staff made outsized contributions to our early efforts as well, including Anna Canfield, Flavio Cumpiano, Leandra English, Jen Howard, Peter Jackson, Alyssa Martin, Zixta Martinez, Pat McCoy, Holly Petraeus, Will Sealy, and David Silberman. Each of them—along with so many dozens of others on the CFPB staff—will always have my appreciation for their hard work and determination. I am also grateful to the consumer advocates and those within Congress, the White House, the Treasury Department, and elsewhere in the Obama administration who helped protect us from attempts to defund, destroy, and defang the agency. While we did our best to prove that the best defense is a good offense—for example, by taking consumer complaints before we let the paint dry—it made a huge difference to have an all-star cast of defenders.

In the early days of the bankruptcy wars, a number of labor unions that were already fighting on multiple fronts took up the cause of families in financial trouble. Later, in the fight for the consumer agency, organized labor was again at the forefront of change on behalf of working Americans. The AFL-CIO hosted that first meeting pulling together all the groups, and they, along with SEIU and so many other unions, made a huge difference. Over the years I’ve had the privilege to work shoulder to shoulder with amazing union leaders in Massachusetts and across the country. But as good union leaders, I know they would want the thanks to go not to them, but to the men and women who work so tirelessly in hospitals, classrooms, fire stations, constructions sites, and on factory floors every day.

Through so many of the fights for a better America, the unsung heroes have been the great nonprofits and grassroots organizations that have labored tirelessly. Despite thin budgets and stretched resources, they have aimed high. It has been my great privilege to work with many of these groups, and I am grateful for the work they do on behalf of all of us, to help create a better future. They create the infrastructure to help balance against the concentrated influence of the powerful and to give people a chance to fight for our values. I’m grateful to all of these hardworking groups, particularly the members of Americans for Financial Reform, an umbrella organization of more than two hundred groups that have put tremendous energy into making markets work for all of America’s families. And I have to say: I am also grateful to all those community banks, credit unions, and other lenders who want to do right by their customers and who have, in some important cases, embraced the push for real reform.

The Senate campaign was a true grassroots effort, from start to finish, and there are thousands of people who deserve deep thanks. So many people poured their time, their money, and their passion into the race that it gives me goose bumps. We had an incredibly strong volunteer army—people who made phone calls and knocked on doors, people who agreed to serve as our team leaders, people who entered data and held up signs, people who hosted house parties and helped us raise money. Every single day I think about the people who worked so hard so that I could be in the United States Senate, and I feel renewed, absolutely certain that we can work together and build a future where everyone gets a fighting chance.

And I will also be eternally grateful to our staff. Mindy Myers was a calm and thoughtful leader. Campaigns are chaotic, but under Mindy’s leadership, we were able to stay focused on our goals and keep our energy channeled toward what matters most. Roger Lau was also invaluable as political director. Roger is a person of deep integrity, a guy who always tells the truth and who never makes a promise that he doesn’t keep. Mindy and Roger brought muscle to our fight for hardworking families, and I relied repeatedly on their good judgment.

Under Mindy’s leadership, we assembled one of the best strategic teams in Democratic politics. Day in and day out, Mandy Grunwald, Marla Romash, and Adnaan Muslim helped me cut through the noise of the campaign and stay focused on the big picture—making the case for a progressive vision for our future. Doug Rubin and Tom Kiley offered me sharp insights and keen advice, based on years of experience about what it would take to unseat a popular incumbent and bring home a win. Kyle Sullivan gave valuable advice every day, often laced with the latest Red Sox news. Elizabeth Vale was tireless in making new friends all across the state, proving once again her enormous talents and generous heart.

We also had dozens of field organizers and community organizers who busted their tails recruiting volunteers, and they made a huge difference. I’m very grateful to all the efforts of Jacques Abatto, Melea Atkins, Sarah Badawi, Andrew Bettinelli, Gus Bickford, Norm Birenbaum, Nick Black, Brent Blackaby, Abby Blum, Michael Blumenthal, Jason Burrell, Frank Chi, Amanda Chuzi, Abby Clark, Alana Clark, Colleen Coffey, Amanda Coulombe, Ashley Coulombe, Matt Cournoyer, Patrick Dennis, Jon Donenberg, Julie Edwards, Marc Elias, Daphne Evans, Mike Firestone, Judy Flumenbaum, Adam Freudberg, Shaan Gajria, ML Ganley, AJ Goodman, Alethea Harney, Julia Hassett, Ben Herman, Kaaren Hinck, James Hutchison, Larry Huynh, Chrissi Johnson, Pete Jones, Louis Katz, Nora Keefe, Charlie Keller, Alexis Keslinke, Chris Lange, Paula Levine, Tracey Lewis, Keith Lowey, Lou Mandarini, Dave Mason, Diane Masters, Greg Maynard, Heather McAuliffe, Lauren Miller, Jeremiah Montgomery-Thompson, Colleen Murphey, Dan Murphy, Eric Nguyen, Jay O’Brien, Katherine O’Koniewski, Matt Patton, Lisa Paulson, Michael Pratt, Dan Rivera, Jamie Schell, Will Sealy, Rebecca Straley, Seth Tanner, Lynda Tocci, Pat Tomaino, Steve Tompkins, Jess Torres, Adam Travis, Morgan Warners, Andrew Wright, and Michelle Wu.

I also offer thanks to the many mayors, state legislators, and other public servants of Massachusetts, who spend their days fighting for our communities. Many of them spent time helping me understand the local economy, regional growth, and other community issues that were vital to connecting federal policies to what happens at home. Many also put their own time into my campaign, and I am grateful for their help and for all they do every day to make our state a better place.

In the epilogue of the book, I discuss some of my early work in the US Senate. Once again, I have had the good fortune of having an incredible team of smart policy wonks, strategic thinkers, and can-do people who fight every day to help level the playing field for working families. They work hard for the people of Massachusetts and for Americans everywhere. Once again, Mindy Myers deserves credit for putting together a fantastic team in Washington—starting with my terrific legislative director, Jon Donenberg—and Roger Lau has my enduring gratitude for the amazing group he has built here at home in Massachusetts. They make many things possible, and I am in their debt.

When the book was in its early stages, I prevailed on my best friend, Jean Morse, to read it—as she has done for my other books. I also asked other good friends to read, and Bev Lindsey, Ed Fouhy, and Ruth Wooden stepped up to the task. They offered me an outside perspective to make sure I was telling enough detail to explain the story and not so much to put the reader to sleep. (If I got that wrong, it was my fault—not theirs.) My son-in-law, Sushil Tyagi, took on the task of sorting through endless stacks of old pictures, demonstrating once again that he sees into the heart of matters, big and small. I’m grateful for his help, and grateful that he’s part of our family.