(This caricature of Senator Elizabeth Warren is by DonkeyHotey.)Americans are lucky to have Elizabeth Warren in the United States Senate. With the possible exception of Senator Bernie Sanders, Warren understands how this nation's economic system works better than any other senator -- and how it has been manipulated to favor the rich (by shifting income and wealth from the 99% to the 1%).
It may surprise some progressives, but Warren was a Republican at one time in her life. But she felt compelled to leave that party when they moved to the far right -- because she could not stomach the economic injustice they were supporting. Here are a few quote from her recent interview with George Stephanopoulos:
I was an independent. I was with the GOP for a while because I really thought that it was a party that was principled in its conservative approach to economics and to markets. And I feel like the GOP party just left that. They moved to a party that said, “No, it’s not about a level playing field. It’s now about a field that’s gotten tilted.” And they really stood up for the big financial institutions when the big financial institutions are just hammering middle class American families. I just feel like that’s a party that moved way, way away.
Starting in the 80s, the cops were taken off the beat in financial services. These guys [the big financial institutions] were allowed to just paint a bullseye on the backs of american families. They loaded up on risk, the crashed the economy, they got bailed out. And what bothers me now is they still strut around Washington, they block regulations that they don’t want, they roll over agencies whenever they can, and they break the law. And they still don’t end up being held accountable for it and going to jail.
I make no secret of my differences with the administration in how they’ve treated the large financial institutions.
What’s happening is we’ve got a washington for those who can hire armies of lobbyists and lawyers. Their voices get heard in Washington and rules get tilted in their favor.
Working families, not so much.
