First off, I would like to say that my thoughts and prayers go out to the city and the people of Boston. Two of my favorite cities to visit are in the New England area (Providence is the other) so I am saddened to hear the news today. This will be my last diary for the day but I wanted to get the news out about this.
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D. MA) is coming to help fundraise for Senator Jack Reed (D. RI):
http://blogs.wpri.com/...
Warren will be the special guest at a fundraiser on April 29 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in the Rotunda Room at the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence, according to an invitation sent Monday. Suggested contributions range from $100 for individuals to $1,000 for hosts.
The fundraiser sports an all-female host committee co-chaired by Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts, Treasurer Gina Raimondo and Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed. Maryellen Butke, Helena Foulkes, Sandra Whitehouse and Myrth York are among the hosts.
Warren and Reed have a bit of a mutual admiration society. Reed successfully pushed to get Warren, a vocal Wall Street critic, appointed to serve with him on the Senate Banking Committee, while Warren has praised his work on financial issues. Reed is up for re-election next year. - WPRI 12, 4/15/13
It's true, Reed was one of the first Senators to advocate having Warren on the Senate Banking Committee:
http://www.thenation.com/...
“I can’t think of anybody that’s come to the Senate with thirty years of detailed knowledge of the industry from the perspective of teaching at law school and doing many other things, and then serving in the drafting of significant aspects of Dodd-Frank from the administration standpoint. So she comes prepared,” he said. “It’s really an abundance of intellectual riches.”
Reed said this suggested Warren would not be susceptible to strong lobbying efforts from the financial services industry. “In some respects it’s better to be dealing with someone who is knowledgeable than someone who does not have that kind of depth of knowledge, and might be swayed not by the facts and substance but simply by the last person to see them,” he said. “She brings a great deal of knowledge to the table. I don’t sense her as someone who is going to leap before she looks very carefully at every issue from every perspective.” - The Nation, 11/9/12
Getting Warren on the Banking Committee was a good call. Otherwise we wouldn't be able to witness this:
By the way, Reed had some good things to say recently at the Rhode Island Student Political Empowerment Conference:
http://www.browndailyherald.com/...
Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., provided the final keynote address Sunday afternoon, discussing various pieces of legislation currently before the Senate and taking questions from the audience. While answering a question about a reform of Senate rules proposed by Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid, D-NV, Reed clarified he was talking about “the other Reed.” “I style myself as the young, good-looking one,” he said, “which I don’t think he finds funny.”
Reed, who serves on the Armed Services, Appropriations and Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs committees, discussed his efforts to prevent the interest rate on student loans — currently at 3.4 percent — from doubling to 6.8 percent. Total debt from student loans reached $1 trillion recently, surpassing the total amount of credit card debt held in the United States, Reed said. “We fixed (the interest rates) last year. Hopefully we’ll fix it this year.”
Reed also spoke optimistically about the prospects for reducing the federal deficit to a sustainable level. Due to various deficit reduction measures including the sequester, which went into effect March 1, Congress has already achieved $2.4 trillion in deficit reduction over the next 10 years, he said. Though Congress still needs $1.6 trillion in reduction to reach a sustainable level, he said he does not think cuts to Medicare and Social Security — as proposed in President Obama’s recent budget — should be a part of that effort.
Shifting to foreign policy, Reed also spoke about the recent threats from North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un. “They have been trying to use their nuclear capabilities to influence aid,” he said. He also discussed his frustrations with the Syrian conflict in which 100,000 people have died. “It’s a very difficult situation to try to resolve externally.”
Students in the audience asked Reed about Obama’s budget, green energy and financial reform, which Reed, as a member of the Banking Committee, helped pass in 2009 through the Dodd-Frank Act. - The Brown Daily Herald, 4/15/13
I leave you now with this quote from President Obama:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
"On days like this there are no Republicans or Democrats," Obama said. "We are Americans, united in concern for our fellow citizens ... We still do not know who did this, or why. But make no mistake, we will get to the bottom of this. We'll find out who did this, we'll find out why they did this."
"Boston is a tough and resilient town," Obama continued. "So are its people. I am supremely confident that Bostonians will pull together, take care of each other & move forward – as one proud city." - Huffington Post, 4/15/13