Elizabeth Warren is hammering the populist message the last few days. It’s really inspiring to see her highlighting these important issues BEFORE the general election.
Elizabeth Warren: American Justice Is 'Rigged' In Favor Of The Rich
Here she is railing against the Banks and Corporations. I just love this particular turn of phase in her statements:
“We have one set of laws on the books, but there are two legal systems: One for the rich and powerful, and one for everyone else. It’s not equal justice when a kid gets thrown in jail for stealing a car, while a CEO gets a huge raise when his company steals billions. Want to see the rigged game in action? Tomorrow, the House will be voting on a GOP bill that would make it much harder to investigate and prosecute bank fraud. The American people remember who broke our economy & who made out like bandits – and they didn’t send us here to help the bandits. To anyone in Congress who thinks they can simply talk tough on crime and then vote to make it even harder to crack down on corporate criminals, hear this: I promise you – I promise you – the American people are watching.”
and
"It's not equal justice when a kid gets thrown in jail for stealing a car, while a CEO gets a huge raise when his company steals billions," Warren said. "It's not equal justice when someone hooked on opioids gets locked up for buying pills on the street, but bank executives get off scot-free for laundering nearly a billion dollars of drug cartel money."
It reminds me of some other rhetoric I’ve heard quite often lately:
Yeah! Go Bernie! Preach it Liz!
Anyway, here is Warren’s scorcher delivered on the Senate floor today about America’s Rigged Justice System:
https://www.facebook.com/senatorelizabethwarren
Let’s not forget yesterday, when she came out HARD against the TPP delivering another burner on the Senate floor:
Warren Leads Call to Reject TPP as Countries Line Up to Sign Toxic Deal
"I hope Congress will use its constitutional authority to stop this deal before it makes things even worse and even more dangerous for America's hardest-working families," Warren said Tuesday. “
...and...
"I urge my colleagues to reject the TPP and stop an agreement that would tilt the playing field even more in favor of big multinational corporations and against working families," Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said on the U.S. Senate floor on Tuesday. Noting that "most of the TPP's 30 chapters don't even deal with traditional trade issues," she argued, "most of TPP is about letting multinational corporations rig the rules on everything from patent protection to food safety standards—all to benefit themselves."
...and...
”The first clue about who the TPP helps is who wrote it. Twenty-eight trade advisory committees were formed to whisper in the ear of our trade negotiators—to urge them to move this way or that in the negotiations. Who are the special, privileged whisperers? 85% are senior corporate executives or industry lobbyists. Many of the committees – including those on chemicals and pharmaceuticals, aerospace equipment, textiles and clothing, and financial services – are 100% industry representatives. In 15 advisory committees, no one—no one—was in the room who represented American workers or American consumers.”
Warren has starkly and consistently opposed the TPP. I think she’s giving a boost to Sander’s message by making these speeches ahead of the upcoming primaries.
OP-ED TOO!
Not more than a week ago, Elizabeth was out with this fantastic op-ed in the New York Times:
Elizabeth Warren: One Way to Rebuild Our Institutions
“Enforcement isn’t about big government or small government. It’s about whether government works and who it works for. Last year, five of the world’s biggest banks, including JPMorgan Chase, pleaded guilty to criminal charges that they rigged the price of billions of dollars worth of foreign currencies. No corporation can break the law unless people in that corporation also broke the law, but no one from any of those banks has been charged. While thousands of Americans were rotting in prison for nonviolent drug convictions, JPMorgan Chase was so chastened by pleading guilty to a crime that it awarded Jamie Dimon, its C.E.O., a 35 percent raise.”
...and…
“Legislative agendas matter, but voters should also ask which presidential candidates they trust with the extraordinary power to choose who will fight on the front lines to enforce the laws. The next president can rebuild faith in our institutions by honoring the simple notion that nobody is above the law, but it will happen only if voters demand it.”
As you can see, she is really pushing the same message as Bernie, and she’s doing it almost daily at this point.
Young Turks put out this pro-Bernie analysis of her op-ed a few days ago, and her 2 Senate speeches since then bear out the analysis within:
and I just want to close with this awesome quote from Warren:
“A new presidential election is upon us. The first votes will be cast in Iowa in just eleven days. Anyone who shrugs and claims that change is just too hard has crawled into bed with the billionaires who want to run this country like some private club.”
Sing it, sister.