Elizabeth Warren. Yeah.
Every time Elizabeth Warren opens her mouth she says something the world needs to hear.
(Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating. I guess we don't need to hear her coffee order, or her private conversations. But when I hear her talking about our nation, about our economy, and about the social compact which underpins our society, it resonates for me in a way no politician has for a long, long time.)
Professor Warren is like that fabulous teacher in high school or college. I think we all had one: The teacher you absolutely loved, whose class you would never miss no matter how sick you were, who made you look at the world in an entirely new way. I listen to her and think, "This woman is smarter than I am." I'll be honest -- I don't think that very often when I'm listening to someone running for office.
Warren was on the Daily Show the other night. (Yeah, I know, it's a comedy show -- and Jon Stewart has insightful, intelligent conversations with people.) She was talking about a variety of things, including a huge list of companies in the US who pay more for lobbyists than they pay in taxes. (Read the US PIRG and Citizens for Tax Justice study here.)
Stewart asked her about Tom Brady and Eli Manning. Without equivocation, she answered that the Pats would "spank" the Giants. Stewart asked whether she wasn't supposed to say something like, "I respect the Giants..." and she answered, "But I don't!" No political, wishy-washy, namby-pamby answer here. Just telling it like it is (or at least not hiding that she's a fan).
She talked about investing in our middle class, and that Washington works great for you if you're a corporation who wants something. "We now live in a world in which profitable companies... perfectly legally pay nothing in taxes, at precisely the same moment that we are saying to young people, 'You're going to have to take on more debt to get a college education.' We're saying to seniors, 'You're just going to have to learn to live on less.' The way I see that, that is not a question of economics; it's not a question finance; it's a question of values."
She pointed out that tax breaks are tantamount to public investment, and we can choose whether to give tax breaks to "those who have already made it" versus investing in the middle class. Stewart asked about people who are reluctant to give resources to government because it isn't working well. Warren countered that the government should be held accountable, not starved for resources. She also pointed out that lobbyists are calling the shots.
And when Stewart asked her what would happen if the country implemented Ron Paul's notion that the way to get money out of politics is to completely remove government's role in regulation (which encourages lobbying) and let the free market take its course. She answered, "The problem is, we will have no future."
After listening to the current batch of Republican candidates debate each other about which one of them can tank our entire system and drown it in the bathtub the fastest, it's nice to hear someone who actually believes government has a positive role to play in society. People shouldn't be in charge of things they hate and wish to dismantle.
"Government is what we do together. Government is the part that lets us come together and build the basic conditions, the infrastructure, the education, the research, the basic pieces together that let us build a future for ourselves and for our kids."
Oh. My. God.
This woman should be President.
(Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating. I guess we don't need to hear her coffee order, or her private conversations. But when I hear her talking about our nation, about our economy, and about the social compact which underpins our society, it resonates for me in a way no politician has for a long, long time.)
Professor Warren is like that fabulous teacher in high school or college. I think we all had one: The teacher you absolutely loved, whose class you would never miss no matter how sick you were, who made you look at the world in an entirely new way. I listen to her and think, "This woman is smarter than I am." I'll be honest -- I don't think that very often when I'm listening to someone running for office.
Warren was on the Daily Show the other night. (Yeah, I know, it's a comedy show -- and Jon Stewart has insightful, intelligent conversations with people.) She was talking about a variety of things, including a huge list of companies in the US who pay more for lobbyists than they pay in taxes. (Read the US PIRG and Citizens for Tax Justice study here.)
Stewart asked her about Tom Brady and Eli Manning. Without equivocation, she answered that the Pats would "spank" the Giants. Stewart asked whether she wasn't supposed to say something like, "I respect the Giants..." and she answered, "But I don't!" No political, wishy-washy, namby-pamby answer here. Just telling it like it is (or at least not hiding that she's a fan).
She talked about investing in our middle class, and that Washington works great for you if you're a corporation who wants something. "We now live in a world in which profitable companies... perfectly legally pay nothing in taxes, at precisely the same moment that we are saying to young people, 'You're going to have to take on more debt to get a college education.' We're saying to seniors, 'You're just going to have to learn to live on less.' The way I see that, that is not a question of economics; it's not a question finance; it's a question of values."
She pointed out that tax breaks are tantamount to public investment, and we can choose whether to give tax breaks to "those who have already made it" versus investing in the middle class. Stewart asked about people who are reluctant to give resources to government because it isn't working well. Warren countered that the government should be held accountable, not starved for resources. She also pointed out that lobbyists are calling the shots.
And when Stewart asked her what would happen if the country implemented Ron Paul's notion that the way to get money out of politics is to completely remove government's role in regulation (which encourages lobbying) and let the free market take its course. She answered, "The problem is, we will have no future."
After listening to the current batch of Republican candidates debate each other about which one of them can tank our entire system and drown it in the bathtub the fastest, it's nice to hear someone who actually believes government has a positive role to play in society. People shouldn't be in charge of things they hate and wish to dismantle.
"Government is what we do together. Government is the part that lets us come together and build the basic conditions, the infrastructure, the education, the research, the basic pieces together that let us build a future for ourselves and for our kids."
Oh. My. God.
This woman should be President.
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