We Need More Elizabeth Warrens

I hear all this, you know, “Well, this is class warfare, this is whatever.” No! There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. Nobody. You built a factory out there—good for you! But I want to be clear. You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for. You hired workers the rest of us paid to educate. You were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for. You didn’t have to worry that marauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory, and hire someone to protect against this, because of the work the rest of us did. Now look, you built a factory and it turned into something terrific, or a great idea—God bless. Keep a big hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along.  -- Elizabeth Warren

Elizabeth Warren is a national treasure.  As a brilliant Harvard law professor, she argued for a new agency to protect consumers before the financial crisis hit.  She chaired the Congressional Oversight Panel tasked with investigating the bank bailout, where she took on the financial giants as well as the government.  After she essentially created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, President Obama failed to nominate her to run the agency because she was perceived as too much of a lightening rod (and was opposed by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, who feared her aggressiveness in pushing for financial reform.)

Elizabeth Warren is running for the Senate in Massachusetts and is ahead of Republican Senator Scott Brown in the latest poll.  As can be seen from the video below, Warren can explain in plain but passionate terms what must be done -- and what must not be done -- to turn the country around.  It is baffling that the skittish leadership in the Democratic Party still hasn't figured out that this is how you talk to voters.

Our only hope for change is to elect Elizabeth Warren and other progressive voices to Congress.  Click here to join or contribute to Elizabeth Warren's campaign.