I know things are tight in Michigan, but Elizabeth Warren deserves a few more of our dollars

I’m not generally inclined to send my money out of state to support candidates running for office, but I find it difficult to restrain myself when it comes to Elizabeth Warren.

Not only do I think that we need to win back the historically-Democratic Senate seat in Massachusetts that Scott Brown currently holds, but I think the election of Warren, if we’re lucky, could be a harbinger of a shifting attitude in America concerning the role of government, the importance of community and the rights of the individual. And, most importantly, I think that, if elected, she could inspire others who share her worldview to run for public office.

As I’ve mentioned before on this site, when I bought my Honda Civic hybrid about a decade ago, I knew that it was likely that it wouldn’t ever pay off financially, even if gas went above $4 a gallon. I did it primarily because I wanted to demonstrate to the American auto manufacturers that there was a demand for such vehicles. (At the time, as you may recall, none of the big three were producing hybrids.) I wanted to prove to them that there were people who were hungry for something other than SUVs. I wanted them to know that there were people willing to pay for technological breakthroughs in fuel efficiency, alternative energy, etc. And, I know it’s kind of a weird analogy, but I think it’s kind of the same thing here. While I very much respect Warren, and would love to see her on the floor of the Senate, when I’m making my small donations to her campaign, I’m also thinking that, by doing so, I’m demonstrating to other politicians across the country that there’s a market for honest public servants who aren’t afraid to take on Wall Street in a more than fleeting, cursory way. I don’t know that it will have much impact, but I’m happy to divert a few dollars per month away from fast food, on the off chance that it might.

Oh, and if you donate $25 or more today, you get a t-shirt emblazoned with the following quote from Warren:

Mitt Romney says corporations are people.
No, Mitt, corporations are not people.
People have hearts,
they have kids,
they get jobs,
they get sick,
they love,
cry,
dance,
they live and they die.
Learn the difference.
We don’t run this country for corporations,
we run it for people.

Now just imagine how incredibly cool it would be to have someone in the Senate who talked like that, and encouraged other to do the same.

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6 Comments

  1. Eel
    Posted August 7, 2012 at 8:16 am | Permalink

    How can you look at her and not be absolutely terrified?

    http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2012/08/06/elizabeth_warren_s_radical_scary_conservatism.html

  2. Meta
    Posted August 7, 2012 at 8:39 am | Permalink

    Another great quote from Elizabeth Warren:

    I meant what I said.

    I stood before a group of voters in Massachusetts last year and talked about what it would take to move forward as a nation. I laid out how we all needed to invest in our country, to build a strong foundation for our families today and make sure the next kid with the great idea has the chance to succeed.

    But too often that kid can’t succeed because the system is rigged against him.

    Small-business owners bust their tails every day. They’re the first ones in and the last to leave, six and often seven days a week. That’s how my Aunt Alice ran her small restaurant, where I worked as a kid. My brother and my daughter both started small businesses. And I’ve visited and talked with small-business owners across Massachusetts. From the insurance agency in Brockton to the coffee shop in Greenfield and the manufacturing plant in Lawrence – all started and run by people with good ideas and a determination to succeed.

    I believe in small businesses. They’re the heart and soul of our economy. They create jobs and opportunities for the future.

    Washington politicians line up 10-deep to claim they support small businesses, but they avoid talking about a harsh reality: The system is rigged against small business. These owners can’t afford armies of lobbyists in D.C., but the big corporations can. It’s those armies of lobbyists that create the loopholes and special breaks that let big corporations off the hook for paying taxes. While small businesses are left to pay the bills.

    We’ve got to close those loopholes and end the special breaks – so small businesses have a level playing field and a fair chance to succeed.

    When small businesses grow and flourish, we should applaud their success, and the companies should benefit from their hard work and clever ideas. But here’s my point: If a business makes it big, the reward shouldn’t be the ability to rig the system to stop the next guy.

    If a business takes its profits to the Cayman Islands, ships its jobs overseas or finds a loophole to avoid paying its fair share of taxes, then that business now has a leg up over every small business and start up that can’t take advantage of those loopholes. Sometimes the big can get bigger not because they are better but because they can work the system better. That’s bad for every small business in America.

    Asked recently about news that Mitt Romney had money in offshore tax havens, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said, “It’s really American to avoid paying taxes, legally…. It’s a game we play. … I see nothing wrong with playing the game because we set it up to be a game.”

    Graham is right about one thing – it’s a game for some. It’s a rigged game that benefits big corporations and billionaires who can deploy armies of lobbyists and lawyers to create those tax loopholes and then exploit them.

    The game is rigged to work for profitable oil companies, who made $137 billion in profits last year – and still collected billions of dollars’ worth of government subsidies. The game is rigged to work for big multinational corporations, which get tax breaks to ship U.S. jobs overseas and park investments abroad. The game is rigged to work for hedge fund managers and billionaires, who pay lower tax rates than their secretaries. Meanwhile, their Republican allies are making sure the rules stay rigged in their favor.

    But for the tens of millions of working families and small businesses left holding the bag – it’s not a game. For the small businesses that can’t spend millions of dollars to hire lobbyists who get them special deals or hire armies of lawyers to move their money overseas or restructure their operations to take advantage of every loophole, it isn’t a game.

    Washington is rigged to work against their interests with real-life consequences. They compete against the big companies, working hard to hold on to the American dream of providing a better life for their kids and grandkids. They see how the game is rigged.

    We face a real choice in this country between the Republicans’ “I’ve got mine,” approach and the belief that, as a nation, we reward success and hard work – keeping the playing field level so that everyone with a good idea, a dream of making it big and plenty of determination has a chance to make it.

    We must be committed to the American dream, the approach that made us the most prosperous and strongest country in the world and built a future of opportunity for our children and grandchildren.

    The choice is ours.

  3. Scott T.
    Posted August 7, 2012 at 11:36 am | Permalink

    I’m a huge fan of Warren. I signed up to give $50/mo for the 12 months preceding the election starting last October. This is the first significant contribution I’ve ever made to a political campaign. She, more than any other candidate on the national stage, speaks to the values that make this country great. Her compass seems to point in a direction would bring out the best of our collective character & potential. She tells well the story Obama tried to tell & flubbed with his “you didn’t build that” speech. Her winning this seat will be a positive step.

  4. Knox
    Posted August 7, 2012 at 12:56 pm | Permalink

    She should have gotten the keynote at the Democratic National Convention, but I guess I should just be happy that the party gave her a slot to speak at all. I hope it gives her the boost she needs to defeat Brown, who is taking in ungodly amounts of money from Republican billionaires.

  5. Meta
    Posted September 17, 2012 at 9:15 am | Permalink

    Warren now has a two point lead over Brown!

    http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2012/09/warren-rebounds.html

  6. Meta
    Posted August 6, 2013 at 12:52 pm | Permalink

    Warren is polling well for the presidency.

    But, a new Quinnipiac poll proves why Warren would be formidable in 2016 if she decided to run. Using a feeling thermometer — 0 meaning you feel totally cold about a politician, 100 meaning you feel warmly (aka) strong favorably toward a pol — Quinnipiac tested the majority of major national figures.

    Warren finished third — behind only New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (53.1 degrees) and Hillary Clinton (52.1 degrees). She finished ahead of, among others, President Obama, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Vice President Joe Biden.

    Here’s why the thermometer matters — and matters for Warren in particular. It’s a measure of passion, which is, of course, the sine qua non of politics. While passion isn’t everything — fundraising matters, organization matters — it’s hard to get elected to anything without passionate supporters.

    And, Warren quite clearly evokes that passion. Need examples beyond the poll? Warren collected more than $42 million for her 2012 Senate campaign, a massive sum that is indicative of the passion — and national following — that Warren evokes. Then there is the speech she gave at the 2012 Democratic National Convention, which, if you forgot, was among the best received addresses of the gathering.

    Read more:
    http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/08/06/why-you-shouldnt-underestimate-elizabeth-warren/?wprss=rss_campaigns&tid=pp_widget

One Trackback

  1. […] is that it’s the candidates who raise the most money that get the most attention. [I also gave to her Senate campaign back in 2012, because I liked the fact that she was talking about income inequality when few others […]

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