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Elizabeth Warren on Welfare & Poverty
Massachusetts Senator; head of CFPB
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Rental market has discrimination just like housing market
Discrimination in the rental market is widely documented. This sort of discrimination has been going on for a long time: favoring white renters while turning away black renters, for instance, is pretty much what was happening in some of President
Trump's apartment buildings back in the 1970s.The housing collapse wiped out trillions of dollars in family wealth nationwide, but the crash hit African Americans and Latinos like a tidal wave. And the hit was doubly hard because these were the
families that generation after generation, had already been aggressively discriminated against in housing. Restrictive deeds, land sales contracts, redlining--American history is littered with examples of housing laws and lending strategies that were
designed to deny black and Hispanic families mortgages.
For most middle-class families in America, purchasing a home is the best way to build financial security. And it worked that way, for much of the twentieth century, at least for white Americans.
Source: This Fight is Our Fight, by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, p. 40-1
, Apr 18, 2017
Strong safety net is needed now more than ever
The modern economy can be perilous, and a strong safety net is needed now more than ever. Strengthen disability coverage, retirement coverage, and paid sick leave.
And for heaven's sake, get rid of the awful banker-backed bankruptcy law, so that when things go wrong, families at least have a chance at a fresh start.
Source: The Two Income Trap, by Elizabeth Warren, p.xxii
, Apr 12, 2016
Those in poverty fight for crumbs left over from the wealthy
The suggestion that we have become a country where those living in poverty fight each other for a handful of crumbs tossed off the tables of the very wealthy is fundamentally wrong.
This is about our values, and our values tell us that we don't build a future by first deciding who among our most vulnerable will be left to starve.
Source: Quotable Elizabeth Warren, by Frank Marshall, p.100
, Nov 18, 2014
Nobody should work full-time and still live in poverty
Q: Are the Republicans going to take back the senate?SEN. WARREN: Take a look at the House if you want to see what happens when Republicans take over. What are they on now, is this their fiftieth vote to repeal Obamacare? That's not how you run a
country. We have real issues we need to deal with. Minimum wage, student loan debt, equal pay for equal work, a little accountability for the big financial institutions.
Q: Your fans say you're a populist, but your critics say you're just basically a
socialist.
WARREN: I just don't know where they get that. You know, look at the issues. Minimum wage? I just believe nobody should work full time and live in poverty. And you know what? Most of America agrees. Student loans, I don't think the U.S.
government should be making tens of billions of dollars in profits off the backs of our students, which is what the current student loan system is doing. And I think most Americans agree with me on that.
Source: Face the Nation 2014 interview: 2016 presidential hopefuls
, May 11, 2014
Foreclosures made recession's biggest victims
The White House and Treasury fretted over what to do. Rescuing everyone from foreclosure was impossible; it would create huge moral hazard, not to mention costing taxpayers another trillion dollars.
But Elizabeth Warren's congressional oversight panel was scathing in an October report.
Warren said the administration's plan didn't keep pace with the huge flow of foreclosures and did little to help the recession's biggest victims: the unemployed and those with subprime mortgages.
By the end of his first term, Obama would likely be able to say that he helped a few million Americans avoid foreclosure. Of course it wouldn't be much to brag about because millions more would be forced from their homes.
Source: The Promise: Obama Year One, by Jonathan Alter, p.319
, May 18, 2010
Page last updated: Mar 16, 2019