Written by Joey Slusher
Elizabeth Warren has roots in a low-income, working class family in Oklahoma. She pushed herself through school and ended up becoming a teacher. She was forced out of teaching when she became pregnant and later decided to push herself through college while raising her child. Warren eventually served as one of the country’s top bankruptcy law specialists, teaching at a variety esteemed institutions including Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania. She took an interest in public policy after vehemently opposing the controversial Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act, later becoming an outspoken critic of corruption in the financial industry after the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent government bailouts of several large corporations. Interestingly, Warren was a Republican for the majority of her life until she re-registered as a Democrat.
Warren was integral to President Obama’s initiative to create the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and it was assumed that she would become its director when it was created. The Republican majority in Congress made it clear that they would not allow her nomination to pass, so President Obama decided to nominate someone else. With this landmark victory for consumer rights, Warren had garnered some fame from her work with the President, prompting a number of Democratic leaders pushed her to run for the U.S. Senate. Warren ran and won, defeating the incumbent Republican Scott Brown.
In the Senate, Warren quickly became known for her progressive ideals and her constant defence of economic equality. She has made clear in her run for President that unlike Bernie Sanders, she is not a Democratic Socialist. She has stated that she prefers a well-regulated free market with a combination of social programs, stating that she is a “capitalist to…[her] bones.”
Warren has also become infamous for her many detailed plans for addressing a range of policy issues, from climate change to universal health care. One of her more prominent plans is to levy a 2 percent tax on fortunes worth more than 50 million dollars and a 3 percent tax on fortunes worth more than 1 billion dollars. The tax would only apply to money accrued after the initial fifty million dollars, and the revenue earned would pay for government initiatives. If implemented, this tax could potentially raise an extra 2.75 trillion dollars over the next decade.
Recent polls showed Warren ahead of Biden by a few points. While this trend has calmed over the past few days, and she has returned to second place, there still remain only a few points between her and Biden. The next closest candidate to Warren in polling numbers is Bernie Sanders, and he trails by around ten points in most polls. It will be interesting to see where the numbers are when we report on Biden in a few weeks.
