There's Nobody in This Country Who Got Rich on His Own, Says Elizabeth Warren
This short clip is from part of Warren's speaking tour in Andover, Massachusetts. Impressed, Greg Sargent at the Washington Post had this to say about it:
Republicans are planning to paint Warren as a liberal Harvard elitist — they’re already referring to her as “Professor Warren” — because they believe that she will have trouble winning over the kind of blue collar whites from places like South Boston that helped power Scott Brown’s upset victory.
But as this video shows, Warren is very good at making the case for progressive economics in simple, down-to-earth terms. Despite her professorial background, she sounds like she’s telling a story. She came across as unapologetic and authorative, without a hint of the sort of defensiveness you hear so often from other Democrats when they talk about issues involving taxation and economic fairness. This is exactly what national Dems like about Warren.
Transcript via rumproast.
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 maurauding 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.
Little wonder then that Scott Brown doesn't want to talk about the polls in Massachusetts which now show Warren with a slight lead.
Brown also showed no interest in talking politics on the day a new Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling survey showed him behind Warren for the first time in a general election match-up.
"There's going to be plenty of polls. I don't think about polls. Never been a big poll guy," he said.
Asked about a Talking Points Memo report that documented the senator outside his office on his cellphone expressing disbelief about the polling, Brown replied sternly at the door, "Excuse me, I'm all set."
in 2016. No offense Hillary but it's not even close.
2012 Senator Warren
2016 President Warren
When will government of the people, by the politicians, for the corporations perish from this Earth?
Not soon enough!
Definitely works for me!
How about Obama picks her to run on the ticket with him in 2012 and that sets her up to run on her own next election? Biden might be good with that.
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
if say around 2014/2015 Biden resigns for "health reasons." In 2016 he will turn 74 - no way he runs for President. But no way they do it for 2012.
I've seen some stuff, man. And some thangs...
I'm not sure Obama would be good with that.
I love this woman.
And hey, I'm a straight, married woman. But she so seems to embody the values I hold dear. Dear Elizabeth Warren, please run for President someday, and soon enough that I can work on your campaign!
Gotta hope she wins.
Make Brown a one-term senator
And she should consider running for president after that. Obama did after winning his first election, and look what happened.
She makes sense. Hopefully she doesn't get in a room with Wall Street guys like Obama did.
..
When will government of the people, by the politicians, for the corporations perish from this Earth?
Not soon enough!
so thats what happened to obama, they removed his brain. young frankenstein
warren mosler for president
Hopefully she doesn't get in ... any small planes.
far left loon >.<
Needs moar Sally Field.
Vote GOP and move forward to the 18th Century.
Norma Rae or the deal-making senator in Legally Blonde II?
far left loon >.<
Class warfare!
What she says is true, not fair!!!!
CTHULHU 2012 "Why vote for a lesser evil?"
What a great lady. You just know the right hates her. Plain spoken truth - just what we need now. Think the troglodytes can figure out that she's on their side? Wish I lived in Massachusetts (birthplace of my Mom) so that I could vote for her.
really think about what she said.
really digest it.
this was as powerful a statement as any about the obligations that people of means face.
elizabeth warren may be reviled by the right wing but, more importantly, she will become feared as both an adversary and as a voice of reason.
she didnt mention that the people buy the products that were made in that factory. if she did i missed it.
warren mosler for president
the messes of these factories are left for us to pay for the cleanup...
or in the case of litter...we are all subject to the non benefitting 3rd part of the transaction.
Wow, she certainly has more cajones than O.
Even better: she's got OVARIES!
The conservatives thought they had it nailed when they kept her off the Consumer Protection Agency. Unless she's caught naked and drunk in a fountain with an uder-aged boy I don't see how she won't give Scott Brown a get-out-of-Washington-free card next year. If we could only have 534 more of her to send to Congress.
Our cops beat & jail dissidents, radicals or union organizers. Our courts & wealthy collude to silence protest...
Our kids die to subjugate foreign nationals who oppose our theft of their natural resources, labor, sovereignty..
Our immigrant scientists developed weapons of such utter horror, none now remain to oppose our hegemony...
Our puppet dictators, death squads, economic hit-men, CIA, SEALS, USMC silenced opposition, worldwide...
Our tax-free fundamentalists, Klansmen, Minutemen, National Guard, militias and Posse Comitatus kept the status quo; spreading hate, lies and terror to eradicate those who fought for freedom, equality and justice...
Our airwaves, cable and internet networks enabled control of thought, expectations and aspirations; deluding and cowing the weak-minded, stifling alternative perspectives, repeating useful lies and eradicating curiosity...
Our schools regiment thought, strangle initiative, reward mediocrity and promulgate a counter-meritocracy...
Our judicial, law-enforcement and military ensures a high return on narcotic imports; supplying currency to sock-puppet terrorist boogymen, as well as satiating the poor and counteracting minority birth-rates...
Have the 1%, or their ravening media hyenas, ever once thought to say THANK YOU? Well, have they punk?
http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/meltd... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3uvzcY2Xug
What prevents Obama from making the same points, in the same language?
Rhetoric such as Warren's used to be boilerplate for democratic officials. What the hell what haywire with that party?
Maybe President Obama will take Elisabeth Warren 's lead, and start using this very valid argument. Hint, hint...
"Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob"
-= Franklin Delano Roosevelt =-
How do you tell when Obama is lying, his lips move.
The Democratic leadership is as bought as the Republicans. What we are seeing is a half-assed attempt brought about by no desire to actually win the fight. If they fight too hard, the lobbyist bribes decline.
Warren is not bought.
"When you're president -- as opposed the head of a private equity firm -- your job is not simply to maximize profits. Your job is to figure out how everybody in the country has a fair shot." - President Barack Obama
I think Warren could beat Obama in a Democratic presidential primary. I realize that will never occur. I am hoping this senate seat is a stepping stone for her. Once America tires of the Chicago Boy nonsense, they will gladly embrace a real Democrat to lead our nation out of this corporatist sewer. Unfortunately we are screwed regardless of who wins in 2112.
"When you're president -- as opposed the head of a private equity firm -- your job is not simply to maximize profits. Your job is to figure out how everybody in the country has a fair shot." - President Barack Obama
I probably shouldn't have posted it earlier but Warren rocks.
Hasa Diga Eebowai
and within minutes, several people had shared it. Assuming it has the same effect on their pages, this quote is going to get around.
"Better." It's what we should ask of ourselves and of our leaders.
That small but brave act, posting that quote from Elizabeth on Facebook, could be the game-changer.
No doubt about it, this woman is amazing. She speaks the way I wish Democrats would have been speaking for years now: telling it like it is, fearless of what "the other side" will say or do. She's wonderful.
BUT, I can assure you, no Democrat who is not a governor will win in the near future. Look at all the Republican presidents for several generations now. All governors. All have proven that they have "run" something and are not just Washington wonks. Obama was a fluke as senator, and he eked in by a 51% in a time when the country was deeply dissatified with Republicans! If Democrats are ever in trouble, putting a senator or representative in the running for president will weaken the case, no matter how brilliant the person may be. It's GOT to be a governor.
He smoked McCain by almost 8%, or nearly 10 million votes. More votes than Bush beat Dukakis by in 1988.
Internet buzz is a terrible thing to waste:
https://secure.actblue.com/page/ussenate?refc...
in Congress and on the street and Wall Street!
Heard the Brown was beside himself when he heard about Warren leading.
Give them Hell Ms. Warren!
It's about time that someone in the spotlight says what I and others have been saying for years: Rich people NEVER get rich on their own! They owe most of their wealth to society for providing a system and infrastructure that allowed them to get rich!
Just think about it: How much of his current wealth would Bill Gates have if society hadn't provided a system that allowed him to sell his Windows system without having to fear that someone would come along and simply steal his idea? How many copies of his operating system could he have sold in a society that didn't respect and protect his right to market his idea, before other companies would have started to sell it as their own product?
"It's called the American Dream. Because you have to be asleep to believe it!" George Carlin
This woman has the brains for the job. Are Republicans saying their candidate is as stupid as those who would vote for him?
http://front.moveon.org/the-secret-of-class-w...
I am in love. Mrs. Warren has my full support. I mean she is speaking the truth. Republicans, and some of our moderate Democrats, can't deal with the truth. But I am glad that Mrs. Warren is on the side of the little people. Fight on, Mrs. Warren.
That was some powerful stuff. I love it!
Kind of puts a different spin on the 'class warfare' issue; one I hadn't heard before but resonates loud and clear. I think she's on to something................
There's another part to the 'no one got rich on their own' comment............the ones who are ultra wealthy simply because of the family they were born into. Think Paris Hilton would be rich without that last name?
Pray that it lasts. If it does, she can rule the world.
Elizabeth Warren needs to be elected. She will actually be the ONLY Senator "representing" consumers. she will actually FIGHT for us. Please please please please consider donating $10 to her campaign or give it to an organization that can do things that a campaign cannot do. I give to (amoung others)
bold Progressives (adam greene). $10 (or more of course) from 70,000 people is $700,000!! That is huge and that is how many people indicated that they were willing ot help her on the day she declared she was running. I know some of you are very low on funds. I am still asking you to try to find $10. Go to here (or some place else) and donate the $10 (or morre of course) to defeat Tea Bagger Scott Brown.
Don't forget Blue America. they are really good to. they spend their money very well.
Senator Al Franken who is brilliant, dogged and definitely concerned for the average citizen. Also Senator Bernie Sanders who is an Idependent but who votes with the dems, most if not all of the time. So Professor Warren wouldnt be the only one to fight for the middle class.
(Also former Senator Russ Finegold, who I hope will reconsider his refusal to run for his old senate seat. His was the only voice of reason when voting on the Iraq war. He was the only one who voted against it. Im sure he gets no pleasure from being right about the war.)
I don't post comments here often, but I just wanted to say that this woman is fantastic. She is just what you need. I just want to hug her.
Finally, a democrat talking like a democrat - and speaking plain common sense truth.
This is the kind of stuff that will be Kryptonite to the rightwing bullshit machine.
What a refreshing talk; to see a democrat talking without DLC/GOP co*k in their mouth.
This is the kind of truth to power that gave dems a 60 year majority; which they lost when they decided to become GOP-lite and started spewing GOP/DLC talking points.
You could learn something from this woman Obama.
If I were a psychopath, I would join the republican party, and get in on the gravy train taking the Teabircher morons to the cleaners.
background on Wonderful Warren - watch her in action on the PBS Doc - The Warning - she has what too few people in Washington have = INTEGRITY and SMARTS - she is ARTICULATE and DIPLOMATIC - she totally gets the picture and cannot be bought - she is a national treasure who can easily balance our treasury with some no-nonsense leveling of the playing field. I'm glad to see that so many people see her as PRESIDENT - I just hope 2'0|6 isn't too late to have her grace us with her leadership?! IF a Republican wins in 2012, the crazed Christians will do their best to bring about the End Days or if we should live thru it - the damage may be irreparable.
WOW!!!!
This woman is awesome!
Ms Warren made the facts clear consise and totally understandable by anyone ... I love it!
Here here to the next Senator from Massachusetts!
gparks
Willful ignorance is NOT blissful ... just plain stupid!
Wow. Just wow. Teabaggerosity never had any place in Ted Kennedy's state of Massachusetts. Scott Brown is finished.
she uses no teleprompter.
Notice how she doesn't discuss the enormous proportion of our tax dollars that fund the killing innocent brown people abroad, nor the amount of our money that's diluted by inflation to bail out big banks? She's addressing entrepreneurs who complain of high taxes, and her argument is that it's fair for the government to tax them because it provides the very roads, schools, and police on which they depend. But these tax dollars (and people's savings which are diluted through inflation) are spent by the government mostly on things which the entrepreneur does not require, such as wars and bank bailouts. If the government took in only enough money to fund the services she listed, the counter-argument would be a bit less obvious.
So your problem with what she said is that she didn't list everything we spend tax money on? Warren gives a small example of how our taxes improve the business environment for entrepreneurs, and you have a problem with that because she didn't also mention the military?
IMHO, I think Democrats need to talk like this MUCH more often. Sure, she's not mentioning EVERY possible thing tax dollars could be spent on, or the wasted tax dollars (of which there is plenty), but at least she is directly attacking the ubiquitous libertarian myth of the "self-made" millionaire -- a concept that flies in the face of everyday experience.
I think you are too obtuse to even get her "logic."
Beware of anyone promising a future full of yesterdays.
I was the first.
Nothing new here. Elizabeth Warren is employing a typical Liberal rant based on emotion, not rational argument. Conservatives aren't saying government doesn't have a role to play; their legitimate concern is with the size and reach of that role. Her hypothetical factory owner has already paid taxes to provide the infrastructure she talks about. She's implying the factory owner's rightfully earned profits don't belong to him. She thinks a "hunk" should be seized by a centralized bureaucracy and redistributed according to their rules. It's very unlikely that Elizabeth Warren (probably a lifelong academic) has ever run a private-sector company or met payroll.
Ask Gibson Guitars who protected them when the marauding horde was the Federal government. And if you follow Warren's loopy logic, the 46% of U.S. income-earners who pay no Federal taxes shouldn't have the right to use our public roads or avail themselves of police and fire protection.
Hey Soto,
Notwithstanding the Gibson guitar case, I dispute your logic.
People who run private companies are at risk of becoming self-centered misers who wouldn't think much of letting everyone nearby die of cancer if it helped their bottom line.
Your 46%# is bull. They pay much more sales tax & other taxes as a percentage of income. Also, they're poor, So stop being so angry at them - it's ugly to the bone.
In short, they become angry, self-deluded, difficult pr*cks. Just like you.
A man who picks up a cat by the tail .. will find knowledge that cannot be gained in any other way - Mark Twain
Politico is reporting Elzabeth got 192 000 dollars in TARP money to sit on a committee that investigated banks.
If only the Republicans had somebody half as sane as Elizabeth Warren, there might be a chance at bipartisianship in Washington. Elizabeth, we are behind you all the way.
What amazes me is how so many people linking this quote celebrate the sheer ignorance of it. People who build factories pay a variety of fees that also pay for roads, schools and many other things. Just a few fees in my locale are Building Plan Check and Permit Fee, Transportation Impact Fee, Parks Development Fee, School Impact Fee, Service Impact Fee (for police and fire), Treatment Plant Connection Capacity Charge, Trunk Line Capacity Charge, and any number of special fees depending on the nature of the building. These aren't fees for a factory necessarily, these are fees to build anything. Then for the life of the building there will be ongoing assessments (taxes) by the city and county that will be used to pay for city and county services and roads. The fee schedule for my city alone is 28 pages long.
Someone who builds something pays his fair share, especially here in California. Moreover, someone with the wherewithal to build in California has paid taxes on his (probably larger than average) personal income and residence. That developer also paid the salaries for the construction workers and then the employees that worked in the building who in turn paid income tax, sales tax, and if a homeowner, real estate tax.
Yes, almost everyone pays for roads, police and fire, but a developer has paid far more for such things than the average citizen. How much worse off would a community be that didn't have someone to build buildings and pay employees that then pay taxes? It isn't very hard to find communities that are dead or dying because they couldn't find businesses to locate there. The liberal myth that businesses don't pay their fair share is what drives those businesses to other states or countries.
And what's with the crack about "marauding bands"? Does Ms. Warren honestly believe that is a realistic problem in the U.S.? This isn't Europe.
Indeed. Warren's obnoxious quote is supposed to rebut those who accuse the left of engaging in class warfare. Instead, by dividing America into businessmen and "the rest of us," and portraying the former as freeloaders at the expense of the latter, she proves they are absolutely right.
"" as this video shows, Warren is very good at making the case for progressive economics in simple, down-to-earth terms. ""
Only as long as you forget that she has it backwards.
There would be no government without business generating wealth to be taxed.
Put even more simply:
Business can live without government.
Government cannot survive without business.
Comments are closed on this entry