Massachusetts’ Freshman, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren has quickly become a favorite among those that consider themselves “progressive” in a large part due to her stands against big business. The first of her 11 Commandments of Progressivism states: “We believe that Wall Street needs stronger rules and tougher enforcement, and we’re willing to fight for it.”
The question arises, is she as ideologically pure as touted?
Ms Warren was elected as a US Senator in 2012 winning an election over incumbent Scott Brown. this is the seat that had previously been held by Ted Kennedy from 1962 until his death in August, 2009.
Who can forget Ms. Warren’s “you didn’t build that” video:
“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.”
Though Ms Warren has stated several times that she has no intention of seeking the Democratic nomination in the next Presidential election that hasn’t discouraged her followers. There has been a move to draft her including a “Ready for Warren” Super PAC. There was also this gosh awful “Run Liz Run” video.
Currently Senator Warren is butting heads with the President over the Trans-Pacific Partnership or (TPP) agreement. This bill has also been named the “Fast Track Legislation” and is strongly opposed by the AFL-CIO.
Fast Track Attack by AF Branco May 15, 2015
The question then arises with Elizabeth Warren’s history, why would she support extending the charter of the Export/Import (Ex/Im) Bank?
The Ex/Im Bank was first established February 2, 1934 with an Executive Order from Franklin Roosevelt with it’s stated mission “to create and sustain U.S. jobs by financing sales of U.S. exports to international buyers.” The Bank’s Charter must be periodically reviewed and renewed by Congress. This last was due on September 30th of last year but then received a 9 month reprieve set to expire at the end of June unless renewed again.
An article in Forbes does an excellent job of stating that the Bank claims that it “primarily serves small and medium enterprises” however it’s biggest beneficiaries include Delta, Boeing, General Electric, Bechtel, Dow Chemical, and Caterpillar.
By reputation one would think that it would be the conservatives that support this extension and its help to Big Business and it would be the progressives that would oppose it. That assumption would be wrong.
A leading conservative group, FreedomWorks, has long supported dissolving this Charter while Democrats and progressives are all for extending it. Harry Reid recently had this to say about the extension, “We’ve been trying to get this done, but now the Republicans have said no thanks because their guiding light, the Koch Brothers, don’t like it because it’s a government program.”
Someone else on the record of supporting the Ex/Im Bank, the Bank that benefits the likes of “Delta, Boeing, General Electric, Bechtel, Dow Chemical, and Caterpillar,” is none other that Senator Elizabeth Warren.
Last year her spokesperson, Lacey Rose, had this to say about extending the Ex/Im Bank’s charter: “Senator Warren believes that the Export-Import Bank helps create American jobs and spur economic growth, but recognizes that there is room for improvement in the bank’s operations. She looks forward to reviewing re-authorization legislation if and when it is introduced.”
This brings me back to my original question, is Elizabeth Warren the true progressive ideologue as so many claim or is she just another Washington politician only out to seek deals that are a personal benefit to her and furthering her political aspirations?
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