SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Elizabeth Warren
(Screenshot)
Sen. Elizabeth Warren's Rep. Paul Ryan Take-Down
"Paul Ryan says, 'Don't blame Wall Street — the guys who made billions of dollars cheating American families."
Apr 09, 2014
Senator Elizabeth Warren is making headlines for a speech some are saying is not only a take-down of Rep. Paul Ryan's views on poverty and unemployment but a lesson in the kind of visionary approach that Democrats would be wise to emulate.
The Massachusetts Democrat made the remarks as the keynote speaker at the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor's Humphrey-Mondale Dinner on March 29th, a fundraising event for the party of Paul Wellstone.
Warren took apart the Rep. Paul Ryan's maligned statements regarding "men not working" in our "inner cities," and his corporate- and Wall Street-friendly vision.
"Congressman Ryan attacked unemployment insurance, saying it is, and I'm quoting here, 'a hammock, which lulls able-bodied people into lives of complacency and dependency.' I am really serious. I want you to think about that."
"If our neighbors and friends who are laid off when a company moves overseas, or the recession shuts them down, Paul Ryan thinks that a little help to try to help keep the mortgage paid and to put food on the table will cause them to kick back and live large, with no plans to work again," she said.
"Paul Ryan looks around, sees three unemployed workers for every job opening in America, and blames the people who can't find a job. In 2008, this economy crashed, wiping out millions of jobs."
"Paul Ryan says, 'Don't blame Wall Street -- the guys who made billions of dollars cheating American families. Don't blame decades of deregulation that took the cops off the beat while the big banks looted the American economy. Don't blame the Republican Secretary of the Treasury and the Republican president who set in motion a no-strings-attached bailout for the biggest banks.' Nope." "Paul Ryan says keep the monies flowing to the powerful corporations, keep their huge tax breaks, keep the special deals for the too-big-to-fail banks and put the blame on hardworking, play-by-the-rules Americans who lost their jobs."
"Let me tell you, that may be Paul Ryan's vision of how America works, but that is not our vision of this great country," she said.
The Nation's John Nichols writes that Warren's speech "school[ed] Democrats with regard to what they should expect from a presidential contender." He adds, "Democrats can't just talk about inequality. . . They have to challenge the assumptions of those who argue for the failed strategies of the past."
"Whether or not Elizabeth Warren ever runs for the presidency, she is teaching her party a great deal about how to take the events of a moment and weave them into a narrative that addresses the fundamental challenges facing the country," Nichols writes.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Senator Elizabeth Warren is making headlines for a speech some are saying is not only a take-down of Rep. Paul Ryan's views on poverty and unemployment but a lesson in the kind of visionary approach that Democrats would be wise to emulate.
The Massachusetts Democrat made the remarks as the keynote speaker at the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor's Humphrey-Mondale Dinner on March 29th, a fundraising event for the party of Paul Wellstone.
Warren took apart the Rep. Paul Ryan's maligned statements regarding "men not working" in our "inner cities," and his corporate- and Wall Street-friendly vision.
"Congressman Ryan attacked unemployment insurance, saying it is, and I'm quoting here, 'a hammock, which lulls able-bodied people into lives of complacency and dependency.' I am really serious. I want you to think about that."
"If our neighbors and friends who are laid off when a company moves overseas, or the recession shuts them down, Paul Ryan thinks that a little help to try to help keep the mortgage paid and to put food on the table will cause them to kick back and live large, with no plans to work again," she said.
"Paul Ryan looks around, sees three unemployed workers for every job opening in America, and blames the people who can't find a job. In 2008, this economy crashed, wiping out millions of jobs."
"Paul Ryan says, 'Don't blame Wall Street -- the guys who made billions of dollars cheating American families. Don't blame decades of deregulation that took the cops off the beat while the big banks looted the American economy. Don't blame the Republican Secretary of the Treasury and the Republican president who set in motion a no-strings-attached bailout for the biggest banks.' Nope." "Paul Ryan says keep the monies flowing to the powerful corporations, keep their huge tax breaks, keep the special deals for the too-big-to-fail banks and put the blame on hardworking, play-by-the-rules Americans who lost their jobs."
"Let me tell you, that may be Paul Ryan's vision of how America works, but that is not our vision of this great country," she said.
The Nation's John Nichols writes that Warren's speech "school[ed] Democrats with regard to what they should expect from a presidential contender." He adds, "Democrats can't just talk about inequality. . . They have to challenge the assumptions of those who argue for the failed strategies of the past."
"Whether or not Elizabeth Warren ever runs for the presidency, she is teaching her party a great deal about how to take the events of a moment and weave them into a narrative that addresses the fundamental challenges facing the country," Nichols writes.
Senator Elizabeth Warren is making headlines for a speech some are saying is not only a take-down of Rep. Paul Ryan's views on poverty and unemployment but a lesson in the kind of visionary approach that Democrats would be wise to emulate.
The Massachusetts Democrat made the remarks as the keynote speaker at the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor's Humphrey-Mondale Dinner on March 29th, a fundraising event for the party of Paul Wellstone.
Warren took apart the Rep. Paul Ryan's maligned statements regarding "men not working" in our "inner cities," and his corporate- and Wall Street-friendly vision.
"Congressman Ryan attacked unemployment insurance, saying it is, and I'm quoting here, 'a hammock, which lulls able-bodied people into lives of complacency and dependency.' I am really serious. I want you to think about that."
"If our neighbors and friends who are laid off when a company moves overseas, or the recession shuts them down, Paul Ryan thinks that a little help to try to help keep the mortgage paid and to put food on the table will cause them to kick back and live large, with no plans to work again," she said.
"Paul Ryan looks around, sees three unemployed workers for every job opening in America, and blames the people who can't find a job. In 2008, this economy crashed, wiping out millions of jobs."
"Paul Ryan says, 'Don't blame Wall Street -- the guys who made billions of dollars cheating American families. Don't blame decades of deregulation that took the cops off the beat while the big banks looted the American economy. Don't blame the Republican Secretary of the Treasury and the Republican president who set in motion a no-strings-attached bailout for the biggest banks.' Nope." "Paul Ryan says keep the monies flowing to the powerful corporations, keep their huge tax breaks, keep the special deals for the too-big-to-fail banks and put the blame on hardworking, play-by-the-rules Americans who lost their jobs."
"Let me tell you, that may be Paul Ryan's vision of how America works, but that is not our vision of this great country," she said.
The Nation's John Nichols writes that Warren's speech "school[ed] Democrats with regard to what they should expect from a presidential contender." He adds, "Democrats can't just talk about inequality. . . They have to challenge the assumptions of those who argue for the failed strategies of the past."
"Whether or not Elizabeth Warren ever runs for the presidency, she is teaching her party a great deal about how to take the events of a moment and weave them into a narrative that addresses the fundamental challenges facing the country," Nichols writes.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.