Elizabeth Warren Takes Down Scott Brown & ELIZABETH WARREN'S MESSAGE TO THE PCCC 6&8NOV12

SENATOR ELIZABETH WARREN, D-MA.....sounds beautiful, doesn't it? She is a lady of, for and elected by the people. Well done Massachusetts!!!! 

—By Tim Murphy

| Tue Nov. 6, 2012 6:44 PM PST

Elizabeth Warren/Flickr

Two years ago, Elizabeth Warren told David Corn that she'd rather stab herself in the eye than go back to Washington. On Tuesday, the Harvard Law professor and creator of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ate her words, knocking off Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass) in one of the most closely watched—and at times nastiest—races of the 2012 cycle. Warren's win isn't just a case of a Democrat winning in Massachusetts; perhaps no candidate, President Obama included, inspired as much enthusiasm from progressives across the country. (She raised more money than any other Senate challenger in the country, much of it from out of state.) NBC News called the race shortly after polls closed in Boston.
Warren did it largely by sticking with what made her a political star in the first place—a fierce defense of the social contract, which led Republican to dub her "Matriarch of Mayhem" for her support of Occupy Wall Street:

For Republicans, a what-might-have-been remains the campaign finance truce Warren and Brown agreed to, which barred outside groups from buying TV ad time in the Bay State (per the agreement, any independent expenditure would have to be offset with a chartiable donation from the campaign). Given the extent to which Republican outside groups outspent Democratic groups in 2012, that bargain almost certainly ended up working in Warren's favor. It also meant that the fiercest attacks on Warren's character—hitting her, for example, for identifying as Cherokee at Harvard—came from Brown himself, eroding his largely positive image in Massachusetts.
For the 53-year-old Brown, this is likely not the end of his political career. With Sen. John Kerry rumored to be a top choice to replace retiring Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, there's a possibility a new seat could open up as early as December. In that case, Brown would be a heavy favorite for the Republican nomination, and with a comparably weak Democratic bench in the state, stand a decent shot at getting his old job back. Alternatively, with Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick term-limited after 2014, he might just opt to try his luck closer to home.
This post was originally published based on inaccurate reports that the race had been called for Warren. The race has since been called by CBS and NBC.

Tim Murphy

Reporter

Tim Murphy is a reporter at Mother Jones. Email him with tips and insights at tmurphy [at] motherjones [dot] com. RSS | Twitter

If You Liked This, You Might Also Like...

• LISTEN: Rove's Crossroads GPS Attacks Elizabeth Warren in New Robocalls

  The new robocalls put another crack into Brown's and Warren's truce against outside spending.

• WATCH: Scott Brown Staffers "Tomahawk Chop" at Warren Volunteers

  The Massachusetts Senate race gets real nasty, real fast.

• Romney Cracks Warren Joke at Secret Fundraiser

  The GOP presidential nominee makes light the Massachusetts Senate candidate's Cherokee controversy.

• VIDEO: Elizabeth Warren's "You Built That With Help" Speech

  "There is nobody in this country that got rich on their own," the Senate candidate declared.

• Elizabeth Warren Sets Her Sights on Scott Brown

  The Harvard professor became a populist hero by taking on Wall Street. Now she's aiming for the GOP incumbent's Senate seat.
  http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/11/elizabeth-warren-scott-brown-massachusetts
  
  SEN ELECT ELIZABETH WARREN'S MESSAGE TO THE PCCC (PROGRESSIVE CHANGE CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE) 8NOV12
  You were there from the very beginning.
  Actually, PCCC members were with me before there was a beginning.
  We fought together for Wall Street reform. We fought to set up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. And when I was considering a run for Senate, PCCC members showed me the enthusiasm that would be there if I ran.
  We campaigned together for more than a year, and we won our race in Massachusetts because we stuck to our values and worked our tails off to advance bold progressive change.
  As I said Sunday on a call with PCCC volunteers, this race was about what kind of a country we want to be and what kind of a people we are. The Republican vision is clear: "I’ve got mine and the rest of you are on your own." I believe we’re a better people than that.
  I believe that together we can create something stronger than any of us could alone. We can help our students, we can protect our seniors, we can put more people back to work. Together, we can build a better future.
  I offer a very sincere thanks to the many PCCC members who made 574,570 calls for my campaign in recent days, contributed more than $1 million to our effort, and contributed in so many other ways as well. Your support meant so much to me.
  The campaign is over, but our fight together for middle-class families goes on.
  Thank you so much.
  -- Elizabeth Warren
  

  P.S. You can listen to my Sunday conversation with PCCC members by clicking here.

Scott Brown staffers do "Indian war whoop", "tomahawk chop" (VIDEO) &Cherokee Nation Chief Demands Apology From Scott Brown Campaign 26SEP12

WHAT more can one expect from the repiglican / tea-bagger candidates? Maybe they realize they are going to loose big time in November and so are showing their true colors in a desperate attempt to motivate like minded racist to turn out and vote. The from NPR.....

by Padmananda Rama

Elise Amendola/AP Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., speaks during a news conference in Boston last Friday.

The principal chief of the Cherokee Nation is calling on Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., to apologize for a video that allegedly shows members of his staff imitating "stereotypical 'war whoops chants.'"
As WBUR's Curt Nickisch reported Tuesday for All Things Considered, Brown's supporters were filmed imitating "tomahawk chops" at a rally in Dorchester, Mass., over the weekend. The antics were apparently directed at Elizabeth Warren, Brown's Democratic opponent in the Senate race; Warren has been criticized for telling previous academic employers that she has Native American heritage.
Now, Brown and the GOP are under fire for supporters' actions that "goes far beyond what is appropriate and proper in political discourse," Cherokee Chief Bill John Baker said in a statement Wednesday.
"The use of stereotypical 'war whoop chants' and 'tomahawk chops' are offensive and downright racist," he said. "It is those types of actions that perpetuate negative stereotypes and continue to minimize and degrade all native peoples."

Early Tuesday, Brown said he didn't condone the action at the rally.
The Boston Globe has reported that two of the people in the video were Republican staffers, "including a member of Scott Brown's U.S. Senate office."
The New York Times reports that Warren called the video "appalling." A second video originally posted by the Chatham Republicans and reposted by the Blue Mass Group on Wednesday shows Brown speaking at a rally this summer about Warren's heritage as "war whoops" can be heard.
Baker said Brown's comments Tuesday didn't go far enough, and called for a full apology:

"We need individuals in the United States Senate who respect Native Americans and have an understanding of tribal issues. For that reason, I call upon Sen. Brown to apologize for the offensive actions of his staff and their uneducated, unenlightened and racist portrayal of native peoples."

Amanda Clinton, a spokeswoman for the Cherokee Nation, told NPR that so far no one from the Brown campaign has contacted her in response to the videos.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2012/09/26/161840931/cherokee-nation-chief-demands-apology-from-scott-brown-campaign?ft=1&f=139482413

Elizabeth Warren Blasts GOP 'Class Warfare' Charge, Tax Cuts For The Rich (VIDEO) 22SEP11

POLITICAL correctness may require candidates to say the Democrats aren't waging class warfare. The truth is the repiglicans and tea-baggers started this round of class warfare right after the election of President Obama, and they have been waging it against the poor, the retired, the working class and the middle class in America. This is class warfare, it is a battle to stop our Republic turning into a plutocracy, to stop the nations descent to Third World status. It is class warfare against the gross economic inequality in this country, the shameful increase in the number of Americans, especially children, in poverty. It is class warfare against the gop / tea-baggers plans to destroy the social safety net and Social Security and the insatiable greed and lust for power of corporate America. So this is class warfare, and the repiglicans and tea-baggers are on the wrong side.

Elizabeth Warren, Democratic Senate candidate in Massachusetts and former White House financial reform adviser, blasted Republicans at an appearance In Andover last month for accusing Democrats of engaging in "class warfare."
"I hear all this, you know, 'Well, this is class warfare, this is whatever,'" Warren said. "No. There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own -- nobody."
Republican lawmakers have criticized President Barack Obama in recent weeks for engaging in "class warfare." House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) argued in an op-ed last month that the president was “anti-business, hyper-regulatory [and] pro-tax” and “fueled by efforts to incite class warfare."
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) had a similar criticism after Obama unveiled his new deficit reduction plan this month, which features a proposed tax on millionaires, saying “Class warfare isn’t leadership.”
In Andover, Warren went on to discuss the "social contract" and how it benefits everyone:

“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.”

Democrats have fought back against the "class warfare" charges by drawing attention to the dramatic cuts that Republicans have proposed to programs benefiting low- and middle-income Americans.
Obama disputed the claim during a speech on Monday, saying his newest plan "is not class warfare. It’s math."
Warren -- who formally entered the Senate race less than two weeks ago -- currently has a slight edge over her competitor, Republican Scott Brown, according to a recent poll by the Democratic-affiliated firm Public Policy Polling.
Her comments were captured on video and posted to YouTube by an individual who claims not to be involved with Warren's campaign, according to Talking Points Memo.

Elizabeth Warren Receives Major Union Endorsement Before Launching Senate Candidacy 25AUG11

RUN MS WARREN, PLEASE!!!!!

WASHINGTON -- Even before formally entering the Massachusetts Senate race, consumer advocate and Harvard professor Elizabeth Warren has picked up a major union endorsement.
The former Obama administration official who spearheaded the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, received the unsolicited backing of the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA) on Tuesday. The endorsement came before Warren, a Democrat, has said whether or not she will actually challenge Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) for his seat. (Her announcement will come after Labor Day, advisers say, though it's widely expected that she will decide to run.) Announced just minutes after a 5.8 magnitude earthquake struck the east coast, the MNA's decision was barely noticed by the political press.
And yet, the union's endorsement could have ripple effects on the Democratic primary in that critical Senate race. The union has 23,000 members, making it the largest association of registered nurses in the state. By coming out in favor of Warren before she announces her decision, a union official explained, members are "hoping it will show her up front what kind of support she has and encourage her to jump in."
It also signals to the rest of the primary field, which includes Newton Mayor Setti Warren, social entrepreneur Alan Khazei and State Representative Thomas Conroy, that the consumer advocate -- despite her political inexperience -- could present a formidable opponent.
The MNA's board decided to endorse Warren last Thursday, the official said, after a meeting in which attendees discussed her prospective candidacy at length. (Warren had launched an exploratory committee earlier that day.)
"We had no conversation with her prior to then," the official said. "The only contact we had with her was after the fact."

Question for the Tea Party: Why the Free Ride for Republicans Protecting Bankers? 11&12JUL10

WHY are the republicans and tea-baggers giving the wall street bankers a free ride? For republican politicians it is greed, pure and simple. And for the tea-baggers it is bind stupidity, and they will learn to late they are being used by the wealthy and then will be tossed aside like filthy, bloody rags when the gop doesn't need them anymore. See my earlier post for sen jon kyl's defense of the rich over the middle class and the working class and the poor and unemployed.

Jon Kyl: Extend Bush Tax Cuts For Wealthy Even If They Add To Deficit 12JUL10

 
The financial reform bill that passed both houses of Congress was far less than we needed. But it was a start -- enough of a start that the bankers have spent tens of millions trying to kill it. And now, with the House-Senate conference version of the bill coming back to Senate for final approval, the reform is in jeopardy yet again.
On May 29, the bill passed the Senate, 59-39, just enough to block a filibuster. Four Republicans voted in support and two progressive Democrats voted no to protest its weaknesses. But the banking lobby has used the Congressional recess to work the four Senate Republicans.
And, sure enough, three of the four Republican supporters have gone wobbly. Olympia Snowe of Maine voted for the Senate bill, but is now making equivocal noises about whether she'll support the conference bill (which is weaker in some respects than the Senate's version.) Likewise Chuck Grassley of Iowa.
The always wily Scott Brown of Massachusetts threatened to withhold his vote until the House and Senate leaders agreed to scrap a $19 billion tax on large banks. He voted for the senate bill, but now Brown is warning that he may vote against the final bill anyway. Apparently there is no honor among thieves. The financial industry was the largest donor to Brown's Senate campaign.
Among Republicans, only Susan Collins of Maine is standing firm in her support. The fewer Republicans who are still officially committed to the bill, the easier it is for the banking lobby and the GOP leadership to intimidate or seduce others.
Among the Democrats, Wisconsin's Russ Feingold, suddenly in a tight re-election race against a self-financed Tea Party millionaire, has vowed to vote against the bill because it's not tough enough. It's not clear how that will persuade the Tea Party crowd, who don't much like Wall Street either.
In an anti-incumbent year it seems a little perverse to vote down the only piece of legislation that partly leashes banks. (If you think the bill is not a step forward, ask the bankers' lobby why they are working so hard to kill it. C'mon, Russ, if it's good enough for Bernie Sanders, it should be good enough for you.)
Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington State, even more than Feingold, was a true hero in the fight to get the strongest possible bill. She cast a protest no vote when the bill was before the Senate, but with the bill hanging in the balance, unlike Feingold she will vote for final passage.
Two weeks ago, Democratic head counters thought they had maybe one vote to spare. But Robert Byrd's death June 28th deprived supporters of that extra margin.
Passage may depend on the vagaries of West Virginia politics. West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin has delayed making an interim appointment for Byrd's seat, pending a final decision on whether the vote to fill the seat is to be held as a special election in 2010 or in 2012 when Byrd's term expires. Manchin wants to run for the seat, but has ruled out appointing himself to fill the vacancy. The White House has been urging Manchin to stop dithering and name Byrd's interim replacement as soon as possible.
At this writing, Democratic Senate Leader Harry Reid has put off calling up the conference bill for a vote pending a better head count. That's how razor thin the margin is.
But with every passing day, the risk increases that Wall Street and the Republicans will kill more than a year's legislative work. A defeat of this bill would mean that all of the carefully negotiated compromises are up for grabs. With Democrats expected to lose seats in November, anything that managed to pass would be even weaker.
This nail-biting finale is like the end-game of the health reform bill all over again, but with one key difference. In that fight, President Obama belatedly got personally engaged, working the phones and twisting arms, LBJ-style -- far from his usual hands-off approach. This time, there are no arms to twist. The undecided votes are all Republicans, with whom Obama has no leverage. And with Russ Feingold in the posture of distancing himself from Washington, D.C., the White House has little influence with him either.
But Obama could be taking his case to the country. In the past few days, Obama has sounded more like a partisan and has gotten off some good one-liners, but has mentioned the stakes of financial reform only in passing. That's a pity, especially with Republicans using the October 2008 vote in favor of the bank bailout (TARP) to whack Democratic incumbents.
This reform bill may be a day late and a dollar short. But starting the process of reining in the banks is the antidote to the bailout and to future bailouts -- both politically and in terms of better policy. And it's Republicans and Wall Streeters who are trying to kill it. That's not so hard to explain. The president should be using his bully pulpit to shame the banking lobby and its Republican toadies, and to associate himself and the Democrats with stronger housecleaning.
If the final bill does manage to squeak through, this is only the beginning of reform. Several key provisions, such as the Volcker Rule separating commercial banking from trading and investment banking and the rules on derivatives, were seriously weakened by amendments. Others, such as the rules on capital requirements, too-big-to-fail, and consumer protection, leave a lot to agency discretion. So the same agencies that are far too close to the bankers, the ones that let this disaster happen, will be in charge of the details of reform.
As the bill has been weakened, bank stocks have been going up. The lead front page story in Sunday's New York Times reported that Wall Street is hiring again. The sector that crashed the economy, and that needs to be drastically reined in, is back in metastatic growth mode. And evidently the bankers have confidence that their chums at the Treasury and the Fed are not going to rain on their parade, reform bill or no.
So we need this bill, but only as a first step. Even more importantly, we need a citizens' campaign to monitor how it is carried out and where the holes are.
The bankers' lobby is at work, night and day, to weaken this reform legislatively and in its implementation, orchestrating grassroots lobbying by local banks and coordinating it with campaign contributions. The counterweights on the progressive side are no match.
One of the few effective official watchdogs, the Congressional Oversight Panel chaired by Elizabeth Warren, may be shut down early as the TARP ends. Americans for Financial Reform, which did heroic work as a coalition of more than 200 consumer and labor groups in pressing for the strongest possible legislation, will close up shop at the end of the summer for lack of funding. If anything, AFR needs to be expanded, so that it can continue to be a citizens' watchdog.
Two years and counting into the most severe financial collapse in nearly a century, bankers still rule. Republicans protect bankers from reform, yet amazingly masquerade as the party of populist backlash. If Democrats let the right play this double game, shame on them. It's only possible because too many Democrats are too cozy with the same bankers.
UPDATE: Late Monday, the offices of Republican senators Scott Brown and Olympia Snowe issued statements indicating that they will vote for the financial reform bill, bringing the number of supporters to 60, just enough to break a Republican filibuster