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

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.

UPDATE: National Republican Senatorial Committee Communications Director Brian Walsh responded to Warren's comments on Thursday. He said in an email:

“Given the Boston Herald’s recent revelation that Professor Warren was paid almost $200,000 by a major insurance company to help in their legal battle against asbestos victims – on top of her $350,000 salary at Harvard – it sounds like she’s speaking from experience when she says ‘there is nobody in this country who got rich on his own.’”

Comments

[LondonTownNY]

12:44 PM on 10/18/2011

Elizabeth Warren is one of the most relevant and credible people and voices in America right now. I think she loses if she allows her strong message to be manipulated by having servants of the criminal elite, i.e., Scott Brown and Co. drag her down into a muddy wrestling pen. Scott Brown, however, true to form, went a step further and dismissed Ms. Warren as not being worthy of being seen without her clothes on. Ms. Warren may not win a Miss American pageant but she is certainly not an unattractive woman, but more so what she is fighting for equity, fairness, corporate accountabilty and transparency to protect American citizens is far more beautiful than anything proffered by Scott Brown to date. And if metaphors are apropos, let us remember that it was Scott Brown who ran in Massachusetts as a pick up truck driving man of the people, but as soon as he got to Washington he dropped to his knees for the powerful and began fluffing for the plutocracy with a greater degree of proficiency than any tight bodied, puffy lipped blonde in the San Fernando Valley. And to be candid, I have no double standards, do not believe in the notion of good girls or bad girls. But Scott Brown's type of whoring as a Koch-Sucker has a far greater impact on the security of citizens than any other kind of whoring.

[mike schwarcz]

07:33 PM on 10/09/2011

Class warfare?
You bet it’s class warfare.
When the 400 people with the largest incomes in America grew their aggregate incomes from $16.9 billion per year, in 1992, to $90.9 billion per year in 2010, and payed record low taxes, all while holding the other 99% of Americans to stagnant income growth and a larger tax burden, what else can you call it?
It is no different from France’s Aristocratic 1% starving the French peasantry into revolution. The strong exploiting the weak, that’s class warfare.
When masses of the weak finally strike back, that’s not class warfare, that’s revolution.
http://corpsgonewild.com

[tmaxPA]

05:46 PM on 10/08/2011

Warren For President 2016!

[efsacramento]

05:38 AM on 10/08/2011

“Given the Boston Herald’s recent revelation that Professor Warren was paid almost $200,000 by a major insurance company to help in their legal battle against asbestos victims – on top of her $350,000 salary at Harvard – it sounds like she’s speaking from experience when she says ‘there is nobody in this country who got rich on his own.’”

This statement is much like many other Republican comments that miss the point. Warren doesn't criticize high income earners. She believes that those incomes should be taxed the same as lower and middle class incomes. If anything, she seems more admirable considering this information from ne of the greedyRepublicans. After hearing Republicans bash the Occupy Wall Street participants this week, it should be obvious how disconnected from reality the conservatives want people to be when it comes to social justice and punishment for crimes of the greedy.

[Lightyear]

09:52 PM on 10/07/2011

Elizabeth Warren has been fighting for the common people What a rarity!!! with her efforts on the Consumer Protection Commission she has helped create. She is extremely intelligent and if she knows how to make money then she is also self-sufficient. She like any politician has her imperfections but I am thrilled to see that she is running for office. I hope she gathers money from supporters nationwide and becomes a Senator.

[BartStratton]

04:01 PM on 10/07/2011

Ronald Reagan on class warfare http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xF17rfZ7bns

[mew44]

08:58 AM on 10/07/2011

Keep your clothes on, Liz

[justleft]

04:26 PM on 10/12/2011

please do as I NEVER want to see you naked!!!

[Mixguru]

06:38 AM on 10/03/2011

Love her!

[RepublicanDepression]

10:20 PM on 10/02/2011

Never got a real answer, so I'll post again:

To all the right-wing­­ers trying to trash Elizabeth Warren:

The "Buffett Rule," holds that no millionair­­e should pay a lower effective tax rate than a typical middle class family.

If you think millionair­­es SHOULD pay a lower effective tax rate than middle class families, kindly tell us WHY you think so.

[RepublicanDepression]

10:44 PM on 10/06/2011

Look at all the Republicans rushing in to defend why millionaires should pay a lower effective rate than a middle class family.

-crickets-
.

[woodup2]

02:16 PM on 10/09/2011

I'll take a shot at it: You say "The "Buffett Rule," holds that no millionair­­­e should pay a lower effective tax rate than a typical middle class family." I do not know that is true but let's assume it is. Most "millionaires" income and wealth derives from investments such as bonds, stocks, etc. Income on those investments are treated as dividends, interest, and cap gain income. Cap gains are taxed at a lower rate to ENCOURAGE INVESTMENT! Investment is and should be encouraged. Also what is never pointed out is the lower tax rate on cap gains partially offsets cap losses and inherent risk. None of the arguments I hear point to the difference between income and wealth. Your "Buffet Rule" should concern income, exclude wealth, and then and only then would it make sense.

[RepublicanDepression]

10:36 AM on 09/30/2011

55pay0burdenedbytop2py80 spams more smears and demands answers while he HIDES and FAILS to answer.

55pay: “It is immoral to earn what she earns...”

1) Prove it! Envious? Resent successful people?

55pay: “…profess you are of the people.”

2) LOL! Prove that to be “of the people” that one cannot be successful or wealthy.

Our great President, FDR, was wealthy. Yet he cared about people and helped us out of the first Republican Great Depression. He was called a “traitor” to his “class” because he was of the people.

55pay: “...you like Elizabeth Warren do not do it yourself i.e. pay more taxes without provocation…”

3) What sort of “provocation”?

55pay: “your view of her is clouded by emotion and not the facts.”

4) LOL! Prove it!

5) I have posted piles of facts that you fail to dispute. Where is your debate on the FACTS? AWOL!

55pay: “Like all liberals your comeback will be" but she cares"”

6) Prove it!

7) WRONG! My “comeback” is that Warren has the right policies.

55pay: She lacks general knowledge on how business….”

8) Prove it.

55pay: “She really lied about that.”

9) Prove it.

55pay: “Business is difficult -she mocks it...”

10) Prove that Warren “mocks” business.

55pay: “No integrity!”

11) Where is your integrity when you insist on getting answers but you flee when I challenge you to provide answers to direct questions?

[StanleyBing]

12:52 PM on 09/30/2011

You should get professional help.

[Downrivers]

12:58 PM on 09/30/2011

Pundit my rear. Scott Brown has over $10 million in WALL STREET money.....what could that be all about?

[RepublicanDepression]

11:46 AM on 10/01/2011

LOL!

This is the perfect REPUBLICAN comment.

No answers, no content, no value, no rebuttal, no facts, no point.

StanleyBin FAIL!

[RepublicanDepression]

10:13 PM on 09/29/2011

What's the source of the fact-free viciousness that Republicans have been hurling at Elizabeth Warren (see below)?

Here's a great article on exactly that, from a moderate, centrist perspective:

http://themoderatevoice.com/85922/who-is-elizabeth-warren-and-why-does-the-establishment-fear-her/

In evaluating the fear factor that attends Warren’s presence, three factors need to be considered. First she is fearless herself, rarely mincing words. Second she is a populist both by inclination and by expertise. And, third, she possesses exceptional communication skills.

In a political world driven by money and special interest power, Warren approaches issues from a uniquely working class/middle class perspective. She openly criticizes the powered and moneyed elite from Congress, to administrative agencies to major banks, insurance companies and commercial concerns. Her apparent willingness to “speak truth to power” wins her few fans among the major donors of either party, the lobbyists or the elites of Wall Street.

Her middle class approach to issue evaluation places her in a rare position in Washington and among Democrats. With liberals generally having been successfully defined by others as elitists, Warren brings an almost Truman-like populist candor to the discussion. Unimpressed, or un-influenced, by corporate America, she advocates for a world that puts ordinary people first and consistently addresses the impact of policy on Main Street rather than on financial institutions.

[Mixguru]

06:42 AM on 10/03/2011

F,F & B

[RepublicanDepression]

11:30 AM on 10/03/2011

Thanks!

[RepublicanDepression]

10:34 PM on 09/28/2011

Moved up from below:
Let’s all be entertained by 55pay0burdenedbytop2py80 continuing to embarrass himself by digging himself in deeper in a hole of untruth by making more BOGUS claims as he tries to save face from his last set of bogus claims:

55pay: “Keep trying to find something I said is wrong. But wage income, w2, is usually called income and capital gains called capital gains etc. You are just ignorant.”

LOL! The sentence right after “find something I said is wrong” is WRONG!

“Capital gains” ARE income. By definition! Let me Google that for you:

IRS: “Investment income includes interest, dividends, royalties, annuities, short-term capital gains, and long-term capital gains”

IRS: “ The capital gains income of nonresident alien students, scholars” 

55pay: “It pisses you off to know a republican is sending you to school doesn't it. 55% of Americans pay zero federal income taxes.”

LOL! Thanks for asking for school, cuz here it comes!

“The 51 percent figure covers only the federal income tax and ignores the substantial amounts of other federal taxes — especially the payroll tax — that many of these households pay . As a result, it greatly overstates the share of households that do not pay any federal taxes. Data from the Urban Institute-Brookings Tax Policy Center show only about 14 percent of households paid neither federal income tax nor payroll tax in 2009, despite the high unemployment and temporary tax cuts that marked that year.”

continued...

[RepublicanDepression]

10:33 PM on 09/28/2011

Debunking of 55pay0burdenedbytop2py80 continued...

"The 51 percent figure is an anomaly that reflects the unique circumstances of 2009, when the recession greatly swelled the number of Americans with low incomes and when temporary tax cuts created by the 2009 Recovery Act — including the “Making Work Pay” tax credit and an exclusion from tax of the first $2,400 in unemployment benefits — were in effect. Together, these developments removed millions of Americans from the federal income tax rolls. Both of these temporary tax measures have since expired." 

Misconceptions and Realities About Who Pays Taxes
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3505

55: "The wealthy are not "keeping them down"

Who said they were?
We just want the middle class to not have to pay a higher effective tax rate than the wealthy. If you don’t agree, please tell us WHY you want the middle class to pay a higher effective tax rate than the wealthy?

Old “55: "All income is taxed the same. Special forms of income like capital gains and others is not."

LOL! YOU JUST CONTRADICT­ED YOURSELF!

One side of 55's mouth: "All income is taxed the same."

Other side of 55's mouth: "Special forms of income like capital gains and others is not."

So NOT all income is taxed the same. 

We await your acknowledg­ment of your error.

[RepublicanDepression]

09:27 PM on 09/28/2011

Moved from below:
55pay0burdenedbytop2py80 tries to absolve Bush of lying.

55:”He had no way to know those statement were lies. You make believe that but there is absolutely no evidence. Zero. zilch.”

WRONG! There is PLENTY OF EVIDENCE of Bush lies. So all I have to do to PROVE YOU WRONG is find more than “zero” evidence.

You lose, because there is a LOT more that zero evidence that Bush lied about Niger uranium based on documents that were proven to be forgeries before Bush mentioned this in his speech:

Evidence 1: Ambassador Wilson:
"I have little choice but to conclude that some of the intelligence related to Iraq's nuclear weapons program was twisted to exaggerate the Iraqi threat". Although the president had cited "The British Government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa", British intelligence have failed to show any other source of information.

Evidence 2: British Foreign Affairs investigation:
“…the conclusion we reported to the United Nations Security Council on March 7, 2003 with regards to the documents assessed to be forgeries and have not received any information that would appear to be based on anything other than those documents…. the committee judged the evidence that Iraq was trying to procure uranium was not sufficiently strong enough to justify absolute terms…The assertion "… that Iraq sought the supply of significant amounts of uranium from Africa …" should have been qualified to reflect the uncertainty.”

[RepublicanDepression]

09:26 PM on 09/28/2011

continued, debunking 55pay0burdenedbytop2py80 who tries to absolve Bush of lying.

Again, how could Bush have seen the first plane hit the tower on TV before he was told about the second plane? The first plane hitting the tower WAS NOT broadcast on TV because the videotape of it did not surface until 9/12! So was Bush lying? Or WORSE?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-h4Zc57QKg

55 goes on to show a lack of knowledge of history: “A bad mistake but no worse than Democrat Roosevelt make when he waited to enter WWII.”

LOL! Roosevelt made great efforts to enter WWII, but the main opposition was REPUBLICANS! Why is it that Republicans are so often wrong about war- rushing into many bad ones and resisting the good ones?

55 shows another lack of knowledge of history: “Or Democrat RFK in the Bay of Pigs.”

LOL! That was JFK, not RFK! RFK was never President!

55: “There most likely never have been the "The Arab Spring" had Iraq not been toppled.”

LOL! Who besides far-righties are peddling that revisionist hokum? Oh, and PROVE IT!