Top 5 Reasons Veterans Support Elizabeth Warren

Veterans benefit from the military's very strong, values-based organization. From the moment you begin training as a soldier, leaders consistently emphasize the importance of values so that you can instinctually rely on them when operating in the murky waters of war. Values are viewed as a part of training, just like shooting your weapon. Just as you practice marksmanship day after day so that your actions become instinctual, you are expected to show these values in everything you do. Veterans and military families support Elizabeth Warren because she has demonstrated those values throughout her life, in her words and more importantly, through her actions.

Here are the top 5 reasons veterans support Elizabeth Warren:

Loyalty

"I saw firsthand that today's military families face difficult financial challenges as they try to make ends meet with multiple deployments and raising a family. Some even told me that they felt like they were fighting two wars at once -- one in a distant war zone and another at home against the creditors." -- Elizabeth

Elizabeth's three brothers served in the military, so she understands firsthand the challenges facing veterans and their families. Loyal to those who faithfully serve our country, Elizabeth recruited and worked closely with Holly Petraeus to launch the Office of Servicemember Affairs within the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The bureau is already helping military families fight against financial scams targeting veterans.

Duty

"I came up scrappy. I came up the hard way. I came out of a hard-working, middle-class family. I lived in an America that created opportunities for kids like me. I now see an America that in which our government works for those who already have money and already have power." -- Elizabeth

The fourth child of a maintenance man, Elizabeth knows firsthand the financial challenges facing working families. When her father suffered a heart attack, her family's already tight finances became even tighter, and her mother took a job answering phones at Sears to help pay the mortgage. Elizabeth's background shows she understands the issues affecting working families, and her strong advocacy work demonstrates a sense of duty to the middle class.

Selfless Service

"Thirty of the largest companies in the United States are now spending more on lobbying than they pay in federal taxes. Who really pays for that? [America's middle class] are the ones who are now paying for the fact that there's not enough money left to invest in our kid's future." -- Elizabeth

Elizabeth understands the challenges the country is facing, and is willing to compete in a hard-fought race that represents a fight over the direction of our country. Although she never planned to run for office, she entered a hard-fought political race because it's simply not about her -- it's about fighting to create a level playing field for middle class families who are struggling to make ends meet.

Integrity

"Elizabeth Warren is the kind of person that Wall Street just doesn't know how to deal with. She doesn't have a price tag on her. She can't be bought. She spent her whole life doing good things for the middle class, and they can't buy her off." -- Rep. Alan Grayson on PoliticsNation

More than 40,500 people across Massachusetts have donated to Elizabeth's campaign, and 81 percent of donations last quarter were $50 or less. Elizabeth has strong grassroots support, and it's clear she stands with the middle class here in Massachusetts. In contrast, Scott Brown has voted to extend $24 billion in tax breaks for the five largest oil companies and has worked in secret to water down financial reform, while raising thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Big Oil and Wall Street. Veterans risked their lives for our country and for the constitution, not oil companies and the big banks.

Personal Courage

"We now live in a world in which profitable companies perfectly legally pay nothing in taxes at precisely the same moment that we are saying to young people, 'you are going to have to take on more debt to get a college education,' we're saying to seniors, 'alright you're just going to have to learn to live on less.' The way I see that, that is not a question of economics, it's not a question of finance, it's a question of values." -- Elizabeth

Elizabeth's impressive personal and political courage was a driving force behind the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. She was not afraid to take on Wall Street, the big banks, and their lawyers and lobbyists in Washington -- even when people told her that she couldn't possibly succeed. But she knew it was the right fight, and she ultimately succeeded in creating a strong consumer agency that is already making a difference for veterans and their families.

Elizabeth shows courage, integrity, selfless service, duty and loyalty -- all values taught day after day to our soldiers around the world. She has proven that she will continue to stand for veterans, while Brown will continue to stand with Wall Street and Big Oil.

 

Follow Dan Futrell on Twitter: www.twitter.com/danfutrell

Comments

[matt richards32]

10:36 AM on 08/24/2012

I like the fact you left out Respect and Honor........Two things I do not believe Elizabeth Warren has shown in this campaign.

[LilRhodyLady]

12:25 AM on 08/23/2012

Excellent article Mr. Futrell. If I lived in Massachusetts, Elizabeth Warren would definitely have my vote.

[SpeakupNation]

11:08 AM on 08/21/2012

Elizabeth Warren is an outstanding human being and she will make a GREAT US Senator.

[sticks n stones]

10:49 AM on 08/21/2012

All due respect, you clearly are speaking only for yourself here. So it is disingenuous to imply you are speaking for other veterans.

It's also interesting that you don't mention that Scott Brown is a veteran himself. He has been a member of the Army National Guard since 1979. I guess including that fact would undercut your agenda.

But I thank you for your service just the same.

[DanFutrell]

11:36 PM on 08/21/2012

sns- I appreciate your response. I can only speak to my own opinion and the opinion that other veterans have shared with me. This article represents those conversations. I expect there will always be some who disagree with me.

That being said, Scott Brown being a veteran does not outweigh a political philosophy that pursues policies directly in conflict with what the military teaches: each of us is a member of a team, we succeed or fail together, we leave no man behind to suffer, and we have a responsibility to help the least of our team so that we all succeed.

There is no concept that the only way to succeed is to pull yourself up by your bootstraps. In the military, all of our bootstraps are connected together. Everyone works their tail off for each other first, for themselves second or third. That's why we have the best military the world has ever seen.

Elizabeth's political philosophy seeks to put those military values into black & white policies that help the least among us, and recognize our responsibility to one another.