Democratic US Senate Candidate Elizabeth Warren met with members of the press at the Berkshire Eagle on Monday. WAMC’s Berkshire Bureau Chief Lucas Willard attended the meeting and filed this report…
Elizabeth Warren met with reports and editorial staff at the Berkshire Eagle to discuss the campaign, her vision for the future of the Government, the presidential election, and more. In the nearly hour long meeting, Warren dismissed criticisms of the Affordable Care Act by opponent Senator Scott Brown, talked about her experience in overseeing the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, discussed the role of money in politics, and more.
When asked about the influx of money in politics in this election season brought on by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United Decision, Prof. Warren was critical.
Both Warren and opponent Scott Brown had agreed to a no SuperPAC – pact running political advertising, though both candidates have raised millions in campaign donations making the race the most expensive in Massachusetts history. Warren pointed out that the majority of her donors are small contributors in the Commonwealth.
Warren defended President Obama and his signature health care law. He criticized Mitt Romney and Scott Brown’s touting of the notion that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act cuts 718 billion from Medicare – a claim she says is misleading and proven false from fact checkers and groups including the AARP.
Warren spoke at length about her role working with bipartisan lawmakers in creating the Consumer Protection Bureau, an agency she touted as vital for protecting consumers. She explained before the bureau was in place, credit card companies could mislead borrowers on interest rates and bury details in fine print.
And when asked the question if she believes her opponent in the race for US Senate and the Republican Presidential nominee are running to favor rich over the middle class, she answered yes.
Those investments she said are funding for education and public colleges, job training, clean energy, and infrastructure improvements, among others.
WAMC has reached out to Senator Scott Brown’s campaign to request an interview but as of press time, has not received a response.
