Plans for free pre-K and community college could provide a ‘ladder into the middle class.’

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WASHINGTON — What was once considered a progressive dream for the nation’s education system could be headed toward reality as Democrats push forward to broker a deal on a new spending plan containing President Biden’s most ambitious domestic policy goals.

Included in the list of programs Democrats agreed this week to include in their $3.5 trillion budget blueprint are Mr. Biden’s campaign proposals to offer prekindergarten enrollment for every 3- and 4-year-old in the country, and tuition-free community college to every young adult. So far, both proposals are drawing widespread support from the Democratic coalition and are expected to remain priorities as the party’s top leaders seek to deliver on bedrocks of Mr. Biden’s $4 trillion economic plan.

“Infrastructure’s about roads and bridges, but it’s about the other things we need to have a fully engaged and active work force,” said Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusets. “That means child care for parents. It means early childhood education, giving our kids the right start. And that means post-high school education or training. That’s what it’s going to take in the 21st century.” Continue reading.

Warren And Whitehouse Demand Probe Of Tax Avoidance By Ultra-Wealthy

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Two prominent members of the Senate Finance Committee are calling for an investigation into tax avoidance by the ultrawealthy, citing ProPublica‘s “Secret IRS Files” series.

In a letter sent todayElizabeth Warren (D-MA.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) wrote to the committee’s chairman, Ron Wyden (D-OR), that the “bombshell” and “deeply troubling” report requires an investigation into “how the nation’s wealthiest individuals are using a series of legal tax loopholes to avoid paying their fair share of income taxes.” The senators also requested that the Senate hold hearings and develop legislation to address the loopholes’ “impact on the nation’s finances and ability to pay for investments in infrastructure, health care, the economy, and the environment.”

Last month ProPublica began publishing a series of stories about tax avoidance among the ultra-wealthy, based on a vast trove of tax data concerning thousands of the wealthiest American taxpayers and covering more than 15 years. ProPublica conducted an unprecedented analysis that compared the ultra-wealthy’s taxes to the growth in their fortunes, calculating that the 25 richest Americans pay a “true tax rate” of just 3.4 percent. Continue reading.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren loses brother to COVID-19

‘He was charming and funny, a natural leader,’ she says

Elizabeth Warren’s brother has died of COVID-19, she announced Thursday on Twitter.

Donald Reed Herring, oldest brother of the Democratic senator and former 2020 presidential candidate, died Tuesday evening in Oklahoma, weeks after testing positive for the new coronavirus, she said.

“I’m grateful to the nurses and other front-line staff who took care of my brother, but it is hard to know that there was no family to hold his hand,” Warren told the Boston Globe. “And now there’s no funeral for those of us who loved him to hold each other close.” Continue reading.

Warren endorses Biden for president

The Hill logoSen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) formally endorsed Joe Biden on Wednesday, making her the last of the former vice president’s onetime rivals to back him as the Democratic presidential nominee.

The Massachusetts senator and former presidential candidate announced her endorsement in an email to supporters, saying there was “too much at stake” to hold out any longer.

“Joe Biden has spent nearly his entire life in public service,” Warren said. “He knows that a government run with integrity, competence, and heart will save lives and save livelihoods. And we can’t afford to let Donald Trump continue to endanger the lives and livelihoods of every American.” Continue reading.

Rep. Hagedorn Calls Sitting U.S. Senator a Nazi

SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – Today, in a post on his campaign Facebook page, Congressman Jim Hagedorn referred to Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren as a “national socialist,” a term synonymous with Nazism.

Ken Martin, Chairman of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party released the following statement calling on Hagedorn to delete his statement and issue an apology:

“It is completely reprehensible that Congressman Hagedorn would refer to a sitting United States Senator as a Nazi. If Hagedorn has an ounce of respect for the office he holds, he will immediately retract that statement and issue a full apology to Senator Warren and the people of the first district.

“Unfortunately, given Hagedorn’s history of inflammatory rhetoric and extreme behavior, from referring to female Senators as ‘bimbos in tennis shoes’ to banning constituents from his district offices, I am not going to hold my breath.

 “Minnesotans won’t always agree with our representatives, but we expect them to be decent human beings. Time and time again, Jim Hagedorn has failed to meet that low bar.”

Warren announces White House bid, getting early jump on 2020 race

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) became the first major Democratic name to jump into the 2020 presidential race on Monday, announcing that she is forming an exploratory committee to run for the White House.

The senator made the announcement in a video sent to supporters and posted on YouTube.

“America’s middle class is under attack,” Warren said in the video. “How did we get here? Billionaires and big corporations decided they wanted more of the pie. And they enlisted politicians to cut them a bigger slice.”

View the complete December 31 article by Justin Wise on The Hill website here.

Mitch McConnell’s crime of passion against Elizabeth Warren

The following column by Doyle McManus was posted on the L.A. Times website February 12, 2017:

After 32 years in the Senate, Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has earned a reputation as a wily legislative wizard and a cynical genius at outwitting Democrats.

So when McConnell invoked a little-used Senate rule to silence Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) as she read a letter from Coretta Scott King denouncing President Trump’s nominee for attorney general, Congress-watchers figured there had to be a clever strategy behind the move. Continue reading “Mitch McConnell’s crime of passion against Elizabeth Warren”

Warren calls for probe into Trump White House Russia Ties

The following article by Martin Finucane was posted on the Boston Glub website February 14, 2017:

In a series of tweets posted in the wake of national security adviser Michael Flynn’s resignation, Massachusetts US Senator Elizabeth Warren called for a bipartisan inquiry into the Trump administration’s contacts with Russia, saying national security was at stake.