Warren, Cummings to examine policies harmful to middle class

The two lawmakers published an op-ed in USA Today Tuesday afternoon laying out the project, which, in their words, intends to “give a voice in Washington to those who need it most—hard- working people across this country.” The lawmakers wrote of the “progressive policies” that Congress enacted after the Great Depression, “to build and expand the middle class.” Unfortunately, they said, Washington has let corporations and lobbyists take it captive, corrupt it. “It’s time to change that system.”

In their op-ed, Warren and Cummings announced a series of congressional forums they would be holding, ”to examine economic policies threatening the middle class, and we’ll hear from leading economists about how to help families rebuild economic security.”

Not long after their article was published, the first such forum began, with Dr. Jared Bernstein, Senior Fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: Dr. Beth Ann Bovino, U.S. Chief Economist at Standard & Poor’s Rating Services; Dr. Gerald Jaynes, Professor of Economics and African American Studies at Yale University; and Dr. Joseph E. Stiglitz, University Professor at Columbia University. 

As Warren posed a question to Bernstein, the room looked like a sad delegation: planks of wood and people in suits. Few seemed riveted. But she asked a question about an initiative that Obama announced Monday, in his speech to the AARP, a plan to protect retirement savings through tighter regulations.

Doubtless Bernstein knew that this was the person who sat behind the president during his speech. Such is Warren’s power, this role that she’s carved out for herself: lender-of-advice to Hillary, careful watchdog of Barack, the holder of the Democratic Party. They all know that her disapproval matters.