Warren wants a level playing field

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., does not want to close down the banks; rather, she wants to “level the playing field” so innocent people are not being cheated out of their hard-earned money by big banks who, she suggested, have twisted the rules or are “scamming” people to boost their profits.

“I don’t want to close down finance. I understand how finance works. Finance is an important part of keeping our economy going,” Warren said during a Friday afternoon campaign stop in snow-covered Newton. “I just want a level playing field. I just want a playing field where people don’t get cheated.”

The Democratic presidential candidate said she pays special attention to banks. Warren’s political career reflects that, too. In 2017, she heavily criticized the now former CEO of Wells Fargo, Timothy Sloan, saying, “At best you were incompetent, at worst you were complicit — and either way you should be fired.”

Sloan later quit from Wells Fargo in 2019.

“The world you should hate is the world where people get to cheat,” Warren added. “Because if you’re not a cheater, it’s not only that your customers get drawn off to those people, your whole business model is in trouble because you’re competing against cheaters. I want markets that will level playing fields.”

Warren was accompanied by Rep. Deb Haaland, D-N.M., at the Newton campaign rally, which staffers said attracted more than 120 people despite frigid temperatures, whiteout driving conditions in some areas and about four inches of snow.

Haaland acknowledged her endorsement of Warren and praised the senator for helping working class families. The New Mexico congresswoman also applauded her for her lively spirit.

“She’s a woman on a mission, and I’m supporting that mission,” Haaland said. “She’s the fearless and persistent legislator, the defender of our environment … She’s a friend to teachers and students alike. She is a champion for the LGBTQ community and for veterans … And if you haven’t heard, she is a woman who will win the White House.”

The senator who has served her state for the past seven years already has a track record for “getting things done,” which Haaland said is something voters want from a presidential candidate.

“She got a huge, bipartisan bill passed to make hearing aids more affordable for millions of Americans. That’s a small thing but it’s a huge thing for a lot of people,” Haaland said.

“She got a whole new consumer (protection) agency passed into law, all in the face of a powerful financial industry that spent millions of dollars to stop the reform in its tracks. Since then that agency has return more than $12 billion to Americans across this country.”

Warren described the job of the government — or “the regulator” — should be to make sure there is a fair environment for people to thrive and work within. This remains true for healthcare and its related costs, which she said need to be fought for, particularly the Affordable Care Act.

Prompted by an attendee's question, Warren said she is focusing on the problem on healthcare, especially the 36 million Americans who went to the doctor's office last year with something wrong and were prescribed medicine they could not afford, she claimed; and that included people with health insurance.

“We need to know where we need to end up,” Warren said. “And where we need to end up is in a place where every person in this country has the healthcare they need. Healthcare is a basic human right and we fight for basic human rights.”

Insurance companies, she continued, made billions of dollars in profits last year. This kind of money came from companies taking in “as much as they can in premiums and then they raise the deductibles and the co-pays and the things that aren’t covered.”

Warren said when it comes time for people to see a specialist or get a prescription filled, insurance companies say, “No.” Every dollar insurance companies made came from them telling people, “No,” she claimed. Warren argued that kind of businesses model is not sustainable.

“We cannot continue to do this,” she said. “… We’re actually subsidizing for for-profit companies. So what do we do? Here’s how I think about this: It’s the maximum amount of health to the maximum (number) of people as quickly as possible.”

Arguing that she does not need Congress’ help to get this done, Warren said if she were elected president she would defend ACA and reduce the costs of commonly used prescription drugs and things like insulin and HIV/AIDS medications.

The power to do this, she said, “is already in the hands of the president” in the laws passed many years ago.

“We just haven’t had a president to stand up and do it,” she said.

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com