"The Trump administration
and an army of lobbyists are determined to rig the game in their favor, to
boost their own profits—the cost to consumers be damned," the senator says
"Change is coming,"
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) declared Tuesday at a War on Regulations symposium hosted by
the Coalition for Sensible Safeguards and Georgetown University Law School. In
her live-streamed speech, Warren revealed plans to introduce anti-corruption
legislation to protect the American public from the Trump administration's
corporate-friendly deregulatory agenda.
"When we send a message
that corporate profits and powerful interests cannot overpower the health,
safety, and economic well-being of hardworking families, we fire a warning
shot," she said. "This is our time, our responsibility, our chance to
build a country where government works, not just for the rich and powerful, but
government that works for the people."
In her 30-minute address,
Warren highlighted the Trump administration's efforts to defang the
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), an agency she helped establish.
"The agency is under attack now. The Trump administration and an army of
lobbyists are determined to rig the game in their favor, to boost their own
profits—the cost to consumers be damned," she warned.
"But it's not just the
CFPB that is under attack. In agency after agency across the federal
government, powerful corporations and their Republican allies are working
overtime to roll back basic rules that protect the rest of us," Warren
continued. "Giant corporations and wealthy individuals are working in the
shadows to make sure that government works for them, not for the people."
As an example, Warren pointed
to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt.
"Corruption oozes out of his office, from wasting hundreds of thousands of
taxpayer dollars to cutting deals to make himself rich to doing the bidding of
the highest-paid lobbyists," she said, noting his attacks on the Clean
Water Rule, pesticide
safety, the Clean
Power Plan, vehicle
emissions caps, and methane
emissions limits.
The senator rebuffed the GOP's
favored narrative that regulations hinder businesses and individual
freedom—calling that claim "a greasy baloney sandwich that has been left
out in the sun so long that it has started to stink." She also detailed
the importance of regulations throughout American history and argued that
"good rules empower people to live, work, and do business freely and
safely."
In response to the ongoing
deregulatory efforts of wealthy "corporate predators"—which Warren
noted have continued since the Reagan administration under presidents from both
parties—the senator said she will soon introduce "sweeping anti-corruption
legislation to clean up corporate money sloshing around Washington and make it
possible for our elected government to actually work for the American people
again."
"My plan will padlock the
revolving door between government and industry," she vowed. "It will
eliminate the ability of government decision-makers to enrich themselves
through their government service. It will empower federal agencies pass strong
regulations that benefit the public by ending corporate capture of the
regulatory process."
In addition to Warren's
address, the symposium featured two panels: one focused on the deregulatory
agenda the Trump administration has imposed at federal agencies, and one
focused on the communities that have suffered under that agenda. Participants
included former EPA scientist Betsy Southerland; Public Citizen president
Robert Weissman; and Heidi Shierholz, the senior economist and director of
policy at the Economic Policy Institute.
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