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Elizabeth Warren Tag

Yesterday, Professor Jacobson penned a compelling argument about the dangers of being "branded" by President Trump:  Trump brands tend to spread . . . and stick. The latest person to be branded, he explained, is Elizabeth Warren, who falsely claimed to be Native American in an attempt to further her career.  You can read the details here. Speaking at the NRA convention, Trump referred to Warren as "Pocahontas," and the prof observed that "Trump is branding her.  And being someone who was a fake Indian is her brand. She’ll never shake it."

When Newt Gingrich spoke at Cornell earlier this semester, he made a very important point. Trump doesn't attack his political opponents, he brands them. The brand for Jeb was "low energy." For Rubio, it was "little Marco." For Cruz, it was "lyin' Ted." Once branded, they could not shake the image. Just ask "Crooked Hillary." Which brings up Elizabeth Warren. As we posted earlier, while Warren is denying that she "is" running for president in 2020, she's making all the normal pre-presidential run moves.

Elizabeth Warren says she's not running for president in 2020. She could have fooled us. Her actions suggest not only is she running, she has already begun. Still, she denies it. The Washington Free Beacon reported:
Warren: ‘I’m Not Running for President in 2020’ Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D, Mass.) stated that she is not running for president in 2020 during an interview with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow on Wednesday night.

In an interview with the Boston Globe, Sen. Elizabeth Warren claimed Sen. Mitch McConnell won't even say hello to her after she violated Senate rules during floor debate over the confirmation of Attorney General, Jeff Sessions. According to the Globe:
“I’ve spoken to him, but he has not spoken to me,” Warren said, laughing in a disbelieving way, shaking her head. “I say hello to Mitch every chance I get, and he turns his head.”

It has been a mystery as to why Elizabeth Warren never ran for president in 2016. As I wrote many times, and early on, I believe Warren would have crushed Hillary. Like a sour grape. The decision not to run also stood in contrast to Warren's tough gal act on Twitter and on the stump. She was a flame thrower who claimed not to be afraid to stand up to the bully Trump. So why didn't Warren run?

Elizabeth Warren fancies herself a champion on the issue of equal pay for women but like many progressives, she doesn't hold herself to the same rules she wants for others. Brent Scher of the Washington Free Beacon did a little digging and found that the pay difference between men and women on Warren's staff is rather problematic:
Elizabeth Warren’s Female Staffers Made 71% of Male Staffers’ Salaries in 2016 The gender pay gap in Sen. Elizabeth Warren's (D., Mass.) office is nearly 10 percent wider than the national average, meaning women in the Massachusetts Democrat's office will have to wait longer than most women across the country to recognize Equal Pay Day.

Elizabeth Warren is emerging as the symbol of "resistance" to Trump, despite the attempts of Clinton World to slide Chelsea into that slot. That's not by chance. Republicans are desperate to find someone to run against in 2018. Republicans need a new foil.There is no obvious Democrat to run against, because there are no big name national Democrats left. Pelosi and Schumer are old news. Bernie has had his day in the sun. Warren fits the bill.

Elizabeth Warren's opinion on healthcare and the single payer option seems to shift with political convenience. It's hard to believe, isn't it? Back in 2012, when being a good Democrat meant defending Obamacare at all costs, she abandoned her prior support for a single payer plan. She got caught in an interview with liberal Boston radio host Jim Braude. Here's a transcript of their conversation via the Weekly Standard:
Elizabeth Warren Supported Single-Payer Before She Opposed It HOST: If you were the tsarina, something like single-payer, government run health care, far lower administrative costs, that sort of thing, would be the Senator Warren prescription, would it not? ELIZABETH WARREN: I think right now what we have to do--I’m serious about this--I think you’ve got to stay with what’s possible. And I think what we’re doing–and look at the dust-up around this–we really need to consolidate our gains around what we’ve got on the table.

The 2020 election is still way off but Trump has already made it clear that he'd love for the Democratic Party to nominate Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. The Hill reports:
Trump: Elizabeth Warren running against me would be 'a dream' President Trump said in an interview broadcast Saturday night that Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) launching a presidential bid against him would be "a dream come true."

Elizabeth Warren knows that both Obama and Bill Clinton dismissed U.S. attorneys after taking office. Yet she's preparing to go to war over Trump doing it. Warren is just doing what she always does best. Playing to the far left base of her party. Alan Yuhas reports at The Guardian:
Elizabeth Warren says Trump pushed out prosecutors to install 'cronies' The progressive senator Elizabeth Warren accused Donald Trump of firing a prominent prosecutor to install “cronies” , warning on Sunday of “a massive fight” in the Senate over his picks for new US attorneys.

"Can I get the McConnell special, please?" Almost exactly a month ago, Sen. Elizabeth Warren violated Senate floor rules when she attempted to read a letter from the late Coretta Scott King that would've impugned then Sen. Jeff Sessions. Warren refused to stop reading and eventually read the letter in full outside of the chamber. Describing the event, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said, "nevertheless, she persisted." Now, women everywhere are flocking to have this pithy little McConnell quote inked on their bodies for all eternity.

A veterans group in Massachusetts is criticizing Elizabeth Warren and others for seeming to care more about illegal immigrants than vets. The group, Veterans Assisting Veterans, suggests that Warren's support for illegals is political theater and that vets are suffering as a result of neglect. Dan Atkinson reports at The Boston Herald:
Veterans group blasts Elizabeth Warren A local veterans’ advocacy group is blasting Massachusetts U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and other state Democrats for their support of illegal immigrants, calling it “selfish political theater” and demanding they put veterans’ services at the top of their list — or feel the heat.

Once upon a time, a certain Senator from Massachusetts wrote about the virtues of school voucher programs. But you'd never know that based on how Sen. Warren criticized newly minted Education Secretary, Betsy DeVos. Writing to Secretary DeVos upon her nomination, Sen. Warren wrote:
"For decades, you have been one of the nation's strongest advocates for radically transforming the public education system through the use of taxpayer-funded vouchers that steer public dollars away from traditional public schools to private and religious schools. ... "But the actual evidence on how private voucher programs affect educational outcomes is mixed at best, in many cases reveals these programs to be expensive and dangerous failures that cost taxpayers billions of dollars while destroying public education systems."

There was a fair bit of drama in the Senate last night. Senate Democrats are hosting yet another sleepover to protest the upcoming confirmation vote on Senator Sessions' appointment as Attorney General, knowing full well they don't have the votes to stop his confirmation. They pulled the same stunt prior to the confirmation vote for Betsy DeVos, the new Education Secretary. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) began reading a letter written by Coretta Scott King, widow of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The letter was written in protest of Sen. Sessions nomination as a federal judge in 1986, and according to Senate Republicans, spoke ill of the soon-to-be AG.