Unite the party!
Elizabeth Warren is a planner and fighter with a track record of success.
Warren Profile
Elizabeth Warren started her career by asking why so many families each year file for bankruptcy; one of her advisors said something along the lines of this not being a worthwhile research question and that families likely go broke for being stupid and fiscally irresponsible. What she found was that families most commonly file for bankruptcy for three reasons – unexpected job loss, unexpected illness and medical bills, and unexpected change in the family unit. Since gaining this knowledge, she has fought hard against bills that make it harder for everyday Americans to file for bankruptcy.
When the big banks failed in 2008, she was appointed to the committee overseeing the financial crisis (TARP). She later served as assistant secretary to President Obama. One of her biggest accomplishments is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The CFPB has returned 12 billion dollars to consumers who have experienced predatory lending. The CFPB has a consumer hotline so people can directly file and make public – so as to warn others – about claims against predatory lendors.
When running for senate in 2012, Warren insisted that she and her opponent sign what became The People’s Pledge to reduce the power of Super Pacs and other big money influenced groups over elections. Warren has also worked to improve hearing aid access (making them cheaper and more accessible). She has always been a planner, fighter, and idealist who believes in fighting hard but being open to compromising later and seeing the potential good of what government can do.
Fun Facts
· Her dad wanted to be a commercial airline pilot, was a flight instructor during WW2; after the war, he worked a couple of temp jobs and later became a janitor
· Her mom’s side was Native American; dad’s side opposed the marriage
· She grew up Methodist in Oklahoma to a conservative family; she skipped a grade
· Her three brothers joined the military
· Her dream school was Northwestern (but she got a full-ride debate scholarship to George Washington University)
· She dropped out at 19 and got married; her mom had always wanted her to not pursue her studies and instead focus on making a family
· She enrolled in community college and became a speech therapist for kids with special needs
· She enrolled in law school
· She is a notoriously horrible cook
· She dressed up as Robin Hood one Halloween
· She proposed to Bruce Mann but kept her first husband’s last name for her two kids
· She was a Methodist Sunday School teacher
· She was a Harvard law professor; Joe Kennedy and Katie Porter were her students
· She is the author of economics books, book chapters, and commercial financial advice books; her book, "The Two-Income Trap" is touted as a classic
· Warren is a grandma to three