POLITICO Pro Warren takes swipe at Reagan, trickle-down economics

Sen. Elizabeth Warren savaged trickle-down economics and took a swipe at President Ronald Reagan on Wednesday, blaming both parties for policies she said have devastated U.S. workers while propping up the wealthy.

The Massachusetts Democrat, who many on the left are pressing to run for president as an alternative to Hillary Clinton, also praised President Barack Obama for efforts she said were aiding the economic recovery, but said most Americans still weren’t seeing their lives improve.


“The trickle-down experiment that began in the Reagan years failed America’s middle class,” Warren said in her fiery keynote address to an AFL-CIO conference on raising wages.

“Pretty much the whole Republican Party, and if we’re going to be honest, too many Democrats, are overly cozy with the financial industry and make decisions that benefit the wealthiest 10 percent of Americans while leaving others to struggle, she said. Over the past 32 years, she added, every penny of America’s economic growth has benefited the top 10 percent of earners, while the bottom 90 percent has been squeezed.

“We know that democracy does not work when congressmen and regulators bow down to Wall Street’s political power,” she said. “And that means it’s time to break up the Wall Street banks and remind politicians they don’t work for the big banks, they work for us.”

The populist stemwinder drew raucous applause from a supportive Washington audience that included labor leaders from around the country. But Warren offered no indication that she was considering a White House run — she has repeatedly ruled it out in the past — despite recruiting efforts by progressives who view Clinton as too cozy with the financial industry.

During her 30-minute speech Wednesday, Warren cited Obamacare and the president’s recent immigration action as the type of David-beats-Goliath action that the country needs. She mentioned a POLITICO Magazine column headlined “Everything is Awesome” that highlighted the increasingly rosy economic picture in America – from falling gas prices to a surging stock market.

But while Warren credited Obama for the improvements, she said they hadn’t yet affected the vast majority of Americans. “Despite these cheery numbers, America’s middle class is in deep trouble,” she said.

In her indictment of trickle-down economics, Warren said politicians of both parties agreed to fire “the cops on Wall Street” and cater to big corporations, “turning them loose to do whatever juiced short-term profits even if it came at the expense of working families.”

“If we are ever going to un-rig the system then we need to make some important political changes,” she said. “We have seen David beat Goliath. We have seen the lobbyists lose.”