Massachusetts Senate candidate and former White House financial reform adviser Elizabeth Warren on The Daily Show Tuesday made an impassioned plea to Washington to support America’s middle class.
Coincidentally, Warren’s interview with Jon Stewart was taped just hours before President Obama hammered the same points in his third State of the Union address. Warren told Stewart that Washington used to invest in the middle class. “Washington now works for those who can hire an army of lobbyists and an army of lawyers,” she said, citing a study that shows the 30 largest U.S. companies spend more on lobbying than they do in federal taxes.
“Who really pays for that?” Warren asked. “And the answer is America’s middle class. They’re the ones left to pick up the pieces, to pay the taxes, to keep the country running.”
“You’re not mad at me for this, are you?” Stewart quipped, providing some brief comedic relief.
But Warren wasn’t deterred. She went on to talk about China’s and Europe’s infrastructure spending and their investments in the future. Stewart countered, however, that manufacturing jobs aren’t likely to come back to the U.S. anytime soon. We’ve got to figure something else out, he said.
“We’re only going to figure something out if we invest in our middle class, if we invest in ourselves, if we invest in our future,” Warren said.
Money is already flooding the Massachusetts Senate race, where Warren is challenging Republican incumbent Sen. Scott Brown. Earlier this month, Warren’s campaign announced she had raised $5.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2011. And a poll in early December showed warren leading Brown by seven points.
Watch the interview:
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Elizabeth Warren | ||||
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