Amid speculation of a 2020 presidential bid, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) attempted to dispel the notion that she falsely asserted Native American heritage for personal gain by releasing a DNA test showing she was as little as 1/1,024th Native American. If this was her 2020 kickoff, it gave new meaning to the phrase “stumble out of the gate.”
Howard Dean: I had the greatest early campaign implosion ever.
Elizabeth Warren: Hold my organic fair trade latte.
Yesterday’s news almost certainly assures that the public will continue to debate whether Warren’s distant heritage warranted her listing as “Native” in every single Association of American Law Schools directory from 1986 to 1995. However, if Senator Warren is serious about running, she will also have to explain away another series of outrageous claims — her economic policies.
Senator Warren is the archetype for how absurdly extreme the Democratic Party has moved on economic issues. For example, at various times, Warren has supported:
Her economic platform might as well be reduced to a mad lib (no pun intended): “I’m Senator Warren and I support [noun] for all”.
Elizabeth Warren’s economic policies can only be taken un-seriously. If her platform wasn’t real, Republicans would have to invent it. As Milton Freidman taught us, there is no such thing as a free lunch.
To Senator Warren’s credit, she is up front about her desire to roll back Trump’s tax cuts (even as they continue to turbocharge our economy). But it’s going to take a whole lot more revenue than that to pay for her outrageous spending proposals.
Even if Congress were to double the amount that Americans and corporations pay in individual and corporate taxes, it still wouldn’t pay for Medicare-for-All — let alone all of the other goodies Senator Warren promises.
If Senator Warren is eyeing a presidential run, it’s time she scrap her entire economic agenda. Until then, “Native American heritage” won’t be the only dubious claim haunting her.
Photo credit: Senate Democrats via Flickr, CC BY 2.0
