Elizabeth Warren . . . the one we're waiting for? . . . . or a spoiler for Hillary?

We're having a great economic recovery for Wall Street investment bankers and for big stock owners.    But the middle class and working people are not getting any benefit from this "recovery," and economic inequality remains at record highs and still climbing.

President Obama has not been the economic populist we hoped for, partially because he is hampered by conservative obstructionists and partially because at heart he is more of a centrist than a drum-beating progressive -- at least on economic issues.   Too many of his economic team have represented the interests of Wall Street more than the interests of Main Street.

And Hillary Clinton?    She's more of a centrist and friend to Wall Street than Obama.   As much as I want to see Clinton be our first woman president, the times are calling for that drum-beating populist progressive.    

Elizabeth Warren fills that bill:  not only is she right on the issues, but she has a rhetoric and speaking style that is both pithy and inspiring.   You just know she is speaking the truth.    She doesn't seem to have a bit of guile in her body.   Her fighting for all Americans seems 100% genuine.

Listen to her speech on the senate floor about the provision to roll back reforms of banking practices that led to the near collapse of our whole economic system in 2008.   This roll-back provision, written largely by CitiCorp lobbyists and without open debate -- would undo a major part of the Dodd-Frank bill that forced investment banks to use their own money, not depositors' money, when they make risky investments.  

In short, it dumps responsibility back onto the tax-payers for bailing out "too big to fail" banks that reap profits from high risk investments and are protected by taxpayers from losses.  That just is not right.   It's depositors, not investment bankers, that should be protected by taxpayers.    Listen to Warren's own words:

"Democrats don't like Wall Street bailouts. Republicans don't like Wall Street bailouts. The American people are disgusted by Wall Street bailouts.

"And yet here we are, five years after Dodd-Frank with Congress on the verge of ramming through a provision that would do nothing for the middle class, do nothing for community banks, do nothing but raise the risk that taxpayers will have to bail out the biggest banks once again. . . .

"So let me say this to anyone who is listening at Citi[group]. I agree with you.   Dodd-Frank isn't perfect. It should have broken you into pieces!

"If this Congress is going to open up Dodd-Frank in the months ahead, then let's open it up to get tougher, not to create more bailout opportunities. . . .  let's pass...something...that would help break up these giant banks.

A century ago Teddy Roosevelt was America's Trust-Buster. He went after the giant trusts and monopolies in this country . . . .  because all that concentrated power threatens the very foundations up our democratic system.

"And now we're watching as Congress passes yet another provision that was written by lobbyists for the biggest recipient of bailout money in the history of this country. And its attached to a bill that needs to pass or else the entire federal government will grind to a halt.  Think about that kind of power. If a financial institution has become so big and so powerful that it can hold the entire country hostage, that alone is reason enough to break them up.  Enough is enough. . . . 

"Washington already works really well for the billionaires and the big corporations and the lawyers and the lobbyists.  But what about the families who lost their homes or their jobs or their retirement savings the last time Citigroup bet big on derivatives and lost? What about the families who are living paycheck to paycheck and saw their tax dollars go to bail out Citi just 6 years ago?

"We were sent here to fight for those families. It is time, it is past time, for Washington to start working for them!"

I don't know if Elizabeth Warren would make a better president than Hillary Clinton.   Certainly she does not have the broad experience in government that Clinton does.   But she has passion -- unbridled passion -- for what is right for the majority of Americans, not the elite who already have the highest profits in history.

At the very least, we need her voice in a series of primary elections, debating the issues, forcing Hillary Clinton to take a position, pulling her to the left of center and unleashing some passion about doing the right thing.

Yes, I'm ready for Elizabeth Warren to become part of an ongoing debate within the Democratic Party.

Ralph