Warren's Dishonest Class Warrior Speech At The DNC

Elizabeth Warren addressed the DNC tonight. It was horrendous.

She begins by noting that, "for many years now our middle class has been chipped, squeezed and hammered." That was her only honest remark of the night. Under the Obama economy, median incomes have dropped by over 10%, the number of people in the workforce is at record low numbers, long-term unemployment is at record high numbers, and of those 4.5 million jobs Obama is claiming to have created, 57% of them are low-wage jobs.

Warren goes on to enumerate some of the hardluck stories that she has seen. She mentions the construction worker out of work for nine months – but fails to note that the steep falloff in construction was because of the massive housing bubble created by progressives just like her. Warren mentions the head of a manufacturing company trying to "protect jobs but worried about costs" – but fails to note that the new costs are largely associated with Obamacare. Warren mentions a student "drowning in debt" – but fails to mention that the higher education bubble was created by the structure of government loans for higher education, nor does she mention that it was Joe Biden who ensured that student loans cannot be discharged in bankruptcy as a payoff to the banking industry.

But perhaps Ms. Warren's most outrageous statements were a primal scream that some people in America are getting wealthy. Indeed, she seemed downright angry that the government is allowing any of these evil people or corporations to keep some of their wealth. To Ms. Warren, all of this means “that the system is rigged." It is clear Ms. Warren does not see any connection between wealth creation and job creation. That is idiocy unbound. Additionally, her claim that the system is rigged implies that those who are creating wealth are doing so nefariously.

I do agree with Ms. Warren, at least in part, that the system is rigged. I think it very unfair that she was able to gain the position of employment based not solely on her accomplishments, but by falsely claiming to be part Cherokee Indian. Likewise, I feel it very unfair that Democratic cronies are receiving sweetheart government deals, such as with Solyandra or GE. In addition, I feel it very unfair that we still live in a nation where, as a condition of working in one's chosen profession, one could be forced to pay union dues. And I feel it very unfair that the people who caused our economic melt-down are not being prosecuted by the current administration. It is very clear, however, that Ms. Warrens definition of “rigged” differs substantially from mine.

According to Ms. Warren, the system is rigged because, one, “oil companies guzzle down billions in subsidies." That, of course, is a flat-out lie. Oil companies receive no subsidies. They have available to them the same tax breaks that do all businesses.

Two, Ms. Warren claims the system is rigged because "billionaires pay lower tax rates than their secretaries." That too is a lie. To the extent that there is a disparity, it is because we treat capital gains – i.e., money risked on investment – at 15%. Billionaires simply make a larger portion of their income from capital gains. We already have plenty of data showing that increasing the tax rate on capital gains lowers GDP and tax receipts – so in terms of making any economic sense, Ms. Warren's argument is groundless. Good lord, even uber-socialist Sweden, the darling of many our own lefties, recently dropped its capital gains tax rate - to 0%. At least the radical left there has some economic sense. At any rate, Warren's point is the most cynical of appeals to populism.

Three, Ms. Warren claims the system is rigged because “Wall Street CEOs – the same ones who wrecked our economy and destroyed millions of jobs – still strut around Congress, no shame, demanding favors and acting like we should thank them.” This is the big lie of Democrats.

The but for cause of our economic meltdown was Democratic social engineering of the housing market, and ultimately our credit standards, through the CRA, Fanny and Freddy. Not that I am defending Wall Street. I think that there are a whole host of people who should be put in jail over the economic meltdown. However, to do so, would be for Democrats to shine a spotlight on their role in the economic melt down. Thus, there has not been a single prosecution., to my knowledge, against the people who rated subprime mortgages as AAA investments. And indeed, a few weeks ago, the Justice Department announced that it would not prosecute Goldman Sachs for fraud in its marketing of securities backed by subprime mortgages.

This seems par for the course for this administration – a protector of the same Wall St. they regularly denounce. And do remember that former Sen. John Corzine, Democrat, presided over the theft of $1.2 billion in customer assets at MF global, yet is still walking free, still raising money for the president, and likely to escape justice under this Democratic administration. It is all a travesty made into a farce as the Democrats attempt to paint themselves as the champions of middle America against Wall Street.

There were many other low lights – such as Warren's using Romney's factually accurate remark that corporations are “people” to launch an utterly ridiculous primer in how individuals and corporations differ. Romney was referring to how the law treats corporations – and how they have done so since 1819. Warren, a law professor, saw his true statement as a chance to launch another scurrilous attack. And there was her glowing mention of Ted Kennedy. In truth, I was waiting for her to announce to the crowd that her great great grandmother had married a Kennedy, making her 1/32nd entitled to the Kennedy Ancestral Senate Seat.

I could go on and on about every line of this woman's vile screed. The bottom line, Elizabeth Warren is about as intellectually dishonest person as you'll find. Here's yet another Democrat in the mold of Nancy Pelosi and Debbie Wasserman Schultz. It is impossible to find common ground and to hold rational discussion with such people. God help us if she is actually voted into the Senate.

Udpate: Heh. Rush is on the Warren speech today. To paraphrase, Warren presented the strongest case yet for not reelecting Obama, she just doesn't realize it.

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