MIT Democrats endorses Elizabeth Warren for President of the United States
Her combination of political vision and expertise makes her the best choice to lead our country towards a better future
The 2020 Democratic Presidential Primary features the most packed and competitive field in recent history. After months of deliberation, MIT Democrats held a final vote among our membership and selected our top candidate by a landslide. Our members support this candidate because she recognizes the corrupting influence of money in politics, the increasing danger of spiraling wealth inequality, and the existential threat of climate change. Moreover, our members believe in her history of enacting progressive reforms and comprehensive, detailed plans for the numerous challenges facing our own, and future, generations. She, more than any other candidate, has both the vision and know-how to repair the damage of the Trump administration and to unify Americans to boldly lead our country in a positive new direction. MIT Democrats proudly endorses Elizabeth Warren for President of the United States.
Elizabeth Warren is not only best equipped to defeat Donald Trump in the most important election of our lifetimes, but is also a skilled and experienced reformer who is ideally positioned to bring about transformative, structural change. After starting her career as a special needs teacher in a public school, Elizabeth attended law school as a young mother and went on to become a law professor and one of the nation’s foremost experts on the financial problems facing Americans. During the devastating 2008 financial crisis, she chaired the congressional committee that policed the Wall Street firms which taxpayers had been forced to bail out. Elizabeth was the driving force behind the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Although fearful Republicans blocked her from running the CFPB, as a special advisor in the Obama administration, she led the CFPB’s establishment as an agency that has reformed mortgage lending, investigated hundreds of thousands of complaints from Americans wronged by financial institutions, and rescued $12 billion in refunds and cancelled debts for 29 million consumers. After defeating a popular incumbent Republican to become the first woman Senator from Massachusetts in 2012, Elizabeth has continued to fight corruption and fiercely advocate for an economy that works for all Americans. As a candidate, Elizabeth has put forward transformative policies that receive support across the political spectrum and has invested resources to elect a Democratic Senate that can enact her agenda. She has a record of not only proposing innovative reforms, but also making these structural changes a reality and has already repeatedly demonstrated her expertise and ability to lead our nation forward. Her own story of grit and perseverance can resonate with all Americans. Elizabeth Warren can unite the Democratic party and the nation behind an agenda of structural change, defeat Donald Trump, and use her skills as a proven reformer to bring about a society that works for all Americans.
Elizabeth Warren’s widely-praised ability to discern the roots of the issues plaguing our nation has led her to propose fundamental policy changes that address these challenges. The undue influence of wealthy individuals and organizations has corrupted policy-making and skewed political representation for the last 40 years, especially since Citizens United v. FEC. Elizabeth has advocated for increased transparency of political spending, public financing of elections, and a ban on corporate Super PACs. She has already put forward legislation to limit senior government officials’ ability to profit from their offices and to shut the revolving door between industry and those meant to regulate it on behalf of the public. These and her other proposed reforms would close nearly every avenue for money to buy power in our democracy.
Elizabeth understands the urgency of the climate crisis and has proposed a comprehensive set of bold actions to help save our planet and transform our economy. She is an original cosponsor of the Green New Deal and calls for 100% clean buildings by 2023, 100% clean vehicles by 2030, and 100% clean energy by 2035. These plans provide an opportunity to create millions of new jobs and address racial and economic discrimination in communities disproportionately affected by climate change. She recognizes climate change as a systemic and global crisis, and she has proposed a Blue New Deal to protect our oceans and policies to include climate reforms in all future trade deals.
To combat the extreme economic inequality in this country, Elizabeth has proposed an Ultra-Millionaire Tax on the nation’s wealthiest 75,000 households to bring in trillions of dollars to rebuild the middle class. This revenue would be used to relieve student debt, provide universal child care, and contribute to the Green New Deal, Medicare for All, and affordable housing. This wealth tax has broad, bipartisan support from Americans who recognize the injustice of our rigged economy. All of Elizabeth’s plans have one central theme: ending corruption in Washington and putting power back in the hands of the American people.
The choice facing Democratic primary voters is a consequential one. We believe the problems facing our country demand more than timid leadership and incremental improvements. We need a candidate who has a proven record of enacting structural change and who will fight fearlessly to reform our financial and political systems and save our planet. There is no candidate better prepared for that fight than Elizabeth Warren.
As an open student organization, MIT Democrats has sought to engage the student body and develop their awareness and understanding of the slate of contenders. Over the course of the past year, MIT Democrats has hosted numerous campus-wide discussions, events, and debate watch parties. We chose our endorsement via an internal, ranked-choice vote, and the following four members of MIT Democrats assisted in writing this endorsement.
Ahmed Elbashir, Junior in Computer Science, President of MIT Democrats
Seamus Lombardo, Graduate Student in Aerospace Engineering, Vice President of MIT Democrats
David Mazumder, Graduate Student in Neuroscience, Member of MIT Democrats
Carina Belvin, Graduate Student in Physics, Member of MIT Democrats