Wall Street Journal Column Says Elizabeth Warren’s Policies Are ‘Disastrous,’ Ignores Actual Data [View all]
Source: ThinkProgress
In the pages of today’s Wall Street Journal, the leaders of the centrist think tank Third Way argue that the economic populism of Elizabeth Warren would be politically “disastrous” for Democrats. To embrace her policies, Jon Cowan and Jim Kessler argue, would send Democrats over a “populist cliff.” As an alternative, they suggest cuts to Social Security and Medicare to finance investments in infrastructure and public schools.
The authors rely on a seemingly random assortment of anecdotes (the mayor of New York City hasn’t won an election for Governor or Senator in 144 years!) to dismiss an array of policies championed by Warren — tax increases for the wealthy, closing corporate loopholes, breaking up large financial institutions. To bolster their alternative, they cite the election of 2008, even though Obama and other Democrats nearly unanimously rejected entitlement cuts that year.
One thing that’s missing: actual data. As it turns out, the policies Third Way trashes as “disastrous” are overwhelmingly popular with a broad spectrum of Americans. Meanwhile the alternatives proposed by Third Way are rejected by voters by even greater margins.
Read more: http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/12/03/3012791/wall-street-journal-column-says-elizabeth-warrens-policies-politically-disastrous-ignores-actual-data/
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