Sen. Elizabeth Warren, one of the talked-about candidates for the Democratic Party’s 2016 ticket to the White House, chided President Obama for what she called his catering to Wall Street — and dismissal of Main Street — in 2008, when markets were tumbling.
Bluntly, she said Mr. Obama “picked Wall Street” over the welfare of America’s families, Politico reported.
“When the going got tough, his economic team picked Wall Street,” she said during an interview with Salon. “They protected Wall Street. Not families who were losing their homes. Not people who lost their jobs. Not young people who were struggling to get an education. And it happened over and over and over.”
Ms. Warren did give the president high-fives for creating a stronger federal presence over consumer credit, though.
“If Barack Obama had not been president of the United States, we would not have a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,” she said, Politico reported. “I’m completely convinced of that.”
Ms. Warren has been fielding calls from the progressive wing of the Democratic Party — a growing segment in the liberal camp — to counter former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as the presumed candidate for the White House. Ms. Warren has so far downplayed her interest in the job, yet has still come out swinging at top Democrats, as if she were testing the campaign waters — and has publicly criticized Mrs. Clinton for treating Wall Street in the same favorable fashion as Mr. Obama.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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