Op-eds
ELLE: The Major Reason to Stop Brett Kavanaugh That People Aren't Talking About
There are a lot of reasons to be concerned about Judge Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court. Judge Kavanaugh is hostile to health care for millions, thinks Presidents like Trump are above the law, and has given every indication that he will overturn Roe v. Wade. But there’s another big reason: Judge Kavanaugh thinks the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is unconstitutional. Ten years ago, the American economy fell off a cliff and millions of people lost their … Continue Reading
August 15, 2018
Wall Street Journal: Companies Shouldn't Be Accountable Only to Shareholders
Corporate profits are booming, but average wages haven't budged over the past year. The U.S. economy has run this way for decades, partly because of a fundamental change in business practices dating back to the 1980s. On Wednesday I'm introducing legislation to fix it. American corporations exist only because the American people grant them charters. Those charters confer valuable privileges-such as limited legal liability for their owners-that enable businesses to turn a profit. What … Continue Reading
August 03, 2018
Bloomberg: Worried About Wall Street Conflicts? The SEC Isn’t
Your lawyer can’t take money from your opponent to give you bad legal advice. If you’re on Medicare, your doctor can’t take kickbacks from drug manufacturers for prescribing their drugs. But, under current law, your broker-dealer can receive monetary rewards and other perks for recommending certain investment products, even if those products aren’t in your best interest.Each year, Americans lose billions of dollars because of brokers who are looking out for their own financial interests … Continue Reading
July 26, 2018
Berkshire Senior: Protecting and Strengthening Healthcare for Seniors
Medicare State Health Insurance Assistance Programs (SHIPs) are important programs operating in all 50 states that help beneficiaries enroll in the Medicare plans that are right for them, resolve billing issues, and navigate the Medicare system. Across the country, seniors and SHIP counselors are fighting to preserve this program, and I am committed to working to strengthen SHIP in the federal budget. … We are now in the middle of a new budget fight, and President Trump has once … Continue Reading
July 24, 2018
Marie Claire: If You're Not Worried About Justice Kavanaugh Overturning Roe v. Wade—You Should Be
President Trump has nominated Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, and one major reason why is clear: If he is appointed to the Court, Judge Kavanaugh will help overturn Roe v. Wade-the Supreme Court case that affirmed a woman's constitutional right to make decisions about her own body....The dangers posed by Judge Kavanaugh's nomination are very real. Access to contraception is critical to women's physical and economic wellbeing. Ninety-nine percent of U.S. women who have ever had … Continue Reading
July 07, 2018
Standing up for elders and people with disabilities
One of my top priorities in the U.S. Senate is working to strengthen the economic security of seniors and people with disabilities in Massachusetts. But today, some in Washington are trying to tear apart critical programs that help people live their lives with dignity.Last year, President Trump and congressional Republicans tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act and gut the Medicaid program that helps millions of seniors stay in their homes and live independently, and also helps pay … Continue Reading
June 11, 2018
El Nuevo Dia: Vivienda para refugiados boricuas
Hace ocho meses, el huracán María convirtió a Puerto Rico y a las Islas Vírgenes de los Estados Unidos en una zona de desastre. La tormenta le arrancó los techos a las casas y a las empresas, inundó las regiones montañosas, arrasó las carreteras, y destruyó la infraestructura crítica. La red eléctrica de Puerto Rico fue destruida. Millones de residentes se quedaron sin electricidad, sin agua potable, y sin acceso a … Continue Reading
May 31, 2018
Springfield Republican: Puerto Ricans still suffering from hurricane damage. It's time for Congress to act
Eight months ago, Hurricane Maria turned Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands into a disaster zone. The storm ripped the roofs off homes and businesses, flooded mountainous regions, washed out roads, and destroyed critical infrastructure. Puerto Rico's power grid was demolished. Millions of residents were left without power, clean water, or access to help.We witnessed the hurricane's lasting, devastating consequences firsthand when we visited Puerto Rico in January along with other members … Continue Reading
May 30, 2018
TIME: Trump’s New Proposal Is Another Attempt by the Government to Control Women’s Bodies
The Trump Administration is trying to turn back the clock on women's healthcare and reproductive rights....Last week, the president proposed reviving a Reagan-era rule that targets the Title X family planning program. The rule is a multi-pronged attack on women. First, it threatens Title X patients' access to medically accurate information by restricting what providers can tell patients about abortion services - even when patients directly ask for that information. Second, it loosens … Continue Reading
May 30, 2018
TIME: Trump’s New Proposal Is Another Attempt by the Government to Control Women’s Bodies
The Trump Administration is trying to turn back the clock on women's healthcare and reproductive rights....Last week, the president proposed reviving a Reagan-era rule that targets the Title X family planning program. The rule is a multi-pronged attack on women. First, it threatens Title X patients' access to medically accurate information by restricting what providers can tell patients about abortion services - even when patients directly ask for that information. Second, it loosens … Continue Reading
May 02, 2018
CNN Op-Ed: How Congress can combat sexual harassment
Sexual harassment isn't new. Every day, women across the country are catcalled on the street, groped by strangers and bullied online. Thanks to the brave women (and men) who have spoken out about this abuse, our country is taking a long overdue look at how to stop harassment once and for all.Preventing harassment requires a cultural shift in how we think about women, power and the right of all people to live their lives with dignity -- and Congress has a role to play. That's why we introduced … Continue Reading
April 18, 2018
Standard-Times: Support mental health funding
We all know someone who has dealt with a mental health condition - a friend, a family member, a partner, a co-worker, a neighbor. Nearly one in five adults experience mental illness each year, and about 10 million Americans experience a serious mental illness that substantially impacts their major life activities.Despite the widespread need, the availability of mental health services is sharply limited. Over the past five years, the Mental Health Block Grant, the federal government's … Continue Reading
April 11, 2018
Bloomberg Op-Ed: Don't Make a Bad Bill on Bank Deregulation Worse
The bank-deregulation bill that recently passed the U.S. Senate threatens the financial system and undermines consumer protections -- and it could get even worse as it moves through the House of Representatives. The Senate bill claims to solve a problem -- one that actually doesn’t exist. Bank lobbyists declare that broad deregulation is needed to spur growth and lending, but banks of all sizes are already making record profits and consumer and small business lending is … Continue Reading
March 29, 2018
USA Today Op-Ed: Treat the opioid crisis like the HIV/AIDS epidemic
It's time for Congress to show the same political courage on the opioid crisis that our colleagues showed 30 years ago for the HIV/AIDS epidemic.As states and communities on the front lines struggle to respond to the opioid crisis, Washington has only nibbled around the edges. Politicians and policymakers make vague promises, treating the crisis as if it is a novel, intractable problem. It is neither....Three decades ago, another epidemic that was highly stigmatized, … Continue Reading
March 28, 2018
Wall Street Journal Op-Ed: Republicans Remain Silent as Mulvaney's CFPB Ducks Oversight
The acting director has undermined the bureau's work defending the public.From the moment Congress created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Republican critics ranted about the CFPB's supposed lack of accountability. Now that one of those critics, Mick Mulvaney, has assumed control of the bureau, the attackers have fallen silent-even as Mr. Mulvaney disregards legal mandates and dodges congressional oversight. This turnabout shows Republicans never really cared about … Continue Reading
March 25, 2018
Boston Globe Op-Ed: A foreign policy in Asia that works at home
This week, I will travel to the Asia Pacific region to meet with our allies Japan and South Korea, and to talk with Chinese government officials in Beijing. Our engagement in Asia is essential to U.S. security and economic interests, but today the region faces significant threats.On the Korean Peninsula, a nuclear-armed North Korea threatens the security of the United States, our allies, the region, and the world. I agree with our senior military officials that there is no military-only … Continue Reading
February 26, 2018
Boston Globe: America needs union jobs
When he was gunned down by an assassin's bullet in 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was in Memphis. His last political act was to support sanitation workers as they fought for economic security and dignity on the job. Dr. King understood that the struggle for equality and justice is not limited to civil rights. It also includes economic justice. So, as he led the great struggle for civil rights, he also fought for labor rights. King was in Memphis to support a union because he knew that … Continue Reading
January 25, 2018
USA Today Op-Ed: Elizabeth Warren: Trump team isn't negotiating a good NAFTA deal for workers
The evidence is in: Donald Trump is the King of Offshoring. Since Trump promised to stop American job outsourcing, company after company has announced its intent to send more jobs overseas. Over 600 Indianapolis Carrier jobs went to Mexico, along with 300 jobs across town at Rexnord, and another 600 at Nabisco. GE. Microsoft. Lowe's. The outsourcing list goes on, and Trump has only made things worse. His administration continues to hand out millions in federal contracting dollars to companies … Continue Reading
January 24, 2018
American Banker Op-Ed: Misguided data freeze keeps CFPB from doing its job
During the fallout from the financial crisis, I worked with Congress to design the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to stand up for consumers and hold accountable the giant corporations that had crashed the economy. Congress gave the agency a lot of tools to level the playing field - it can write rules to implement laws and sue financial institutions that break them. CFPB examiners inspect financial institutions to make sure their practices are fair and don't cheat customers. And CFPB … Continue Reading
January 21, 2018
TIME Op-Ed: America Can Never Go Back to the Era of Back-Alley Abortions
When I was a girl growing up in Oklahoma, women got abortions. But because those procedures were illegal, many of them ended up with back alley butchers. And we all heard the stories: women who bled to death or died from an infection. One of my older brothers and I can argue left-right politics all day and all night, but when it comes to reproductive rights, we see it the same way: A woman should make this very personal decision - and the government should stay out of it. We're in step with … Continue Reading