Obama Gives Elizabeth Warren’s Coronavirus Recovery Plan A Shout Out
Former President Barack Obama on Monday endorsed Senator Elizabeth Warren’s extensive framework for how to jump-start the economy once the coronavirus epidemic starts to dissipate.
“As she often does, @SenWarren provides a cogent summary of how federal policymakers should be thinking about the pandemic in the coming months,” Obama tweeted, linking to an interview the Massachusetts Democrat gave to ‘Vox.’ Discussing her various plans to address the global pandemic and the resulting economic fallout.
In the interview, Warren argued that when it is the question of restarting the economy, which has been stalled in many areas, “only the federal government can cushion the economic blow here in a meaningful way.” She also spoke about the lack of widespread testing, claiming the data from such testing can be used to monitor potential hot spots for Covid-19.
Warren criticized the White House and its “America first” posturing that has the United States competing with other nations for resources and potentially banning the export of medical supplies that are in critical demand around the globe.
“What you’re asking is the question we face all the time around climate change: We may be in competition with other countries economically and politically, but when it comes to saving the planet, we have to find a way to work together,” Warren explained. “There’s no such thing as saving the United States of America and letting the rest of the planet burn up.”
“One of the lessons from 2008 was that, frankly, the Republicans just wouldn’t go for a big enough stimulus package. And that meant the recovery was slower and more anemic than it would have been had we put more money into stimulus,” Warren stated. “They were determined not to let Barack Obama have that kind of power in the recovery. And we paid a price for it as a nation. We’re still paying a price for it. Now, it’s the same kind of thing.”
Experts are now speculating that this mention of Warren by Obama was an endorsement of her as a potential Vice President.