As a young scholar, Elizabeth Warren traveled to federal courthouses, studying families overwhelmed by debt. At the same time, she cites her bankruptcy studies for revealing the real damage caused by these economic forces.
1 / 11Election 2020 Elizabeth Warren Origin StoryThis undated photo provided by Sen. Elizabeth Warren's campaign in July 2019 shows Warren and her husband, Bruce Mann, working as young law professors. CHICAGO — As a young scholar, Elizabeth Warren traveled to federal courthouses, studying families overwhelmed by debt.
"The American middle class was in a lot more trouble than anyone had previously thought," she told The Associated Press, describing her research,"and year by year, the stories have gotten worse. ... The game has become a little more tilted and a little more tilted against hardworking families." She married at 19, became a mother at 22, divorced and remarried. After a brief stint as a speech therapist, she changed careers, attended Rutgers Law School and eventually landed a job at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law.
It wasn't just the topic but how Warren and her colleagues pursued their research that set them apart. "I knew that my family had been through a lot of tough times, but nobody had actually declared bankruptcy," she recalled in the interview. Westbrook says he and Warren didn't talk much about politics during their research, but he assumed she was a moderate Republican who turned more progressive, rejecting a creditor-friendly view that debtors were largely responsible for their predicament. The more they learned, he says, the more they identified with those coming to court.
Two years later, the panel proposed a series of recommendations to Congress, including strengthening the ability to collect child support from those who've filed for bankruptcy and standardizing how much property could be kept by a bankrupt family and under what conditions. But a group of researchers that analyzed that data concluded medical bills contributed to just 17% of personal bankruptcies and said those affected tended to be closer to poverty rather than the middle class.
Garthwaite says the findings exaggerate the degree to which medical bills are responsible for bankruptcy."Are you getting at the causal role of medical debt in bankruptcy or simply the presence of medical debt of those who go bankrupt? These are hard questions to answer. ... Just because a number is big doesn't make it right."
Warren remained a fierce opponent for seven years, maintaining that the legislation would impose new pressures on people who weren't irresponsible, just unlucky. In a 2005 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that has since gone viral, Warren clashed with Biden in sometimes-tense exchanges over bankruptcy courts, credit card companies and interest rates.
Lynn LoPucki, a professor at the UCLA School of Law who has co-written several legal texts with Warren, says the senator has long been outspoken and blunt.Warren is also known for her folksy manner — uttering an occasional"golly gee" or"holy cow" — and her skill at translating arcane financial terms into everyday language.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Elizabeth Warren To Introduce Bill Revoking Medals Of Honor For Wounded Knee MassacreThe Remove the Stain Act would strip the highest military award from 20 U.S. soldiers who slaughtered hundreds of Native women and children.
Read more »
Elizabeth Warren Now Betting Favorite to Win Democratic NominationElizabeth Warren will be the Democratic nominee for President of the United States ... according to bookies.
Read more »
Meet Jaden, the 11-Year-Old Reporter Who Scored an Exclusive Interview With Elizabeth WarrenHe was the real star of Warren's town hall in Toledo, Ohio.
Read more »
Elizabeth Warren Met Her Doppelgänger at a Rally, and I Don't Know Who's Who'I was saying 'I’m not her!' but I could have been saying ‘Medicare for all!''
Read more »
The Very Real Possibility of President Elizabeth Warren.JamilSmith on the very real possibility of President Elizabeth Warren
Read more »