Ever since Sen. Elizabeth Warren arrived in Washington, she has demonstrated what policy wonk actually looks like. From anti-corruption efforts aimed at Wall Street to child care and college tuition proposals to tax reform, she has flooded her presidential bid with detailed plans, hard numbers, and interconnected strategies.
Her newly announced strategy to tackle the opioid epidemic, developed with Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings, is an aggressive one. She outlined it in a Medium post this morning. The highlights:
• $4 billion per year to state, territory, and tribal governments for treatment efforts.
• $2.7 billion per year for the hardest hit counties and cities.
• $1.7 billion for research and professional training, and $1.1 billion for nonprofit groups providing treatment and recovery.
• $500 million per year toward naloxone availability efforts. Naloxone is a drug that can reverse opioid overdose.
As has been consistent in Warren's proposals, the second part of the plan demands accountability for the now fabulously wealthy titans whose actions have inflamed this mess. Fully half of her write-up is devoted to an explanation of who has profited, how, and a reiteration of her call for corporate wrongdoers to face criminal prosecution for criminal acts.
Under my opioid plan, billionaires like the Sacklers wouldn’t get to live the high life while only 1 out of 5 folks who need opioid treatment get the help they need. Instead, they would pay up to help make sure every person gets the care they need. And under my Corporate Executive Accountability Act, executives of major companies that deliberately hurt people through criminal negligence — for example, by dumping mountains of highly addictive pills into towns like Kermit to make a quick buck — don’t just pay a fine, they face real criminal penalties.
It's anybody's guess who will win the Democratic nod for the presidency, but the party would do well to tap Elizabeth Warren to write the whole damn party platform from scratch. She could do it, too.