So many things are apparent when you listen to and look at Elizabeth Warren with an open heart and an open mind. Her brilliance, her attention to detail, her fearlessness, her persistence, and her ability to accomplish things everyone said she couldn’t. And in the most recent debate, she showed what righteous white hot female anger against men who would hurt women looks like.
However, the one thing that strikes me and touches me most each time I see her speak, is the love that she clearly feels for as she calls them “the babies”. She tells the story of her lifelong dream of being a teacher and how as a special needs teacher, she felt great happiness and fulfillment. That was until her contract was not renewed because pregnant women were and are to this day too often discriminated against in our educational system. She talks about how she gravitated immediately to teaching when she received her law degree, gesturing with a smile from students this tall (indicates child height) to students this tall (indicates adult height).
Elizabeth Warren is many things, but most of all she is a teacher in her heart and in her soul. This explains in large part her belief in formulating detailed solutions and her considerable skill in explaining them and getting things done. Teachers are among the unsung heroes of society that have the greatest impact on our lives.
Hugs and Pinkie Swears
At her events, families with children always go to the head of the selfie line. It’s delightful to watch her interact with the families, taking the time to learn a little bit about each one and dispensing hugs. And her pinky swear with little girls — “I’m Elizabeth Warren and I’m running for President, because that’s what girls do” — I have to admit, still chokes me up. These are the things most visible, but I wanted to share other ways you might not be as familiar with where her actions and policies reflect this love.
Never Forget, Trump Puts Children in Cages; Elizabeth Warren Would Set Them Free
Among all the evil things Trump has done, one of the most evil is putting children in cages, where they are emotionally and psychologically abused and where in the most tragic cases, they are killed by neglect. The ability of his supporters to make excuses for this evil still perplexes and frustrates me.
As part of her plan called A Fair and Welcoming Immigration System, Elizabeth writes about detention centers as part of President Trump’s cruel racist immigration policies:
I saw that in McAllen, Texas, in the eyes of mothers who fled violence only to be ripped apart from their babies at the U.S. border. I saw it in the tears of families as they waited for their loved ones at Logan Airport in Boston on the night Trump announced his Muslim Ban. I saw it in the tired faces of little children made to march in formation between makeshift tents in the hot summer sun at the Homestead detention facility in Florida.
As one of her first acts as president, Elizabeth has sworn to close child detention centers, reunite families, and help them as best we can to heal. She does not need to consult Congress to do this.
Her immigration plan does many other things as well. Among them are balancing the needs of immigrants and asylum seekers with the recognized needs of border security, protecting DACA, providing a fair path to citizenship, and transforming the border security forces from violence and neglect to support and compassion.
And it would not be an Elizabeth Warren plan if it didn’t add something so obvious you wonder why people didn’t think of it before. Namely, providing the kind of support to other countries that would allow their citizens to remain in the homes they love with safety, security and opportunity.
She Loves The Babies Even Before They Are Born
She also respects and loves their mothers too. This is apparent from the fact that Elizabeth has created a healthcare-related plan called Addressing Our Maternal Mortality Epidemic. The background for the plan he writes:
Unfortunately, despite decades of progress, roughly 700 women continue to die each year from pregnancy or delivery complications in the United States, making it one of only thirteen countries where maternal mortality rates have worsened over the last 25 years. We are facing a maternal mortality crisis in America.
And for Black moms, particularly those living in rural areas, it’s an epidemic.
In a detailed report, ProPublica found that the vast majority of maternal deaths are preventable, but decades of racism and discrimination mean that, too often, doctors and nurses don’t hear Black women’s health issues the same way they hear them from other women.
In maternity care, health systems would have the flexibility to cover key services — like prenatal and postpartum visits, hypertension and depression screenings, and doula and lactation support — based on their effectiveness, not on their reimbursement rate. Outcomes could be tracked for a significant length of time after birth, to ensure that women and babies stay healthy during the postpartum period, and health systems could be pushed toward greater workforce diversity so care teams look more like the communities they serve.
In addition to maternal and infant health, no other president has explicitly recognized and named so many specific problems people face in accessing quality care. So, most politicians simply propose broad but not well defined healthcare plans, and I guess we are just supposed to hope for the best. This is not Elizabeth’s way. She has proposed multiple other plans related to healthcare. These include:
Don’t forget, the health and well being of parents is incredibly important to the health and well being of their children.
The Money Follows The Babies
Identifying the most effective ways to solve problems is a hallmark of Elizabeth’s plans. Too many policies give the money and resources to solve the problem to some intermediary and we the people have to face a seemingly endless process to access those resources. Too many who are eligible fail to break through the red tape.
For universal childcare, the funding comes from her ultra-millionaire tax. This and other proposals are also funded in part by the Real Corporate Profits Tax. The brilliance of her plan is to provide the resources directly to whatever childcare is being provided. This would include both home childcare and childcare centers that meet accreditation criteria. When the child moves to a different care setting, the money follows them. This would provide the maximum flexibility for parents seeking quality care for their children. The plan also calls for increasing pay to childcare providers, another group of unsung heroes.
Every Child and Young Adult Deserves a Quality Education
The education plan for children and teens is called A Great Public School Education for Every Student. It includes universal pre-school and fully funded support services for children with disabilities and children with learning challenges. And because she recognizes the burden of student debt and the lack of affordable higher education, she has proposed a plan called Affordable Higher Education for All. Part of this plan is to provide a sliding scale of student debt relief tied to their post graduation income. Again, this funding comes from making the rich pay their fair share and student debt relief can be done without Congress’ blessing.
It Takes a Village and a Strong Village Leader
It takes a village to raise a child and one of the keys to success is a strong village leader. Elizabeth cannot achieve any of these things for our children and families if she does not hold the power to do so! Join us in the fight, share with others the reasons you support her, and when your state votes, vote for Elizabeth Warren in the presidential primary.
Peace