Shivansh Ahuja

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speaks at the Des Moines Register Political Soapbox during the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, IA on Saturday, August 10, 2019.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., gave her usual rebuke to corruption and monopolies while speaking at the Des Moines Register political soapbox Saturday.

She attracted the largest crowd yet for Saturday, the busiest day of candidate visits for the Iowa State Fair, and twice the crowd broke into chants. Once when she called for “big, structural change,” the crowd started chanting with her, to which she responded.

“You like big, structural change?” and the crowd chanted back a resounding “yes!”

She called to reduce the influence of “big ag,” “big tech,” and “big pharma.” Someone in the audience yelled “break it up!”

She said America needed someone who would enforce antitrust laws. She also called to invest more in unions. Warren referenced her plan to levy a wealth tax on some of the highest income earners to pay for many of her policies. That tax would add an additional 1 percent on wealth above $1 billion and an added 2 percent on wealth above $1 billion. After she explained her proposal to the crowd, people started chanting “two cents.”

With her wealth tax implemented, she said America could make four-year college tuition-free, universal child care, invest $50 billion into historically black colleges and universities, and cancel student loan debt for nearly all students.

“Is it more important to leave that two percent with the bazillionaires or is it more important to be investing?” Warren asked, before answering her own question saying she would rather be investing in the future.

“We dream big, we fight hard and we’re going to win,” Warren said.

Iowans there commented on what they thought of Warren and the 2020 field.

 

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