Warren adviser on fighting inequality in the age of Trump
By Brian Goldsmith
Ganesh Sitaraman, a former policy director for Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is the author of a new book, “The Crisis of the Middle-Class Constitution.” He joined Yahoo News Political Consultant Brian Goldsmith to discuss his views about rising inequality and how that threatens American democracy.
Sitaraman, now an associate professor at Vanderbilt University Law School, argues that “economic inequality can lead to political inequality” and worries that the U.S. government is becoming a more oligarchic and less representative system.
One lesson Sitaraman learned from last year’s presidential campaign was “whether you were a Bernie Sanders voter … or a Donald Trump supporter … a common message was that the system was rigged to work for the wealthiest people in this country.”
Today, he is “concerned that President Trump has given up on fighting” for the little guy and his policies “punch the middle class rather than helping the middle class.”
Sitaraman said that Warren’s politics are not divisive because “bankers and billionaires” should support her efforts “to fight for the common good” even as she criticizes their political and economic influence. He would not comment about her potential candidacy for president in 2020.
