It is not good not to have health insurance; that leaves the family very vulnerable.
— Elizabeth Warren
I pay for homeowner's insurance, I pay for car insurance, I pay for health insurance.
When people feel like, 'Lenders weren't fair with me; I don't have any responsibility to be fair with them.' If we go far enough down that line, much of the fabric of our economy starts to unravel.
How do you think we build a future? I think we build it by investing in our kids and investing in education.
I made it real clear to the business community - if your plan for innovation is to trick people, is to fool them, is not to tell them the truth about the price, then you're right: I'm going to be right in the way.
Going to college and finding a good job no longer guarantee economic safety.
Most women file for bankruptcy in the aftermath of a serious medical problem, a job loss, or a family break up. It is hard to protect against those.
Bankruptcy exposes the economic vulnerability and insecurity of middle class women.
Unfair servicing practices can worsen a family's already difficult economic situation, and the injury echoes from the family to the community and ultimately throughout the economy.
Markets work when people can evaluate the prices and risks of different products, then pick the ones that work best for them. But when the terms of the deal are hidden, competition doesn't work. And customers aren't the only ones who are hurt.
We've seen filibusters to block judicial nominations, jobs bills, political transparency, ending Big Oil subsidies - you name it, there's been a filibuster.
People who graduate are more resilient financially, and they weather economic downturns better than people who don't graduate. And, throughout their lives, people who graduate are more likely to be economically secure, more likely to be healthy, and more likely to live longer. Face it: A college degree puts a lot in your corner.
Families rely on financial services more than ever, but those who need them most - who struggle to make ends meet - too often must contend with sky-high interest rates and tricks and traps buried in the fine print of their loan products.
If the big banks expect to buy influence when they give money to favored think tanks, then the public has a right to know. If the big banks don't expect to buy influence and are merely making charitable contributions, then their shareholders have a right to know. Either way, there's no excuse for keeping these payments secret.
There is one thing Anthony Weiner and I agree on: there are a lot of smart, hard-working people in the financial industry.
Wall Street's outsized influence in our nation's capital is something I've talked about for a long time - long before I even thought about running for office. But where I see a problem - an infestation, really - a lot of others in Washington, both Democrats and Republicans, seem to see government working just fine.
People with banking experience haven't all flocked to the biggest banks; community banks and regional banks, along with smaller trading houses and credit unions, have some very talented people.
Some economists estimate that for every family that goes bankrupt, there are about 15 more who are in the same amount of financial trouble and would profit from bankruptcy but just haven't filed.
Even families with health insurance are quite vulnerable to a severe economic reversal if someone gets sick.
Consumers get used to reading and understanding their credit card contracts, their mortgages, their check overdraft agreements, those are good things. That puts power back in the hands of consumers.
Marathon Day in Boston and all of Massachusetts, it's Patriot's Day, and it's a big celebration for us. It's a day when we're kind of the whole world's city there.
When billionaire car dealers or manufacturers pay for ambassadorships, at least they pay with money earned by selling something of value.
Pundits talk about 'populist rage' as a way to trivialize the anger and fear coursing through the middle class.
For many women, the on-time payments of domestic support obligations are essential to economic survival.
When she was 16, my grandmother, Hannie Reed, drove a wagon in the Oklahoma land rush.
We need to hold Wall Street accountable for issuing the kinds of deceptive loans that nearly brought our economy to its knees in 2008.
I learned something important in my race against Senator Brown: voters want political leaders who are willing to break the partisan gridlock. They want fewer closed-door roadblocks and more public votes on legislation that could improve their lives.
I want millionaires and billionaires and Big Oil companies to pay their fair share.
A good education is a foundation for a better future.
With post offices and postal workers already on the ground, USPS could partner with banks to make a critical difference for millions of Americans who don't have basic banking services because there are almost no banks or bank branches in their neighborhoods.
Wall Street banks have the right to express their views to lawmakers and regulators through lobbying, but the law is clear: If they want to influence lawmakers, they must disclose their lobbying expenditures.
Too often, people get jobs based on who they know - not what they know.
I have voted against only one of President Obama's nominees: Michael Froman, a Citigroup alumnus who is currently storming the halls of Congress as U.S. Trade Representative pushing trade deals that threaten to undermine financial regulation, workers' rights, and environmental protections.
Who is Antonio Weiss? He's the head of global investment banking for the financial giant Lazard.
I'm not a Washington person.
Everyone would like the world always to be in bubble times. But that doesn't happen.
Credit card agreements run as long as 30 pages, and it's 30 pages of largely incomprehensible text.
If your plan is to put a product out there that people can see and understand, then by golly, we're going to get along just fine.
With the right sources of funding and some smart, strategic thinking about how to force non-banks to follow the same rules as other lenders, the entire landscape of consumer lending would change.
Consumer banking - selling debt to middle class families - has been a gold mine.
The women who file for bankruptcy played by all the rules, but they are still in economic freefall.
Cops on the beat can stop problems before the damage spreads.
The broken consumer credit market had to be repaired by making sure that consumers had the right information and could use it effectively. That meant consolidating the bloated patchwork of ineffective agencies and regulations so that a single agency could act as a voice for consumers.
We've seen filibusters of bills and nominations that ultimately passed with 90 or more votes. Why filibuster something that has that kind of support? Just to slow down the process and keep the Senate from working.
Never be so faithful to your plan that you are unwilling to consider the unexpected. Never be so faithful to your plan that you are unwilling to entertain the improbable opportunity that comes looking for you.
The Postal Service is huge - employing more than a half million people - and its history is long and complicated.
The poor pay more, and that's one of the reasons people get trapped at the bottom of the economic ladder.
Because policymakers often rely on think tanks' research when crafting laws and regulations, it's critical to know whether these organizations are truly independent.
Groupthink can become a serious issue - old ideas stay around after they're useful, and new ideas too often don't get a fair hearing.
The over-representation of Wall Street banks in senior government positions sends a bad message. It tells people that one - and only one - point of view will dominate economic policymaking.
