For Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a focus on kitchen table finances in her second year
By STEVE LeBLANC, Associated Press
BOSTON (AP) — U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren has garnered the kind of fevered attention during her freshman year that would make most political figures drool — with supporters even calling on her to consider a 2016 presidential bid, a notion she's dismissed.
As she enters her second year in Congress, the Massachusetts Democrat said her focus is instead on improving the economic fortunes of ordinary Americans, a theme that is dovetailing with a renewed emphasis in her party on economic justice and with President Barack Obama's own stated goal of addressing income inequality.
For Warren, stabilizing the ordinary American family's finances rests on a number of pillars — from reining in student debt to easing what she calls the nation's retirement crisis to doubling funding for federal research programs.
Warren has also positioned herself as a passionate defender of Social Security, even bucking Obama on changes she said would weaken a key protection for millions of older Americans.
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http://www.masslive.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/01/for_sen_elizabeth_warren_a_foc.html