Wall Street Critic Elizabeth Warren ‘Glad Bernie Sanders Is Fighting to Hold Big Banks Accountable’

By Andrea Germanos / Common Dreams

Sen. Bernie Sanders got a shout-out from Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Wednesday, a day after the presidential hopeful gave a policy speech laying out his tough-on-Wall-Street stance.

Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat who has yet to endorse any of the Democratic presidential candidates, offered the praise in a handful of tweets:

11 big banks are still so risky that if any one started to fail, they’d need a gov bailout or risk taking down the economy – again.

— Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) January 6, 2016

But the 2016 Republicans claim they’ll repeal all the new financial regulations – hoping to be chosen as Wall Street’s favorite candidate.

— Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) January 6, 2016

I’m glad @BernieSanders is out there fighting to hold big banks accountable, make our economy safer, & stop the GOP from rigging the system.

— Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) January 6, 2016

We need to level the playing field and end too big to fail.

— Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) January 6, 2016

Though Warren also included this tweet, Hillary Clinton, unlike Sanders and fellow Democratic candidate Martin O’Malley, does not support reinstating the Glass-Steagall Act, a law that put a wall of separation between investment and commercial banking:

I’m glad that ALL the Dem candidates for president – @HillaryClinton, @BernieSanders & @MartinOMalley – are fighting for Wall St reform.

— Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) January 6, 2016

During his speech in New York on Wednesday, Sanders said, “Wall Street and corporate greed is destroying the fabric of our nation.” He also vowed to break up “too big to fail” banks, saying, “If a bank is too big to fail, it is too big to exist. … When it comes to Wall Street reform, that must be our bottom line.”

The Vermont senator also voiced support for the Warren-introduced 21st Century Glass-Steagall Act. That legislation, of which he is a co-sponsor, “aims at the heart of the shadow banking system,” he said.

“In my view, Senator Warren, is right,” he added. “Dodd-Frank should have broken up Citigroup and other ‘too-big-to-fail’ banks into pieces. And that’s exactly what we need to do. And that’s what I commit to do as president.”