Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is a well-known enemy of what she calls “corporate greed,” advocating for progressive economic policies like wealth taxes and government control of financial markets.
But it’s her decision to team up with activists who are outspoken enemies of Israel that’s raising eyebrows in political circles.
A recent press release announcing Warren’s “Corporate Crimes Against Health Care Act” includes a quote from Chris Noble, Policy Director for the Private Equity Stakeholder Project (PESP).
“Private equity firms have made a killing out of looting vulnerable hospitals and putting patients and healthcare systems at risk,” Noble said.
But Noble and PESP have had a lot to say about Israel and the war in Gaza, too. Less than two weeks after the October 7 Hamas terror attack killed more than 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals (including at least 32 Americans), the progressive organization publicly declared its “unwavering support for the people of Palestine as they fight their brutal occupation.”
PESP senior staffers have attended anti-Israel demonstrations and joined in the calls of “From the River to the Sea,” shorthand for the destruction of Israel, according to news reports.
And PESP’s investment engagement director, Alyssa Giachino posting a video of U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan) accusing Israel of committing war crimes.
Tlaib called attention to herself in 2019 when she taped the word “Palestine” over where Israel appears on a map of the Middle East hanging in her Congressional office. In 2020, Tlaib was spotted wearing a t-shirt depicting all of Israel as Palestine.
Massachusetts Republican Party spokesman Logan Trupiano offered some pointed criticisms over Warren’s association with the group.
“No United States Senator should be aligning themselves with antisemites or communists,” Trupiano told InsideSources. “When there is a deep connection to these groups, it can exert influence and shape policy decisions. Senator Warren should not be allowing her policies to be influenced by these people.”
PESP declined to respond to a request for comment.
None of PESP’s anti-Israel rhetoric has dampened Warren’s willingness to work with the organization. Perhaps because they share many of the same public-policy goals.
A recent PESP press release featured Warren front-and-center supporting the launch of their Private Risk Index.
“Let’s call out private equity’s abuse for what it is: legal looting,” Warren said. “The Private Equity Stakeholder Project’s new state risk index is a razor-sharp tool in the fight to hold private equity accountable.
“Together, we’re taking on this trillion-dollar, behemoth industry that’s hurting working people and sucking money out of the rest of the economy.”
PESP describes its mission as seeking to “identify, engage, and connect stakeholders affected by private equity with the goal of engaging investors and empowering communities, working families, and others impacted by private equity investments.”
But critics say their real mission is to coerce private equity-owned companies into backing progressive political initiatives.
“We focus not just on private equity but also other similarly structured private funds investments,” PESP says.
Peter C. Earle, senior economist at the Massachusetts-based free enterprise advocacy organization American Institute for Economic Research, called PESP’s “whole scenario ludicrous.”
“That a group of Marxists, who embrace concepts like ‘commodity fetishism’ and entertain 18th century economic theories like the Labor Theory of Value, would be qualified to comment on matters of modern finance is equal parts absurd and hilarious,” Earle told InsideSources. “The rise of ‘stakeholder theory’ is a fascinating development.
“Where once Marxists and other collectivists vilified private corporations and successful entrepreneurs, they’re now trying to co-opt finance to promote their own agendas, essentially conceding the superiority of economic calculation over central planning.”
Paul Craney, director of the pro-free market Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, said Main Street businesses benefit from investments made by private equity groups and cautioned that one of the missions of organizations like PESP is to hurt the American system of free enterprise.
“Senator Warren’s reliance on spurious information provided by an association staffed by political extremists is dangerous and harmful,” Craney said. “The Senator should spend less time leaning on beltway insider extremists and more time paying attention to the economic needs of her home state.”
