Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Wednesday told a packed crowd of progressive labor activists and community organizers that she agrees with their new demand of “putting families first and good jobs for all”—because while “big bank, powerful corporations, and billionaires” are “doing just fine,” it remains average working people across the country who “are getting squeezed hard by an economy” that no longer works for them.

“The game is rigged. Because oil companies have great lobbyists. Because NASCAR owners and race horse owners have friends in Washington—and all those who don’t have lobbyists get less and less… and less.”
—Sen. Elizabeth WarrenSen. Warren (D-Mass.) lamented the loss of previous eras, specifically as the nation emerged from the Great Depression in the last century, when government policies and resources were aimed bolstering the common good. “We were investing in opportunity,” she said, citing 1930s and 40s-era spending on education and large-scale infrastructure projects. “We’re weren’t perfect, we didn’t get it all right,” Warren admitted, “but we were moving in the right direction.”

The senator was speaking at a kick-off event in Washington, D.C., as a coalition of five national organizations, plus affiliates from across the country, came together to announce a new campaign aimed at channeling the economic frustrations of tens of millions of Americans—including the poor, low-wage earners, and a struggling middle class. The effort, as laid out Wednesday, seeks to overthrow the entrenched policies of the wealthy and the powerful with a vision that addresses structural financial inequities while uplifting those who have been left behind and disempowered by the status quo.

The groups stood behind a new report—titled (pdf)—which lays out a plan to guarantee good wages and benefits while creating new jobs to sustain both families and communities with new spending on infrastructure, education, childcare, and a clean energy future. Commissioned by the Center for Community Change and written by Dorian T. Warren, an associate professor at Columbia University and a Roosevelt Institute fellow, the document acts as a blueprint for political action and structural change.

“If politicians want to talk ‘family values,’ it’s time they start valuing families – and that means making sure all Americans can make ends meet.”
—Deepak Bhargava, Center for Community Change

Endorsed by a coalition that includes the Center for Popular Democracy, Jobs With Justice, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and the Working Families Organization, the report’s findings and arguments form the foundation of the “Putting Families First” platform that they intend to put before lawmakers and candidates leading up to the 2016 campaign.

According to a statement by the coalition in the report’s introduction:

“We’re done tinkering on the margins of income inequality,”  said Deepak Bhargava, executive director of the Center for Community Change. “We must be bold. That’s what this campaign is about. We can restore balance in our economy and create an America that works for everyone. This begins by putting families first. If politicians want to talk ‘family values,’ it’s time they start valuing families—and that means making sure all Americans can make ends meet.”

“[Our] audacious demand… is that those who work should receive a fair share of the wealth they create.”
—Ana Maria Archila, Center for Popular Democracy

Dan Cantor, executive director of the Working Families Organization, said the interests of regular people must be put ahead of those of the financial elite once again.

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“For 30 years Wall Street has rigged the economy, and a lot of rich bankers have become really rich bankers,” Cantor said. “If we continue down this path, our democracy will perish. We don’t need more hedge fund millionaires. We do need millions more decent, middle class jobs that allow people to sustain their families, pay down their debt, and invest in a secure retirement. Everyone who isn’t blinded by greed knows this to be true.”

And Ana Maria Archila, co-executive director of the Center for Popular Democracy, described how U.S. society is currently experiencing a “movement moment” in which “communities are rising” nationwide. “Just two weeks ago,” she noted, “thousands and thousands of fast food workers marched in streets across 200 cities to demand that every person’s work be valued and respected with dignified wage and the right to organize. That’s the audacious demand that is refocusing the conversation about inequality around the idea that wealth is created by people who work, and those who work should receive a fair share of the wealth they create.”

In a post on Wednesday that appeared on Common Dreams, Bhargava articulated the five focus areas of the new campaign this way:

• Decades of stagnant wages, the erosion of labor-market standards, and attacks on unions have left millions of working people without enough to get by. By raising employer standards, setting higher wage floors and restoring workers’ bargaining power, we can ensure that all working Americans have enough to provide for their families.
• As mothers and fathers struggle to find quality, affordable childcare, and families are forced to make difficult decisions every day about taking care of elderly or disabled family members, a major investment in the care economy would not only create and improve jobs in childcare and in-home care, but would also support families in need of quality care for loved ones.
• Historic disinvestment in communities of color has created concentrated areas of high poverty. By reinvesting in these communities, we can level the playing field and give millions of Americans the opportunity to advance and unleash their talents for the benefit of everyone.
• Global climate change may very well be the single greatest challenge facing humanity in this century, but it is also an opportunity to create sustainable jobs that reduce carbon emissions.
• Lastly, as millions of Americans struggle to provide for their families, the top 1 percent own 40 percent of the nation’s wealth and they continue to be showered with tax cuts. It’s time we fix this system and invest revenue in an economy that works for all of us.

In her remarks, Sen. Warren rejected a familiar mantra in Washington, D.C. that the nation “is broke” or that there isn’t enough money to make such visions viable. “How can we be broke?” she asked. “Because I want to point out there is sure plenty of money—billions of dollars—for subsidies for big oil companies. There’s plenty of money for special breaks for owners of thorough-bred race horses. There are buckets of money to do great deals for owners of NASCAR race tracks. So why is there no money for the things that make our country work?”