The game is rigged: deep down, this is a fight about values.

• Position: Senator Elizabeth Warren - Speech

In every fight to build opportunity in this country, in every fight to level the playing field, in every fight for working families, the path has been steep.

Throughout our history, powerful interests have tried to capture Washington and rig the system in their favor. From tax policy to retirement security, the voices of hardworking people get drowned out by powerful industries and well-financed front groups. Those with the power to fight make sure that every rule tilts in their favor, and everyone else gets left behind.

Just look at the big banks. They cheated American families, crashed the economy, and got bailed out. And now the six largest banks are 38 percent bigger in 2008 than when they were too big to fail. They still swagger through Washington, blocking reforms, and pushing around agencies.

A kid gets caught with a few ounces of pot and goes to jail. But a big bank breaks the law on laundering drug money or manipulating currency, and no one even gets arrested.

The game is rigged, and it's not right.

And it's not just the big banks. Look at the choices the federal government makes today. Our college kids are getting crushed by student loan debt. We need to rebuild roads and bridges and upgrade our power grid. We need more investment in medical research and scientific research.

But instead of building a future, this country is bleeding billions of dollars in tax loopholes and subsidies that go to rich and powerful corporations.

Many Fortune 500 companies, profitable companies, play zero in taxes. Billionaires get so many tax loopholes they pay lower tax rates than their secretaries. But they have lobbyists and lawyers and Republican friends to protect every loophole and every privilege they have.

The game is rigged. And it isn't right.

Or take a look at what happens with trade deals. For big corporations, trade agreement time must feel like Christmas morning. They get special gifts they could never pass through Congress out in public.

Because it's a trade deal, the negotiations are secret, and the big corporations can work behind closed doors. And we've seen what happens here at home when our trading partners around the world are allowed to ignore workers' rights and environmental rules.

Wall Street, pharmaceuticals, telecom, big polluters, and outsourcers are all salivating at the chance to rig the upcoming trade deals in their favor.

Now why are trade deals secret? I've heard supporters of these deals actually say they have to be...