Greensboro's African American Community Newspaper since 1967
RALEIGH - As an eventful four-day Democratic National Convention in Chicago comes to an end tonight with Vice President Kamala Harris making history by formally accepting her party’s nomination for the presidency, questions are still being asked about the economic proposals she laid out almost a week ago when she came to Raleigh.
By now, many analysts and political observers have gone over the broad strokes of VP Harris’ proposed “Opportunity Economy,” an agenda she has promised with more details to come. However, once her campaign does provide the fine print, how will her economic vision not only help middle-class Americans, as promised, but African Americans in particular?
When VP Harris made her eighth visit to North Carolina this year last Friday, August 16th, she was greeted enthusiastically as she came off of Air Force Two by Gov. Roy Cooper, U.S. Rep. Alma Adams (D-NC), Durham Mayor Leonardo Williams, and a host of other state and local Democratic Party officials and dignitaries.
This was her first visit to the state since formally announcing that she would run for the presidency as the Democratic nominee after Pres. Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance last June against Republican nominee Donald Trump forced him to drop out of the race in July. A scheduled campaign visit last week was canceled due to weather-related concerns over Tropical Storm Debby.
Before an excited invite-only crowd of Wake Tech students, Democratic elected officials and campaign supporters, VP Harris laid out her vision for lowering the cost of living for most Americans, what she called helping the average citizen “…not just get by, but get ahead.”
She offered a policy vision for addressing many of the top economic concerns of most voters, namely instituting a federal ban on corporate price-gouging of groceries that have remained high long after pandemic-era supply shortages have recovered, being able to purchase a new home with $25,000 in federal downpayment assistance for first-time homebuyers, raising the minimum wage, eliminating taxes on tips for service industry workers and giving lower and middle income families tax breaks by expanding the federal child tax credit to up to $3,600, and $6,000 for newborns.
“Together we will build what I call an ‘opportunity economy,’” Harris told her cheering audience. “An economy where everyone can have a real chance to succeed, no matter who they are. … Your salary should be enough to provide you and your family with a good quality of life. No child should have to grow up in poverty. After years of hard work, you should be able to retire with dignity.”
VP Harris also proposed bringing down the cost of new homes by building at least three million, thus adding more units to the current inventory. Plus, she proposed expanding the earned income tax credit for lower-income taxpayers with children, which could cut their effective tax rate by at least $1,500.
She also wants to further lower the costs of prescription drugs and Obamacare health insurance premiums and work with states to cancel medical debt for lower and middle-income families.
North Carolina, for example, has announced a new program to help families eliminate their medical debt and relieve them of their financial burden.
Contrasting her economic vision to that of the Trump campaign, which has blasted VP Harris and Pres. Biden for being responsible for high inflation, Harris said, “This election, I do strongly believe, is about two very different visions for our nation. One, ours, focused on the future, and the other focused on the past.”
What has not been said out loud since Harris delivered her remarks last week is that if she is elected the first Black woman to the American presidency in November, she will not only institute her own economic policies but may also push for a continuation of the Biden Administration’s “economic opportunities for Black Americans.”
She talked about “…plans to focus on investing in communities, building wealth and ensuring that Americans of all colors have economic opportunities,” according to reporting from Reuters.
The Biden Administration created 15 million new jobs, had the lowest Black unemployment rate in history, and secured approximately $100 billion in federal contracts for small disadvantaged and Black-owned businesses.
“Let’s keep our eyes on the prize,” stated the online publication Rollingout, “…closing the income gap, building Black wealth, and ensuring a prosperous future for the next generations.”
In short, if VP Harris can build on the economic enrichment programs for African Americans she promoted before running for the presidency, with the new policy proposals she will no doubt have to fight to get through Congress for all Americans if elected president, her economic agenda for African Americans could indeed, be successful.
