Andrew Yang in 8th Democratic Primary Debate
On Civil Rights:
You can't regulate away racism with race-specific laws
Mayor Pete Buttigieg discussed racism broadly, [when asked about specifics of racist police actions in his hometown]. Warren replied, "It's important to own up to the facts about how race has totally permeated our criminal justice system," she said.
Warren referenced her housing plan, saying that the United States needs to "start having race-conscious laws."
"It was the policy of the United States of America to discriminate against
African Americans and any other people of color for buying homes until 1965," she said. "You can't just repeal that and say, 'Okay, now everything is even.' It's not."
Yang then jumped into the discussion, saying that "you can't regulate away racism with a whole patchwork of new laws that are race specific."
Source: CNBC.com excerpts of 8th Democrat 2020 primary debate
Feb 8, 2020
On Welfare & Poverty:
Disentangle economic value and human value
All of the candidates were asked to answer a question that hasn't been asked on a debate stage since 1999: What would you do about childhood poverty? Then 1 in 4 children were in poverty. Now it's 1 in 5.Yang went first. He has centered his campaign
on providing Americans a freedom dividend of $1,000 per month per person and has gained a loyal following for talking about how the post-industrial economy has left much of America behind.
"We're in the midst of the most extreme winner-take-all
economy in the history of our country," Yang said. "We have fallen into this trap, where we've allowed the market to tell us what we are all worth."
Stay-at-home moms, he said, are "worth" nothing. Neither are caregivers.
Or local journalists. "Most artists, sorry, artists, but it's true" he said, are seen by as being worth "zero." Yang concluded: "The mission in this campaign has to be for us to disentangle economic value and human value."
Source: Washington Post excerpts of 8th Democrat 2020 primary debate
Feb 8, 2020
On Budget & Economy:
Way forward is a new human-centered capitalism
We have record high corporate profits, but what else are at record highs? Mental illness, stress, debt, substance abuse, overdoses, suicides. Instead of following corporate profits, we should be measuring health and wellness, life expectancy,
mental health and freedom from substance abuse, clean air, and clean water, how our kids are doing. The way forward is a new human centered version of capitalism that actually uses the markets to improve our family's lives.
Source: 8th Democrat 2020 primary debate, St. Anselm College in NH
Feb 7, 2020
On Civil Rights:
Provide buying power to black and brown communities
You can't regulate away racism with a patchwork of laws that are race-specific. Martin Luther King was championing a guaranteed minimum income for all Americans
of $1000 a month or more that would end up reshaping our economy in communities of color, make it so that black net worth is not 10% of white net worth.
Source: 8th Democrat 2020 primary debate, St. Anselm College in NH
Feb 7, 2020
On Drugs:
Take opioid profits and funnel them into treatment
I've heard heartbreaking stories from families here in New Hampshire that have been destroyed, torn apart by the opioid epidemic and you have to look at the companies that profited to the tune of tens of billions of dollars in profits of essentially
blood money. As President, we will take back those profits and put them to work right here in New Hampshire so that if you are seeking treatment, you have resources to be able to pursue it.
Source: 8th Democrat 2020 primary debate, St. Anselm College in NH
Feb 7, 2020
On Drugs:
Safe injection centers & safe treatment centers for opioids
The government allowed this opioid epidemic to spread and we have to do everything in our power to make sure that if you are seeking treatment, you're not going to be sent to jail. We have safe injection and safe consumption sites for you.
If you have a family member who's struggling, you can refer them and know that they're not going to have criminal penalties as a result.
Source: 8th Democrat 2020 primary debate, St. Anselm College in NH
Feb 7, 2020
On Families & Children:
Disentangle economic value and human value
We have allowed the market to tell us what we are l worth. What is the market value my wife, Evelyn had, or stay at home parents around the country? Zero. Caregivers taking care of ailing loved ones? Zero. Volunteers and activists in our communities
trying to do something positive? Zero. The mission in this campaign has to be for us to disentangle economic value and human value, say they are not the same things and make this case that we each have intrinsic value as human beings.
Source: 8th Democrat 2020 primary debate, St. Anselm College in NH
Feb 7, 2020
On Jobs:
Trump is the symptom of the disease of job loss
Trump is a symptom of a disease. You know who's been losing this entire time? Our communities have. We've automated away four million manufacturing jobs. We're closing 30% of New Hampshire stores and malls, and Amazon, the force behind that, is
literally paying zero in taxes. If we get done the hard work of curing those problems, we will not just defeat Donald Trump in the fall, but we'll actually be able to move our communities forward.
Source: 8th Democrat 2020 primary debate, St. Anselm College in NH
Feb 7, 2020
On Welfare & Poverty:
If no action taken, minority wealth will be zer0 by 2053
The median African American household net worth is projected to be zero by 2053. Things are not getting better for people of color. If anything, they're getting worse, because we're in the process of eliminating the most common jobs in our economy.
There is no way we can prevent this tsunami from wiping out African American net worth unless we put straight cash into their hands sometime between now and 2053.
Source: 8th Democrat 2020 primary debate, St. Anselm College in NH
Feb 7, 2020
Page last updated: Mar 23, 2020