Interviews during 2018-2020: on Families & Children
Mike Bloomberg:
Get cities to hike taxes on sugary drinks
Mark Cuban, the billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks, said about Bloomberg to NBC News, "I'm all for it. I think he will be good for the Democratic field." Cuban, the billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks, considered running for president in
2020 himself. "He is now the only candidate that has actually done something to impact gun violence. He is the only candidate that has done something to deal with reducing health care costs by helping to keep people healthy via sugar associated taxes,"
Cuban said, stopping short of an endorsement. "Adding the substance he brings on these issues is a net positive in my opinion."He's also funded campaigns to get cities to hike taxes on sugary drinks, cigarettes, and trans fats-- efforts that have
earned him praise from public health advocates, but also scorn and mockery from others as a "stereotypically laughable example of a liberal nanny state," as Time magazine once put it.
Source: NBC News, "2020 Election," on 2020 Democratic primary
Nov 24, 2019
Pete Buttigieg:
$100B in grants for minority home ownership
Democratic Presidential candidate Kamala Harris proposed a $100 billion U.S. Housing and Urban Development grant to provide up to $25,000 for down payment and closing costs. Harris said the program would target low-income, first-time
home buyers and would help racial minorities experience home ownership. To qualify, homeowners would have to rent or live in historically redlined communities that haven't historically rented or leased to minorities.
Source: Breitbart.com coverage of 2020 Democratic primary
Jul 6, 2019
Bill de Blasio:
Signed a paid sick leave and safe leave plan into law
De Blasio believes everyone should be guaranteed the right to health care, including undocumented immigrants.
He has repeatedly called for a national single-payer healthcare plan. De Blasio also signed a paid sick leave and safe leave plan into law, one of his signature accomplishments as mayor.
Source: PBS News Hour 2019 coverage of 2020 Democratic primary
May 17, 2019
Marianne Williamson:
Provide free or affordable lunches & breakfasts for students
EDUCATION: Free higher education, universal preschool, reduce (or forgive) college loan debt. Williamson is in favor of universal preschool, and believes in increasing funding to provide free or affordable lunches and breakfasts for students.
She supports making reforms to standardized testing, and boosting teacher training and education infrastructure.
The author also believes in free college or technical school tuition, and investing in trade schools.
Source: PBS News Hour 2019 coverage of 2020 Democratic primary
May 13, 2019
Steve Bullock:
Supports same-sex marriage in Montana
All three of Bullock's statewide victories were in presidential years that saw Montana's electoral votes go to the Republican at the top of the ticket. Bullock was also elected to lead the National Governors Association in 2018. Bullock has a
simultaneously bipartisan and liberal reputation, courting Republicans with spending cuts while expanding Medicaid in Big Sky Country, raising the minimum wage, enacting campaign finance reform, defending abortion rights and supporting same-sex marriage.
Source: The Hill e-zine on 2020 Democratic primary
May 11, 2019
Cory Booker:
Government funded savings account at birth
Booker has proposed some innovative solutions to generational poverty. His American Opportunity Accounts Act would give every child a savings account with $1,000, with the government making subsequent annual payments up to $2,000 a year depending on
family income until the child is 18. At that point, the recipient could use the money for "allowable" expenses like college or buying a home. Booker has also introduced a plan to expand eligibility and refund amounts for the Earned Income Tax Credit.
Source: Mother Jones magazine on 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 23, 2019
Marianne Williamson:
Need a cabinet department to focus on children and youth
We have millions of American children who go to school every day in schools that do not even have the adequate school supplies with which to teach 8-year-old to read. If they can't read, the chances of high school graduation, it's drastically
diminished, and the chances of incarceration is drastically increased. We should rescue these children, no differently than we would rescue them from a natural disaster. We need a United States cabinet-level Department of Children and Youth.
Source: CNN Town Hall 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 14, 2019
Eric Swalwell:
No firearms for people with history of domestic violence
Gun control: Ban assault weapons and institute a federal buy-back program. Swalwell has co-sponsored numerous gun control-related bills in Congress, including a bipartisan measure to expand background check requirements.
In February, Swalwell introduced the "No Guns for Abusers" Act, which aims to keep firearms out of the hands of individuals with a history of domestic violence.
The congressman penned a USA Today op-ed last May calling for a ban on military-style assault weapons, and pushing for a federal buy-back program. (Swalwell's call for the weapons ban landed him on the cover of the
NRA's magazine, "Freedom," with the headline "Gas Bag in the House.") The congressman reiterated his stance on guns at a town hall on ending gun violence in Sunrise, Florida, this week.
Source: PBS News Hour on 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 10, 2019
Eric Swalwell:
Agrees with Obama that kids should dream bigger than parents
[Eric Swalwell, in a repeated campaign phrase says], "The economy is you. It's how you're doing. Whether you're saving more, doing better, and dreaming bigger." Eric Swalwell, what does that mean?Eric Swalwell isn't even the first person to use the
phrase "doing better and dreaming bigger." That would be Barack Obama, who said it in a context that actually made sense. From a 2012 campaign speech:
"Are we going to make sure that an honest day's work is rewarded so that somebody who really works
hard, they can afford to own their own home, and they'll have health care when they get sick, and they'll be able to retire with dignity and respect? And most of all, [that] they'll be able to make sure that their kids are doing better and dreaming
bigger than they did?"
Obama's formulation, in which you work hard so your kids can have bigger dreams than you did, is not necessarily a groundbreaking concept, but at least it's one that tracks logically. Eric Swalwell is going to have to ... do bett
Source: Slate, "Most Vapid Sound Bite," on 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 3, 2019
Elizabeth Warren:
Federal funds to cap childcare at 7% of income
Warren in unveiling a new initiative designed to make sure every family can afford high-quality child care. The plan seeks to make access to child care universal by offering federal funds to providers that offer care at their facilities on a sliding
income scale.No family would have to spend more than 7% of its household income on child care, no matter the number of kids. Families with incomes below twice the poverty line, which is roughly $50,000 a year for a family of four, would pay nothing.
The campaign says the initiative will likely require approximately $700 billion in new federal spending over 10 years. That figure takes into account higher economic benefits such as making it easier for new parents to return to work. The new outlays
would be at least four times what the federal government currently spends on its main early childhood programs, which include Head Start. To offset the cost of the initiative, Warren will propose using revenue from her proposal for a new tax on wealth.
Source: Huffington Post on 2020 Democratic primary hopefuls
Feb 18, 2019
Bill de Blasio:
Launched universal free lunch in NYC schools
De Blasio first began advocating for universal free lunch in 2014, when he launched a pilot program in middle schools. Although other school districts already offer free lunch to every student, New York City's will be the largest program of its kind.
According to Chalkbeat.org, more than two thirds of the city's students were eligible to receive a free lunch, though an estimated 250,000 didn't participate in the program due to a stigma associated with it or complicated paperwork.
Source: Mother Jones magazine on 2020 Democratic primary
Sep 6, 2017
Page last updated: Dec 01, 2021