Susan Rice in The New York Times 2020s
On Civil Rights:
Senate blocked police reforms & new Voting Rights Act
Congress has yet again missed the moment. The House passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which would institute carefully calibrated reforms, but it was blocked in the Republican-controlled Senate. After failure to
pass a pale substitute for the House bill, the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, seems eager to move on. He refuses to allow Senate consideration of a new Voting Rights Act or of funding to ensure safe voting during a raging pandemic.
Source: New York Times on 2020 Veepstakes
Jul 29, 2020
On Education:
Free public college for families earning under $125,000/year
In education we should invest in the full spectrum of learning -- starting with universal prekindergarten, competitive teacher salaries and reliable broadband in both rural and urban digital deserts. To expand access to postsecondary education,
it's time to provide no-debt access to community colleges, scale up apprenticeships and Pell Grants, and make tuition free at public universities for all families earning under $125,000 annually.
Source: New York Times on 2020 Veepstakes
Jul 29, 2020
On Health Care:
Coronavirus: Crisis should explode myth of "America First"
We have little idea of how bad the pandemic is. Xenophobia and arrogance seem to have put our citizens at greater risk. Rather than request the German-made test kits offered by the World Health Organization, the Trump administration insisted on using
only U.S.-made kits. The C.D.C then bungled the manufacture and distribution of its kits and only belatedly enlisted outside laboratories. The lack of testing remains the greatest failure of the administration's response.
The United States can't defeat any pandemic alone. Even for the most nationalistic, this crisis should explode the myth of "America First." So long as the virus is prevalent anywhere, it is a threat everywhere. That is why we must cooperate with
partners globally and invest in helping other countries to contain this and future pandemics. Viruses are equal-opportunity killers. They don't care whether you live in countries President Trump denigrates or the richest nations on earth.
Source: N. Y. Times 2020 analysis of coronavirus policy
Mar 13, 2020
On Homeland Security:
Under Obama we foresaw pandemics & prepared for them
Trump failed to prepare for a major global health challenge. Rather than heed the warnings, embrace the planning and preserve the structures that had been bequeathed to him, the president ignored the risk of a pandemic. Trump said, "you can never really
think" that a pandemic "is going to happen." Having combated the H1N1 swine flu pandemic, Ebola, Zika, MERS and other such threats, many health experts and the Obama administration not only foresaw such risks but prepared for them.
As national security adviser, I established the office of Global Health Security and Biodefense at the National Security Council to monitor, prepare for and prevent global health crises. My successor dismantled the office, pushed its leader out and
downgraded the position of Homeland Security adviser. The Obama team provided briefing papers and conducted a side-by-side exercise with leaders of the incoming administration focused on pandemic threats. It was discarded by the incoming team.
Source: N. Y. Times 2020 analysis of coronavirus policy
Mar 13, 2020
On Immigration:
Viruses have no nationality and respect no borders
Consistent with his nationalistic, xenophobic orientation, Trump has portrayed the virus that causes Covid-19 as a "foreign virus." In reality, viruses know no nationality and respect no borders. Demonizing foreigners, denigrating people
of different religions and hues, building walls and restricting immigration are not effective ways to combat a pandemic. Nor do they solve our economic challenges or assuage those uncomfortable with our growing racial diversity.
Trump just announced a counterproductive and ineffectual suspension of travel from much of Europe. By refusing to consult or even warn our closest allies, the United States alienated partners whose cooperation we always need to confront global
challenges, including the coronavirus. Merely another feckless, if costly, way of blaming foreigners for our own problems, it does nothing to address the crisis already in our midst.
Source: N. Y. Times 2020 analysis of coronavirus policy
Mar 13, 2020
Page last updated: Aug 06, 2024