Kamala Harris in Vox Media

On Crime: I chose the unpopular thing to NOT seek the death penalty

[Harris said during the debate]: "My entire career I have been personally opposed to the death penalty and that has never changed. And I dare anybody who is in a position to make that decision, to face the people I have faced to say I will not seek the death penalty. That is my background; that is my work. When I was in the position of having to decide whether or not to seek a death penalty on cases I prosecuted, I made a very difficult decision that was not popular to not seek the death penalty."

[Is that true? FactCheck by Vox.com:]

In 2004, as district attorney of San Francisco, she refused to seek the death penalty against a man convicted of shooting police officer Isaac Espinoza. She faced opposition from fellow Democrats; Sen. Dianne Feinstein called for the death penalty at the officer's funeral. But Harris didn't budge--an act of principle that cost her key political allies (as she received almost no support from police groups during her first run for attorney general in 2010).

Source: Vox.com FactCheck on July 2019 Democratic Primary debate Jul 31, 2019

On Welfare & Poverty: LIFT Act and Rent Relief: $42 billion to people in poverty

Kamala Harris's LIFT the Middle Class Act and Rent Relief Act are a massive expansion of the EITC, which provides supplemental cash to low-income people who work. The LIFT Act (Livable Incomes for Families Today, estimated cost $247 billion a year) would add another credit tied to work paid out monthly at a rate of $3,000 a year for childless single adults and $6,000 a year for couples or parents, phasing out for couples who make $100,000.

The Rent Relief Act ($93 billion a year) would offer a refundable tax credit to people making $100,000 or less and spending at least 30% of their income on rent. The credit would be worth a certain percentage of the difference between their rent and 30% of their income. For the poorest renters, the credit would cover the full difference; for slightly less poor renters, 75%, and so on.

The LIFT Act Rent Relief Act would provide $42 billion to people in poverty.

Source: Vox.com,"5 anti-poverty plans" on 2020 Democratic primary Jan 30, 2019

The above quotations are from Vox Media (news website). Click here for other excerpts from Vox Media (news website). Click here for other excerpts by Kamala Harris. Click here for a profile of Kamala Harris.
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Page last updated: Dec 02, 2023