Cory Booker in Democratic Primary Debates and news
On Families & Children:
New estate tax to fund "baby bond" program
He wants the revenue from a new estate tax and from plugging the step-up loophole for inherited capital to go toward funding a "baby bond" program. This initiative would establish a savings account--accessible at age 18--for every newborn. The federal
government would deposit $1,000 into these accounts at birth and add up to $2,000 a year after that, depending on family income. Kids from the poorest families would have a nest egg close to $50,000 by the time they hit adulthood.
Source: The Nation magazine on 2019 Democratic primary
Nov 19, 2019
On Energy & Oil:
Incentivize farmers that help them enrich environment
Q: What is your climate plan?BOOKER: Climate is not a separate issue. It is an everyday mission. That means every one of my departments, every one of my agencies, every one of my cabinet members has to be coming up with an aggressive climate plan.
Making sure that we're setting standards to put ourselves on a mission to have zero emission electricity by 2030 and a carbon neutral country by 2045. We can do these things.
Q: How will your plan support the domestic agriculture industr
BOOKER: My plan is going to have farmers be incentivized through hundreds of billions of dollars. Whether that's cover crops that are going to pull carbon out of the air or ranching practices that help to preserve the soil and minimize the
carbon footprint, we can do this and farmers don't get hurt by that. Family farmers will create new sources of revenue by doing practices that preserve our heritage, enrich our environment, and help deal with this larger crisis.
Source: Climate Crisis Town Hall (CNN 2019 Democratic primary)
Sep 4, 2019
On Environment:
Get politics out of Federal aid for natural disasters
Much of what I'm going to do is going to be about climate resiliency. Making investments making sure that communities are not as susceptible to flooding. Making sure that we're investing in emergency preparedness and not have the kind of backwards
reality where every time there's a natural disaster, you have to work through Washington politics just to get the resources a community needs. I will set up permanent funds to make sure that politicians aren't making this decision.
Source: Climate Crisis Town Hall (CNN 2019 Democratic primary)
Sep 4, 2019
On Gun Control:
Yes on red flag law, but nowhere near enough
Q: Would you support a red flag law as a stand-alone bill? Isn't something better than nothing? BOOKER: Red flag laws, yes, they're important, but they're nowhere near enough to stop these rising levels of mass shootings. We have to do more.
The American public should demand more. And, frankly, things like background checks are overwhelmingly supported by gun owners. The fact that we're not doing that is a failure of leadership.
Source: CNN State of the Union interview for 2019 Democratic primary
Aug 11, 2019
On Principles & Values:
It's not who's racist; it's what are you doing about it
This impotent simplicity of who is and who isn't a racist is really not the question. If we have racism in our country and we believe that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, what are you doing about that?
It's not enough to say "I'm not a racist." If racism exists, you need to be anti-racist. Same with anti-Semitism. I can't sit idly by if my Jewish brothers and sisters are facing that kind of violence and that kind of evil. We are all in this together.
Source: ABC This Week interview for 2019 Democratic primary
Aug 11, 2019
On Civil Rights:
Not enough to say "not a hatemonger myself"
Martin Luther King said what we have to repent is not just the vitriolic words and violent actions of bad people, but the appalling silence and inaction of good people. There is a complicity in the president's hatred that undermines the goodness and
decency of Americans, regardless of what party. It's not enough to say that, "I'm not a hatemonger myself." If you are not actively working against hate, calling it out, you are complicit in what is going on.
Source: Meet the Press interview for 2019 Democratic primary
Aug 4, 2019
On Civil Rights:
Supports commission investigating reparations for slavery
At Al Sharpton's National Action Network convention in New York City, most of the 2020 contenders affirmed their support for a bill that would create a commission to study reparations for African-Americans.
Booker added a note of caution in his speech, telling the crowd that the conversation around reparations "cannot become just a political box-checking exercise."
Source: CNBC: 2019 National Action Network & 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 5, 2019
Page last updated: Mar 14, 2021