Vice President Kamala Harris has touted an economic vision for America called the “Opportunity Society.” The agenda harkens back to the days when presidents distinguished policies with slogans like the “New Deal” of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the “New Frontier” of John F. Kennedy.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of Lyndon B. Johnson’s “War on Poverty”; as such, it is appropriate to consider how the Harris plan for economic reform compares with that of an earlier Democratic administration.
The Harris economic agenda targets the middle class almost exclusively. Central to the vision are federal subsidies, like $25,000 in down payment assistance for first-time home buyers, tax credits ranging from $3,600 to $6,000 per child for families, expanded subsidies for Obamacare health insurance policies and a cap on insulin costs and out-of-pocket expenses for prescription drugs.
It is clear that Harris wants to position herself as the champion of a striving middle class. Nonetheless, critics can point to the plan’s reliance on Congress to pass major legislation when that institution struggles to take attendance these days. Most curious is her lack of ideas for how to better manage the economic programs already administered by the executive branch.
Most dispiriting is that the Harris agenda gives short shrift to what Sen. Bernie Sanders called the “neglected working poor,” and in particular Black men. Harris, in a recent interview with the National Association of Black Journalists, was asked how she plans to win over Black men estranged from the party. She answered, “I’m working to earn the vote — not assuming I’m going to have it because I am Black.”
Her answer failed to show awareness of the dilemmas of young men. For example, in this........