Government matters. That’s the message Elizabeth Warren is hoping to send to Black women during this election cycle. More than that, the 2020 presidential hopeful wants voters to know that while government now works well for people at the top, under her administration it will work for everyone.
“We can create opportunity not just for those who were born into privilege,” Warren tells ESSENCE’s News & Politics Director, Yesha Callahan, during a recent sit-down interview. The senator from Massachusetts acknowledges that there’s too much corruption in Washington, and wants to change how much money influences the issues that matter to the American people.
“Gun safety, healthcare, cost of prescription drugs,” Warren rattles off. “Whatever decision has been influenced by money.”
To that note, the unapologetic progressive says it’s time to make a structural change to the economy and put more power in the hands of workers. She believes the way the country operates right now puts too much in the hands of companies. There needs to be more “balance,” Warren contends, and she is in favor of a wealth task to help with that. Under her presidency, women and men who earn more than $50 million a year will be taxed two percent on any amount over that number.
Warren says the money from that tax will make universal childcare and pre-k possible, and raise wages for childcare workers. It will also allow for tuition-free tech schools and community colleges while canceling 95 percent of student loans and ultimately shrinking the Black and white wealth gap. For HBCU’s, it will provide $50 million dollars towards the institutions who “are about growing our leaders.”
The former educator understands that for there to be an economic shift, the work needed to make that happen will have to start on day one of the new administration.
“I got plans, making lists,” Warren insists. “But let me start with one that’s really important. I want to talk, not just in general terms [about the fact] that Black women’s work has been undervalued for generations, but about making real change on day one.”
“One in every four Americans work for a company that does some business for the federal government,” Warren continues. “But the federal government gets to set the terms. So here’s something that the American president, all by herself on her first day of office, can do.
“For all you corporations that want a chance to be in this business, here’s the deal: You can’t just talk the talk on equal pay for equal work and a diverse workforce,” Warren says. “You gotta walk the walk. That’s American taxpayer dollars that are supporting those government contracts and Americans have a right to know that those businesses are going to reflect the values of America.”