While the political jockeying gets more attention, candidates in the 2020 Democratic presidential race are advancing serious policy proposals. The Washington Times takes a weekly look at some that may have flown under the radar.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Monday unveiled a broad plan aimed at winding down fossil fuel production in the U.S. with a new climate pollution fee the second-term Democrat said would be slapped on corporations that don’t comply.
Mr. Inslee, who has made tackling climate change the central theme of his campaign, wants to immediately end federal tax subsidies for oil, gas, and coal companies and ban new fossil fuel leasing on federal lands and offshore water.
He would also seek to end U.S. financing for overseas fossil fuel projects, and work with Congress to impose a nationwide ban on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.
Mr. Inslee said companies that rely on fossil fuels “have polluted our air, our water, with impunity, raking in huge profits, all while taking huge subsidies from our federal government.”
“The gravy train is over,” he said, saying his plan “will finally hold these corporations accountable for their pollution, wind down their production, and take away their sweetheart deals.”
He also said he’s like to see more aggressive enforcement of existing clean air regulations, and he would establish an Office of Environmental Justice to pursue lawsuits against environmental law offenders.
“The Inslee administration will ensure polluters pay for their actions, and will not hesitate to prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law,” his campaign said.
The plan would also impose a “carbon duty” on imports from countries who haven’t committed to implementing their own emission reduction targets along the lines of those in the Paris Agreement.
O’Rourke on veterans
Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke proposed a plan Monday to boost services for U.S. veterans, calling for a new “war tax” to pay for a health care trust fund started at the beginning of each new war.
The tax would be imposed on households that don’t have serving Armed Forces members or military veterans. The higher someone’s income, the more they would pay. Taxpayers who make more than $200,000 per year in adjusted gross income would pay $1,000 in the tax for each war.
The trust fund would cover the medical costs for those who fought in the war.
“We must be willing to pay any price, and bear any burden, to provide the full care, support and resources to every single veteran who served every single one of us, ” Mr. O’Rourke said.
His plan also calls for bringing the Iraq and Afghanistan wars to a “responsible end,” and reinvesting the money saved into programs benefiting veterans.
He said the best way to honor veterans’ service is “to cancel the blank check for endless war — and reinvest the savings to ensure every American can thrive upon their return home.”
Delaney on ’living wage’
Former Maryland Rep. John Delaney on Friday unveiled a three-part “living wage” plan that includes expanded tax benefits, a hike in the minimum wage and eight weeks of paid family leave for all workers.
Mr. Delaney’s plan creates a new “workers’ tax credit” by nearly doubling the existing Earned Income Tax Credit, to be paid for by increasing taxes on higher-income individuals and creating a new “robot tax” on “job-displacing capital investments.”
He would also increase the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour over time and then index the wage to inflation — an agenda item that’s long been a goal of Democrats.
Mr. Delaney, a onetime businessman and investor who touted the proposals during Wednesday evening’s debate, would also establish a new federal paid family leave program that would allow eligible people to take up to eight weeks of leave per year, receiving 60% of their monthly wage. His campaign said the program would be fully paid for with an increase to the payroll tax.
“It’s time to give those that work some of the toughest jobs in America a raise,” Mr. Delaney said. “This is what it looks like when we craft policies that are focused on workers.”
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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