Ben Wikler, the head of the Wisconsin Democratic Party tweeted this this morning:
Vice President Harris joined Wisconsin Public Radio and talked about what she’d do as president:
* affordable housing
* water quality
* reproductive rights… and more. Everyone should know what she said:
Okay, let’s dig into the Harris interview with Kate Archer Kent of “Wisconsin Today” on @WPR. (above)
The first question in the @KamalaHarris interview on Wisconsin Public Radio was on a topic on *many* voters’ minds: Wisconsin’s shortage of affordable housing.
Wisconsin Today (WT) to VP Harris: “The medium home price in our state has jumped by 41% since September of 2020. You proposed up to $25,000 in down payment assistance for first time homebuyers. What would it take to be eligible for that type of assistance?”
Harris answered directly: to qualify for the $25,000 in down payment assistance, you just have to be a first-time homebuyer.Again. Buying your first home? $25,000 in down payment assistance.This will change a lot of lives. This will help more folks buy homes—which, naturally, will increase demand. So the other part of the equation is increasing supply.
That’s the other part of her plan: “work with the private sector and home builders to create incentives for them to build three million new homes by the end of my first term.”
KH: “But let me just back up for a moment. Look, I grew up a middle-class kid. My mother worked long days, she worked weekends, and she was able to save up so that by the time I was a teenager, she was able to buy our first house.”
KH: “And so I understand being a renter and also what it means for families to aspire to own a home. But, you know, it takes a lot of time, and that was many, many years ago, and the American dream of homeownership has become even more elusive.”
KH: “People just need help, literally and figuratively, getting their foot in the door and, once they’re able to do that, having enough for a down payment.”
KH: “Folks work hard. They save up, and the monthly payments will be more within their reach, but that down payment piece is really one of the big obstacles for first time home buyers to be able to…build up their ability to buy a home.”
KH: “And frankly, home ownership is one of the best ways that people create wealth for their family and intergenerational wealth. So I’m very clear about the connection between this point and what can be a lifetime of economic opportunity for an individual or a family.”
Okay, so what is Harris’s plan to ensure these homes actually get built? Wisconsin Today asked: “How do you incentivize the building of new housing that’s affordable for the people who need it most?”
Harris: “So part of it is tax credits, and creating tax credits for home builders, but home builders who are going to do the work of building homes that are affordable to middle class people, to working people, to families.”
KH: “The second is to cut through the red tape…we don’t unnecessarily burden the ability to create this additional housing that brings down the cost of homeownership and rents. I have a plan to take on corporate landlords who have to be held accountable.”
KH: “We’ve seen in so many places around our country. These corporations come in, buy up a bunch of property, then jack up the prices. It becomes too expensive for people to actually be able to afford to live where they work and where they want to live.”
KH: “The factors contributing to high rents and housing affordability are many. My plan is to attempt to address many of them at once, so we can actually have the net effect of bringing down the cost and making homeownership renting more affordable.”
The second big topic in the interview was toxic “forever chemicals” that are found in tons of drinking water in Wisconsin: PFAS.
Wisconsin Today asked: “Communities all over Wisconsin are struggling with toxic PFAs in their water supply. … If you win the White House, would that lead to further federal regulation of PFAs?”
Harris: “Well, let me start with this. My commitment to these issues is long standing. You may know it. Twenty years ago, when I was elected DA of San Francisco, I created one of the first environmental justice units of any DAs office in the country.”
KH: “I, as Attorney General of California, was a real leader on making sure that we enforced rules and standards that were about reducing PFAs, about what we need to do to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and also hold polluters accountable.”
.@KamalaHarris then outlined work she’s been doing as Vice President in the Biden Administration—including delivering nearly $2B in funding to help Wisconsin and communities within Wisconsin address PFAs chemicals.
Harris described how this administration is delivering $3B for replacing lead pipes in cities, including Milwaukee. And the Vice President talked about her administration’s work to protect the Great Lakes from the climate crisis.
The third big topic was a central one for Wisconsin voters—and for voters across the country.
Abortion.
Wisconsin experienced a near-total abortion ban for 451 days after Dobbs fell. Now it’s tied up in court. One bad election could rip away reproductive freedom here.
Wisconsin Today: “You said you want to work with Congress to pass a federal bill to codify abortion rights. How do you plan to get enough support in Congress to restore abortion rights when you’d likely need to pass the Senate filibuster?”
Harris: “Well, let me first say to all your listeners, you must reelect your Senator, @TammyBaldwin, because we need the votes in Congress to do exactly what you are saying.” YES!
“It is well within our reach to hold on to the majority in the Senate and take back the House.”
Harris: “We should eliminate the filibuster for Roe.”
That’s the key. If you do that, you don’t need 60 Senate votes.
Harris: “51 votes would be what we need to put back into law the protections for reproductive freedom and for the ability of every woman to make decisions about their own body and not have their government tell them what to do.”
To make this happen, we need 50 Democratic Senators… and a Democratic Vice President. VP Harris cast a record number of tie-breaking votes as VP. VP Walz could cast the tie-breaking vote on Tammy Baldwin’s Women’s Health Protection Act and send the bill to President Harris.
So there you go! A substantive interview on topics voters actually care about, answered with clarity and candor by a candidate who wants to lift us up, not divide us. Refreshing, isn’t it? And, this being public radio, the conversation ended with usual warmth and civility:
Wisconsin Today: “Vice President Harris, thank you for joining us.”
Kamala Harris: “Thank you. It’s good to be with you. Thank you so much.”
It’s all the more interesting because the last time Donald Trump did a public radio interview was in January 2022. Here’s how that interview ended. He lied about the 2020 election—then cut off the interview and stormed off. A… contrast with VP Harris.
npr.org/2022/01/12/107…
Trump has been ducking nonpartisan public radio interviews ever since.Just like he’s ducking the second debate.
Want a candidate who can answer substantive questions with… substance?
As David Roberts quipped:
