WEBVTT - Rep. Ayanna Pressley On How The Fed Can Fight Racial Inequality 0:00:10.760 --> 0:00:14.680 Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Odd Lots Podcast. 0:00:14.720 --> 0:00:20.400 I'm Joe Wisenthal and I'm Tracy Alloway. Tracy, one of 0:00:20.440 --> 0:00:25.159 the really sort of tragic or frustrating aspects of this 0:00:25.280 --> 0:00:29.920 current crisis that I think about a lot is how good, 0:00:30.160 --> 0:00:34.720 arguably the economic situation was for the labor market. Right 0:00:34.880 --> 0:00:38.479 on the eve of the crisis, multi decade lows and 0:00:38.560 --> 0:00:42.919 unemployment rate, wages had just started to pick up, basically 0:00:43.000 --> 0:00:45.400 right before this hit. A lot of things that people 0:00:45.400 --> 0:00:47.839 had wanted to see for a long time started to 0:00:48.240 --> 0:00:51.600 seem like they were materializing. Yeah, by a lot of measures. 0:00:51.640 --> 0:00:55.200 I guess we were at well nearly at full employment. 0:00:55.240 --> 0:01:00.320 But I'm not sure it's tragic. Um, maybe ironic. I like, 0:01:00.720 --> 0:01:02.680 you wouldn't have wanted to go into the crisis with 0:01:02.760 --> 0:01:07.760 the economy already fragile, right, True, that's well put. But 0:01:07.800 --> 0:01:09.840 I do think there was just a lot of frustration 0:01:10.640 --> 0:01:12.840 at you know, how slow was so we had, you know, 0:01:12.880 --> 0:01:14.720 we had the crisis in two thousand and eight, two 0:01:14.720 --> 0:01:18.280 thousand nine, and then it just took years and years 0:01:18.360 --> 0:01:20.920 and years to get back to something that you know, 0:01:21.040 --> 0:01:25.000 economists would have called full employment. Yeah, I think that's right. 0:01:25.040 --> 0:01:27.759 And I think you've pointed out before that the danger 0:01:28.080 --> 0:01:32.880 with sudden increases in mass unemployment is that it does 0:01:33.040 --> 0:01:36.080 really take a long time to normalize, that it takes 0:01:36.080 --> 0:01:39.720 a long time to train people for new jobs, and meanwhile, 0:01:39.760 --> 0:01:44.120 the economy loses that expertise, loses that additional output, and 0:01:44.280 --> 0:01:47.360 it's just a bad situation. Right. I think there is 0:01:47.400 --> 0:01:50.280 this view that if you know, as we embark on 0:01:50.360 --> 0:01:54.120 this recovery, if it takes similarly long to return to 0:01:54.280 --> 0:01:58.320 something resembling normal, that'd be unacceptable. I think that's why 0:01:58.320 --> 0:02:00.440 there's probably a lot of rethinking about the role of 0:02:00.480 --> 0:02:04.760 monetary policy and the role of fiscal policy in accelerating 0:02:05.080 --> 0:02:08.120 this recession, because the length of time of recovery last 0:02:08.120 --> 0:02:12.799 time was pretty pretty unacceptable, not good. Yeah, it's that, 0:02:12.880 --> 0:02:16.119 and to me, it's also the nature of the current crisis. 0:02:16.120 --> 0:02:21.079 This is basically, in some ways a government mandated economic crisis. 0:02:21.560 --> 0:02:24.240 People need to stay home in order to stop the 0:02:24.240 --> 0:02:26.720 spread of the coronavirus. You don't really have a choice 0:02:26.720 --> 0:02:29.320 when it comes to shutting down your business, and so 0:02:29.360 --> 0:02:31.960 I think people are looking to the government more than 0:02:32.000 --> 0:02:36.120 they might be otherwise and asking for help with that. Right. 0:02:36.600 --> 0:02:40.160 Another aspect, And another sort of disappointing factor is that 0:02:40.320 --> 0:02:43.160 prior to the crisis, for a long time, there's been 0:02:43.160 --> 0:02:46.160 this big gap between black and white unemployment rates. You 0:02:46.240 --> 0:02:49.320 look at the headline unemployment rate, the unemployment rate for 0:02:49.639 --> 0:02:53.200 whites is below that. The unemployment rate for Black Americans 0:02:53.200 --> 0:02:56.840 has been significantly above that. That was starting to compress 0:02:57.400 --> 0:03:00.600 prior to the crisis, and then once again it looks 0:03:00.639 --> 0:03:03.160 like the status quo is that, you know, we just 0:03:03.240 --> 0:03:06.760 suffered another major setback on that gap. Yeah, I've seen 0:03:06.760 --> 0:03:09.960 a number of statistics on this, not only for racial inequality, 0:03:10.000 --> 0:03:12.519 but it's showing up in men versus women as well. 0:03:12.639 --> 0:03:15.079 The female unemployment rate is a lot higher right now 0:03:15.120 --> 0:03:17.760 than the male unemployment rate. So it feels like the 0:03:17.800 --> 0:03:22.480 crisis is accelerating a lot of the inequality trends that 0:03:22.919 --> 0:03:26.040 we saw in previous years. Right So there are a 0:03:26.080 --> 0:03:29.600 lot of different issues for the Federal Reserve and other 0:03:29.720 --> 0:03:34.880 policy makers to think about as they bark on accelerating 0:03:34.880 --> 0:03:37.240 this recovery. I want to bring in our guests very 0:03:37.240 --> 0:03:39.800 excited to talk to her. We're going to be speaking 0:03:39.800 --> 0:03:45.400 with Congresswoman Ayana Pressley. She represents the seventh District in Massachusetts, 0:03:45.400 --> 0:03:48.280 and she's, among other things, the recent co author of 0:03:48.320 --> 0:03:52.640 a op ed at CNBC about the need for the 0:03:52.880 --> 0:03:56.960 FED to focus specifically and think more about the black 0:03:57.080 --> 0:04:01.280 unemployment rate, talking about how monetary policy in the past 0:04:01.360 --> 0:04:05.280 has contributed to inequality along race, and so we think 0:04:05.280 --> 0:04:08.400 of monetary policy is being this sort of neutral thing, 0:04:08.720 --> 0:04:11.520 where we think of monetary policy is just affecting the 0:04:11.560 --> 0:04:14.360 economy in general, and the need for other policies to 0:04:14.440 --> 0:04:17.880 address race specific issues. But perhaps there is more that 0:04:17.960 --> 0:04:20.840 the FED could do. So without further ado, I want 0:04:20.839 --> 0:04:23.640 to bring in a Congresswoman Pressley, Thank you very much 0:04:23.680 --> 0:04:26.359 for joining us. Good to be with you, thank you 0:04:26.360 --> 0:04:31.039 for your interest. Absolutely so to start off, in your view, 0:04:31.680 --> 0:04:35.599 racial inequality in this country has numerous causes, but when 0:04:35.640 --> 0:04:39.080 it comes to monetary policy and the Federal Reserve, how 0:04:39.160 --> 0:04:43.760 in your view has UH monetary policy contributed to the 0:04:43.839 --> 0:04:46.400 gap between the success of whites in the labor market 0:04:46.760 --> 0:04:49.920 and the success of blacks and other non white minorities. 0:04:50.720 --> 0:04:53.880 Sure well, first let me just you know, um acknowledge 0:04:53.880 --> 0:04:56.640 that we find ourselves in a moment of national reckoning 0:04:56.960 --> 0:05:00.839 on racial justice, and every institution needs to address his 0:05:00.960 --> 0:05:04.440 role in perpetuating systemic racism and what it can do 0:05:04.520 --> 0:05:06.719 to be a part of the solution. And the FED 0:05:06.800 --> 0:05:10.800 should be no exception in that regard. You know, perhaps 0:05:10.800 --> 0:05:13.440 Donald Trump does not want to acknowledge the contributions of 0:05:13.520 --> 0:05:17.000 John Lewis and what I would consider our other founding fathers, 0:05:17.040 --> 0:05:19.080 but they've given us the blueprint on this. You know. 0:05:19.200 --> 0:05:22.600 Dr Martin Luther King Jr. Spoke about the fact that 0:05:22.680 --> 0:05:26.560 when Black Americans are unemployed, it's considered a social problem, 0:05:26.839 --> 0:05:30.960 but when white Americans are unemployed, it's considered a depression. 0:05:31.520 --> 0:05:34.760 That's what he said in nineteen and addressing the Memphis 0:05:34.760 --> 0:05:38.320 sanitation workers, and of course um he also went on 0:05:38.400 --> 0:05:40.560 in that same speech to say, what does it profit 0:05:40.600 --> 0:05:43.800 a man to sit at an integrated lunch counter if 0:05:43.800 --> 0:05:47.240 he cannot even afford to purchase a hamburger? And while 0:05:47.279 --> 0:05:50.760 we're speaking about the King's CORRECTI Scott King in nineteen 0:05:50.920 --> 0:05:54.440 seventy six let over twenty five thousand protesters to the 0:05:54.480 --> 0:05:58.599 Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank. Rashi declared that outside of Congress, 0:05:58.800 --> 0:06:01.960 the Federal Reserve has, for apps more power to correct 0:06:01.960 --> 0:06:06.720 our economic ills than any other agency or institution. And 0:06:06.800 --> 0:06:10.400 so UM I recently author this opped laying out three 0:06:10.440 --> 0:06:12.919 steps that the FED could take to center racial equity 0:06:12.960 --> 0:06:16.520 in its response um And they have to respond, you know, 0:06:16.600 --> 0:06:21.840 not only because it is the federal government's role uh 0:06:21.880 --> 0:06:26.880 in a period of unprecedented hurt managing a crisis within 0:06:26.920 --> 0:06:30.560 a crisis, but they have a responsibility. Only the federal 0:06:30.600 --> 0:06:34.239 government can meet the scale and scope of this crisis 0:06:34.320 --> 0:06:39.160 and play a role in ensuring an equitable economic recovery. 0:06:39.200 --> 0:06:40.880 And so the three things that we've laid out is 0:06:40.880 --> 0:06:43.880 that the FED must expand and modify the terms of 0:06:43.920 --> 0:06:47.839 its municipal liquid facility to ensure the big corporations aren't 0:06:47.839 --> 0:06:51.680 getting a better deal than our community. And secondly, and 0:06:51.680 --> 0:06:53.960 this is what correctit Scott King was organized went around, 0:06:54.160 --> 0:06:57.560 the FED must comply with the Humphrey Hawkins Act, this 0:06:57.600 --> 0:07:01.400 provision that requires efforts to reduce unemployment disparities by directly 0:07:01.480 --> 0:07:05.560 targeting the black unemployment rate, which is really a much 0:07:05.600 --> 0:07:08.800 better indicator of the country's true economic health. That will 0:07:08.880 --> 0:07:12.880 also prevent misguided action like raising interest rates too soon. 0:07:13.440 --> 0:07:17.000 You know, the FEDS have prioritized price stability and low 0:07:17.040 --> 0:07:22.480 inflation over full employment. And then finally, the federal reserve 0:07:22.560 --> 0:07:25.200 must not stand in the way of a federal jobs guarantee. 0:07:26.200 --> 0:07:28.360 This is a really fascinating topic and you lay it 0:07:28.400 --> 0:07:30.920 out very clearly. I guess my first question is what 0:07:30.920 --> 0:07:35.920 would you say to critics who will automatically respond with, well, 0:07:35.960 --> 0:07:39.240 this isn't the FEDS role and why should the Fed? 0:07:39.400 --> 0:07:42.480 You know, it's a group of unelected officials, lots of 0:07:42.520 --> 0:07:45.840 people describe them as economist sitting in an ivory tower. 0:07:46.360 --> 0:07:51.800 Why should they be the ones to take this on? Yeah, 0:07:51.840 --> 0:07:54.440 because they're the only ones that can. The federal government 0:07:54.440 --> 0:07:56.680 were the only ones that can play the sort of 0:07:56.800 --> 0:07:59.960 role necessary to meet the scale and scope of this crisis. 0:08:00.000 --> 0:08:03.160 And it's unprecedented, hurt. And uh, I'm gonna bring into 0:08:03.200 --> 0:08:07.880 the room another uh um civil rights leader, because I've 0:08:07.880 --> 0:08:11.160 been doing a great deal of reading and looking for 0:08:11.160 --> 0:08:14.760 fortifying and uh, you know, inspiration and direction at this moment. 0:08:15.200 --> 0:08:17.880 And Reverend William Barber, you know, said that we find 0:08:17.880 --> 0:08:20.520 ourselves in the midst of a reckoning, which requires a 0:08:20.560 --> 0:08:25.000 third reconstruction. And I think that, um, that reconstruction does 0:08:25.080 --> 0:08:30.280 mean everything from healthcare to ensuring that every individual that 0:08:30.400 --> 0:08:33.760 is able to work, UM is working, and also housing 0:08:34.320 --> 0:08:37.480 you know adults and policy makers don't make mistakes. They 0:08:37.480 --> 0:08:42.320 make choices, and poverty is a policy choice. In the 0:08:42.360 --> 0:08:45.319 midst of this national reckoning, this is the time for 0:08:45.720 --> 0:08:49.440 a reconstructing and to be bold, and we'll have to 0:08:49.480 --> 0:08:51.880 be in order to meet the scale and scope of 0:08:51.920 --> 0:08:55.320 the hurt um managing this crisis within a crisis, both 0:08:55.320 --> 0:08:59.000 a public health crisis and the economic hardship that it's wrought. 0:08:59.000 --> 0:09:01.760 And of course, the crisis of black unemployment did not 0:09:01.920 --> 0:09:05.839 begin with this pandemic. It's only been exacerbated. I mean, 0:09:05.880 --> 0:09:09.440 I represent one of the most diverse, vibrant, dynamic districts 0:09:09.440 --> 0:09:12.360 in the country, has previously helped by John F. Kennedy himself, 0:09:12.920 --> 0:09:15.080 one of the most progressive seats in the country and 0:09:15.120 --> 0:09:18.280 one of the most unequal, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts 0:09:18.320 --> 0:09:21.000 also has the highest unemployment rate in the country at 0:09:21.040 --> 0:09:24.520 seventeen point four. I want to go back to something 0:09:24.600 --> 0:09:26.600 you said that I thought it was really interesting, and 0:09:26.640 --> 0:09:31.160 you said, not only should the FED target black unemployment directly, 0:09:31.160 --> 0:09:33.480 you said you also thought it was probably the best 0:09:33.520 --> 0:09:37.560 proxy that we could have for the state of the economy. 0:09:37.679 --> 0:09:40.240 Why do you think it's the best proxy? And also 0:09:40.400 --> 0:09:42.679 just sort of flush it out a little bit in 0:09:42.800 --> 0:09:46.040 terms of how sort of specifically looking at the black 0:09:46.120 --> 0:09:49.720 unemployment rate could be incorporated into the FED mandate or 0:09:49.760 --> 0:09:52.439 just the fence thinking in general, we'll just say the 0:09:52.480 --> 0:09:55.240 bottom line for me is we can't afford to deny 0:09:55.320 --> 0:09:58.800 the Federal reserves role here as a potential equalizer. But 0:09:58.880 --> 0:10:01.080 we also have to confer the fact that they've been 0:10:01.080 --> 0:10:05.440 an exacerbator a racial and economic inequality. And so again 0:10:05.480 --> 0:10:07.040 this is the tipping point in the moment where we 0:10:07.080 --> 0:10:10.439 confront that past while we also chart a new path. 0:10:10.960 --> 0:10:13.600 And so rooting out systemic racism and inequity in our 0:10:13.640 --> 0:10:18.040 economy can't happen without a key piece of that system. 0:10:18.040 --> 0:10:22.120 And it just it requires a government wide approach, and 0:10:22.160 --> 0:10:24.960 that has to include the Federal Reserve. And and just 0:10:25.320 --> 0:10:30.280 picking up all my earlier comments regarding the Humphrey Hawkins Act, again, 0:10:30.360 --> 0:10:34.080 that provision requires the FED to reduce disparities and unemployment 0:10:34.120 --> 0:10:38.360 between marginalized groups. And so at this moment, it really 0:10:38.440 --> 0:10:42.560 is about exacting every every level, every tool available to you, 0:10:42.920 --> 0:11:04.160 and they've not done that. M H. You mentioned this 0:11:04.240 --> 0:11:08.960 idea of a reconstruction in response to a great reckoning 0:11:09.000 --> 0:11:13.960 I'm curious how do policymakers, such as yourself balance the 0:11:14.160 --> 0:11:18.560 need to respond quickly to what is quite a serious 0:11:18.600 --> 0:11:24.400 economic situation with the need potentially to to design or 0:11:24.600 --> 0:11:27.800 use the crisis as a jumping off point to redesign 0:11:28.320 --> 0:11:32.440 big picture ideas like how the federal works, like how 0:11:32.760 --> 0:11:36.200 the federal government should be funding states and municipalities. How 0:11:36.240 --> 0:11:41.120 do you balance those two things. I think in this moment, 0:11:41.160 --> 0:11:43.760 it's not a matter of or, it's a matter of 0:11:43.840 --> 0:11:47.679 and UM and so UM. I seek to do both 0:11:48.160 --> 0:11:51.680 because the moment demands that I do both. And I 0:11:51.720 --> 0:11:55.320 think I'm emboldened in that advocacy UM and in that 0:11:55.520 --> 0:12:00.720 legislating because we have a mandate from the people. There's 0:12:00.720 --> 0:12:04.960 a decisive mandate from the people of this country, UM 0:12:05.000 --> 0:12:08.680 to move with the strength of conviction, to be bold 0:12:08.720 --> 0:12:14.199 and our legislative responses to address the inequities and disparities 0:12:14.200 --> 0:12:18.520 and the racial injustices that not only persist, but we're 0:12:18.600 --> 0:12:22.920 created by policy. Public sentiment around issues lack of federal 0:12:23.000 --> 0:12:27.760 jobs guarantee and medicare for all, and affirming housing as 0:12:27.800 --> 0:12:32.080 a human right has only grown. Do you think that 0:12:32.120 --> 0:12:36.920 the left or progressives have underappreciated the role of monetary 0:12:36.960 --> 0:12:40.880 policy or the Federal Reserve in advancing priorities. During the 0:12:40.920 --> 0:12:44.240 Obama administration, there or long periods where seats on the 0:12:44.320 --> 0:12:49.480 FMC were left unfilled. It wasn't a priority to replace 0:12:49.600 --> 0:12:53.679 departing members. Should this be more? Should Do you think 0:12:53.720 --> 0:12:56.360 there's a lack of awareness um in terms of what 0:12:56.400 --> 0:13:00.520 monetary policy can do on the left? Yes, And that's 0:13:00.559 --> 0:13:03.800 exactly why I wrote the up ed you know, acknowledging 0:13:03.840 --> 0:13:06.079 that I do have this platform and I want to 0:13:06.280 --> 0:13:09.960 be an effective steward of it, especially in this moment. 0:13:10.320 --> 0:13:13.960 It's one of the reasons why I was so excited 0:13:14.040 --> 0:13:17.720 to serve on via Financial Services Committee to address these 0:13:17.760 --> 0:13:21.320 issues specifically. And you know, I think the role of 0:13:21.360 --> 0:13:24.680 the Federal Reserve for some maybe only really came into 0:13:24.760 --> 0:13:27.600 view on the left in the role that it played 0:13:27.600 --> 0:13:29.960 and stabilizing the world economy. In two thousand and eight, 0:13:30.520 --> 0:13:32.520 more people started to think about it in that way. 0:13:32.559 --> 0:13:35.640 But you know, I'm again, I'm appreciative of the opportunity 0:13:35.679 --> 0:13:37.760 to serve with the Final Services Committee so that I 0:13:37.760 --> 0:13:40.280 can can lift up the role that it can play 0:13:40.360 --> 0:13:42.400 and and it really should go without saying that all 0:13:42.440 --> 0:13:44.640 of this, you know that I'm looking for them to 0:13:44.679 --> 0:13:47.840 do must be in addition to the FED acknowledging their 0:13:48.440 --> 0:13:52.960 abysmal record on diversity, and that can't just fall on 0:13:53.080 --> 0:13:56.600 the back of the only black Federal Reserve Bank president 0:13:56.679 --> 0:13:59.520 and Raphael Bosti to name it and to call it out. 0:14:00.000 --> 0:14:04.960 So I'm also trying to provide some backup there. UM. 0:14:04.960 --> 0:14:07.440 I wanted to talk a little bit about what's going 0:14:07.480 --> 0:14:10.640 on in d C right at this moment. So I 0:14:10.640 --> 0:14:14.560 think we have the second round of potential stimulus relief 0:14:14.640 --> 0:14:17.280 currently log jammed in the Senate. I should just mention 0:14:17.360 --> 0:14:20.760 that we're recording this on let's see August five, so 0:14:20.960 --> 0:14:25.320 things could change. So looking back at the original CARES Act, 0:14:25.600 --> 0:14:29.240 how is that able to get bipartisan support? And what 0:14:29.320 --> 0:14:32.440 has changed between then and now? Why is it so 0:14:32.520 --> 0:14:36.120 difficult to get a second relief package off the ground? 0:14:37.400 --> 0:14:40.160 You know, Well, this Democratic majority House has been able 0:14:40.200 --> 0:14:43.680 to move you know, something like four relief packages, um, 0:14:43.720 --> 0:14:45.920 and they were bipartisan and I think, UM a lot 0:14:45.920 --> 0:14:49.400 of that had to do with public outcry and sentiment, 0:14:49.480 --> 0:14:51.400 which is why we need people to continue to be 0:14:52.200 --> 0:14:56.480 vigilant and their advocacy. UM. In that regard. You know, 0:14:56.800 --> 0:15:01.000 it's very frustrating. I um, you know, day feel that 0:15:01.040 --> 0:15:07.120 we are besieged by a dog whistles and uh and 0:15:07.200 --> 0:15:10.840 in tropes and sort of a cruelty and a callousness. Um. 0:15:10.960 --> 0:15:15.880 That proves that many people serving are completely removed and 0:15:15.920 --> 0:15:20.440 disconnected from the hardship and the heart that their constituents 0:15:20.480 --> 0:15:25.600 are experiencing. In terms of what parties are I mean, 0:15:26.200 --> 0:15:28.760 what do you think are this sort of absolute must 0:15:28.800 --> 0:15:32.200 have in this bill? Yeah? Well, I mean, thirty million 0:15:32.200 --> 0:15:34.840 people are still unemployed, and as I said, the Commonwealth 0:15:34.880 --> 0:15:39.000 of Massachusetts is the highest unemployment rate in the nation. Um. 0:15:39.280 --> 0:15:42.520 And so yet this Senate GOP they want to cut 0:15:42.600 --> 0:15:45.520 unemployment benefits, and they want to once again exclude our 0:15:45.520 --> 0:15:49.280 immigrant neighbors from the economic stimulus checks. And they're forcing 0:15:49.360 --> 0:15:52.800 K through twelve schools to reopen. It's shameful, it's reckless, 0:15:52.800 --> 0:15:55.200 and it's just cruel. And so I think we have 0:15:55.280 --> 0:15:58.720 to extend unemployment benefits, not cut them. Um. We need 0:15:58.760 --> 0:16:02.040 reoccurring economics to list payments for everyone. We need to 0:16:02.080 --> 0:16:05.000 extend the eviction moratoriums. We need to cancel rent and 0:16:05.080 --> 0:16:07.960 mortgage payments. We have were on the precipice of an 0:16:08.000 --> 0:16:13.840 eviction tsunami. We're talking about the disproportionate impact on marginalized groups. Um, 0:16:13.880 --> 0:16:16.520 you know, we find ourselves what is this the early 0:16:16.560 --> 0:16:19.480 in the month of August. By August, one of Americans 0:16:19.520 --> 0:16:21.960 said that they would not be able to pay their 0:16:21.960 --> 0:16:24.760 rent for the month, and that's thirty percent of Americans. 0:16:24.800 --> 0:16:27.440 Forty percent of Black Americans said they would not be 0:16:27.480 --> 0:16:30.320 able to pay their rent. So economic time stops, but 0:16:30.440 --> 0:16:33.560 financial time does not. And even in the worst downturns, 0:16:33.600 --> 0:16:36.600 people's bills will always still be due. And it's just 0:16:36.640 --> 0:16:39.000 really past time that the Senate acts and that they 0:16:39.040 --> 0:16:43.800 move with the urgency that reflects that economic time stops 0:16:43.840 --> 0:16:45.920 but financial time does not. Is a really good way 0:16:45.920 --> 0:16:48.000 of putting it. But just on that note, and going 0:16:48.080 --> 0:16:51.480 back to the idea of debt forgiveness, how would that 0:16:51.520 --> 0:16:55.160 work exactly? Because a lot of critics of that proposal 0:16:55.160 --> 0:16:58.760 would immediately point to the fact that, you know, landlords, 0:16:59.560 --> 0:17:02.920 as much as many people dislike them, also require income, 0:17:03.040 --> 0:17:06.560 and if they're not getting payments from their renters, that 0:17:06.680 --> 0:17:09.120 has knock on effects to the financial system. It could 0:17:09.200 --> 0:17:12.359 lead to losses for banks and things like that. How 0:17:12.640 --> 0:17:16.240 would you, Uh, how would you deal with that? Yeah, 0:17:16.280 --> 0:17:18.280 I mean the point is though people are hurting, they 0:17:18.320 --> 0:17:21.919 need real relief now and again, just I could have 0:17:21.960 --> 0:17:24.600 too many examples to enumerate in terms of the disconnect 0:17:24.640 --> 0:17:27.280 and the cruelty and the councils of this administration. One 0:17:27.320 --> 0:17:29.080 of the other issues that I've continued to push in 0:17:29.160 --> 0:17:32.320 terms of a robust economic recovery is the canceling of 0:17:32.400 --> 0:17:36.600 student debt. This Department of Education garnish wages and benefits 0:17:36.920 --> 0:17:40.160 fifty four thousand borrowers in the midst of a pandemic. 0:17:40.560 --> 0:17:43.440 People are hurting, they need real relief now, and and 0:17:43.560 --> 0:17:45.639 might I also add that our greatest wealth as a 0:17:45.760 --> 0:17:49.160 nation is the health of our people. So the reason 0:17:49.240 --> 0:17:52.400 why these other choices are being made is to prioritize 0:17:52.400 --> 0:17:55.199 and then the best interest of the public health. And 0:17:55.240 --> 0:17:57.240 so that has to be the priority right now. And 0:17:57.280 --> 0:17:59.560 if that means that we are paying people to stay home, 0:17:59.800 --> 0:18:02.600 then that's what that means, because we have to stave 0:18:02.640 --> 0:18:05.000 off the rate of transmission and we have to get 0:18:05.000 --> 0:18:08.480 this pandemic under control. That's number one. There's no economy 0:18:08.520 --> 0:18:11.719 without workers or consumers. And so our greatest wealth as 0:18:11.720 --> 0:18:32.240 a nation is the health of its people. I want 0:18:32.240 --> 0:18:34.439 to look forward a little bit. I know, you just 0:18:34.480 --> 0:18:37.960 have a few more minutes. Um you know, suppose thinking 0:18:37.960 --> 0:18:42.160 about long term economic agenda, and suppose U Biden were 0:18:42.200 --> 0:18:45.160 to win the White House and Democrats were to control 0:18:45.520 --> 0:18:48.480 both houses of Congress, as is possible, thinking about where 0:18:48.560 --> 0:18:53.080 economic policy should go. I'm looking at Biden's Racial Economic 0:18:53.160 --> 0:18:56.800 Equity Plan on his website and the first two things 0:18:56.840 --> 0:19:00.560 one is something about first bullet points about public private investments. 0:19:00.880 --> 0:19:04.840 The next one is opportunity zones and performing them. And 0:19:04.840 --> 0:19:08.679 I'm curious, do you think these are smart tools or 0:19:08.920 --> 0:19:12.960 would your vision for what racio economic equity would it 0:19:13.000 --> 0:19:16.120 look different from this? I just think that it's um 0:19:16.280 --> 0:19:19.840 it needs to be bolder, and it's about guaranteeing those 0:19:19.880 --> 0:19:23.280 most basic human rights, which certainly is is not a 0:19:23.359 --> 0:19:29.560 radical notion, but a lack of political will and leadership, 0:19:29.600 --> 0:19:32.240 and I think a deficit of empathy and an urgency 0:19:32.960 --> 0:19:36.000 has us where we are. And so, you know, I 0:19:36.359 --> 0:19:38.800 think we do need a federal jobs guarantee. I think 0:19:38.840 --> 0:19:43.200 we need Medicare for all, housing affirming the right to housing, 0:19:43.880 --> 0:19:46.720 um so housing justice, and then on the economic justice front, 0:19:46.720 --> 0:19:49.159 a federal Jobs Guarantee, and when it comes to healthcare 0:19:49.280 --> 0:19:52.120 justice Medicare for all. In addition to all the other things, 0:19:52.119 --> 0:19:55.960 I continue to fight for modernizing the Community Reinvestment Act. 0:19:56.359 --> 0:19:59.520 You know, the fact that ercent of financial institutions continue 0:19:59.520 --> 0:20:03.200 to pass CR exams, but the practice of redlining persists 0:20:03.920 --> 0:20:05.959 the Fair Housing Act, which they seek to you know, 0:20:06.040 --> 0:20:10.520 undermine and roll back those protections. Canceling student debt UM, 0:20:10.560 --> 0:20:12.960 which I see as a racial justice issue because black 0:20:13.000 --> 0:20:17.760 students borrow more than any other borrower and default more. 0:20:18.280 --> 0:20:20.280 And that has everything to do with policies which has 0:20:20.359 --> 0:20:25.040 obstructed black family's ability UM to equitably build generational wealth. 0:20:25.359 --> 0:20:27.480 And that is also you know, one way to your 0:20:27.520 --> 0:20:32.480 your question tries around UM cancelation and and and people's 0:20:32.840 --> 0:20:35.720 negative characterizations of that. That's also one way to jump 0:20:35.720 --> 0:20:39.600 start the economy. UM. The average of borrower is saddled 0:20:39.600 --> 0:20:45.080 with about thirty dollars worth of student loan debt, and 0:20:45.119 --> 0:20:47.879 so by canceling that, then those are other those funds 0:20:47.880 --> 0:20:50.080 can be used in other ways to jump starting to 0:20:50.119 --> 0:20:53.200 invest in our economy. So those are some of my priorities. 0:20:54.200 --> 0:20:57.080 So I have one more question, just just leading off 0:20:57.119 --> 0:21:01.280 from that, Why do you think so many people seem 0:21:01.359 --> 0:21:05.919 to be instinctively opposed to bailouts and instinctively opposed to 0:21:06.160 --> 0:21:09.359 policy that on the surface would appear to be good 0:21:09.840 --> 0:21:12.760 for everyone and for the overall economy. And how do 0:21:12.800 --> 0:21:17.560 you overcome that obstacle? That's sure, Maybe we've been, uh, 0:21:17.640 --> 0:21:20.320 we're so used to the way things have been done 0:21:20.359 --> 0:21:24.240 for so long that perhaps it's a greater expectation, and 0:21:24.359 --> 0:21:27.040 people are just used to corporations being been held out 0:21:27.440 --> 0:21:29.600 and not the American people and our families and the 0:21:29.640 --> 0:21:33.320 American worker and our communities. Um, you know. But again, 0:21:34.760 --> 0:21:40.040 this is the moment we need to be disruptive and 0:21:40.119 --> 0:21:44.000 we need to build something new that is intentional about 0:21:45.200 --> 0:21:49.760 equity and justice. Reiterating my earlier point in terms of 0:21:49.800 --> 0:21:52.160 the mandate from the people, I mean, the reason why 0:21:52.320 --> 0:21:56.880 people still continue to protest, to demonstrate, to mobilize, to organize. Yes, 0:21:56.920 --> 0:22:00.280 the tipping point was about the fact um that we 0:22:00.359 --> 0:22:03.159 had been in the midst of a pandemic, besieged by 0:22:03.200 --> 0:22:07.879 these images of unarmed black Americans being brutalized and murdered 0:22:07.880 --> 0:22:10.080 by police. But that's not the only reason why people 0:22:10.119 --> 0:22:12.439 are in the streets, and and that's and the reason 0:22:12.480 --> 0:22:15.919 that movement is one that is multigenerational and multi racial. 0:22:16.280 --> 0:22:18.639 There's unrest in the streets because there's unrest in the 0:22:18.680 --> 0:22:22.199 lives of Americans, and that has everything to do with 0:22:22.240 --> 0:22:25.080 the role that policy has played and creating these inequities 0:22:25.080 --> 0:22:28.919 and these disparities, and in particular these racial injustices. And 0:22:28.960 --> 0:22:31.240 so this is the reckoning and that's why the movement 0:22:31.320 --> 0:22:34.080 is not waying. It is a sustained one. And I 0:22:34.160 --> 0:22:36.879 was speaking earlier about Cretis Scott King and and and 0:22:37.040 --> 0:22:40.560 Dr King, and you know, they gave us the blueprint. 0:22:40.640 --> 0:22:43.679 It is to more organize, it is to mobilize, and 0:22:43.720 --> 0:22:46.560 it is to legislate. That's what all that marching was about. 0:22:47.359 --> 0:22:50.320 So you know, you can't say black lives matter and 0:22:50.359 --> 0:22:53.760 affirm that in this moment of culture shift, but then 0:22:53.840 --> 0:22:56.800 not see that reflected in our laws and in our budgets. 0:22:57.200 --> 0:22:59.479 Those are the only receipts that matter in this moment. 0:23:00.240 --> 0:23:02.879 So if black lives matter, we need to lead like it, 0:23:03.000 --> 0:23:05.080 and we need to legislate like it, and we need 0:23:05.119 --> 0:23:09.440 to act like it. And that includes the FED. Congresswoman, 0:23:09.480 --> 0:23:11.720 I did one last question. You mentioned the FED because 0:23:11.760 --> 0:23:13.800 I wanted to bring it back there. Looking again at 0:23:13.960 --> 0:23:19.080 um Uh Biden's platform, he mentions also having the FED 0:23:19.160 --> 0:23:23.560 focus more on racial economic gaps. Do you feel that 0:23:23.680 --> 0:23:25.880 Powell gets this? There's gonna be a lot of questions 0:23:25.920 --> 0:23:29.000 at some point in the theoretical Biden administration about whether 0:23:29.040 --> 0:23:33.600 he should be reappointed. In your communications conversations, do you 0:23:33.640 --> 0:23:36.640 feel that Powell understands this and what it makes sense 0:23:36.680 --> 0:23:41.080 to reappoint him as recently I've been disappointed. I'm not 0:23:41.119 --> 0:23:46.200 sure that he understands um the gravity of the impact 0:23:46.359 --> 0:23:51.080 of the lack of action by the FED and fully 0:23:51.080 --> 0:23:53.480 appreciates the power that they have and the role that 0:23:53.520 --> 0:23:56.840 they can play and addressing these racial injustice is and 0:23:56.880 --> 0:24:02.440 in particular black unemployment and the racial wealth at Congressman Presley, 0:24:02.520 --> 0:24:06.119 thank you so much for your time. Incredibly important topic 0:24:06.160 --> 0:24:08.679 and I appreciate you coming out. Thank you, Thank you 0:24:08.720 --> 0:24:24.960 so much. Tracy. I feel like so many of these 0:24:25.000 --> 0:24:29.160 conversations keeps coming back to the question of can we 0:24:29.200 --> 0:24:32.760 really go back to the status coo epidus. Yeah, I 0:24:32.760 --> 0:24:34.800 think that's right, and I think the way the congresswoman 0:24:34.960 --> 0:24:38.840 put it, the idea of a reckoning that will now 0:24:38.960 --> 0:24:42.119