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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 7, 2024)
Page 2 The Skanner Portland & Seattle August 7, 2024 Challenging People to Shape a Better Future Now Opinion Kamala Harris Definitely Earned It (DEI) Bernie Foster Founder/Publisher V Bobbie Dore Foster Executive Editor Jerry Foster Advertising Manager Patricia Irvin Product Manager Graphic Designer Saundra Sorenson Reporter Mary Reischmann Digital Content Monica J. Foster Seattle Office Coordinator Susan Fried Photographer The Skanner Newspaper, established in October 1975, is a weekly publication, published every Wednesday by IMM Publications Inc. 415 N. Killingsworth St. P.O. Box 5455 Portland, OR 97228 Telephone (503) 285-5555 Fax: (503) 285-2900 info@theskanner.com www.TheSkanner.com The Skanner is a member of the National Newspaper Pub lishers Association and West Coast Black Pub lishers Association. All photos submitted become the property of The Skanner. We are not re spon sible for lost or damaged photos either solicited or unsolicited. ©2024 The Skanner. All rights re served. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission prohibited. ice President Kamala Harris has a political career that is classic textbook. She leveraged her legal training at the Uni- versity of California into a position in the District Attor- ney’s office. Then she ran for San Francisco District Attor- ney, beating the incumbent in a runoff election. She came out on top of a crowded Demo- cratic primary for California Attorney General, and nar- rowly defeated her Republi- can opponent for the office in 2010. She overwhelmingly beat her Republican opponent when she ran for re-election in 2014. When she ran for the United States Senate in 2016, she garnered twice as many votes as the next-highest vote getter, and in the final elec- tion earned mor than 60 per- cent of the vote. The Vice-President’s elec- toral history is well-know, and I recount it for a reason. Ka- mala Harris earned increas- ing responsibility by running for office and winning. There is no diversity, equity and in- clusion in electoral politics. The only way you move up is to get more votes than your opponent. If there is any DEI in the Harris record, it’s Defi- nitely Earned It. Julianne Malveaux Trice Edney News Wire Columnist Tennessee Congressman Tim Burchett made headlines by describing our Vice-Pres- ident as a “DEI hire”, describ- ing her as “checking all the boxes”. Her electoral record “ LOCAL NEWS BRIEFS LOCAL EVENTS Updated daily online. d ay ! • L i ke u s o n F ebo m me • nts TheSkannerNews o k • learn • co in y o u r c o m m u n to y • ac it Hear about it first. Sign up for Breaking News and Events at Kamala Harris is used to the lies, the slurs, the white male disdain refutes that fact. The Vice President didn’t just drop out of a coconut tree, to para- phrase her. She has worked for every office she has earned. To be sure, she was selected to serve as President Biden’s running mate. But she would not have been selected had she not been elected so many times. If the rabid Republicans stuck to describing our Vice President and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee as DEI, that would be an ill-placed slur. But for- mer President Trump and his equally woman hating Vice President have stooped even tested for his comprehension. One wonders how his verbal vomit will survive any inter- national negotiations. Trump’s Vice presidential nominee JD Vance has the same relationship with truth as his boss, Mr. Trump, does. In making his case against “childless cat ladies”, he ac- cuses Democrats, including Vice President Harris, of being “anti-family”, but it is Democrats that have advocat- ed profamily policies, includ- ing the child tax credit that would lift millions of children out of poverty. Like Trump, Vance does not mind telling outright lies. Kamala Harris is used to the lies, the slurs, the white male disdain. She’s had to deal with that through much of her career, as most women in power have. Trump is an expert at disparaging women, attacking their looks (Carly Fiorina, E. Jean Carroll), their clothing (Nicky Haley), their mental acuity (Nancy Pelosi) and more. All I say to these ra- bid Republicans is, ”bring it”. Vice President Kamala Devi Harris is time enough for you. Mr. Vance has described the Harris candidacy as a “gut punch” to the Trump-Vance ticket. Instead of campaigning against a Biden they’d de- scribed as “old” and feeble, they’ve got an opponent who is young, energetic and vi- tal. Instead of debating the Biden who failed to challenge Trump on his incessant lies in the late June debate, he will be debating the prosecutor who sliced and diced Brett Kava- naugh during his Supreme Court confirmation hearing. Vice President Harris is not a gut punch, she is a knock- out punch. She has definitely earned the nomination of her party, and indeed the presi- dency. DEI, indeed! Definitely earned it! Rent Relief: A Winning Policy Issue for the Harris Campaign T Local News Pacific NW News World News Opinions Jobs, Bids Entertainment Community Calendar lower, describing our Vice President as “garbage”, ‘bum” and “crazy.” Throw a little “San ‘Fran- cisco liberal” in there to com- plete the predictable cocktail of slurs and attacks. No one is surprised by the Trump slurs, as the former President is amazingly consistent in his approach to his opponents. Indeed, the inarticulate na- ture of his slurs leads one to question his mental compe- tency and suggest that he be he Department of Labor recently released new Consumer Price Index data. It showed that while inflation has cooled down in many areas of the economy, rent prices continue their up- ward ascent across the coun- try, with the annual increase now exceeding 5 percent. Home prices have risen 47 percent since the pandemic, and according to a report re- leased this year from Harvard University, over half of rent- ers are now spending more than a third of their income on housing. Since 2020, the average rental price has risen 17% to $1,713 monthly, and in cities like New York and San Francisco, average rents now top over $3,000 a month. As the former Chairman of the House Oversight and Gov- ernment Reform Committee, I know all too well the need for balanced and properly enforced legislation and reg- ulations to remedy this prob- lem. But the keyword here is balance. The fact that rent prices are now falling in the U.S. mar- kets where business owners have developed new rental units has proven that when the economy and building conditions approve, so does America’s rental affordabili- ty. For this reason, it is import- ant that our nation’s regula- tors let small business owners who risk their capital to con- Edolphus Towns Jr. Former Member of Congress (D-NY) tinue purchasing and refur- bishing derelict properties, which improves our commu- nities and creates affordable rental units. That is why it is concerning that some regu- lators are targeting property management software these business owners use to do so. “ Since 2020, the average rental price has risen 17% Using predictive data an- alytics, these software com- panies help business owners ensure they are pricing their homes and units accurately, preventing shortages (which ultimately inflate rental prices) and excessive vacan- cies (which decreases profit margins and disincentivizes future building) from devel- oping. However, some regu- lators believe this software — by maximizing revenue potential — is to blame for the high rental costs many Amer- icans are paying today. This is the equivalent of blaming Kel- ley Blue Book for “raising” car prices, and if they outlaw this technology, it will backfire by disincentivizing housing development, which will ulti- mately reduce supply and in- crease prices. As the former Chairman of the Congressio- nal Black Caucus, I know that this supply reduction and additional inflation will hurt minority communities more than most. While this policy prescrip- tion is not a winning one, there are fortunately no shortage of balanced solu- tions to make rent more com- petitive and affordable to working families. Vice President Kamala Harris, the likely Democrat nominee, has a history of proposing sound affordable housing plans that resonate with voters. Given how much attention voters are paying to this issue, she should quickly make them a central part of her campaign platform. For example, while serv- ing in the U.S. Senate, Harris proposed the Rent Relief Act, which would have issued tax credits to all Americans who spend more than 30% of their incomes on rent. If passed, this proposal would have helped millions of Ameri- cans afford shelter. Today, over half a decade later, half of renters still shell out more than 30% of their incomes on rent and utilities, so this idea is without question one that still has legislative merit. Vice President Harris should also continue pledging to expand the Housing Choice Voucher program. This program, also known as Section 8, provides rent- al assistance to low-income families, enabling them to afford housing in the private market. The Biden-Harris ad- ministration has proposed increasing funding for HCVs by $5 billion, which could help as many as 200,000 addi- tional households that spend over 30% of their income on rent afford their monthly payments. The Housing Choice Vouch- er plan also includes mea- sures to incentivize local gov- ernments to relax zoning laws that are restricting affordable housing while removing oth- er counterproductive regu- lations that have discouraged developers from building new units. By making it easier to construct new properties, these policy prescriptions will prove crucial to quickly getting more affordable units on the marketplace. All of Vice President Harris diverse solutions to improv- ing Americans’ rental condi- tions will provide mammoth leaps forward to fixing the status quo. With voters na- tionwide pressing their po- litical leaders to address the housing crisis, she should share them on the campaign trail without delay. nt • lo c a l n e w s • eve
