Kamala Harris speaks truth: “Donald Trump lied and betrayed rural America.” Her Partnership with Rural America repairs the orange squatter’s damage, and tackles longstanding issues with concrete proposals. Instead of empty promises, she will be a real partner, who will listen to and stand with rural communities. Kamala pledges more than $100 billion to create jobs and end trade-policy-by-tantrum. She outlines strategies to rebuild rural economies in a sustainable way that helps fight the climate crisis. She pledges to increase access to vital services like healthcare, childcare, transport, education, and broadband.
Kamala’s rural agenda builds on her Medicare for All plan (covered here and here), Climate Plan (covered here), and Children’s Agenda (covered here), as well as bills like Kamala’s Water Justice Act. She adds comprehensive proposals for rural investment, access and equity, and a promise to crack down on unfair practices of agribusiness that “are crushing rural communities,” just as she has held polluters, big banks, and for-profit colleges accountable.
Kamala’s experience in California—America’s largest agricultural economy--gives her a solid background in farming issues. Her deep empathy, inclusive instincts, and ability to synthesis information learned from others, has resulted in a rural plan that is innovative yet practical. It immediately won her a new endorsement: Cedar County, Iowa Democratic Party Chair Larry Hodgen. He said he was sold after reading Harris' rural plan.
“I've lived in this rural community my entire life, over 70 years. So I know what it takes for a rural community to thrive and grow. It takes a strong farm economy, it takes strong local businesses, good schools, and everything that Kamala Harris spoke to in her rural America plan addressed those issues that will make small, rural communities, strong,” said Hodgden.
“I know she's a fighter. She stands up for what she believes in and I think would work hard for all Americans. We need someone like Kamala Harris in the White House to get this country moving in the right direction,” he continued. (blog4president.org)
Patty Judge, Former Lieutenant Governor of Iowa (and 2016 Senate challenger to Grassley), was also impressed: “Senator Harris’s plan shows that she has talked with rural America and listened to these voters.”
(Yes, this is another long-winded “short” version of) the plan (bolded parts give the gist):
Rural Jobs Tax Credit and Rural Investment Fund
Kamala will give businesses that create jobs in rural communities an annual $10,000 tax credit—capped at $250,000/25 new employees. States will work with the USDA to designate eligible zones. She will expand the Small Business Administration’s rural area programs. She will also establish a new $100 billion Rural Investment Fund in Indian Country and micropolitan areas, with special focus on health care, infrastructure and connectivity.
Where will the money come from? Last year 60 corporations paid 0% in taxes. Kamala will bring that free ride to an end—and put the over $100 billion that wealthy corporations owe towards bringing back jobs to rural communities.
End Trump’s failed trade war and his war on rural america
Kamala will take immediate executive action to eliminate Trump’s tariffs. Farm bankruptcy filings are rising, manufacturing has sunk, and the Trump Trade Tax is one of the largest middle-class tax hikes in decades. “As president, Kamala will hold China accountable by working with a coalition of our allies, not by throwing farming families under the bus.”
Fight Big Oil. Trump has more than quadrupled the number of Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) waivers granted to oil refineries. Kamala knows that biofuels are a critical part of our fight against climate change, and will fully enforce the RFS to end Big Oil’s big break. Kamala held Big Oil accountable as Attorney General, and their abuse of rural communities will end when she’s in the White House.
Stand up to Big Ag and reinstate Farmer Fair Practice Rules. Re-establish the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) as an independent office at USDA. This office protects family farms from unfair competition and fraud. (In 2018, Trump gutted it.) Appoint regulators at FTC and DOJ’s Antitrust Division to crack down on consolidation in the agriculture industry.
Expand Health care access in rural areas
Kamala’s Medicare for All plan will help at least 1 in 8 rural Americans receive care that they would not otherwise receive, and ensure that rural hospitals and clinics will have necessary funding and workforce. In addition:
Boost women’s and children’s health and maternity care access. Kamala will reward hospitals that reinstate or begin women’s and children’s health services. For counties with no obstetric care, she will enhance local health infrastructure and improve transportation to hospitals.
Eliminate child care deserts. In addition to Kamala’s bold plan for paid family and medical leave, she will will fight to pass the Child Care for Working Families Act to limit child care payments to 7 percent of family income, and address the shortage of child care workers. She’ll also make investments in family, friend, and neighbor care programs that will help cover non-traditional hours.
Strengthen rural hospitals and health communities. Increase seniors’ access to high quality, affordable health services, including hospitals, senior centers, and other local areas. Allow clinicians to provide care in more places, like seniors’ homes, and fund the Hospital at Home program. Allow community health workers based in aging communities to serve as health navigators and health coaches, to make accessing health care easier.
Invest in mental health and substance use treatment, including workforce training and telemedicine. Authorize a new educational loan forgiveness program for mental health professionals that agree to practice in areas with a shortage of mental health professionals (Mental Health Professionals Workforce Shortage Loan Repayment Act). Build on that with enhanced coverage under Medicare for All, and new incentives, grants and programs.
Address the opioid crisis in rural America. Kamala would fight to pass the CARE Act, which includes public health research, training, and access to naloxone. Hold corporations accountable for fueling the opioid crisis. Kamala would also fight to pass the Opioid Crisis Accountability and Results Act, which includes fines and penalties.
Increase Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for families with children. Kamala would fight to pass the SNAP for Kids Act, and increase funding for the Healthy Foods Financing Initiative.
Jennifer Herrington, Former Chair, Page County Democrats and Social Worker: “As a mental health social worker for over thirty years, I saw firsthand the critical need for a holistic approach to health and well-being. Kamala’s health care plan for Rural America addresses those needs. I especially like the components of the plan that address the need for improved access to quality child care and an increase in funding for SNAP. These are two examples of often overlooked needs of individuals and families that directly impacts overall physical and mental health.” (blog4president.org)
Connect rural communities to the Internet
Invest $80 billion in a new “Broadband for the People” program to connect 100% of households to affordable broadband by 2024. Provide $2 billion/year to maintain connectivity. Fund fiber and other infrastructure. Establish accurate maps of broadband availability and speed, instead of letting telecoms lie. Restore the FCC’s net neutrality rules.
Make Farmers and Ranchers Partners in the Climate Fight
Support every farm in America to fully implement science-based conservation practices by 2040, including conservation tillage, cover crops, nutrient management, managed grazing, and methane digesters. Scale up the work already being done by programs like the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, the Regional Conservation Partnership Program, and the Conservation Stewardship Program. Pay farmers for storing carbon in healthy soils and crops, increasing profits and production while pulling carbon out of the atmosphere.
Drive the development of bio-based products and biofuels, which are essential to reducing total emissions and can also reduce farm emissions from water pumping and equipment fueling. Leverage the purchasing power of the federal government to drive the market for clean fuels. Other bio-based products like plastic substitutes and wood-based products can reduce emissions and increase jobs. Expand USDA’s investment in R&D and partner USDA with ARPA-E.
(Farm machinery can be modified to run on biofuels made on-farm or elsewhere; see here and here. I counter “food not fuel” with the fact that most grain currently goes to animal feed or corn syrup. Any ruminant will tell you distiller’s grain (DDGS) is yummy feed. USDA: “Each 56-pound bushel of corn used in dry-mill ethanol production generates about 17.4 pounds of DDGS.” Perennial biofuel crops like switchgrass will grow where food crops can’t, with many environmental and climate benefits, including mitigating nitrous oxide emissions.)
Extending tax credits for wind and solar and incentivizing adoption of renewable energy on farms and ranches by boosting the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP).
Support all Farmers, farm workers, and Local Food Systems
Expand local and regional food systems by increasing funding for programs like the Local Food Promotion Program and the Farmers Market Promotion Program. Fight to pass the Young and Beginning Farmers Act to improve access to affordable farmland and make it easier for young farmers to access federal farm assistance programs.
Expand support for minority and socially disadvantaged farmers. Rural America is about 1/5 people of color. Centuries of discrimination have devastated minority farmers. From 1920 to 1997, the number of Black farmers declined 98 percent. Kamala will ensure equitable distribution of loan funding. She’ll also fight to pass a law extending the statute of limitations for discrimination complaints so minority farmers can finally seek the compensation they’re due.
Support heirs’ property owners. In rural (especially minority) communities, land often has no legally designated owner. This “heirs’ property” is passed down with no will or with “clouded title,” shutting landowners out of grants and loans. Heirs’ property is the leading cause of Black involuntary land loss, and a major driver of the racial wealth gap. Kamala will establish a Commission on Heirs’ Property to help heirs’ property owners clear their title and receive other estate planning services, and ensure eligibility for full federal agricultural support and disaster relief services.
Pass 21st century immigration reform that includes the creation of a new agricultural worker visa program. Kamala will fight to pass immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million people living in our communities and contributing to our economy, and also create a new agricultural worker visa program that provides basic rights and protections for farm workers.
Invest in community, children, and education
Expand support for community-based programs on aging and elder rights support activities. Increase funding for Older American Act programs that provide home-delivered meals and rides to medical appointments; fund Alzheimer’s supports and Aging and Disability Resource Centers; connect seniors to part-time community service activities; and provide grants to relevant professionals and advocates.
Invest in education, schools, and children in rural America. Pass Her teacher pay plan to pay teachers their full value. Put a nurse and social worker in every school. Create a federal grant program to help schools address their capital needs. Direct more federal research and grantmaking to agricultural colleges and land-grant universities. Address the skills gap by providing workers with up to $8,000 for training with Kamala’s 21st Century SKILLS Act (S.1911).
Protect our natural resources
Full, permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Protect forests, and transform public lands into net carbon sinks by 2030. Ramp up renewable energy development and end fossil fuel extraction on public lands. Capture and store carbon through strategies like reforestation. Build collaborative approaches to forest conservation and management that protect the environment while supporting sustainable manufacturing. Mitigate wildfire risk with science-based forest management, partnering with state and local governments.
Expand access to safe, affordable and sustainable transit, water, and housing
Expand access to affordable transit: Work to expand services like the National Rural Transit Assistance Program to help improve rural transit. Lack of transportation blocks access to after-school programs, community centers, grocery stores, and doctors.
Tackle the western water crisis, starting with Kamala’s Water Justice Act, which invests $20 billion in water recycling and reuse, groundwater recharge, water efficiency and conservation, and using natural infrastructure. We’re pumping the West dry, and the climate crisis is exacerbating the challenges. “Kamala knows there is no silver bullet to this crisis.”
Ensure access to clean and affordable water. Kamala will hold chemical companies, Big Ag, and other polluters to account for polluting our water. She’ll also fight to pass her Water Justice Act, which invests $250 billion to repair and replace drinking water infrastructure and provides aid to rural families to upgrade and maintain well water and septic systems.
Strengthen rural housing support. Expand USDA’s Rural Housing Service to build or fix rural housing and community facilities. Fight to protect access to rental assistance in rural areas, especially for the elderly and disabled, and for families with children.
More Iowa praise for Kamala’s plan here.
Thread from a Charleston, SC Kamala campaign organizer:
I thought I could make this one shorter...I failed, sorry. The full plan is 24 pages long.
Kamala2020 info and links are below!
Newpioneer has rounded up some highlights of her sponsored legislation here.
snowman3 has rounded up some more legislative highlights here.
Gay CA Democrat lists 21 bills or proposals here.
Want to know more about her positions and plans? Her policy page is Our America.
Or go straight to an issue: quality, affordable health care for all, economic justice, raising teacher pay, combating the climate crisis, criminal justice reform, action on gun violence, a fair and just immigration system, LGBTQ+ equality, government for the people, debt-free college and student debt, gender equality, American leadership at home and abroad, and fighting for racial justice.
More plans: Reproductive Rights Act, Equal Pay, Roadmap to Citizenship for Dreamers, Combating the Racial Homeownership Gap, Reducing the Opportunity Gap, Fair Prescription Drug Prices, Kamala’s 3AM Agenda, Medicare for All, People with Disabilities, Veterans, Combating Violent Hate, A Climate Plan For the People, Transform the Criminal Justice System and Re-Envision Public Safety, Children’s Agenda, LGBTQ+ Equality and Dignity for All, Rural Agenda, Honoring Tribal Sovereignty and Lifting Native American Communities.
Please remember to visit our community group page Kamala2020 and give us a follow! That way all our group efforts will appear in your stream; this makes it easy for everyone to keep up with our latest posts. As always, any who would like to join our group please leave us a comment and we’ll get your invitation right out to you!
If you’d like to volunteer to host one of our Kamala 2020 diaries, please leave your comment in the ”Calling all Volunteers”thread.
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Please volunteer! Come share your story about why you support Kamala!
Upcoming schedule:
Monday — October 28th — DigitusImpudicus
Thursday—October 31st—Onomastic
Saturday—November 2nd—
Monday—November 4th—
Thursday—November 7th—
Saturday—November 9th—
Monday—November 11th--thumbsupcecil
Let your voices be heard!
Upcoming events:
Kamala Harris Canvass Launch at Columbia Field Office October 26, 2019 @
3:00 pm -
4:00 pm 1919 Hampton St, Columbia, SC 29201, USA See more details (
scdp.org/events)
(Trump event covered at NYT.) Kamala’s statement: “As the only candidate who attended an HBCU, I know the importance that these spaces hold for young Black Americans. Today, when it became clear Donald Trump would receive an award after decades of celebrating mass incarceration, pushing the death penalty for innocent Black Americans, rolling back police accountability measures and racist behavior that puts people’s lives at risk and then learned all but ten Benedict students are excluded from participating, I cannot in good faith be complicit in papering over his record.”
Sunday, October 27: Ahead of Virginia’s legislative elections on November 5, Senator Kamala Harris will headline a fundraiser for the House Democratic Caucus and kick off two canvasses for Democratic delegate candidates: Dan Helmer and Delegate Kathy Tran. The canvass launches are open to the press and public.
Kamala Harris to Launch Canvass for Dan Helmer. Location: Helmer Campaign Office, 5618 Ox Road, Fairfax Station, VA When: 1:35 PM
Kamala Harris to Launch Canvass for Del. Kathy Tran. Location: 7512 Candytuft Court, Springfield, VA When: 2:30 PM
More information on the fundraiser with Charniele Herring on facebook (bluevirginia.us)
Monday, October 28: Justice Votes 2020 Town Hall at Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia: Formerly incarcerated men and women will moderate a presidential town hall, questioning candidates about their positions on the U.S. justice system before an audience made up exclusively of people with firsthand experience of prisons and jails. The event aims to put questions of mass incarceration, broken courts, and racist policing at the forefront of the debate in an election season that has largely seen them eclipsed by other issues.(thecrimereport.org). 1PM ET livestream here. Only Sens. Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, and Tom Steyer have committed to attend:
Tuesday, October 29:
Council Bluffs Town Hall with Kamala Harris
When: 6:10 pm (Doors open at 5:25 pm)
Where: TBA
PUBLIC RSVP HERE https://www.mobilize.us/kamalaforia/event/145000/
Thursday, October 31:
DMACC Presidential Conversation with David Yepsen and Kamala Harris
When: Doors open: 2:30 p.m. Doors close: 3:25 p.m. Event: 3:30 – 4:30 p.m.
Where: DMACC, Ankeny Campus, Building 6 Auditorium, 2006 S. Ankeny Blvd., Ankeny, IA 50023
PUBLIC RSVP HERE https://www.dmacc.edu/events/Pages/forums.aspx
Saturday, Nov 2, 2019:
9 a.m.-2 p.m. Drake University, Sheslow Auditorium, 2507 University Ave, Des Moines, IA Kamala Harris--Economic Freedom Presidential Town Hall. Doors open at 8 a.m. Sponsored by the Des Moines branch of the NAACP, KCCI-TV and the Des Moines Register. RSVP (Des Moines Register)
November 20: MSNBC and The Washington Post will co-host the fifth Democratic presidential primary debate in Georgia--airing 9 to 11 p.m. ET--on MSNBC and Radio One, streaming on MSNBC.com and washingtonpost.com. Moderators: Rachel Maddow, Andrea Mitchell, Kristen Welker, and Ashley Parker.
While you’re here, don’t forget to visit Kamala’s Official Campaign Website and her Swag Shop for your favorite campaign gear! 😄
And don’t forget to donate.
If you’re on Twitter, please follow@KamalaHarris and @SenKamalaHarris
(If you’re not on Twitter, bookmark to ersatz follow)
on Instagram: @kamalaharris
and facebook: KamalaHarris
Group Guidelines
The Kamala2020 community group has been created to positively support Senator Kamala Harris, and not to engage in negativity towards other Democrats running in the 2020 primaries.
All should be made to feel welcomed here. What’s not welcomed here is petty bickering over any of our preferred candidates, or personal attacks on fellow Democrats. We’re not responsible for the actions of others who may offend, insult or attempt to sow discord and disunity — that’s on them.
What we are responsible for are our own words and actions — that’s 100% on us.
I’d like to ask all group members, as well as those dropping by who support or are interested in Kamala’s bid for the nomination, that we not respond to negativity from other campaign’s supporters with even more negativity. Let’s do better than our best and respond with respect, humor or try to hold our peace. Recipes and cat pics work, too 😃
Doing no harm costs us nothing... pie-fights will cost us everything.
Tamil movie musical number version of rural life:
Jyothika, from the 2001 film Dumm Dumm Dumm (Director: Azhagam Perumal Cinematography: Ramji Music: Karthik Raja Lyrics: Na. Muthukumar Singers: Harini, Sri Madhumitha)
(Film is set in Ambasamudram, where the Tirunelveli/Nellai dialect of Tamil is spoken.)
The song’s title translates as “Rotating/revolving Earth.” Playful lyrics—a few lines:
The revolving earth rotates, but its wheels never wear out...
The kite flown on a string can never become a rainbow...
O coconut tree...why do you have rings all around your body? Are you getting married?...
Like post office boxes, I've many rooms in my heart--I've hidden my wishes there...
Like waves, the fire's legs are upwards--who'll tell here [in the dark] whether my legs are upwards or downwards?...