He is a screaming progressive. All you have to do is go to his campaign web site and look at his policies. Don’t believe me — believe RFK Jr.
- Raise the minimum wage to $15, which is the equivalent to its 1967 level.
- Prosecute union-busting corporations so that labor can organize and negotiate fair wages.
- Expand free childcare to millions of families with programs like that pioneered by the state of New Mexico.
- Drop housing costs by $1000 per family and make home ownership affordable by backing 3% home mortgages with tax-free bonds.
- We will incentivize the transition of industry to zero-waste cycles and clean energy sources, and forge agreements with other countries to implement these policies throughout the global supply chain. These first two policies will vastly reduce the toxic waste, industrial poisons, and pesticides that make people and ecosystems sick.
- We will protect wild lands from further development, by curbing mining, logging, oil drilling, and suburban sprawl. We will become a global advocate for rainforest preservation and marine restoration. We will rethink development policies that promised economic growth while ignoring ecological sustainability, and ended up delivering neither.
- We will restore the USDA and the EPA to their proper role of protecting health and the environment. Today, corporate influence has severely compromised these agencies, resulting in a proliferation of highly toxic chemicals in our food, soil, air, and water. It’s time to clean it up!
1. Targeted Community Repair
Communities that were specifically targeted for destruction need to be specifically targeted for repair. During Jim Crow, Black banks, businesses, hospitals, schools, and farms were targeted for destruction. Racists knew that without these, the Black community had no chance of building wealth. We must set federal dollars aside to rebuild Black infrastructure.
Targeted Community Repair will be available to devastated communities across the country, not just Black. The criteria will be around need, not skin color. However, because there are so many Black communities in need, this program will channel significant resources toward the rebuilding of these most devastated of communities.
2. Prison reform
RFK Jr. will undo the legacy of the 1994 crime bill that disfavors African Americans. He will seek early release for nonviolent offenders. He will reorient the prison system around rehabilitation rather than punishment. His policy will be tough in the sense of keeping violent people where they can do no further harm, but generous in recognizing the fundamental desire of most human beings to live meaningful lives and contribute to society.
Accordingly, Mr. Kennedy will defend these worker’s rights:
- The right to organize.
- The right to collective bargaining.
- The right to strike.
- The right to meaningful wages and benefits, which includes a significant increase to the minimum wage .
- The right to a healthy and safe workplace with appropriate working conditions.
- The right to compensation if injured on the job.
- The right to a dignified and secure retirement.
Mr. Kennedy will vigorously defend these and other workers' rights and use the power of the presidency to uplift the standing of workers throughout the nation. He will:
- Vigorously enforce the law against union-busting corporations so that workers at places like Starbucks and Amazon can organize.
- Fight for a federal tax deduction for union dues, in recognition that strong unions are a boon to our nation.
- Raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, with automatic further increases to keep pace with inflation.
- Support legislation like the PRO Act to boost worker protections and unionization.
- Lobby Congress to change bankruptcy laws so that collective bargaining agreements are preserved through bankruptcy and assumed by the new owner. He will make sure that corporations cannot use bankruptcy maneuvers to strip workers of their agreements, benefits, and pensions.
- Strengthen protections for workers in the gig economy, so that corporations can no longer use gig workers to undermine wages for regular employees.