‘Squad’ lawmaker explains ‘creative’ way to pay $14 trillion in reparations: ‘Moral and legal obligation’
A New York legislator wants the federal government push for a $14 trillion in reparations.
According to The Journal News, “Squad’s” Rep. Jamaal BOWMAN, D-NY, is a proponent of the measure. He wants to hold the federal government accountable for slavery, and its aftermath.
Bowman said that the response of the federal government to the COVID-19 Pandemic and “space race” efforts would make this measure possible.
Bowman said, “When COVID destroyed us, we invested into the American people to keep the economy afloat.” “The government could invest in reparations the same way without increasing taxes on anyone.”
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Bowman asked. Bowman replied, “We spent the money into existence.”
Bowman is one of nine sponsors for H.R. Bowman is one of nine sponsors of H.R.
Introduced in 2023, the measure would require the federal government spend $14 trillion to support descendants of Black people who were enslaved and people of African descent. According to the U.S. Census, Blacks account for 12% of its population.
The bill was introduced three decades after a previous bill, which sought to establish a federal panel to study reparations. Bowman, who is Bowman’s sponsor, reintroduced the measure this year to create a federal panel on reparations.
The bill could be used to address perceived racial disparities between Blacks and Whites in terms of housing, mass imprisonment, education, and wealth.
Bowman said that “incarcerated people should be allowed to vote.”
He said: “I definitely believe that they should be automatically enfranchised when they come out.”
The Journal News reported that “To put it in perspective, in 2020 the federal government will spend about $7 trillion, or about 28% the $25 trillion economy of the United States.”
Bowman thinks that the $14 trillion can be spread over several decades.
Bowman asked, “Who said the $14 trillion needed to be paid in one go?
It might be possible to pay it out over a period of five, 10 or twenty years. You could divide that $333,000 into monthly payments over a certain period of time. “There are many creative ways to get the job done.
The bill quotes scholars who estimate that between 1619 and 1865 the U.S. gained from more than 222 trillion hours in forced labor, “which today would be worth $97,000,000,000,000.”
Bowman said that 246 years of unpaid labor produced hundreds of trillions, if not trillions of dollars in the U.S. economic system. The economy would not exist as it does today without slavery.
There are no sponsors for the bill in the Senate.
Bowman’s Office did not respond immediately to a comment request.
This is just the latest attempt at pushing reparations to the federal level. San Francisco and other blue states are also pursuing similar efforts.
In December, New York established a commission that would explore the best ways to provide reparations to descendants.
Gov. Kathy Hochul has signed the bill to create a “community study commission” to “study the history of slavery in New York State” and to “examine various forms of reparations”.
