6th Democratic Primary Debate: on Budget & Economy


Andrew Yang: People have jobs, but many need two or more to get by

Corporate profits are at record highs in America today. Also at record highs, depression, financial insecurity, student loan debt, even suicides and drug overdoses. If you're a recent college graduate, you have a 40 percent chance of doing a job that doesn't require a college degree. That doesn't show up in the headline unemployment rate, nor does all of the families that are working two or three jobs to get by.
Source: Newshour/Politico/PBS December Democratic primary debate Dec 19, 2019

Bernie Sanders: FactCheck, yes, 3 top people wealthier than half of America

Bernie Sanders said during the LMU debate that "three people own more wealth than the bottom half." He has said in past venues that three individuals--not three percent of the people--are richer than 50% of all of America. Is that true?

Yup, there's a summary on CommonDreams.org entitled "Three Richest Americans Now Own More Wealth Than Bottom Half of US Combined."

The summary comes from an Institute for Policy analysis, "Billionaire Bonanza 2017," based on data recently made public by the˙ Forbes˙400 list and the Federal Reserve's annual "Survey of Consumer Finances."

The analysis asserts: "The three wealthiest people in the United States--Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Warren Buffett--now own more wealth than the entire bottom half of the American population combined, a total of 160 million people or 63 million households." So Senator Sanders is correct that the three wealthiest individual people are wealthier than the sum of half of all of America.

Source: OnTheIssues Fact-Check on December Democratic primary debate Dec 19, 2019

Pete Buttigieg: This economy works for Wall Street, but not for middle class

Where I live folks aren't measuring the economy by how the Dow Jones is looking, they're measuring the economy by how they're doing. When you're doing the bills at the end of the month at your kitchen table, and you find that, even if your wages have gone up, is not nearly going as fast as the cost of healthcare. This economy is not working for the middle class.
Source: Newshour/Politico/PBS December Democratic primary debate Dec 19, 2019

  • The above quotations are from Democratic Primary Debate, December 19 at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, co-hosted by PBS Newshour and Politico.com.
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2020 Presidential contenders on Budget & Economy:
  Democrats running for President:
Sen.Michael Bennet (D-CO)
V.P.Joe Biden (D-DE)
Mayor Mike Bloomberg (I-NYC)
Gov.Steve Bullock (D-MT)
Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D-IN)
Sen.Cory Booker (D-NJ)
Secy.Julian Castro (D-TX)
Rep.John Delaney (D-MD)
Rep.Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI)
Sen.Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
Gov.Deval Patrick (D-MA)
Sen.Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
CEO Tom Steyer (D-CA)
Sen.Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
Marianne Williamson (D-CA)
CEO Andrew Yang (D-NY)

2020 Third Party Candidates:
Rep.Justin Amash (L-MI)
CEO Don Blankenship (C-WV)
Howie Hawkins (G-NY)
Gov.Gary Johnson(L-NM)
Howard Schultz(I-WA)
Gov.Jesse Ventura (I-MN) 		Republicans running for President:
Sen.Ted Cruz(R-TX)
Gov.Larry Hogan (R-MD)
Gov.John Kasich(R-OH)
V.P.Mike Pence(R-IN)
Gov.Mark Sanford (R-SC)
Pres.Donald Trump(R-NY)
Rep.Joe Walsh (R-IL)
Gov.Bill Weld(R-MA & L-NY)

2020 Withdrawn Democratic Candidates:
Sen.Stacey Abrams (D-GA)
Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-NYC)
Sen.Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
Sen.Mike Gravel (D-AK)
Sen.Kamala Harris (D-CA)
Gov.John Hickenlooper (D-CO)
Gov.Jay Inslee (D-WA)
Mayor Wayne Messam (D-FL)
Rep.Seth Moulton (D-MA)
Rep.Beto O`Rourke (D-TX)
Rep.Tim Ryan (D-CA)
Adm.Joe Sestak (D-PA)
Rep.Eric Swalwell (D-CA)
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Page last updated: Dec 27, 2019