Tom Steyer in 6th Democratic Primary Debate
On Civil Rights:
Support disabled by undoing tax breaks to rich
The United States has made a commitment to treat everybody equally and that means supporting people with disabilities in terms of education and when they're part of the workforce.
The question we've got here across the board is can we afford it? And the answer is yes, but what we need to do is to undo the tax breaks that have been given for two generations to rich Americans and big corporations.
Source: Newshour/Politico/PBS December Democratic primary debate
Dec 19, 2019
On Energy & Oil:
Nuclear isn't competitive: focus on wind & solar & batteries
The point about nuclear power is, it's not at the stage in the United States where it's competitive on price. It has a lot of risks to it in terms of disasters and we have no ability to store the toxins that come out of it and last a hundred thousand
years. We actually have the technology that we need. It's called wind and solar and batteries. So in fact, what we need to do, we can do. We've got to stop taking a look at this as something that we can't do because we can do this, and we can do it in a
way that rebuilds this country on an accelerated basis. Creates millions of union jobs and we come at it from the standpoint of environmental justice. This is our greatest opportunity to reinvent this country, to actually take on the biggest challenge
in history and succeed together. You want to pull the country together with all this partisanship? Let's take on the biggest challenge in history and succeed together as a nation. That's what pulls people together.
Source: Newshour/Politico/PBS December Democratic primary debate
Dec 19, 2019
On Energy & Oil:
Climate crisis is opportunity for good middle-class jobs
Not only can we clean up the air and water in the black and brown communities where our pollution is concentrated.
This is the opportunity to create literally millions of middle-class union jobs well-paid across the United States of America. Our biggest crisis is our biggest opportunity.
Source: Newshour/Politico/PBS December Democratic primary debate
Dec 19, 2019
On Foreign Policy:
Work with China as a frenemy under all circumstances
Q: Many Americans have been moved in the last months by the protests of the people of Hong Kong. What would you do as president if the Chinese government moved in militarily?Steyer: The way the US should be reacting in Hong Kong is by gathering our
coalition of democracy and freedom loving partners and allies to push back. In fact, when we're making moral statements around the world, it should not be us threatening and trying to be the world's policemen. It should be us leading on a value-driven
basis with the other people who share our values and want to change the world. We actually can't isolate ourselves from China. In fact, we have to work with them as a frienemy. If we are going to treat climate as the threat that it is, we are going to
have to partner with the Chinese. They're going to have to trust us and together we're going to have to solve this problem. We need a good relationship with them. We're going to have to work with them going forward under all circumstances.
Source: Newshour/Politico/PBS December Democratic primary debate
Dec 19, 2019
On Immigration:
Trump is only against immigration for non-white people
Bernie Sanders: I would restore the DACA program. Trump thinks mistakenly that he is going to win reelection by dividing us up. We are going to win by bringing our people together, black and white and Latino.Tom Steyer: This president is not against
immigration. He's against immigration by non-white people. This is his attempt to divide us on race. Since the very first day he started running for president, he's been vilifying non-white people. He's been trying to inflame his base & scare them that
if white people lose control of this country, that they're going to lose control of their lives. As somebody who lives in a majority-minority state, which is California, what he's doing is so wrong on so many different levels. I agree with Sen. Sanders.
We have to reframe this argument completely. We have to go back to the idea that every American is worth being a full human being on every right. This is a racial argument by a racist president who's trying to divide us and who's vilifying people.
Source: Newshour/Politico/PBS December Democratic primary debate
Dec 19, 2019
On Principles & Values:
Trump officials should testify for court of public opinion
I'm the person who started The Need to Impeach movement. Over eight and a half million signed that petition. It's a question of right and wrong. If we want the people to understand what's going on, we need to have administration officials testify on
TV so we can judge. The court that counts here is the court of public opinion. If we want Republican senators to do the right thing, we need their constituents to see the truth, and tell them, "Get rid of this guy or we'll get rid of you."
Source: December Democratic primary debate on impeaching Trump
Dec 19, 2019
On Tax Reform:
Cut taxes for 95% of Americans by 10%
Q: [to Senator Warren]: You have especially ambitious tax plans that would hike taxes an additional $8 trillion over the decade, the biggest tax increase since World War II. How do you answer top economists who say taxes of this magnitude would stifle
growth and investment?Elizabeth Warren: Oh, they're just wrong. Let's start with a wealth tax: a two cent tax on the great fortunes in this country, on $50 million dollars and above.
Tom Steyer: I agree with Senator Warren in much of what she says. I've been for a wealth tax for over a year. I'm in favor of undoing all the tax breaks for rich people and big corporations that this administration has put through. And in addition,
I've talked about equilibrating the taxes on passive investment income, which would allow us to cut taxes for 95% of Americans by 10%.
Source: Newshour/Politico/PBS December Democratic primary debate
Dec 19, 2019
Page last updated: Dec 27, 2019