Tom Steyer in Democratic Primary Debate
On Corporations:
Break the corporate stranglehold of our government
Every single one of these conversations is about broken government. It's about drug companies buying the government and getting what they want. It's about the gun manufacturers buying the government and getting what they want.
We need to break the corporate stranglehold on our government. I've put forward actual structural changes, including term limits, a national referendum, end the idea that corporations are people, and make it a lot easier to vote.
Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate
Oct 15, 2019
On Corporations:
Break up monopolies but we should focus on the positive
I agree that monopolies have to be dealt with. They either have to be broken up or regulated, and that's part of it, but we're going to have to show the American people that we don't just know how to tax and have programs to break up companies,
but also talk about prosperity, talk about investing in the American people, talk about harnessing the innovation and competition of the American private sector.
Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate
Oct 15, 2019
On Drugs:
72,000 died from opioids last year; that's a health crisis
Q: How would you address the opioid epidemic?Steyer: Well, I think this is one of the most heartbreaking experiences that America's had. 72,000 people died of opioid overdoses last year, and that's not only a tragedy for them, it's a tragedy for
their family and their communities. And so I think we have to treat this as a health crisis. We have to move the resources and the support there to try and help people. The reason I'm running for president is that we have a broken government,
and we have a broken government because corporations have bought it.
Q: What would you do about "broken government"?
Steyer: Every single one of these conversations is about that broken government. It's about drug companies buying the government
and getting what they want. We need to break the corporate stranglehold on our government. I've put forward actual structural changes, including term limits, a national referendum, the end to the idea that corporations are people.
Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate
Oct 15, 2019
On Energy & Oil:
We need to lead the world on climate, with allies abroad
The most important international problem that we're facing is climate. We can't solve the climate crisis in the United States by ourselves. It's an international crisis. I've been working on it for 10 years, taking on the corporations.
But we have to work with our allies and our frenemies around the world. So if you look at what Mr. Trump is doing, of course he's been bought by the oil and gas companies.
But any problem that we're going to do, but specifically climate, we're going to have to lead the world morally, we're going to have to lead it technologically, financially, and commercially.
This is the proof that this kind of America first, go it alone, trust nobody and be untrustworthy is the worst idea I've ever heard, and I would change it on day one in every single light.
Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate
Oct 15, 2019
On Foreign Policy:
Unilateral action, without allies, makes absolutely no sense
Q: A report by the Senate Democrats says the next president could fight back by publicly revealing what the US knows about Putin's corruption, and work with allies to freeze his bank accounts. Would you take either of those actions?
Rep. BETO O'ROURKE: Yes, we
TOM STEYER: Absolutely. As far as I'm concerned, Mr. Trump's America first program, which involves having no plans, having no process, and having no partners is proved to be a disaster in Syria, it's proved to be a disaster in terms of our response to
Russia's attacking our democracy, and more than that, when we look at the problems around the world, the idea that the United States is going to act unilaterally against a country without the support of our traditional allies makes absolutely no sense.
Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate
Oct 15, 2019
On Free Trade:
Trump tax plan & trade war are failures; I can show how
Mr. Trump is going to be running on the economy. He's going to be saying he's the person who can make it grow. I started a business from scratch, one room, no employers, and built a multi-billion dollar international business.
We're going to have to show the American people that we can talk about prosperity, talk about investing in the American people, talk about harnessing the innovation and competition of the American private sector.In fact, if we want to beat Mr. Trump,
I think somebody who can go toe to toe with them and show them to be a fraud and a failure as a business person, and a fraud and a failure as a steward of the American economy, is going to be necessary. He is one. His tax plan's a failure.
His trade war is a failure. I would love to take him on as a real businessman and show that in fact he's failed the American people and he has to go.
Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate
Oct 15, 2019
On Jobs:
Minimum wage should be $11 to $20, for parity with 1980
Q: Bernie Sanders said, upon proposing to tax the assets of the wealthiest Americans, "we cannot afford a billionaire class whose greed and corruption has been at war with the working families of this country for 45 years". Steyer: Senator Sanders is
right. There have been 40 years where corporations have bought this government: a 40-year attack on the rights of working people & specifically on organized labor. I was one of the first people on this stage to propose a wealth tax. I would undo every
Republican tax cut for rich people and major corporations.
Q: What's your plan for closing the income gap?
Steyer: It's absolutely shameful the way the money gets split up in terms of earnings. As a result of taking away the rights of working people
and organized labor, 90% of Americans have not had a raise for 40 years. If you took the minimum wage from 1980 and just adjusted it for inflation, you get $11. It's $7.25.. If you included the productivity gains of American workers, it'd be over $20.
Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate
Oct 15, 2019
On Principles & Values:
Impeachment reflects the will of the American people
I started the Need to Impeach movement because I knew there was something desperately wrong at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. That we did have the most corrupt president in the country, and that only the voice and the will of the American people would drag
Washington to see it as a matter of right and wrong, not of political expediency. Impeaching and removing this President is something the American people are demanding. They're the voice that counts and that's who I went to, the American p
Source: October Democratic Primary debate on impeaching Trump
Oct 15, 2019
Page last updated: Feb 09, 2020