Approximately 19 Democratic presidential hopefuls are attempting to remove President Donald Trump from the White House in 2020.
Getting to Know Businessperson Tom Steyer
There is no secret that businessperson Tom Steyer does not support President Donald Trump.
One only has to watch cable news channels like CNN and Fox News to know that Steyer has long supported impeaching President Trump and has even started political organizations like Need to Impeach to speed up the process.
But who is Steyer?
The billionaire owner of the hedge fund Farallon Capital, with no political experience, seeks the office of President of the United States of America because he wants to get money out of politics saying that money has a “corporate stranglehold on democracy.”
The 62-year-old San Francisco resident once considered running for governor of California, but has instead vowed to spend $100 million of his own money trying to unseat the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C.
The billionaire recently released an economic agenda that he says puts “people over profits.”
Steyer has called for a $15 per hour minimum wage as well as term limits for members of Congress and a repeal to Citizens United.
The legal case known as Citizens United allows labor unions and corporations to spend money on elections as well as advocating for certain candidates.
“I am a progressive and a capitalist, but unchecked capitalism produces market failures and economic inequities,” Steyer said in a press release, which announced his economic policies.
While socialism and democratic socialism have gotten a lot of attention from those on the far left, the billionaire presidential candidate still believes capitalism is the way to go for the United States economy.
“The people must be in charge of our economy—but socialism isn’t the answer,” said Steyer.
The presidential candidate said that he would “invest in people” by allocating money for healthcare, clean air and water, a decent livable wage, equal voting rights and quality education for all American citizens.
If elected as the 46th President of the United States, Steyer says he would eliminate the Trump tax cuts and impose a one percent wealth tax on United States citizens that have a net worth of over $32 million.
“(The federal tax system) will not continue to provide favorable treatment to the rich and powerful at the expense of low-income and middle-class Americans, nor will it starve the government of the resources needed to deliver services,” Steyer said.
The California resident also wants to transition the nation into a green economy and “negotiate trade agreements with vital economic partners.”
Steyer rolled out his new economic agenda just in time for his first Democratic presidential debate on Oct. 15.
The debate will give Steyer a chance to get in front of a national audience and present his case to a public that might not be familiar with him or his platform.
Before deciding to jump into the Democratic presidential primary in July, Steyer worked mainly behind the scenes in Democratic circles, funding political campaigns, supporting liberal causes and openly advocating for impeaching Trump.
From 2014 to 2017, Steyer spent over $300 million on political issues and candidates.
However, despite all of his promises to get money out politics, the way he has spent some of his money over the years might hurt his political ambitions.
Steyer has invested money in private prisons.
In a time in which prison reform has became a top issue in the African-America community, so much so that Trump passed legislation to address the issue, Steyer’s financial support of private prisons might hurt his chances with African-American voters.
The prison industrial complex has especially hurt the African-American community because prisoners can become slaves because of the 13th Amendment, providing almost free labor to major corporations.
Furthermore, many political pundits have struggled determining whether or not Steyer’s policies make him a moderate or a liberal.
He does not think of himself as a moderate.
However, many have compared his campaign to the “conservative” Trump, who ran as a populist outsider in 2016.
Despite the comparisons to Trump because of his wealth and New York roots, Steyer believes his solutions make him different than the current Commander-in-Chief.
They both view Washington, D.C. as corrupt.
But they have different ways to fix the so-called corruption.
Steyer said, “I think Mr. Trump had a point. I think that’s why he got elected. Because the system is broken.”
Nevertheless, Steyer does not believe that any of the candidates truly speak for the people like a real populist should, minus the demagoguery.
Steyer said, “The reason that I decided to run, was I listened to the debates. And I didn’t think anybody was really leveling with the American people. There were a lot of discussions of, ‘Which is the right Green New Deal, which is the right healthcare plan, which is the right educational plan?’
“But, really, we have a basic issue in the United States right now, we have a broken government in Washington, D.C. It’s been taken over by corporations. They’ve bought the government. None of those plans is really available to happen, until we break that corporate stranglehold; until we return government to the people government of, by and for the people. Really, none of those plans can happen.
“And I decided, we have to address the truth with the American people. Everybody knows that’s nothing getting done in Washington, D.C. What are we going to do about that? Because if we break the corporate stranglehold, then, in fact, we’re going to get all of the things that we want.
“We’re going to get healthcare as a right. We’re going to get an educational system that our kids deserve. We’re going to get a living wage. We’re going to get clean air and clean water. But, we have to break this corporate stranglehold, if, in fact, we’re going to get back to any kind of effective government.”
