• On Nov. 20, 2018 Steyer ran a full page ad in USA Today and Gannett
newspapers outlining "5 Rights." [PDF]
It
looked
like
he
was planning to run for president. However on
Jan. 9, 2019, he announced
he was "not
seeking
a
presidential
bid
at this time" in order to "to
spend
100%
of
his
time and energy focused on removing Donald Trump from
power" through his Need to Impeach organization.
Male Voiceover: "Tom
Steyer, one of the most influential activists in Democratic Party
politics. He was the founder and president of NextGen America."
Steyer: I think what
people believe is that the system has left them.
I think people believe that the corporations have bought the democracy.
That the politicians don't care about or respect them.
Don't put them first, are not working for them, but are actually
working for the people who have rigged the system.
Really what we're doing is trying to make democracy work by pushing
power down to the people.
Mail Voiceovers:
"California voters are getting a chance to do what California lawmakers
failed to do."
"Prop 56 got a lot of support at the polls."
"The oil company sponsored a new ballot initiative to halt California's
new law."
Steyer: I was born in
1957. I grew up right in the middle of the civil rights revolution and
the Vietnam War.
The underlying injustice in America was coming under attack.
My father graduated from Yale Law School at 21. Started being a lawyer,
then he went into the Navy because of Pearl Harbor.
And then at the end of the war, they sent him over to be assistant to
the chief prosecutor at Nuremburg.
I think my father looked at being in the service, or being at
Nuremburg, is like you have your duty - you do it.
My parents were very uncompromising about doing the right thing.
Male Voiceover:
"Steyer and his wife worth an estimated billion and a half dollars;
they pledged to give half of their fortune to charity."
Steyer: We signed the
Giving Pledge, which is a promise to give away half of your wealth
while you're alive to good causes.
We have a society that's very unequal. And it's really important for
people to understand that this society is connected.
If this is a banana republic, with a few very, very rich people and
everybody else living in misery, that's a failure.
The lawyers have basically gotten the Supreme Court to say that
corporations are people, and therefore they have all the rights in the
Constitution given to people.
Now, obviously, corporations don't have hearts, or souls, or futures.
They don't have children.
They have a short time frame. And they really care about just making
money.
If you give them the unlimited ability to participate in politics, it
will skew everything because they only care about profits.
You know, you look at climate change, that is people who are saying
we'd rather make money than save the world.
That's an amazing statement and it's happening today.
And there are politicians supporting that.
I mean, I think 82,000 people died last year of drug overdoses.
If you think about the drug companies. The banks, screwing people on
their mortgages. It's thousands of people doing what they're paid to do.
Almost every single major intractable problem, at the back of it, you
see a big money interest for whom stopping progress, stopping justice
is really important to their bottom line.
Americans are deeply disappointed and hurt by the way they're treated
by what they think is the power elite in Washington, D.C. and that goes
across party lines and it goes across geography.
We've got to take the corporate control out of our politics.
All these issues go away when you take away the paid opposition from
corporations who make trillions of extra dollars by controlling our
political system.
What do we care about?
Do we care about improving the world and handing it on to the next
generation in a way so that they can lead better lives than we've had,
in a way that safer, more prosperous and more beautiful and creative.
And if we don't do those two things, then shame on us.
If you think that there's something absolutely critical, try as hard as
you can and let the chips fall where they may.
And that's exactly what I'm doing. [Music stops]
My name's Tom Steyer and I'm running for President.
Tom
Steyer
2020
July 9, 2019
Tom Steyer Announces Candidacy for President
Steyer running to end corruption of our
democracy by corporations and give more power to the American people
(SAN FRANCISCO, July 9, 2019) - Progressive political activist and
philanthropist Tom Steyer has announced his intention to seek the
Democratic nomination for President of the United States of America. In
a video released this morning, Steyer outlined his vision for the
country and how we can address the pressing challenges facing Americans.
"Corporate money has corrupted our democracy and stripped Americans of
our ability to determine our own future," said Steyer. "The only way
for us to solve the urgent problems facing our country is to loosen the
stranglehold that corporations have over our politicians and return
political power to the American people."
"The other Democratic candidates for President have many great ideas
that will absolutely move our country forward, but we won't be able to
get any of those done until we end the hostile corporate takeover of
our democracy," continued Steyer. "As an outsider, I've led grassroots
efforts that have taken on big corporations and won results for people.
That's not something you see a lot of from Washington these days.
That's why I'm running for President."
Steyer's campaign will focus on solving two major crises - reforming
our broken political system and saving our planet from the ravages of
climate change. Over the next few weeks, he will announce a reform plan
for our democracy that will push more power to the American people and
away from big corporations, and release a climate change proposal to
finally break through Washington inaction and start the process of
healing our planet.
"If we can reduce the influence of corporate money in our democracy,
and start to address the devastating impacts of climate change, we can
unlock the full potential of the American people and finally solve the
many challenges facing our country," said Steyer.
Steyer continued: "Since leaving my business seven years ago, I've
devoted myself to fighting climate change, advocating for racial
justice, and taking on big corporations. Through that work, I realized
that together we can fix anything. If Washington won't take action to
create a stronger, fairer democracy for all, then it's up to us."
Building on his success leading campaigns that have challenged the
corporate takeover of our politics and having won victories on health
care, education, and the environment for millions of Americans, Steyer
plans to run a different kind of campaign. In addition to early primary
states, he will take his message across the country because he believes
that everyone's voice is important no matter where they are from. In
the coming weeks, Steyer will kick off his campaign at events in South
Carolina, Ohio, and California. He is also committed to ensuring
President Trump doesn't get a "free ride" while he and the other
Democrats are focused on the Primary Election.
"Together we will build a movement of young people, progressives,
people of color, and working families to protect our democracy from the
powerful and well-connected and give more power to the American people
- where it belongs," said Steyer.
Outside of his campaign, Steyer remains committed to helping Democrats
reclaim the White House no matter who wins the nomination. While he has
resigned his leadership positions at both NextGen America and Need to
Impeach to seek the Democratic presidential nomination, he has
committed over $50 million through 2020 to ensure both organizations
fulfill their missions.
NextGen America's grassroots campaign will be active through the end of
the 2020 election to register and mobilize young voters, and to
continue to partner with For Our Future to reach out to working
families and people of color. Need to Impeach, the campaign Steyer
founded to advocate for the removal of Donald Trump from office, will
also continue operations and keep the pressure on members of Congress
to begin an impeachment inquiry into Trump's offenses.
About Tom:
Tom Steyer left his successful investing business seven years ago to
give his own money and all his time and energy to fighting for
progressive causes. He soon became one of the country's leading forces
in registering more young voters and voters of color, fighting climate
change, working for racial justice, and helping secure better lives for
all Americans. Tom has led a number of people-first, grassroots
campaigns that have repeatedly defeated powerful special interests,
beating big oil to win clean air laws, forcing big tobacco to pay its
share of healthcare costs, and closing a billion-dollar corporate tax
loophole to fund public schools.
Tom and his wife Kat Taylor were early signers of the Giving Pledge, a
commitment to give the bulk of their fortune to good causes before they
die. Tom's dedication to doing what is right comes from his parents.
His father was a lawyer who prosecuted Nazis at the Nuremberg Trials;
his mother was a journalist and teacher who volunteered to teach
prisoners in New York City jails. Tom says his parents showed him the
power of having the courage to do the right thing. Their greatest
lesson, he says, was that our actions speak louder than our words -
what we do is more important than what we say.
Republican National Committee
Dem DL | Tom Steyer
July 9, 2019
After a false start, left-wing extremist Tom Steyer has
finally formalized his self-promotion tour under the guise of a
presidential campaign. The only thing Steyer’s campaign will do is
light more of his money on fire as he joins the rest of the 2020
Democrat field in pushing policies that are way outside the
mainstream.” – RNC spokesman Steve Guest
Here’s just some of what you need to know about Steyer, the latest
to join the Democrats’ clown car…
