Congressional committees, state governors, and the cabinet. The 2019 congressional directory is a handy spiralbound guide. Order your copy from the cspan online store for 18. 95. Now, more from todays president ial forum hosted by the Poor Peoples Campaign. Of next we hear from marianne williamson, followed by massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren. Everyone please give a warm welcome to marianne williamson. Your four minutes begins now. Ms. Williamson ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for having me here. The Poor Peoples Campaign and the moral revival and the moral poor peoples budget that has been proposed as part of a long large cultural impulse that is coming up in America Today. I think at a certain point, the question is not what the policymakers are going to do, the question is what are we going to do . I believe it is time for us to recognize that we need a revolution in america. And politicall and economic revolution in america. Something andread it says that god will deliver the oppressed, we talk a lot about the deliverance. We are not talking quite enough these days about the oppression. We talk about the fact that there is violence from public policy, that is exactly the expression. It is policy violence. The Economic System in America Today is a system of economic tyranny. The Economic System that prevails in America Today is not just ignore the poor, it does not just turn a blind eye to the poor. There is a systemic war on the poor in america. And there is a reason for that. That is because the kind of capitalism that is being practiced in America Today, unfettered capitalism with no sense of morals or ethical responsibility to anything beyond its fiduciary responsibility to its stockholders, but no sense of moral or ethical responsibility to the larger stakeholders in the communities and the environment. It needs cheap labor. This isnt a matter of come on, dont be so greedy. It isnt a matter of dont be so selfish. This is a matter of us standing up and recognizing in america we dont do aristocracy. In 1776, this country was founded in repudiation of a system in which only a few people got the goods. Only a few people had the right and the entitlement to own land, to own wealth, to own the means of Wealth Creation and two on education. Everybody else was little more rf, not that far above a slave. It is time to repudiate it again. What is happening in america that for the last 40 years we have been moving in a grand theft. It is a theft, ladies and gentlemen. It is a grand theft of the Public Resources of this for the actualization of american democracy, the idea that all men are created equal, the idea that god gave us an editable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to all men and that governments are here to secure those rights. Instead, the government is little more than a system of legalized robbery. Corporate capitalism to often gives us only what crimes will fall from their table. Too Many American politicians are coming to the likes of this crowd and saying i can get you more than crimes. I can get you a cookie. We need to stop asking for a cookie and say that in america, all people are able to feast. People have got to stop asking pretty please. That is your time. The American People need to remember this is america. Thank you very much. Come and have a seat in the hot seat. We are glad to have you with us here today. I am a southern boy. Virginia, North Carolina, georgia, alabama, mississippi, florida. Texas, louisiana, arkansas, tennessee. States, and some others outside of the south, since 2010 we have seen systemic policy through racist Voter Suppression and gerrymandering like we havent seen since jim crow. Controlling of statehouses. When you look underneath that, we also notice that those same states that people get elected in the racist Voter Suppression, surgical racism, those same states or the highest poverty states. Not black poverty, highest child poverty, high swimming in poverty, lowest wages, lowest union density, lowest access to health care. Women,t attack on greatest attack on the Lgbt Community and immigrants. Too often what we see is we continue to fight without recognizing these interlocking injustice. How will your administration run in a way that does not run away workthe south and the hard of building interracial coalitions between blacks, whites, latinos, and native americans in the south, and how will your administration show people that the interconnectedness so that we stop pitting white against black and brown and help build the kind of coalition were black and brown is like, the poor and the wealthy will come together, as dr. King once said, to build the beloved community and transform this country. Ms. Williamson there has been a great propaganda effort to divide us. This has been going on for 40 years. It is part of the psychological and emotional mind game that has led us to where we are. The average american i believe is a good person and i dont believe the average american is a racist person. I believe the average american believes indecency, but the average american is woefully uneducated about the history of race in this country and even the history of the country ourselves the country itself. Its not an accident that dr. King was a baptist preacher. Accident, this is a religious revival movement. I understand that people in the south, and part of the problem with the Democratic Party over the last few years, is that it has been afraid, it has spoken with arrogance and condescension to communities of faith. Too often the republicans dont want their talk, but the walk. Ats dont talk their on not afraid to say that god would have us do these things because that is what we are on the art to do. And im not afraid to say that you cannot go forward in life without cleaning up the past. That is why i talk about reparations for slavery and have been doing so since 1997. Whether it is the catholics going to confession, whether is the jews on the day of yom inpur or whether it is Alcoholics Anonymous when people take a fearless moral inventory and admit the exact nature of the character defects. Im writing because America Needs to have a brutally honest conversation with itself about our own character defects such as racism, militarism, and are streak of meanness with respect to others. I want to get beyond the meanness. There is a new book out called stamped from the beginning. It says that policy comes before the culture racist. My question really is, your campaign, your presidency, how do you address the policy racism that often isnt talked about. For instance, Voting Rights is seen as a black issue, not as a womens rights issue, not lgbt issue. Corporations pull out but not when racist Voter Suppression allows them to pass policies against the Lgbt Community. We have to find a way to connect policy racism and the despairing impact were people may never be mean to you, they may never call you and of the name, they may never say the nword, but every day there implementing policies that harm you with despairing impact. To williamson what we have admit to ourselves is how often people who have done that have been democrats. If you are democrat, you appoint an attorney general who not only understands about systemic racism in your criminal sentencing, who not only understands Racial Disparity in her economics and Racial Disparity in Voting Rights, but actually does something about it and doesnt pretend that you can do that if you are also playing footsie under the table with the people who represent the forces of multinational corporate dominance that would rather have it the way it is. If you vote for me for president , by definition that means you are ready for me to say were going to have reparations to slavery, not just because of the Economic Force but because of the spiritual and moral force that comes from the recognition that damage has been done, a wrong has been done, the debt is owed and it will now be paid. Am going to get the audience in. Please ask your question. You, miss williamson, for your time with us this afternoon. I am the general minister and president of the Christian Church disciples of christ in the u. S. And canada. Im here today with rabbi Michael Pollock from pennsylvania. In my tradition, i follow homeless and undocumented man who preached the good news to the poor. Yet today, too many in power have distorted our religious teachings and are most oppressives most precious moral value. They say we live in a time of scarcity and they use religion to support policies of social and economic violence. Today, we released a moral budget that makes it clear that we have more than enough to go around. And that creating National Budgets and policies around the need for the poor is not only possible but will benefit the larger society. As president , how would you transform our National Budget priority to meet the needs of the 140 million poor and low income people in this country . Money does not come from a bunch of aristocrats who take all the money and say it will trickle down to lift all boats. It has left millions of people without i would repeal the tax cut that gives . 83 of every dollar to the richest among us. I would repeal the corporate subsidy such as that they gave certainion to the to companies along. I would cut off the military budget because it does not represent a legitimate security need. It represents shortterm profits for defense contractors and english endless preparation of war. Every dollar you spend on education and does much more to create jobs then does military expenditure. I would also put a 3 tax on billionaires and a 2 tax on everyone who has 500 million and more. Are awould say to you who christian and you who are a jew, it was not just a deliverance to the promised land, it was slavery in egypt. We have to realize that it is important that we realize the forces of immorality are on the march as well. We must stop asking and we must start demanding. Thank you very much. We have put out figures of 140 Million People who are poor and low income. That there are 50 Million People who cannot afford water. There are thousands and thousands of communities who do not have proper infrastructure. 62 million folks are working jobs that pay less than a living wage. There is no county across the country where you can actually afford a two bedroom apartment if youre working for minimum wage. We can make a connection between all these we say it is not the fault of people, but structures. What are your proposals for structural, immediate change to confront these problems of racism, of poverty, psychological devastation and the poor economy . Ms. Williamson i affirm, its individuals,ked its about rotten systems. Its not just about defeating donald trump. If all we do is fix things on the level of the symptom, all that has to happen is that they can come back and repeal it with the next president. I am from the Progressive Left wing of the Democratic Party that believes we need a fundamental pattern disruption of the economical and political status quo of the United States. However, by doing such things as i mentioned before, none of this will ultimately fundamentally change on a powerful level until you and i remember who this country belongs to. , psychological and spiritual revival. So there is a Critical Mass of you did people who say it to my grandparents, and youre not going to do it to my kids. To bring together all the questions you were asked, we have experience for the last 2. 5 years of president would no political experience who comes into washington saying im going to make fundamental change. But if you look at the policies the current president has input, he has been able to do them because they are what republicans in Congress Already wanted to do. Big tax cuts, that something that already wanted to do. Simply signable to the bills. On the democratic side its a little bit different. The Progressive Side of the party is not what is in charge generally of the party. How would you come in as an outsider and get these ideas through congress, both parties, and then what would you do about trying to get them through the United States senate, where Mitch Mcconnell has vowed to stop anything progressive that comes his way . Ms. Williamson you know as well as i do that if im elected president , that means the American People are waking up and thinking in a certain way that will be reflected in who they like to congress and to the senate. M m any democrat coming in is helping Mitch Mcconnell will not be the head of the senate at that time. However, because i am getting honest and not talking some moral equivalent stuff when people would have changed it by now, i will have already let the cat out of the bag. The American People will take it from there. Followup, and i understand the discipline of listening, it is a powerful discipline. It actually says more sometimes than applauding particular ,ieces because the issue is thank you for the insights and the words. , but wetake the people and had to change pharaoh nebuchadnezzar. President to push those into being. It took changing a president to get legislation for Voting Rights. The people change the political contours even in a nonelection year and forced politicians who were elected not to do themhing, ended up forcing into place to do what they need to do. Here is the question. You ur campaign, will because there were 26 debates in televised. There are 140 million poor people, Voter Suppression like we havent seen since the days of jim crow. 66 million white people, one third of the poor people are in the south. 13 million uninsured people in the south. And not one debate, one hour, was on poverty, and not one hour was on racialized Voter Suppression and the other forms of racism that connect to the oppression hurting people of all colors. Push the powers that be that are sitting up setting up the debates, to have a debate where the focus is on systemic policy racism, systemic poverty, thisgical devastation, and false moral narrative of religious nationalism that has moved its way into the white . Ouse ms. Williamson not only will i, i already have. Ive talked about why dont we have a poverty debate. Im the only person who talks about the chronic trauma of millions of American Children while their despair is merely normalized by the establishment. Im the only one talking about the militaryindustrial complex except for tulsa gabbard. Im the only one out there talking about the poverty rate and child poverty. I not only have, sir, but i have not had as much of a megaphone to do that because we have a political militaryindustrial that is an dominance by having only the conversations they are already having. I can push and push, but i need your help is much as you need my help because the voices of the people are ready and the megaphones are not prepared to receive that conversation as they should be. Well, you have the megaphone right now. We are Live Streaming this to be seen all over the world, anywhere that has an internet connection. Give us in a nutshell what is the purpose of your campaign . You have said youre not as wellknown as some of the other candidates, you dont have a history in politics. What is your larger platform that speaks to those 140 Million People who are low income and poor in this country . Ms. Williamson my platform is we need an economic, social, moral, and Political Revolution in this country. John kennedy said those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution happened. That no oneemember in america should be considered an outsider. That is the problem right there. This elite system of politicians who claim to be the only ones qualified. I challenge the idea that only the people whose careers have been entrenched in the system that brought us into this are the only ones qualified to lead us out of this ditch. , the politicalts establishment did not wake up and say it lets free the slaves. The people stepped in. The political establishment did not wake up and say lets give women the right to vote. It was the women suffragettes and the people who stepped in. The political establishment did not wake up and say lets desegregate the south. The people stepped in. It is time once again for the people to step in. This is why talk about the chronic trauma of millions of American Children who go to school and classes that do not have adequate school supplies. If a child cannot read by the age of eight, the chances of High School Graduation are drastically diminished and the chances of incarceration are drastically increased. It is all well and good that we need medicare for all. We also have to talk about our food and chemical and Agricultural Policy and Environmental Policies are making us sick, particularly the disadvantaged communities. We must wage pieces much as war, which is why we need more money given to the Peace Movement and not just or makers. Until we deal with the real truth in our criminal Justice System and are economic and social systems, particularly with paying reparations for slavery, we will not have expunged those shades of darkness that god would be glad to remove from us. Kids who wanted to ask a question. I want to see if we can get them to come on quickly and ask your question. There they are. This is the time to clap now. [applause] tell us your name, your age come in question. Im nine years old. My question is why are the needles all around our school . Needles around her school. Needles are around your school because there are people doing things that are very, very bad for them. They are doing things that are very bad for them because life is so hard for them, and the pain is so great that they dont even want to be here anymore. Our job, and it will be your job when you grow up, is to create a society in which more people are happy and more people are not desperate and more people just want to do good, having peaceful things. Until then, there will be things like needles, and that is why we are all here, because we are going to give People Justice and jobs and all the things that make their life meaningful, and then they will be happy and they will not be using needles. Go ahead. Im from boston mass and im 10 years old and im going into the sixth grade. My schoolwork is challenging, i did have a tough year because i was worried about failing the test. I was worried about being teased by other kids and making new friends. I went to School Every Day worried about getting pricked by needle on school grounds. I worry about my friends that are not as fortunate as me to be able to be dropped off at school daily. The things that i see, are even being approached by a stranger, not one,mile away from not to, but three methadone clinics. Some of us see people walking up and down the street. I see people walking like zombies and almost falling down, and it scares me. This past year i have spoken to many people, of spoken to our school submitted, city council, i have asked a congresswoman for a meeting. I have helped organize cleanups with my mother and other parents. They say im an activist. I say im just a 10yearold little girl that wants to go to school and play. With the Opioid Epidemic if you asked me what im fighting for, im fighting for my life in my community. How are you fighting for us . Thank you. Very well done. Good job, young lady. Good job. [applause] very good, both of you. You did a great job. [applause] ms. Williamson millions of American Children live in what is called americas domestic war zone. Psychologist say that ptsd of returning veterans from afghanistan and iraq is little more horrific than that ptsd of these children. We need wrap around services. We are the only advanced industrial nation that makes property tax the source of our finding. The Prime Minister of new zealand said new zealand is the best place for child to be raised. I would say america should be the best place. [applause] thank you very much. We are going to keep it moving. Can we get everybody to put your signs back under your chairs. Here. Ection right i saw you, you did it. Well done. Now everybody is ready. You are all warmed up now, right . Are you ready for another candidate . Everybody quickly get back in. We are not in church, but no walking during service. Is everybody sitting down . Are you ready . All right, everyone. Let us give a warm welcome, here is senator Elizabeth Warren. Senator Elizabeth Warren. Cheers and applause] all right, senator. They warmed up for you. They had a little dance before you came out. But theyre all ready to go. Lets have the first question. Bishop barber, do you want we want our children to be taking care of people who have real professions here. We can make public technical school, twoyear college and Fouryear College tuitionfree. Or every one of our kids we can put 50 billion into historically black colleges and universities so they can play from a level playing field. And we can cancel Student Loan Debt for 95 of the people who have Student Loan Debt. We can do all of that, and we can hit the Opioid Crisis head on. We can put 100 billion to put it in the communities who are in the front lines of this fight. We can actually save lives, save families, save communities across the community and we will still have money left over. What i want you to understand about every part of this, ander know you understand this, is sking those at the very top to put in two cents is enough to be ble to help all of our children. Not just some of our children, but all of our children. One of the things that the campaign is saying if we dont , and if we poverty dont have a debate that says not as silo issues. One of the things that weve been asking the candidates do you believe we need that debate . Because we didnt. We will push and go to the media the next 20 up debates. Theres no way we could have this happen again. 50 years after the Voting Rights decision, we have less Voting Rights today than we have 57 years ago. More poverty and 43 of this nation in poverty and were having a political discourse that wont even say the word poverty in the mainstream, right . Will we push and have that debate publicly with all the media. Media . Its an interesting place with an interesting leader. Very diplomatic. How would you as president enact this policy, the idea it polls very well in terms of the idea of a wealth tax. It would run into two gauntlets, Mitch Mcconnell with the majority leader or even as the minority leader or the people who youre not very popular with, the very wealthy, policywise that would fight this to the nail. How would you fight this . Senator warren lets be clear. If were in the majority and Mitch Mcconnell wants to block us on the kinds of things our country needs and the kinds of things they elected me and other people to enact, then im all for getting rid of the filibuster. We cannot let him block things the way he did things in the obama administration. Ive been there, when it was one set of rules when obama was president , and now its a different set of rules. Now that we have trump in the white house. We cant do that. We have to be willing to get in this fight. So thats part one. Thisart two is understand, is about making democracy work. So the way i see this, when you ask the question and you rightly say, by the way, that wealth tax its not only popular among democrats, its not only popular among independents, a majority of republicans support it. Same thing for getting rid of Student Loan Debt. A majority of republicans were there. This is something we can build support on all across this country. But what it really means is weve got to building our Grassroots Movement now, this is what the Poor Peoples Campaign is all about. Youve been doing this for a long time. But its build it. Not just toward november of 2020, which im all in favor of, but you keep that momentum up so that come january of 2021, we are fighting for real change. A president who leads and a people who say this is what we want, thats how we get pressure on congress and get to make the changes we need to make in this country. All right, lets bring up beth jones. Beth is in the audience and has a question for the senator. All right. Hi, senator. m standing with slami dayanunda. Shes a monk with Union Hill Baptist church and friends of environmental and environmentad Climate Justice in virginia. I come from southeast, louisiana where we have one of the fastest eroding coastlines in the world. And not far inland some of the some of the poorest communities, youll find long line of petro chemical companies. Some families have been flooded with deadly poisons for generations. Theres toxins in the air and the water that have caused so many illness that some folks call our coroner the country cancer alley. Ecological devastation and the Climate Crisis is happening all around us. Alized poor and margin are always the first to be hit. What is your plan to insure that everyone has a right to clean water, air, land, and to defend our environment . Senator warren thank you. Thank you for the question. [applause] can we start by saying that Environmental Issues are poor peoples issues . Because its critical to stop and and acknowledge that. You know, ive been working on different parts of environmental plans. And the very first one i did was about what a president can do, and i love saying this, what a president can do all by herself. The kinds of things that dont have to go through congress. So for example, the first day that im sworn in, i will put in place a moratorium that on all of our federal lands, on all of our National Parks there will be no new drilling, no new mining for Petro Chemicals and offshore no more. Were not going to do that. When i role that out, the very irst place i went was to coastal South Carolina where poor people, where working people, where people in struggling communities are on the front lines trying to stop offshore drilling, that make their lives and their livelihoods from that water. And they say just all its going to take is one spill, one accident, one mistake and it will wipe them out for generations to come. That indeed the very fact of doing it, the waste produced by this and the changes, they dont want to see it. And the hardest part is, their voice doesnt get heard. Not in a world that is full of lets listen to the lobbyists, lets listen to the people who can make the big campaign contributions. Lets listen to the folks who can hire bought and paid for experts. You know, when youve got a government that works for a thin slice at the top, a government that works for those who can show up with plenty of money and doesnt work for anyone else that is corruption, pure and simple, and we need to call it out for what it is. So ill tell you this, ill make this promise. So that n this fight this government doesnt just work for those at the top. Heres the good news, ive got the biggest anticorruption plan since watergate. Heres the bad news. We need the biggest anticorruption plan since watergate. But no one needs it more than the poor, than the people whose voices dont get heard, than the peoples whose communities get destroyed. No one needs it more than the people whos livelihood is taken ay, whose clean air is undrinkable. And thats the fight we have to be in. We have to be in that fight morally. We have to be in that fight economically and we have to be in that fight politically every single day. Count me in on that one. In 1968 when the Poor Peoples Campaign was launched by dr. King and other leaders, they were talking about the tri system. Evil, the wherever bomb is a bomb in unservices to the poor. We spend 53 cents of every discretionary dollar on the military and 15 cents on health care and antipoverty programs. So what are you going to do to end this war economy to challenge militarism and to lift the load of poverty . Senator warren so we need to cut our military budget. This is and there are multiple ways we should be thinking about this. We need a military and a department of defense that constantly isnt just saying, our plan is more, more, more. How much more can we observe . How much more can we get . No, we need to think of our budget in terms of our values. When we we can deal with that budget. We need to stop the endless wars. No great nation fights endless wars. We bring our people home that is billions of dollars that we have to spend here at home on our eople. Every time we decide were spending money on this instead of that, were making a very concrete statement about our values. And for me, this is not about how to help a giant industry. This is not about how to make a department bigger and bigger and bigger. This is not about how to support endless wars. This is about how we build an america that is strong, that is vibrant and that works. Not just for those at the top, but works for everyone. Thank you so much. The the states that have the highest lack of low wages, the health care and the most politicians that are voting against health care both in the congress and state houses, the greatest attacks on immigrants, the greatest attacks on the Lgbt Community and on women and the biggest cuts on Public Education have this in common, they are all the states that have had the worst racist Voter Suppression and racist gerrymandering, and theyre in the south. So what happens is, people get elected by racialalized gerrymandering in the south but because 1 3 of the poor people are in the south. Over 50 million, because of the majority of the people that are poor and and the wealth are white people who get elected by racialized policy then use their power to hurt mostly white people. And theres been this Historic Division to keep poor africanamerican, poor white, latinos, to come together in the south if you change the south, you fundamentally change the country. And 40 of all africanamericans now 40 of voters of africanamericans are in the south. You connect that to progress i whites an rogressive latino. Weve seen by a lot of politicians is the attempt to find their way to go around the south, to not really campaign that the south, to not deal those interracial coalitions in the south or to pick certain states. I pick maybe North Carolina or maybe florida. But just right off. How is it that your campaign is not going to write off or understand that you cant do that . And how is it that youre working to bring those communities together that have been traditionally divided as dr. King said every time they have the power to bring into being their beloved community . What are you going to do to bring them together . Senator warren youre right. Dr. King started it with this netion the whole idea is to turn working people against working people. Black poor people against white poor people because so long as they stay against each other, then no one notices who is picking their pockets and who is getting rich off it. So you ask me how were going to make sure we dont write off the south. Ive been down there. Ive been to 20 states in puerto rico already. Ive been to mississippi and alabama. Ive been to tennessee. Ive been to South Carolina. But ive also to been to georgia. Ive been there on building a Grassroots Organization on the ground because i believe thats how we build a future. We build it together. And by the way, i just want to say off to the side on this, you know, ive done more than 100 town halls now. Ive been to a lot of places. Ive taken more than two billion unfiltered questions from folks. Shoot, im over 30,000 selfies now. So im in this. Ask yourself, why ive got the time to do that and most other candidates dont. And the reason is because im not spending my time behind closed doors with a bunch of millionaires. Im not spending my time with a bunch of corporate lobbyists. Im spending my time building a Grassroots Organization that looks like the rest of america and that helps us build together so that we understand. This government cant keep working for those at the top and survive. We need to fight back. Theres a whole lot more of us than there is of them. We get united. We fight back thats how we make real change in this country. [applause] now, would Elizabeth Warren as the president ial candidate be able to overcome the forces of really great wealth who would be our candidacy . Y how are you going to win . Because theres more of us than there are of them. Thats the bottom line that we have to remember. We get out there and talk about the things that touch peoples lives. Touch it every day. Look, i go out and talk about corruption in the system. Its not a hard sell. Folks across this country get it. Ago down and talk about a twocent wealth tax and that we could have universal childcare, every one of our babys that we could build 3. 2 million housing units, housing for the poor. Housing for the homeless. Housing for the working poor. Housing for working people. We could do that in this country. All it takes is us. It takes us believing in ourselves, organizing reaching out, neighbor to neighbor, friend to friend, community to community thats how we build our future thats our comparative advantage. Attend of the day, if we do that, they could have all the money in the world, its not going to stop a peoples movement. All right. And we have literally 28 second. I dont think we have time to get a question in. Ly just thank you, senator Elizabeth Warren. You have 22 seconds. Say what you want to say. A great lizabeth its honor to be here. My daddy ended up as a janitor. And he had great in public. Hools in a Commuter School thats how i became a professor and a senator and a candidate for president of the United States. Thank you, senator. Senator, Elizabeth Warren. [applause] tuesday, President Donald Trump hold as rally in orlando, florida, officially launching his run for a second term. Watch live at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan2. Online at cspan. Org or listen ive on the cspan radio app. The reviews are in. It topped the New York Times news and note worthy column. They call it the mile post in the ever changing reputation of our president s and from the new york journal of books, the president makes a fasten grossing read. Read about how noted president able historians rank the best and worst chief executives from George Washington to barack obama. Explore the challenges they face and the legacies theyve left behind. Cspans, the president is available on hard back or ebook today. Or wherever books are sold. Now, back to the Poor Peoples Campaign event with president ial democratic candidates. This next portion includes Michael Bennett and california representative eric swal well. Were about to begin now. I want to thank all you for being here, i want to thank the Poor Peoples Campaign for moving the schedule because