Angst breakfast by the new England Council at the New Hampshire institute of politics, life in manchester. If i could have your attention so that we can begin the speaking portion of the program and allow you to leave early to go shopping. This is speak, after all. We absolutely this is christmas week, after all. And our guest speaker would agree, this is why New Hampshire is so unique and we fight very hard to maintain, first in the nation a good residence of this wonderful state take their politics very, very seriously. They are to be commended, but i think it is also a sign of white beshould be and continue to the number one in the United States. [applause] i want to thank all of you for being here. Council the new england and our final event of the year 2019. What a year it has been for the new England Council. We have hosted a little over 80 events throughout all of new england and in washington, d. C. With all of the members of congress, the 21 members of congress that represents all of us in new england and the six new england governments, the 12 United States senators. We have had cabinet secretary speak at the new England Council. With the speaker of the house of commons speak. Today we have the 21st president ial candidate speak to the new England Council politics and eggs here at saint hayes. I think you for your support. This event would not be saint as. This event would not be possible without you. They are Corporate Leaders in this great state and nation. If you see anyone affiliated with these companies you should say, thank you for supporting politics and eggs. It is only possible with the support of these wonderful corporate citizens. We will be taking a break from these events, but stay tuned for some announcements in early 2020. We hope many of you will also attend those. For purposes of introducing the very special guest this morning, i think of no one better to do the formal introduction than the man who has made this event such and this is been a huge event to say the least. It is possible only because of the work of neil who has done an outstanding job. For purposes of walking our good friend. Well, welcome. Welcome to the New Hampshire institute of politics at saint anson called for another great series. Youre right, were still hopeful well have one more before the end of 2019. [laughter] punch them right in. A lot of special guests here today and a lot of really good friends. These are people but not on support the institute but support the college and all we do here, and without you we really couldnt do this. And so often, and thanks to all the chickens after her producing all these eggs because we keep serving them up and its great. [laughter] i think were running out of eggs at New Hampshire at this point. We have a very special guest here today, so special that even my sister all the way from maine decided to come and join, my sister kristin is here. A lot of people know who tom steyer is but im going to give you just a brief history that i think is very telling of his character and his background. Tom steyer graduated from yale. He didnt get into st. Anselm. [laughing] and he earned his mba at stanford. He turned to San Francisco rather than go to new york and started a small investment firm. He produced doubledigit returns for his investors, mostly universities and nonprofits, some individuals. In 2013, he switched his focus to politics and the environment, and founded Nextgen America, a Nonprofit Group that aims to combat climate change, promote social justice and increase participation in our democracy. He then launched the need to impeach in 2017, a public call call to impeach donald trump that got millions of petition signers and a couple people signed on in washington. He and his wife devoted countless hours of the time and donate tens of nights of dollars to charitable projects. In 2010, they signed the giving pledge to donate half of the fortune to charity during their lifetime. Wow. By the way, Senior Vice President of our investment jim flanagan is here today. [laughing] mr. Steyer most recently spoke at an event in april. He spends a lot of time doing tv here as well. When he officially announced his candidacy for presidency. Im going to tell you that all across the country when i go across the country or hereinafter i always get asked, what is with the belt . If youve seen his and i know you have, you say theres a belt he always wears. People always ask me, so i had asked him, and so theres a project that hopefully he will talk a little bit more about in kenya where the goal is to educate young girls and, of course, if you work on educating young women in a lot of these countries it gives them selfesteem, and educated population obviously is better for a lot of these countries. And this is what that belt represents in kenya, and i think it goes along with your entire biography. So, tom, welcome. [applause] tom good morning. So let me say i am impressed. December 23, really . Its amazing. We would talk about, jim and i were talking and it really does Say Something about the commitment of people in New Hampshire to doing their homework and knowing whether about they are talking in terms of the president ial primary. So duly noted, amazing. I will tell you a little bit about the belt before i get going, which is neil is exactly right but the thing that is true its not just about selfesteem when women get educated. When women get educated, which doesnt happen the same way boys get educated around the world, it actually changes the world. I wear the belt because the education of women will save the world if, in fact, we accomplish it everywhere. So i wear the belt because if i were not doing this i would be doing that. Its incredibly powerful to understand how much it changes as i like to say, of 20 things that we can do to arrest climate change, three of them have to do with the education of girls and women. And when you think about that, you never think that thats one of the most powerful levers or combined one of the most powerful levers and what to combat climate change, but it actually is. So just saying that. Doing a good thing can often of often have ripple effects that are hard to imagine around the world, and this is one of them. But let me explain for a second about why i am running for president. I would really like this to be question and answers as much as possible, so if you will prepare whatever your cruelest, hardest questions are, completely contrary to the spirit of the season i would be happy to take them. [laughter] look, im running for this simple reason that i wouldnt because i think the governor is broken. I think it is been bought by corporations. I think the reason that the people are not being served in terms of affordable healthcare, in terms of the antigun end to gun violence, having some significant climate legislation, education, i really think is because it works perfectly for corporations. I know i speaking to business audience. I spent 30 years in the private sector. I believe in a vibrant, competitive, Innovative Private sector. I just dont Want Companies to write the rules. I want the government to work for the people of the United States and let the private sector work within the rules that serve the people. Thats why im running for president. [applause] and i think neil alluded to in a little bit but i spent the last ten years putting together coalitions of americans ordinary citizens to stand up for the ir rights and to push back when you think theres unchecked unfair corporate power. So i started in california my home state taking on Oil Companies about the most Progressive Energy laws in the world. People thought it was, a reverse iq test, if youre stupid enough to do you will definitely lose, and we got 70 of the vote. Ive had a chance to take on Oil Companies, Tobacco Companies, utilities to get them to push them towards 50 clean energy by 2030. Ive closed the Corporate Tax loophole that was just a mistake for 1 billion and gave it to the public schools. We got a twodollar a pack cigarette tax which the Tobacco Companies had fought for 20 years and won 17 times in a row. 34 billion dollars a year and give to the medical which is a Healthcare Services for the lowest income californians. I also started the largest grassroots organizations in the United StatesNextgen America which neil referred to, which in 2018 did the largest youth Voter Mobilization in american history. History. We went into 38 republican congressional districts, 421 campuses. I think we are in Something Like 40 campuses in New Hampshire and we been her since the beginning of 2014, and we flipped 33 out of the 38. We more we more than double turnout young people. If you think about the New Hampshire law that was passed to set an outofstate College Students cant vote in New Hampshire unless they get a New Hampshire license plate, that was a direct response to College Student voting and more than twice the rate they been voting at and being a margin of victory for a lot of close victories in the state by democrats. So really what i believe in is more democracy, more power to the people. Its really been ten years of trying to push power down to the people of the United States because i actually trust the people of the United States. We were talking at breakfast about, what have i learned basically went for president . And running for president is kind of a more intense version of what i have been doing for seven years, which is to travel around the United States and talk to americans and listen to what they are saying about their lives. And listen to what theyre saying about how the government affects them and problems they are dealing with. And so i believe i have met an Incredible Group of people who are not a typical americans. They are normal americans, really hardworking, really decent inspirational across the country. That has been my experience for seven years, is to think the people of the United States are wonderful. Just wonderful, and they do things every day that are tough, out of the goodness of the heart. I cant tell you how inspirational, fun it is to travel around this country and meet people. And a lot of them are suffering, and so when i like to say we use fancy language in politics. We use the language of econ 101 and poly psy 101, and it really takes us out of whats going on. Because Actual Stories about what people are going through other stories of human beings who are often really suffering. And so my attitude about this is a Pretty Simple one. We have more than enough money to do all the things we want, to have affordable healthcare quality Public Education from the prek8 college, a living wage pay people a living wage so one job can support a family. Secure clean air and clean water for everybody. We can afford it. But were definitely not delivering, and the reason is, its not profitable for a lot of corporations and that isnt a good enough reason. Because what weve seen is, i think those are rights of americans, and thats really what were going to get if we break the corporate control of our government. And thats what i intend to do. But let me say wow, you guys are quiet. [laughing] let me say this. People always describing, i i sometimes say im going to change my name normally to billionnaire tom steyer instead of just tom steyer. But let me say, formally one of the sons of my parents best friend in life whos been running a summer camp for 22 years. So let me say this. My mother taught in the new York Public Schools and tutored prisoners at the brooklyn house of detention and remedial reading. My father who was a partner in law in law for years. Was first generation of brooklyn, first generation of the sons to go to college. My grandfather was a plumber. My father quit the law to go into the navy in world war ii, ended up because he was a lawyer being what other people prosecute the nazis at the end of the war, the war criminals. One of the things my father always said to my two older brothers and me was, if you see something wrong in your society, at the heart of your society, then fight it really early and keep fighting it. Because i was referring to the nuremberg trials. He said thats what the germans didnt do. Basically when you see something wrong, you cant let it take root. That really was a big part of what i start the need to impeach movement. There was something i thought consistently wrong at 1600 pennsylvania avenue, and i said to people when we started over two years. Over 8. 53 people signed a petition, said if you dont believe me, read the paper tomorrow here if you dont believe tomorrows paper, read the next days paper. Because this is a pattern that is not going to change for as long as this guy is president. So i will say two more things and then i really am ready for questions. One is you should know im the only person in this race who will say that climate is my number one priority. I say it because i have to. Because its true. It has to be true. Ive been working on climate for more than a decade. We have pushed successfully for clean energy, stopped power plants, fossil fuel plants, stopped pipelines. I have taken on companies on this, but let me say we have to do it. We can do it. I guarantee you we can do in a way that cleans up the air and water, particularly in the black and brown communities that have air you cant breathe and water that comes out of the tap that will make you sick. We can do it from that angle and we will come and we can do it and create literally billions of good paying union jobs. Good payingf union jobs. So when people talk about this, we have to do it, we cant do it, and we can do in a way that is just a winwinwin, with cheaper energy, faster growth, more jobs, healthier. What we have to do it and we have to lead the world on it. If we dont look at this on a global basis, we are not looking on a realistic basis. You cannot solve this inside the boundaries of the United States. So unless we lead the world morally and financially and technologically and commercially, we lose. Theres no other country that can do it, just to be clearer if you look at what just happened in madrid, if u. S. Doesnt lead, it doesnt happen. And so heres of the good news. People are always asking me how do we come together as a country . Are so partisan. I think this would be a very emotional, very competitive thats a nice word for what i think election. And how are we going to come together . Everybody feels distraught about the divisions and partisanship and the country, and i do, too. What i can say is my experience of playing sports is, do you know who loves each other . Winning teams. And if we take on the biggest challenge in the world, which we have to take on together, cant be democrats doing it, it has to be americans doing it. If we take on the biggest challenge in the world and succeed and reestablish ourselves as a moral value driven country, thats how we will come together. Is being a winning Team Together in pursuit of something we have to do and that we have to succeed in. The last thing i want to talk for one second about, economics. I mean, we know what mr. Trump is going to run as, because he has said it about ten days ago. He was talking to i think the israeli american conference. I dont know if you guys read this quote but he said you guys dont like me, and i dont like you. But youre all going to vote for me because if the democrats get control, they are going to destroy the economy in about 15 minutes. Thats what hes going to run as. When hes been impeached, he said you cant impeach me, the economy will fall apart. Like, really . So what im saying is of this. He can win. For us to win we will have to have a candidate who can actually go after him on the economy. We cant have a candidate where he can paint them as a socialist, will destroy the economy, because Americans Care about growth and prosperity as well as economic justice. And after 30 years building a business from scratch, figuring out what creates prosperity, i feel like i have unique experience and expertise in terms of pointing out the fact that mr. Trump is actually a fake business person and a failed business person. He actually played a businessperson on a reality tv show, and that he is actually a terrible steward of the american economy. If you actually look at the things hes done, they have been counterproductive and bad for the American People. And so i think we need somebody who can take him on and take them down in terms of economics because that is definitely im not exaggerating when he said to those people, his basic campaign shtick is on a criminal who hates 80 al of america, but you cant afford to get rid of me. And what we have got to prove is we can afford to get rid of him because we actually can afford to get rid of him. We will do much better with a completely different understanding about what creates true prosperity and true growth and true success for