Thank you for joining us. We really appreciate you being here. Busy campaign schedule, so we are delighted to have you join us at this event cohosted by the Community College system and Goldman Sachs, with whom i understand you share some connection with your past. Mr. Steyer i work for them for two years when i got out of business school. Those are the facts. Have your campaign, you clearly made the economy a centerpiece of your pitch to american voters, and these forums are intended to focus on the economy, particularly of interest to the many Business Owners who register in the small program. In talking to some people arriving here today, many of them had the same question i was going to start with. The economy appears by all accounts to be very strong. According to many commentators, it is at an asset to the president in seeking reelection. How can you make an economy that has seen consistent growth for 10 years, that has record low unemployment, a centerpiece of your campaign . Why do you think that is a Winning Strategy . Mr. Steyer so if you guys dont mind, i am going to stand up to answer this question. I cannot see people in the back, which means people in the back cannot see me, too. So if you dont mind [applause] mr. Steyer first let me say, it is a treat to be here with you. I am really looking forward to this conversation. I hope i dont know exactly how it is going to go, but if i get to answer as many of your questions as i can, i will be very excited. Because thats what i really love to do, talk to people about what they are worried about. How can i talk about the American Economy as not being successful when the president is definitely going to run on it . When he is going to say we have record low unemployment, we have consistent growth, and the stock market is at alltime highs. That is what he says every day. It is no secret. I think it is going to be very hard for conventional candidates to talk about that. I did start my own business, ran it for 27 years, built it into a multimillion Dollar International business from a oneroom startup with no employees and not even any windows in the room. So i feel as if i ran an Investment Business. The secret to that Investment Business was understanding what makes a Successful Company and what makes a successful country. Because it was an international business, and if you invest in marys business, lets say it is the best business in argentina and argentina falls apart. You are going to lose 90 of your money. So understanding what makes economies, countries work and grow was absolutely fundamental to me being successful for the last 20 years. I was in a business where if you are wrong, you lose. Your record is there for everybody to see, so you actually have to figure out how it actually works. Let me say this. I want to talk about why those numbers are not the right numbers. We have made the assumption over the last 40 years that a growing economy meant a successful economy. The American Economy has grown since 1980 pretty well and i would say relative to other countries in the world, very well. But if you look at how the money has been split up, you will see, and i am certainly a beneficiary of this, it has overwhelmingly gone to the richest americans, and it is not close. If you look at what has happened to 90 to 95 of americans, there has not been an increase in wages in this country for two generations, and that has never happened before. If you look at what mr. Trump has done with the economy, he gave the biggest giveaway in terms of taxes to the richest americans and richest corporations. The 400 top corporations in the country last year paid an 11 tax rate. Thats outrageous. We have an absolutely reverse progressive tax code at this point. 10 years ago, Warren Buffett says he pays a lower tax rate than his secretary. 10 years ago it wasnt true, but it is true today. Thats outrageous. Have seen this economy the assumption on growth is that it is fairly shared because it has been fairly shared in the United States traditionally, but it isnt anymore. You know, if you look at the minimum wage in 1980 and tax adjusted i mean, inflationadjusted it, you would get to 11, not 7. 25. That is no increase in wages, that is just inflation. If you included workers share gains, 22vity would be the minimum wage in the United States today. Lets first talk about growth. If we have good growth and all the increase in income goes to the top 1 or 5 , that is not success in my book. The stock market if you are paying 11 tax rate as a Company Amazon pays a 0 tax rate. In fact, they pay negative taxes in my mind because they make state municipalities kickback fica to them. You can have a booming stock market. This is a country that has started where the government is reporting to corporations, not to people. The booming stock market does not hit the bottom 50 of people at all, and it disproportionally hits the very richest americans. Thats my second point. Third point is, what is prosperity in the United States if it is not shared . And how do we create actual prosperity . Think for one second. Forget the numbers they report on tv and talk about what a prosperous, successful, productive country looks like in the real world. It looks like american citizens being better educated, more productive, more successful, better paid, and competing successfully around the world. What does the government do to support that . They invest in american citizens so we can succeed. And if you want to think about success, it is like, are we increasing the amount of money and the effectiveness with which we educate young people . No in fact, this president is doing everything he can to cut education. Are we pushing for the rights of working people to have unions to negotiate on their own behalf . I always say to people, walk into walmart and negotiate your salary. See how that goes. It is not going to happen. You know, i think walmart employees get 6 billion per of s. N. A. P. , food stamps. The american taxpayer is subsidizing walmart 6 billion a year that they dont pay their employees for a fair wage. Let me talk about the last thing that makes me crazy, and thats this. There is this thing called the american dream. That if you are hardworking and smart and ambitious, that it doesnt matter where you start in america, you can go anywhere. Horatio alger, the american dream. I mean, that is from 1900. The kid who is selling newspapers on the street who grows up to run a big company or be president. Let me say this. Is anyone talking to you about that . Because actual mobility in america is gone. I was down in georgia. They gave me the number on if you are born into the lowest littlee this is a wonky, so i will apologize. But if you are in the bottom fifth in terms of income in your family, what is the chance that through your smarts and hard work and your ambition that you move out of the bottom fifth . One in 20. As i like to say, feudalism did better than that. We are in a place where actually this government is serving american corporations very well. And it is devastating for American People. I have been organizing fulltime for seven years, but running for president is more i love it. Honestly, best thing i have ever gotten to do my whole life. My kids are doing it, my wife is doing it, we all love it. But what you see when you go around and talk to people in the United States, including in New Hampshire, is suffering. Let me give you a statistic that i think is relevant. Lower Life Expectancy for three years in a row. Why is that true . Three of the four top reasons alcoholism, drug abuse, suicide. You are telling me this is a successful economy, that this is working for the people of the United States of america . I dont think so. [crowd chatter] thanks for coming. We spent four years in New Hampshire and we used to go to silverlake outside keene. You are my first choice. Thank you so much. [indiscernible] oversaw all of health and wellness. The Mental Health crisis mr. Steyer huge. I am kicking myself for not bringing it up. I would say Mental Health is health. I could put an extra 100 billion Mental Health is health. Thank you. Mr. Steyer whats your name . [indiscernible] thank you. Increasing the minimum wage to 22 an hour. [indiscernible] mothers. Those unwed anthere day care is 22 hour . Mr. Steyer i know. I am highly aware. Equal opportunity begins at birth. I am excited to be here. This is awesome. I live in maine. I saw you were in new england, so i drove here today. Mr. Steyer where do you live in maine . [indiscernible] mr. Steyer really . Yes, i am. I am going to come to the event tonight. That was awesome. You did great. Thank you. You did a good job. You did nice job on the climate. Mr. Steyer did i mention that i was a Soccer Player and not a baseball player . [laughter] can we get a picture . Mr. Steyer when i was growing up, my dad said [indiscernible] thank you so much. Mr. Steyer whats your name . Im jack. Hi. I did have a question for you. Mr. Steyer what is your name . I have liked everything you have stood for since day one. [indiscernible] mr. Steyer i can say this. Late. In [indiscernible] andlast two, South Carolina nevada, i am but you have not qualified for the next debate yet. Mr. Steyer i know, highly aware. [laughter] i want my vote to count. Mr. Steyer of course you do. [indiscernible] thats the only reason i am doing this. I listen to all this stuff. Good luck. Mr. Steyer how old are you . I am 20. I am a junior. I live in central mass. Thank you for coming out. I have four kids. Two of the kids stopped their job to work on the campaign. Cool. Thank you. Thank you for coming out. Mr. Steyer your generation [indiscernible] think being on a College Campus i am in engineering school, but i getting more politically active am now. My friends are super into it. One of my friends led this huge Voter Initiative on campus. Thank you for coming out. Thank you for running. One thing i have really thought about i have done some tours around south america. Melting in alaska. [indiscernible] mr. Steyer its cheaper. It is, but people need to do it. I have seen areas where it really makes a difference. Reason, if Oil Companies are buying up all the technology and trying to keep it. Mr. Steyer have you seen what is going on in australia with the fires . I have. I have been to australia. Its amazing. Mr. Steyer it is armageddon. It is literally armageddon. It is a beautiful country, but a billion animals have been killed already. I went around australia. I have been there twice. Now ithats burning spent a lot of time there. I want to give you my card. You for yourhank service. Thank you very much. Hi, i am keegan. Mr. Steyer nice to meet you. Should we take a picture . Thank you so much for coming. Thank you. Mr. Steyer my pleasure. You, too. Mr. Steyer i tried to get you to ask a question, but i couldnt get the mic to defend myself. What is your question . Do i have time to answer a question . It seems like the democratic solution to all that is wrong is always greater and more expensive government, more generous government. And yet here we are in 2020 with record inequality. How is it that somebody can be selling that if we just redistribute all money and offer more things free to people, that that will solve the problem . Because fdr and several other president s after him have tried to sell that story to the public, of which they have bought parts of it along the way. But the ending is the ending. Mr. Steyer i dont think about it as redistributing wealth. I think about it as investing. I think when you talk about a kid getting an education makeking it free doesnt the cost of it go away. Do you have any illustrations of how putting something in the Public Sector runs more efficiently and more costeffective than in the private sector . Mr. Steyer you look at the returns. They are astronomical. I am talking general macro education. Mr. Steyer i am talking about if you have kids who are educated, what does that mean for the growth of society . What does it mean for every level of income . Let me give you an example. California spends 14,000 a year on k12 per kid. You spend 84,000 per year on a prisoner. If you can tell me you can keep someone out of prison by giving them a different trajectory in life by spending a little more money, it is a lot cheaper. I hear you mr. Steyer to be continued. Role, tell the truth and do what you think is right for america. I have friends who disagree on everything, and that is democracy. I am being serious. That is why i am never rude to people i disagree with. How old are you . 67. Class of 1982. Mr. Steyer i am class of 1983. [indiscernible] great to meet you. Hi. Martha cruz. [indiscernible] mr. Steyer i do care about that. That is very obvious. To me, the electability factor just went up exponentially by seeing you here today. Mr. Steyer thank you very much. Because you care. We need people who care. Wanted to introduce you this is my grandson eli. We are very blessed. Mr. Steyer congratulations. That must have been scary. We are really blessed. Mr. Steyer [indiscernible] believe it or not, adults really care. This for theg cameras. [laughter] i know. Thank you so much, tom. I have been signing your petition for a long time. I am from guilford, New Hampshire. Chance to see a any of the [indiscernible] mr. Steyer how old . Ninth grade. That is why we need Better Health care. My heart is just breaking. The problem we have is doing. I couldnt sleep the other night. The guy i dont know who is going to win. I hope you have success. I hope and pray you do. [indiscernible] he is a crook. He lies. Mr. Steyer doing the wrong thing. There are no rules. There are no boundaries. I just hope you have a lot of success, and please beat him. Mr. Steyer [laughter] thats all i can say. Please beat him. Marcia hayward. I wanted to tell you i love what i heard today. I am blown away by your comments, your articulation on the issue. I was in the back trying to ask you about the national debt. Can i find that answer on your website . Mr. Steyer what i say is this. Does that matter . Of course it matters. The parties have decided it does not matter because it is not in their political interest to talk about it so it does not matter. You know the old saying from hemingway, how did you go bankrupt . Slowly and then all at once. We are in the slowly phase. Debt explodeds was because he gave a trillion dollar tax cut to rich americans and corporations, claiming it would pay for itself. That is complete baloney. There was an article in the boston globe that was written sloppily. We need to get rid of lobbyists. Mr. Steyer all the things im talking about, every one of them is a progressive tax policy. The second thing is mr. Steyer i know you have to pay your bills, unlike mr. Trump. This is how it works. He has never paid bills in his life and this is him not paying our bills. Are you on the debate stage and how can i help you get there . Steyer if they run polls [indiscernible] we will find out in the next two days. Ok, thank you. [indiscernible] mr. Steyer what is your name, maam . Caroline. Thank you. I am celine. Mr. Steyer tom steyer, nice to meet you. Yes, i know who you are. I would like to ask you a question. [indiscernible] mr. Steyer look glamorous. We got it. Ever since way back, you mentioned citizens united, doing away with them. How do you think you are going to get rid of that if it is a Supreme Court decision . I have been dying to know. Mitch mcconnell rigged the vote. Praying for Ruth Bader Ginsburg mr. Steyer people ask me [indiscernible] is it . Nine judges is not in the constitution. People ask me, are you willing to go that far . What is good for the goose is good for the gander. Legal, it ist is ethical. You did something wrong, deal with it. I saw that, yeah. I think i have decided for next month. Mr. Steyer that works and it is legal. You got me. I was on the fence. Because of how they run politics here in New Hampshire, because i had a successor who was very into this, i have shaken hands with every sitting president since and including richard nixon. Mr. Steyer my goodness gracious, no way. I was in high school. I graduated in 1971. You are from keen . Whats your name . Ed. Mr. Steyer we used to go to silverlake when i was growing up. I think we paid literally 42 bucks a month. You could not drink the water that came out of the tap, by the way. Now let me ask you a question. Do you know any of the following people, it will who i have not seen in a very long time . Catherine or Jill Saunders . I know the name. Mr. Steyer do you know hillary colony . I know the name. Mr. Steyer i keep wanting to go to keene state. If i go, i get to call all these people i have not heard from in 40, 50 years. By the way, it is me. Who cares . The mill got converted to retail. Mr. Steyer when did that happen . 1990s. Mr. Steyer i understand they have really cleaned up silverlake. Bought up the watershed. It used to be pretty dang polluted and i understand it is a lot better. I have talked to a bunch of people. Thank you, sir. What is your call signal . Mr. Steyer maverick. Do you remember top gun . Our code do you want to go ahead . Therejust going to ask, has been some news out of iran and investigation into the flight that crashed over to ron over tehran. You tweeted about it. Looking for your comments on that. Mr. Steyer what i understand happened is the iranians shot down a ukrainian passenger jet by mistake. We are obviously in a time of extremely heightened sensitivity around iranian moves. We need to make sure exactly what happened. It is our job to protect, first and foremost, the safety and health of american citizens, so we need to make sure we understand what is happening and put