Tom Steyer Discusses Senate Deadlock Over Rescue Package

TOM STEYER, FORMER U.S. DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, the idea is to get money directly into the hands of people who are unemployed and to do it as fast as possible and to do it, you know, across the board kind of like the universal basic income proposal that Andrew Yang made in the short run on a one time basis. But, Christiane, that is absolutely critical. But I think it’s equally critical, as you said, to make sure that the corporations continue to exist but we’re bailing out the worker of the corporations, not the stockholders of the corporations.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: OK.

STEYER: And that, in fact, the money that we put into the corporations guarantees, in fact, that that money will be used to continue employment and that it doesn’t, in effect, be used just to support the corporate supporters of the Republican administration.

AMANPOUR: So, let me ask you then because, you know, you’re making a point here, distinction that I think you say is a mistake that happened during the financial bailout, you know, the program for the — you know, that was there to help with the crash of 2008. You heard the secretary-general of the United Nations say that world leaders must come together, like they did during the crash. And they had a much more coordinated joint response to it.

So, on one hand it was a coordinated response. On the other hand, in the U.S., you’re saying that that time, it was way too much for corporations against or rather at the expense of ordinary workers.

STEYER: Well, I don’t think there’s any question about it, Christiane. That, in fact, we bailed out banks, we did not bail out homeowners. We bailed out corporations and stockholders, we didn’t bail out workers. And I think that, this case, it’s absolutely a crisis. We have to get to yes. But we have to do it in a way that we actually take care of the most vulnerable people, we take care of families, and we take care of working people, not just bailing out stockholders, at the expense of working people. I think that’s a critical point to get. And I think that that’s what the Democrats are sticking up for, is the idea there are guardrails on this money, so that, if a corporation is bailed out, it’s really the working people of that corporation who are being bailed out, not the stockholders. It’s a critical point. And I think, you know, let’s not forget as well that we have to deal with the medical emergency first. I know that Washington is dealing right now with the economic crisis, and that’s critical too. But we have to be on top of the medical emergency, because, first and foremost, we have people getting sick and dying, and we are not responding effectively to that.