Tom Steyer on “I’ve Had It”: California is “Too Expensive for Working People”

Steyer contrasts his campaign with Becerra corporate interest supporters driving costs up for working families

CALIFORNIA — Tom Steyer joined Jennifer Welch on her “I’ve Had It” podcast for a frank conversation about California’s affordability crisis, corporate power, climate change, and what he says sets him apart in the race for governor.

Throughout the interview, Steyer stressed that working Californians are being squeezed by corporate monopolies, rising costs, and political leaders unwilling to challenge powerful interests.

“There is only one person taking on the corporate special interest, and they’re spending a record amount of money against me,” Steyer said. “I’m their threat.”

Taking on Big Oil and utility monopolies: Tom drew a sharp contrast between himself and his opponents, making it clear who is and isn’t in the pockets of corporate California.

• “Xavier Becerra has taken the maximum amount of money from the second biggest oil driller. He said the oil companies aren’t the bad guys. He’s for drilling more oil in the state of California and he has no environmental policy.”
• “We have legal monopolies for electricity and they charge us twice as much as the average in the United States of America — twice as much. And they’re furious. They’re spending tens of millions of dollars against me because we’re going to introduce local competition.”
• “If you think about an oil company, they don’t pay for their pollution. They don’t pay for when they pollute the air and water and make people sick — that’s free. They don’t pay for their impact on the climate — that’s free. And we are spending $200 billion in Iran to protect oil. The taxpayer pays for that.”

“The Only Candidate” in Support of Taxing Billionaires: Steyer emphasized he is the only candidate in the race publicly backing taxing billionaires like himself.

• “When the seven leading candidates for governor of California were on a stage and they asked if you were going to tax billionaires — one person said yes. You’re looking at the one person.”
• “California is too expensive for working people to live in anymore. We need to take on the corporate special interests. Someone has to take them on — and I’m the only person who’s doing it.”

Standing Up to Trump and ICE: Steyer said he would aggressively push back against efforts by Donald Trump to withhold federal funding from California.

• "What you're talking about is extortion — ‘Do what I want, or you don't get what you are owed.’ That's what he's saying. He's holding up FEMA payments to the people in Altadena and Pacific Palisades for a fire that took place last January."
• "ICE is a criminal organization that racially profiles and victimizes and terrorizes communities. We should be prosecuting ICE agents for racial profiling, which is illegal in California. We should go up the chain — as far as it goes. If you're sending someone out to do violence, you're doing violence."

Making polluters pay for the climate crisis: Steyer warned that California cannot afford delays on climate action as fires, insurance costs, and extreme weather continue to worsen.

• "We had two fires [on May 18]  in California, outside what is normally considered fire season. The fires are raising everybody's home insurance rates."
• "The oil companies in California are trying to gut the cap-and-invest program that's been there since 2007. They're trying to delay its progress for five to ten years, and they think they're going to get away with it. They're getting windtall profits and they think they deserve them."
• “There’s no person who is not being paid to keep the status quo — and that is exactly what is happening with the Democrats in this race. We need somebody who’s going to push for the future of what’s good for Californians.”

Listen to the full episode of the “I’ve Had It” podcast here.

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