In liberal billionaire Tom Steyer’s ideal world, his taxes would be raised, the coal industry would be no more and President Donald Trump would be impeached.
“I am strongly opposed to even one more penny in [tax] cuts for rich people and corporations,” the prominent Democrat donor and activist declared in an Los Angeles Times op-ed Oct. 5. Instead, he wants the government to “raise taxes on the rich and use the money to invest directly in the American people.”
Steyer is the founder of Farallon Capital Management, a hedge fund that made money through coal investments until 2014. He also founded NextGen America PAC which he uses to push climate change, anti-coal policies and other liberal policies. He has also been the largest single donor in the last two elections.
In an Oct. 12 CNBC Power Lunch interview with co-anchors Tyler Mathisen and Brian Sullivan, Steyer again pushed for an income tax increase. But he did not explain why forcing all wealthy Americans to give more money to the government was better than voluntarily giving that money to causes or even to the government.
After all, nothing is hindering Steyer from “improving infrastructure, promoting clean energy, strengthening public education and expanding healthcare” with his own money. Or donating money to ease the nation’s debt.
When asked what his ideal tax plan would look like, Steyer had no specific answers. He also dismissed the fear that the government is a “is a bad shepherd” of tax dollars.
Instead, he claimed the current system tells “working Americans we are not worried about you.”
“As a hedge fund manager your job is to maximize your investor’s dollar. Do you believe the federal government does a good job of maximizing the tax dollar?” Sullivan asked.
Steyer dodged that question as well.
“We have stopped investing in the American people,” Steyer responded, and encouraged more spending on “education, healthcare, job training,” and rebuilding a “clean America” (a nod to his enormous climate change activism).
Both the op-ed and interview further confirmed Steyer’s commitment to big, liberal government.
Steyer was the largest Democrat donor in both the 2014 and 2016 elections, pushing more than $100 million into Democrat campaigns.
He has already pledged at least $7.5 million solely to organizing young voters in the 2018 election and demanded Democrats pledge to make Trump’s impeachment a “defining issue” during the midterm election.
He also re-branded his NextGen Climate PAC as NextGen America in order to push more liberal policies alongside environmentalism.
