Tim Westra 2020
Fairfield, Iowa
April 29th, 2019
“Thank you for being here, guys. Your interest really means a lot to me and the numerous volunteers around the country who are powering this campaign, let's give 'em a round of applause."
"You know what stumps me about the other candidates who campaign in Iowa? They're not actually listening. Today, before grabbing the mic, I heard stories from about a dozen farmers who say that their prices are down, they're not getting a fair deal, and they're sick of endless government subsidies that are being eaten up by Big Ag and not their small farms."
"For as long as America can remember, this great state has fed the nation. Hardworking people, industrious Americans, have worked to fuel our country with their agricultural produce. But our nation's economic system is not working for rural America. It's not working for farmers, it's not working for communities, it's not working for our planet. It is working for big agribusiness corporations like DowDupont and Monsanto. Honest folks from Iowa are being exploited by these corporations for the sole purpose of extracting profit from the Heartland.”
"But who's listening? It's sickening to me, that with all this endless talk about economic justice, time and time again we have seen Democratic Party officials take farmworkers for granted. Farmers are workers too!"
"I'm the only person in this race who has released a plan for rural America. The only one. Now, I don't come from a big agricultural state. I'm a New Jersey man, I'm used to the industrial side of America. But what we need is a president who can listen and empathize with the concerns of people all over this country.
"This is a big nation. Not everyone has the same needs, the same hopes, the same dreams. But we can all be united by our common pain and common struggle. The struggle for justice. Economic justice, social justice, environmental justice."
"Family farmers here in Iowa are being killed by the big corporations, the revenue of local farms is dropping. Farming is becoming more expensive – and Iowan rural workers are taking on more debt to cover the costs. Then, there's overproduction that makes the goods cheap and allows the big companies to rip you off."
"Our homegrown farm economy is dying. The system is rigged."
“The current president is bribing farmers with excessive subsidies to try and trick Iowans into thinking that somehow, his failed trade strategy is working. But you guys aren't stupid. You know what's up. Wolf is lying to you, he's causing your losses and giving you some temporary cash to keep your mind off of it. All while his big agribusiness lobbyists run off with the cash.”
“The president needs to have a better way. I will be a president that pushes for a farm economy that actually works in the longterm for you guys. And we can do this by building a new supply management model.”
“I would push to have the government guarantee farmers a price to match cost of production. How? Instead of endless subsidies that only cushion your costs temporarily, I'd develop a loan system for production costs. If the farmer can't repay this loan, the government would buy their products at the cost of production. If the private market offers a better price, the farmer would repay the loan. This creates a truly competitive market.”
“What happens when the government receives agricultural produce? We'd be able to provide better prices by holding the produce in reserve, essentially managing the supply and driving up prices for farmers. When the price exceeds a point, we can sell the produce, stabilizing prices once more. Rather than constantly subsidizing farmers, this guarantees them a competitive fair price.”
"In this way, we can sometimes pursue options like the Chinese tariffs without harming farmers. We wouldn't be giving useless subsidies, but rather we'd be revitalizing the farming economy."
"Here in Iowa, farmers are already embracing climate-positive agricultural techniques. And as President, I'll reward you for it. In order to get closer to decarbonization and a healthier environment for our kids, I will create a $10 billion fund to pay farmers for sustainable environmental practices. This makes sustainable farming an economically viable option for farmers, and will reward many of you who are already doing this."
"There is dignity in all work, especially in the work of our farmers who feed America. It's time we value our Iowan rural communities with the respect and the fair system they actually deserve, rather than take them for granted to peddle the interests of big agribusiness."
"It's not just Big Ag that is holding our workers back. For the past few decades, there has been a class war waged against the working families of this country by the billionaire class and the corporate elite. The fat cats in the government colluded with the bigshots of the one percent to destroy the lives of working people in Michigan, in Ohio, in New Jersey, and here in Iowa. They’ve been doing it all over America. While corporations close down plants here in our country to maximize their profits, they throw our workers out on the streets and leave behind ghost towns to die a painful death. Corporations don’t give a damn about you. If they could make a nickel more by killing you, they would. And I’m not even exaggerating. Criminal pharmaceutical executives have ruthlessly marketed and sold their opioid drugs at the expense of thousands of young American lives. It’s not just the manufacturing corporations and the drug companies. Fossil fuel companies, the military-industrial complex, Wall Street, the private prison complex — all of them have collectively conspired to trample on the economic rights of ordinary Americans in order to get away with unethical amounts of profit.”
“Well, we’ve got some bad news for them. We are building a grassroots movement to tackle the unlimited greed of Corporate America. That starts with unions. That starts with workers. That starts with the 99% standing up and saying: you can’t have it all. I’m proud to say that we are running a campaign powered by the people, not big corporations. We are not taking a dime from corporate PACS, or federal lobbyists. You cannot defeat a fundamentally corrupt system by taking their money.”
“Our campaigns message is not about endless platitudes. My record makes it clear that I’ve always shown up for what’s right. I’ve never flip-flopped on worker's issues or consumer rights. I’ve never been vague. My career in politics has only been about making the moral decision. Years before any neoliberal centrist claimed the idea for themselves, I wrote the American Reinvestment Act of 1993 as a Senate policy advisor, which would have doubled the Earned Income Tax Credit to boost our crumbling middle class. I didn’t care about falling out of line with the party. I fought for Americans workers by leading the charge in opposition to NAFTA, against the will of the New Democrats. As a Congressman, I founded the Blue Collar Caucus to give workers real representation in the House. Not only did I loudly advocate against the mass deregulation and dismantling of Glass-Steagall, I authored a bill in 2000 that did not pass, but paved the way for the groundbreaking [not Dodd Frank] Act almost a decade later.”
“This was not always the politically popular choice. I was perhaps the staunchest Congressman against the Iraq War. Not only did I vote against the initial invasion, I went beyond that by being one out of a handful of Congress members who opposed enhancing combat operations in Iraq after the invasion. I didn’t just stand against President Burke and the GOP, though. When I thought President Baharia was wrong, I pointed it out. I opposed the decimation of Libya, which was not convenient for me. When President Baharia tried to push for the TPP, I pushed back. Workers had to come first, not multinational corporations.”
"But let’s be clear: I supported President Baharia 100% on issues where he fought the good fight. I wrote the Affordable Care Act and introduced it in the House! How many people in this race can say they extended healthcare to 20 million people?"
"Those who paint me as a candidate singularly focused on economic action are not getting the facts straight. Yes, I believe the economic standing of all Americans is the single most important issue, along with the climate crisis. But I've been a leader on social issues as well. I have been for gay marriage even when this was not the popular stance. I voted against the Defense of Marriage Act and Don't Ask, Don't Tell. I think that societal stigma against any marginalized group has to be combated, regardless of how politically inconvenient it is."
"And the best part is, we know how to solve this. We're not just diagnosing the problem, we're tackling the symptoms. I've done the math, I've looked at the details. We're going to raise wages by providing every worker a living wage through an unprecedented expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit – a real middle class tax cut, not like the Wolf Tax Scam. I want healthcare for all in this country, and we can accomplish this by automatically enrolling every uninsured American and newborn under a public option, which would be made available to all Americans and would be free of charge to the poor. A Medicare for America public option is the best way forward. We're not just shouting about Medicare for All, we have an idea of how to get it done."
"We're gonna enforce a trade policy that puts workers first, not the multinational corporations. We will no longer be outsourcing American jobs and encouraging a global race to the bottom. Instead, we'll work with our trade partners to assess all economic impact of any trade deal, including job loss, and we will make unions a major negotiation party of the trade agreement process. And, if any nation refuses to comply with our labor and environmental standards, there will be economic consequences."
"We want to make unemployment a thing of the past, so even if big plants pack up and abandon our workers, they won't be out of a good job. We will create a Federal Jobs Guarantee to put every single American who wants a good-paying job to work in much needed areas like green manufacturing, infrastructure development, and scientific research."
"And I'm concerned for our young people, who are being crushed under student debt. As it stands, we will cancel 95% of student debt in this country, providing relief to those who need it most. We'll make college tuition-free for all, and reform the federal loan process to lower interest rates and simplify payment procedure. No young person's future should be stolen just because education is a commodity in the wealthiest country in the history of the world."
"We need to prepare our future generations from the automation blitz that we all know is coming. That means bolstering public education by doubling funding for Title 1 schools, and creating a refundable tax credit for teachers in low-income areas! We need smart policies to incentivize good teachers to apply to train kids in our low-income school districts. We can do that by actually raising their wages with a Teacher Tax Credit. I don't know about you, but I think our teachers are just as important, if not more important, than the bigshots on Wall Street!"
"Folks, I'm the only candidate in this race who has made fighting poverty the number one priority of our campaign. I have released the most comprehensive antipoverty plan in the primary. This would be the logical successor to the New Deal and the Great Society; not just a society that is great for some, but great for all. A Just Society. Our Antipoverty Agenda will expand the EITC, so not a single working person lives in poverty. It will eliminate real unemployment through a Federal Jobs Guarantee, so everybody has a shot at being employed in a good-paying job that suits them. The Agenda will save Social Security by lifting the the Social Security taxable maximum and ensuring that the program is solvent for another half-century. We will share corporate wealth with workers by mandating that the big companies like Amazon and Walmart share stock with workers. We will make pre-k and childcare universal! We will end homelessness by building 7 million new affordable housing units and creating a Renter's Tax Credit for those who are spending too much on rent."
"This is not a call for any of you to take a new direction from right to left. This is call for you to go from down to up. Up with the rights of workers. Up with wages. Up with fair trade. Up with creating millions of good paying jobs, rebuilding our bridges, ports and water systems. Up with creating millions of sustainable energy jobs to lower the cost of energy, lower carbon emissions and protect the environment."
"Up with health care for all. Up with education for all. Up with home ownership. Up with guaranteed retirement benefits. Up with peace. Up with prosperity. Up with our working class campaign to restore justice to the White House."
"We are all children of God. We all deserve to operate under America's promise. We all deserve to be treated with dignity. The poor. The hungry. The wretched. This is their country too!"
"These are values we all agree on, whether we call ourselves progressives, conservatives, independents, Democrats, or Republicans. These are values our mothers have taught us since before preschool. The value of honesty. The value of compassion. The value of sharing. So why does the Washington elite run away from these values when it comes time to use them?"
"It's because the system is rotten to its core. The corporate fat cats buy the souls of our elected officials, so that our vote no longer counts. Our democracy died the day the parties ran away from working people and got in bed with the corporate lobbyists. But this campaign will signal to the establishment: your time is up. We have no corporate donors, no Super PAC, no closed-door fundraisers. This is powered by the people."
"Only together, in class solidarity that crosses bounds like race, gender, and sexuality, can we defeat the powers that be and reclaim our country from the entrenched corporate elite."
"With that, I'd like to open this up to any questions you may have."
