Beyond the 60 second debate answer

Standing up to a Congress that caters to big corporations, and creating an economy that works for everyone.

On Monday, I joined my opponents on stage in Los Angeles for the first of three planned debates happening in this race. It was spirited, informative, and gave Californians a chance to see how each of us would lead if elected to the job.

One of the challenges of any debate is that you have to fit answers to big, complex questions into short frames of time. So today, I want to go “beyond the 60 second answer” and tell you about a topic I spoke about frequently during the debate: standing up to a Congress that caters to big corporations, and creating an economy that works for everyone. Here’s a clip from Monday night:

It’s clear we have a real problem with wealth inequality. Between 2019 and 2022, the top 10% of wage earners saw their incomes increase by 22%. By comparison, middle-income earners saw a 5% increase over the same time period. And rising, record-breaking corporate profits have accounted for *over half* of the higher prices people are paying across industries.

To close the gap, we have to put more money in people’s pockets and lower the costs that drain families. We should raise the minimum wage at the federal level, with a higher minimum for California. And Congress should go beyond that and actually invest in things families need to thrive, like:

• Medicare for All: This is the most efficient way to get the highest quality healthcare to all Americans. 

• Affordable Housing: Washington hasn’t made a serious investment in housing since the GI Bill. We’ve run our housing policy to benefit Wall Street, and now we’re dealing with the consequences. We have to stop blaming local governments and instead help them create more affordable housing.

• Affordable Child Care: I’ll keep fighting for legislation that caps child care costs at 7% of a family’s income. 

• Free Community College: California is a leader here, and we should expand tuition-free community college nationwide. 

The ideas I just listed are generally popular with voters. But we haven’t made progress on these things because we have a Congress that is deeply dependent on corporate cash. Business interests alone spent $3.5 billion on federal political contributions during the 2022 election cycle.

It’s no wonder, efforts to crack down on monopolies, prevent price-gouging, or hold corporations accountable often fall flat. That lack of accountability allows prices to rise and wages to stagnate.

In order to finally get sh*t done in Washington, we should ban corporate PAC and federal lobbyist money. I’m the only person in this race who has said that, and the only one to also turn away money from CEOs at Big Banks, Big Oil, and Big Pharma. 

Taking our fight to the U.S. Senate will only be possible with the support of real people. If you’d like to help us amplify debate clips like the one you just watched, please consider chipping in to our campaign.

Onward!

Katie Porter