VIDEO: DNC Chair Perez and Former RNC Chair Steele Debate Immigration, Healthcare, and Economy
Tuesday, March 19, 2019
Taubman Center Director Susan Moffitt (left) hosted the discussion between Tom Perez (middle) and Michael Steele (right) at Brown University on Monday.
Brown University Taubman Center for American Politics and Policy Director Susan Moffitt moderated the discussion.
“Amnesty is a dirty word — anything that uses that term or smacks of that element…is DOA in this environment for any political discussion or solution,” said Steele, when Moffitt asked both chairs if amnesty for undocumented immigrants needed to be part of any comprehensive immigration reform legislation. “That doesn’t mean there aren’t work-arounds.”
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“[In] the party of Trump, these things aren’t allowed to be discussed — but this predated the election of Trump,” said Perez. “It was a failure of Republican leadership in the House and illustrates what happen when you have massive partisan gerrymandering.”
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Healthcare
“I reject the premise we can’t have healthcare for all,” said Perez. “The rest of the world has figured this one out and we’re the only industrialized nation on the planet that hasn’t.”
“Here’s the irony as I see it — Donald Trump will be arguing to save Obamacare,” said Steele. “From the price of prescriptions drugs to doc appointments — the other truth and realization is we’re not like the rest of the world. Our economic system is built differently. Obamacare is just the first iteration of the Heritage plan that was in response to ‘Hillary-care.’ It was the closest we got to where you created a space where a government and private system came together.”
Economy
“Deficits are a problem, but the bigger problem is debt. Deficits are your current condition and you can more quickly address those,” said Steele, who blasted the Republican tax cut under Trump as “lame stupid spending for a tax cut that didn’t really get [us] where we’re supposed to go.”
“At rest of being harsh — one of the biggest hypocrites I’ve seen is Paul Ryan,” said Perez. “I saw his lectures about fiscal restraint ad nauseam…then the dog caught the car [with Republican control] and you saw the most reckless tax cut in American history. The party of Lincoln has died.”
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