Phillips emphasizes bipartisanship, transparency, and common-sense reforms at MPR News debate
Dean Phillips, DFL candidate for Congress in Minnesota’s Third Congressional District, today shared his vision of a Congress that puts people over the interests of corporations and wealthy special interests at a debate hosted by Minnesota Public Radio.
Phillips laid out thoughtful, specific plans to protect and strengthen Medicare and Social Security, guarantee access to quality affordable health care for all Minnesotans, and return transparency and accessibility to a political system that has become mired in dark money interests. Phillips is the only Congressional candidate in the country who has not self-funded or accepted any money from corporations, special interests, PACs, or Members of Congress.
On health care: “I think it’s time that our nation makes the moral decision to ensure that everybody has health care because we are the only developed nation in the world that chooses not to do so right now… I believe in choice. I believe in the freedom to have options. I believe in competition. I believe the way forward is to ensure that there is more competition and more choices… I think it’s time that we start rewarding prevention, rather than rewarding procedures.”
On transparency and accessibility: “I believe representation begins with listening. I’ve traveled this district for the past year and a half, and time and time again, from thousands of people day after day, I hear the same message. They believe that it’s the responsibility of a Member of Congress to show up, to host Town Hall meetings. I’ve committed to hosting at least one town hall meeting a quarter… Without transparency, without truth, how can we move forward?”
On tax reform and the national debt: “I agreed, it was time to reduce corporate income taxes. I also wanted to repatriate dollars from overseas, because that’s a great stimulus to our economy. The part that was unfulfilled – that was a great promise of this bill – was that middle-income Americans would accrue benefits from it. The problem is that some 80% of the benefits of this bill, if not more, accrue to the top 1% and corporations. That is a disservice to tens of millions of Americans in this country, but what is particularly concerning to me, is the effect this bill has on Minnesota. That bill did a massive disservice to Minnesotans.”
On common-sense gun reform: “I talk about gun violence prevention, not gun control. There are 5 steps we can take. Starting with universal background checks. We need them. We should return to the notion of an assault weapons ban. We also should ensure that every school has robust mental health professionals on staff. We would save lives and money. We need anti-bullying programs. Congressman Paulsen said the CDC can now study the issue but Congress has not afforded one dollar to do so. We didn’t ban cars, we made cars safer. We should look at this issue the exact same way. Until we reduce money in politics, a Congress that is bought and sold will not be able to address these issues. I intend to do much better.”
On climate change and the environment: “I believe in science, first and foremost. Right now, Congress has done nothing to address one of the foremost challenges facing not just our country, but this entire world. If we hope to serve our children and grandchildren, we have got to act. I support a carbon fee and dividend program, which is not a tax on energy, because it returns every single dollar back to American taxpayers. We have got to provide incentives to migrate from a fossil fuel economy to a green energy economy. Congress’s unwillingness to address the most grave situation this country faces has got to change.”