00:00Today I want to talk with you about a lot of things.
00:03And I know Mike has a lot in his mind as well,
00:05but I most particularly want to talk about the economy
00:09and making the economy work for everyone.
00:14We really need an economy for all in this state and in this country.
00:19When I was a kid, my father was in the clothing business.
00:23He was a traveling salesman.
00:24He made $18,000 a year.
00:27And on the strength of that single income,
00:30my parents bought our first home for $18,000.
00:35You could buy a home for the annual income of someone who was a clothing salesman.
00:40If you were going to buy a home in California for your annual income today,
00:45you would need to be a millionaire.
00:47You would have to have a million dollar income to buy most homes in California.
00:53For so many young people, the idea of home ownership is just beyond comprehension.
01:00For too many millions of others, their rent and their mortgages are unaffordable.
01:06And of course, it's not just housing.
01:09People can't keep pace with the cost of their health care
01:12or don't even have health care access.
01:17Their energy costs are going up.
01:19Their gas prices are certainly going up.
01:22And it's just a struggle.
01:25And the thing is, it doesn't have to be this way.
01:29Now, this is a different problem than we had during the recession.
01:33It's a different problem than we had during the Great Depression.
01:36At those times, the problem was one of mass unemployment, among other things.
01:43Today, the problem is not that people are unemployed.
01:47Today, the problem is people are employed and they still can't get by.
01:53And I think when you have millions of people who look at the quality of life their parents had
01:58and think it was better than what they have
02:01and look to the future and are filled with doubt about what it means for their kids,
02:06all too many are willing to entertain any demagogue who comes along
02:10promising they alone can fix it.
02:13And I don't think our democracy is going to be on solid ground
02:16until our economy is working for people again,
02:18until we have an economy for all Americans again.
02:26So this is predominantly what I want to talk to you about.
02:29But I know you have a lot of questions and we've been taking the incoming questions
02:34and there's so much to talk about.
02:37About the fragility of our democracy,
02:39about the rampant corruption of this administration,
02:43which is costing us enormously.
02:47And the two things, the economy that's not working for people
02:51and the abundance of corruption are not unrelated to each other.
02:56There is a cause and effect.
02:58When the system is plagued by corruption,
03:01when the president is thinking only about his own personal economic self-interest,
03:06it means the problems of the country and the challenges of ordinary Americans
03:09go unanswered and go unaddressed.
03:12These things are deeply entwined with one another.
03:17And so we'll talk about that tonight too.
03:20But I'm so grateful that you're here.
03:23The antidote to all the challenges the country faces is not despair or disengagement.
03:31We don't have the luxury of that.
03:33No, it is more involvement, more engagement, more citizen participation.
03:38It is taking back our democracy and making it work for the people again.
03:52Now, one of the folks I've gotten to know who has been busting his ass in the state legislature
03:57to make the economy work for people is Mike McGuire.
04:01This is someone who has been fighting to build new housing and bring housing costs down
04:09and to help do battle with this plague of constant wildfires
04:15and the broader challenge of climate change,
04:19who has been fighting to make sure that Californians can afford their health care
04:24and their child care, who's just been a champion and a real fighter.
04:30Subscribe to One India and never miss an update.
04:35Download the One India app now.
