Billionaire Dem
Donor Tom Steyer: ‘We Are Absolutely Committed’ to Abortion
by Dr. Susan Berry 15 Aug 2017
Billionaire
Democratic donor and liberal activist Tom Steyer says he will not support pro-life candidates in
the upcoming 2018 elections.
“We’re pro-choice,” the hedge fund manager told
Politico during the leftwing Netroots Nation conference in Atlanta, Georgia over the weekend.
“We do not work for a single candidate who is not
pro-choice,” he added. “I think people like to have litmus tests. We are
explicitly pro-choice. We work a lot with Planned Parenthood, we work a lot with NARAL.
We are absolutely committed to it.”
Steyer was asked to weigh in on the controversy over
abortion that has ripped the Democratic Party – whose 2016 platform was the
most pro-abortion ever – as it struggles to become more inclusive of pro-life
candidates and, ultimately, regain control of Congress.
The debate came to a head in April when Democratic
National Committee (DNC) Chairman Tom Perez announced that
pro-life individuals are not welcome in his party.
“Every Democrat, like every American, should support a
woman’s right to make her own choices about her body and her health,” Perez
said, as HuffPost reported. “That is not negotiable and should not change
city by city or state by state.”
Perez’s comments came after the DNC decided to support
Heath Mello in the Omaha, Nebraska, mayoral race. Mello, it was discovered, had
previously voted in the state legislature consistent with his personal pro-life
views.
Abortion lobbying group NARAL Pro-Choice America immediately slammed the DNC for
its embrace of Mello.
“The actions today by the DNC to embrace and support a
candidate for office who will strip women — one of the most critical
constituencies for the party — of our basic rights and freedom is not only
disappointing, it is politically stupid,” fumed NARAL’s president, Ilyse Hogue.
Perez responded to the scathing bashing with the
compliant statement that he “fundamentally disagree[s] with Heath Mello’s
personal beliefs about women’s reproductive health,” adding that “every
candidate who runs as a Democrat should do the same.”
A number of Democrats – including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi,
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and former 2016 presidential candidate
and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders – attempted to soften Perez’s exclusionary
message.
“I couldn’t disagree more with what Tom Perez
said, I think it’s not correct that our party should have litmus tests
about who wants to join our party,” pro-abortion rights Sen. Claire
McCaskill (MO) said in response
to the DNC chair’s announcement, as reported
by the Atlantic. “We may disagree on various issues, and I just
don’t think we should say ever anyone is not welcome in our party based on one
of those issues.”
“What Mr. Perez said makes no sense to me,” objected Sen.
Joe Donnelly (IN), who identifies personally as pro-life. “This is a deeply
personal issue, and we should be about respecting one another.”
“I don’t know why we would want to start walking away
from folks, like myself, who have a personal conviction on the pro-life issue,”
Donnelly added. “We ought to be able to include everyone, as opposed to saying
‘no, we don’t want these folks, even though they fight with us on jobs, even
though they fight with us for economic rights, even though they fight with us
on healthcare.’ It just seems to me to be very, very short-sighted.”
In contrast to Perez, Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) –
chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) – announced in July
that “there is not a litmus test for Democratic candidates” on abortion rights.
“As we look at candidates across the country, you need to
make sure you have candidates that fit the district, that can win in these
districts across America,” Luján said, according to the Hill.
Last week, however, DCCC spokeswoman Meredith Kelly contradicted her
boss with the statement, “The DCCC has no interest in working with Democrats
for Life of America, despite their attempts.”
“Protecting a woman’s health care, her right to choose,
and her economic security are fundamental tenets of the Democratic Party, and
as long as Republicans control Congress and the White House those values are
constantly at risk,”
Kelly said.
The Atlantic reported,
nevertheless, that Kristen Day of Democrats for Life said the “lines of
communication are open” between her organization and the DCCC.
The firestorm that has erupted within the Democratic
Party led Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the pro-life Susan B. Anthony
List, to observe, “Spokeswoman Meredith Kelly’s statement that the DCCC flatly
refuses to work with Democrats for Life contradicts the comments previously
made by her boss, Rep. Luján.”
“It is further evidence that Democratic Party leaders are
likely stringing pro-lifers along, using them for their votes without intending
to back away from their extreme position on abortion,” she added.
Leftwing groups are protesting the notion that
abortion is a negotiable issue by claiming the procedure is necessary for
women to be able to contribute to the economy.
“Democrats will fail to retake power in 2018 if we allow
ourselves to be forced into a false choice between a populist progressive
agenda and reproductive justice,” said Charles Chamberlain, executive director
of Democracy for America. “Abortion rights are inextricably tied to the
fight against economic and racial inequity, full stop, and until all leaders of
our party fully understand that we’re going to keep losing.”
Nevertheless, last week, Gov. Jerry Brown (D-CA) also rejected the notion that his
party needs to embrace “ideological purity,” and said the Democratic base is
“shifting.”
“I’d say, look, even on the abortion issue, it wasn’t
very long ago that a number of Catholic Democrats were opposed to abortion,”
Brown said. “So the fact that somebody believes today what most people believed
50 years ago should not be the basis for their exclusion.”
“In America, we’re not ideological, we’re not like a
Marxist party in 1910,” Brown added. “We are a big tent by the very
definition.”
Ironically, Steyer, who reportedly spent some $165
million on Democrats during the 2014 and 2016 election races, praised Brown
when he was asked by Politico about potential 2020 Democrat contenders.
“The best thing I can say is people do not realize how
good Jerry Brown is, full-stop,” he said. “If you ask me about anyone else,
it’s sort of like: Do you know who hit third for the San Francisco Giants after
Willie Mays retired? How’d it go for him?”
HuffPost also reported that Harris
– considered to be a potential 2020 presidential contender – said Democrats
“can’t afford to have a litmus test in a way that really is a purity test.”
“My focus is going to be supporting all of my colleagues
and doing everything we can to at least maintain our numbers as it relates to
2018 election,” she added.
The decision by Steyer and other Democrats to make
abortion on demand its highest level priority, however, is at odds with recent
data.
A Marist/Knights of Columbus poll released in
January found that 83 percent of Americans oppose the use of tax dollars to
support abortion in other countries, with 61 percent also opposed to funding abortions
in the United States with taxpayer dollars. These results include 87 percent of
Donald Trump supporters and 39 percent of Hillary Clinton supporters.
Additionally, the poll showed 55 percent of Clinton
supporters and 91 percent of Trump supporters approved limiting abortion to –
at most – the first trimester of pregnancy.
Knights of Columbus
leader Carl
Anderson said:
There is a consensus in America in favor of significant
abortion restrictions, and this common ground exists across party lines, and
even among significant numbers of those who are pro-choice. His poll shows that
large percentages of Americans, on both sides of the aisle, are united in their
opposition to the status quo as it relates to abortion on demand. This is
heartening and can help start a new national conversation on abortion.
“The majority of Americans in favor of abortion
restrictions has been consistently around 8 in 10 for the better part of a
decade.” Barbara Carvalho, director of the Marist Poll, also observed, “Though
self-identification as pro-life or pro-choice can vary substantially from year
to year, the support for restrictions is quite stable.”
Nancy Pelosi
Nancy
Pelosi is the minority leader for the U.S.
House of Representatives, was invited to George Soros’s 2013 wedding reception, and Cecile Richards’s was her deputy chief of staff.
Note: George Soros was
married in 2013 and Nancy Pelosi was
invited to his 2013 wedding reception, was the chairman for the
Foundation to
Promote Open Society, a supporter for the Center for American Progress, a benefactor for the Harlem Children's Zone, is the founder
& chairman for the Open Society Foundations,
a member of the Breakthrough Energy
Coalition, and Jonathan Soros’s
father.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Center for American Progress, the Aspen Institute (think tank), the Harlem Children's Zone, the Robin
Hood Foundation, the Roosevelt
Institute, and the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace (think tank).
Open
Society Foundations was a funder for the Center for American Progress, the Planned
Parenthood Federation of America, and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).
Thomas F. Steyer
is a director at the Center for American
Progress, a
member of the Breakthrough Energy
Coalition, the founder of the NextGen
Climate, a co-chair for the Risky
Business Project, and was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.
NextGen Climate
is a national partner with America Votes.
NARAL
Pro-Choice America is a national partner with America Votes.
Planned
Parenthood Action Fund is a
national partner with America Votes.
Cecile Richards
was the founder & president for America
Votes, Nancy Pelosi’s deputy
chief of staff, a grant overseer for the Turner
Foundation, is the president of the Planned
Parenthood Action Fund, and the president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
Cathy Hampton is
a director at the Planned Parenthood
Federation of America, and was a city attorney for Atlanta (GA).
Ted
Turner is the chairman for the Turner
Foundation, and the founder of CNN.
Walter Isaacson
was the chairman & CEO for CNN,
is a director at the Bloomberg Family
Foundation, and the president & CEO for the Aspen Institute (think tank).
William D.
Budinger is a trustee at the Aspen
Institute (think tank), and a trustee at the Third Way.
Claire McCaskill
is an honorary co-chair for the Third
Way, a U.S. Senate senator, and a trustee at the Truman Scholarship Foundation.
Madeleine K.
Albright is the president of the Truman
Scholarship Foundation, an advisory board member for the Truman Center for National Policy, an advisory
board member for the Truman National
Security Project, and a trustee at the Aspen
Institute (think tank),
Kamala D. Harris
is an advisory board member for
the Truman Center for National Policy,
was an advisory board member for the Truman
National Security Project, and an attorney general for the California state government.
Jerry
Brown is the California state
government governor, and Kathleen L.
Brown’s brother.
Kathleen L. Brown
was a California state government treasurer,
is Jerry Brown’s sister, and a
member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Commercial Club of Chicago, Members Directory A-Z (Past
Research)
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
James S.
Crown is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and the vice
chairman for the Aspen Institute (think tank).
Lester Crown
is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and was a lifetime
trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank).
Bloomberg
Family Foundation was a funder for the Aspen
Institute (think tank).
Bloomberg
Philanthropies is an umbrella organization for the Bloomberg Family Foundation, and a partner with the Risky Business Project.
Michael R.
Bloomberg is the founder of the Bloomberg
Family Foundation, the founder of the Bloomberg
Philanthropies, a co-chair for the Risky
Business Project, the founder of Bloomberg
LP, was a benefactor for the Harlem
Children's Zone, a donor for the Robin
Hood Foundation, and Howard Wolfson
was his adviser.
Howard Wolfson is
the education leader for Bloomberg
Philanthropies, married to Terri
McCullough, was Michael R.
Bloomberg’s adviser, and a partner at the Glover Park Group.
Glover Park
Group is the lobby firm for Bloomberg
LP, and was the lobby firm for the Planned
Parenthood Federation of America.
Terri McCullough
is married to Howard Wolfson, and Nancy Pelosi’s chief of staff.
Nancy
Pelosi’s chief of staff is Terri
McCullough, is the minority leader for the U.S. House of Representatives, was invited to George Soros’s 2013 wedding reception, Cecile Richards’s was her deputy chief of staff, and a chairman for
the California Democratic Party.
Gavin
Newsom was invited to George Soros’s
2013 wedding reception, and is the California
state government lieutenant governor.
Jerry
Brown is the California state
government governor, and was a chairman for the California Democratic Party.
Jonathan Soros is
George Soros’s son, and is a senior
fellow at the Roosevelt Institute.
Anna Eleanor
Roosevelt is the chair for the Roosevelt
Institute, and an advisory board member for the Wheelchair Foundation.
Carl A. Anderson
was an advisory board member for the Wheelchair
Foundation, and is a supreme knight for the Knights of Columbus.
Mikhail Gorbachev
is an advisory board member for
the Wheelchair Foundation, an advisory
board member for the Global Security
Institute, and the founder of the Green
Cross International.
David A. Hamburg
is an advisory board member for the Global
Security Institute, and the Nuclear
Threat Initiative (think tank).
Ted
Turner is a co-chairman for the Nuclear
Threat Initiative (think tank), an honorary board member for the Green Cross International, the founder
of CNN, and the chairman for the Turner Foundation.
Green Cross International
Ted Turner is an honorary board member for the
Green Cross International in the USA.
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank) was a funder for the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank).
Jessica Tuchman Mathews is a director at the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank),
was the president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think
tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think
tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Ed Griffin’s interview with
Norman Dodd in 1982
(The investigation into the
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace uncovered the plans for population
control by involving the United States in war)
Ted
Turner is a co-chairman for the Nuclear
Threat Initiative (think tank), an honorary board member for the Green Cross International, the founder
of CNN, and the chairman for the Turner Foundation.
Cecile Richards
was a grant overseer for the Turner
Foundation, the founder & president for America Votes, Nancy
Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff, is the president of the Planned
Parenthood Federation of America, and the president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund.
Cathy Hampton is
a director at the Planned Parenthood
Federation of America, and was a city attorney for Atlanta (GA).
Planned
Parenthood Action Fund is a national partner with America Votes.
NARAL
Pro-Choice America is a national partner with America Votes.
NextGen Climate
is a national partner with America Votes.
Thomas F. Steyer
is the founder of the NextGen Climate,
a director at the Center for American
Progress, a member of the Breakthrough
Energy Coalition, a co-chair for the Risky
Business Project, and was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.
Alfred Sommer is
a risk committee member for the Risky
Business Project, a director at the Bloomberg
Family Foundation, and a director at the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation.
Martin Tolchin
was a director at the Albert and Mary
Lasker Foundation, and a co-founder for The Hill.
Sherry L. Lansing
is a director at the Albert and Mary
Lasker Foundation, and a friend of Arianna
Huffington.
Arianna
Huffington is a friend of Sherry L.
Lansing, and a co-founder for HuffPost.
M. Kasim Reed is
the Atlanta (GA) mayor, and was a
partner at Holland & Knight LLP.
Holland &
Knight LLP is the lobby firm for Atlanta
(GA), and was the lobby firm for Global
Green USA.
Global Green USA
is a US affiliate for the Green Cross
International.
Green Cross International
Ted Turner is an honorary board member for the
Green Cross International in the USA.
Ted
Turner is an honorary board member for the Green Cross International, a co-chairman for the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank),
the founder of CNN, and the chairman
for the Turner Foundation.
Cecile Richards
was a grant overseer for the Turner
Foundation, the founder & president for America Votes, Nancy
Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff, is the president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America,
and the president of the Planned
Parenthood Action Fund.
Cathy Hampton is
a director at the Planned Parenthood
Federation of America, and was a city attorney for Atlanta (GA).
Planned
Parenthood Action Fund is a national partner with America Votes.
NARAL
Pro-Choice America is a national partner with America Votes.
NextGen Climate
is a national partner with America Votes.
Thomas F. Steyer
is the founder of the NextGen Climate,
a director at the Center for American
Progress, a member of the Breakthrough
Energy Coalition, a co-chair for the Risky
Business Project, and was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.
Alfred Sommer is
a risk committee member for the Risky
Business Project, a director at the Bloomberg
Family Foundation, and a director at the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation.
Martin Tolchin
was a director at the Albert and Mary
Lasker Foundation, and a co-founder for The Hill.
Sherry L. Lansing
is a director at the Albert and Mary
Lasker Foundation, and a friend of Arianna
Huffington.
Arianna
Huffington is a friend of Sherry L.
Lansing, and a co-founder for HuffPost.
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