ICYMI: Sen. Schiff Says Trump Owns “Status Quo” While Democrats Are Focused on Affordability at POLITICO California Summit

Sacramento, CA - In case you missed it, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) spoke at the POLITICO California Summit on his priorities for tackling the affordability crisis, including by addressing the housing shortage. Schiff also emphasized that Democrats should continue pushing a legislative agenda that focuses on making our economy work for all Americans.

Schiff, in conversation with POLITICO's Dasha Burns, highlighted how Trump and Republicans represent the failed status quo as Americans are facing higher prices on their watch as a result.

View the full interview here.

Key Excerpts:

On Republicans and President Trump owning the status quo:

[…] Donald Trump, Mike Johnson represent an ugly status quo. A status quo in which people can't afford the price of gasoline, they can't afford the price of housing, they can't afford childcare. We're involved in yet another foreign war that the president doesn't know what to do about. They are the status quo.

And much as they try to change the topic and make a handful of Democrats the subject, I don't think it's going to work because people are asking themselves, "Is my life better? Did the president and Republicans keep their word?" And the answer is no. The president promised he would keep us out of foreign wars. He promised he would address rising prices. And what has he done? In addition to getting us involved in this terrible war, he has told the country that the cost-of-living affordability is a hoax.

On building an economy that works for everyone as AI transforms the economy:

[…] What most Americans really have on their minds, and that is, they're working their ass off, and they're still struggling to get by. They feel very little security in their retirement. They are afraid of getting sick because their health insurance isn't going to cut it. They are terrified.

[…] We are in the midst of another transformation. I think it is the fault of policymakers that we have not adapted to a workplace that is so different than the workplace my parents worked in. Where so many people stayed with the same company their whole career and had health care and retirement through their work. And we're going to have to, with the advent of AI, think even more broadly now about how do we ensure that people have gained full employment and dignified employment and secure retirement. What does that look like in the era of AI and globalization and automation? So, this is, I think, going to be the cardinal challenge for both parties. And I'd like to see the Democratic Party leading the way.

On taxing the ultra-wealthy and making the tax code fairer for working Americans:

[…] There should be a wealth tax at the federal level. There should be a much more progressive tax code than the one we have. And one thing that has become so abundantly clear is this concentration of wealth we see now is operating to perpetuate itself. And you have individuals now that have such a massive say in our electoral process that they can pour hundreds of millions of dollars into a single campaign if they choose to. We have a broken campaign finance system that allows them to do that.

And I think if we don't bring determination to solving that problem, also, this income inequality, wealth inequality gap is just going to get worse. And it is, I also think, deeply destabilizing. The combination of the disruption of the workforce through AI, the vast concentration, and the arrogant use of wealth by some who have amassed it, is going to be hugely disruptive for society. It's bad economics. I think it's immoral, and I'm working on federal solutions to try to address that.

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