Guest essay by Eric Worrall

Tom Steyer makes no secret of his desire to expand the power of the executive to address the climate emergency, so his authoritarian presidency will have the power to override Congress.

Tom Steyer’s Facebook Money Bomb Worked — the Billionaire Is About to Qualify for the Democratic Debates

Steyer has dropped nearly $2.9 million on Facebook ads alone in the last month, according to Facebook’s ad archive.

By Cameron Joseph and David Uberti
Aug 14 2019, 1:36am

WASHINGTON — Money can’t buy you love, but it looks like it can buy a spot on the presidential debate stage.

Billionaire presidential candidate Tom Steyer’s campaign announced that he’d secured the 130,000 donors necessary to qualify for the September Democratic presidential debates. That’s a remarkable achievement since he’s only been in the race for a month — and one fueled by a massive amount of ad spending.

“Since entering the race five weeks ago, our priority has been getting Tom’s message out to the American people,” Steyer Campaign Manager Heather Hargreaves said in a statement. “Tom reaching this milestone just five weeks into his campaign is proof that his message is resonating with people across the country.”

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Read more: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/pa7yjy/tom-steyers-facebook-money-bomb-worked-the-billionaire-is-about-to-qualify-for-the-democratic-debates

Tom says he has jumped into the race to save the world from climate change;

The Energy 202: Tom Steyer says 2020 race needs him for urgent action on climate change

By Dino Grandoni
August 15 at 8:50 AM

Tom Steyer’s eleventh-hour bid to run for president left many Democrats stunned. Why the change of heart? It’s partly because Steyer believes he’s the best on climate change in the crowded field.

The billionaire financier and Democratic donor said in an interview that he is the only 2020 candidate willing to declare climate change a national emergency. Doing so, he claims, will allow him to bring the full power of the executive branch to bear on what he sees as an economic and ecological crisis that for years has defined his public and philanthropic persona.

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But Steyer argues that he’s needed in the race because global warming is “an urgent emergency” and the other candidates haven’t proved they’re serious enough about it.  

“The question is what is going to make everyone come to the idea that not a problem, but it’s an emergency,” Steyer said. “It’s sort of like, this is 1940. We have a problem but we haven’t had Pearl Harbor.” 

Trump’s embrace of executive actions has whetted the appetites of Democrats eyeing the White House. Steyer and other Democrats are openly talking about how they would harness and further expand the power of the executive branch instead of working with Congress. 

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Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/the-energy-202/2019/08/15/the-energy-202-tom-steyer-says-2020-race-needs-him-for-urgent-action-on-climate-change/5d54365a88e0fa79e5481fa1/

Laugh now, but I believe Steyer has a good chance of defeating the other low energy Democrat candidates.

Steyer’s ideas might seem outrageous, maybe even a little crazy, but I don’t think he is a fake – he really seems to believe in what he is saying.

I personally think Steyer’s climate ideas if implemented would lead to great suffering, and his plans to make the executive even more powerful, well we have all seen where that can lead. But if Steyer convinces enough people to join his crusade to save the world, it is not my concerns which will count.