"We cannot rely on
corporate tax evaders to solve California's housing crisis."
Monday, November 04, 2019
Sen. Bernie Sanders on Monday
sharply criticized an announcement from tech giant Apple that the company
would invest $2.5
billion in helping to asssuage the effects of California's housing crisis—a
crisis that Apple has contributed to by driving prices up as the company has
expanded in the San Francisco area.
"Apple's announcement
that it is entering the real estate lending business is an effort to distract
from the fact that it has helped create California's housing crisis—all while
raking in $800 million of taxpayer subsidies, and keeping a quarter
trillion dollars of profit offshore, in order to avoid paying billions of
dollars in taxes," Sanders, a candidate for the Democratic nomination for
president in 2020, said in a statement.
"Bernie Sanders comes out
swinging on Apple's housing announcement," tweeted ReCode reporter Teddy
Schleifer.
"Bernie is the first 2020
candidate I've seen to weigh in on this," added Schleifer.
Sanders, in his statement,
said that relying on company's like Apple to solve the issue is not a
solution—no matter how much money the tech giant is throwing at the problem.
"Today, more than 134,000
Californians are homeless and renters need to earn $34.69 per hour to afford
the average two-bedroom apartment," said Sanders. "We cannot rely on
corporate tax evaders to solve California's housing crisis."
As Common Dreams reported,
Sanders unveiled his "Housing for All"
plan in September, promoting an end to homelessness, national rent control, and
the construction of 10 million new homes.
The senator referred to the
plan on Monday, promising Apple that it would contribute to solving the issue,
though perhaps not in the way the company had in mind. The proposal calls for
$2.5 trillion in spending over the next decade—which would "be fully paid
for by establishing a tax on the wealthiest top one-tenth of one percent of
Americans," according to the Sanders campaign.
"When we defeat Donald
Trump, we are going to make companies like Apple start paying their fair share,
so that we can finally start making massive long-term investments that
guarantee Americans affordable housing," said Sanders.
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