Just a note on Trump's latest lies and other words. He told a crowd this morning that Hillary talks for 10 minutes and then goes home and sleeps. Everyone here knows that is not true, and we actually often wonder if she ever gets a chance to sleep. His speech consisted largely (he thinks bigly is a word) of reading off a series of numbers from notes in his hand. They were just numbers out of context. They meant nothing, and it was mystifying. Hillary, in interview situations, for example, and town halls, can rattle off numbers from her head, without knowing a particular question is coming, and relates the numbers to concrete realities. Trump held up a graph that he stared at more than he showed it to the audience. It was a shabby imitation of Ross Perot who at least really knew the graphs and what they showed. Perhaps Perot even made those graphs himself. Trump looked at the graph and read the numbers as if they were alien to him and he had never seen them before. In one instance he said, "I agree with this one." What an unprepared puppet of the billionaire boys club that he calls his economic advisory team!
Stronger Together: Hillary Clinton’s Plan for An Economy That Works for Everyone, Not Just Those at the Top
Earlier today, Hillary Clinton delivered a speech in Warren, Michigan, posing four questions that should make voters’ choice in this election crystal clear. First, which candidate will actually stand up to those at the top and restore balance and fairness to our economy? Second, who has a better plan to create good-paying jobs? Third, who will really go to bat for working families? And, fourth, who can break through the dysfunction in Washington deliver real results for the American people?
Donald Trump fails each of these tests. Instead of restoring balance and fairness to our economy, he wants to provide trillions in tax breaks to corporations and the super-wealthy, exploding our deficit while leaving working families to hold the bag. Instead of creating good-paying jobs, his economic proposals would produce crisis and recession, resulting in 3.4 million lost jobs according to independent analysts who also projects that the economy would create 10.4 million jobs under Hillary Clinton’s plans. Instead of standing up for working families, Trump has made a career out of stiffing small businesses and outsourcing jobs. Instead of breaking through Washington gridlock, Trumps’ temper tantrums and name-calling would just make things worse.
Unlike Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton has the agenda, experience, and know-how to restore fairness to our economy, create good-paying jobs, stand up for working families, and break-through Washington’s dysfunction to deliver real results for the American people. She understands that we are stronger together when we grow together—when we all contribute to our prosperity and we all share in the rewards. While we have worked our way back from the Great Recession, too many Americans are still left out and left behind. Instead of growing together, we’re in danger of growing apart – with too few good-paying jobs, too much inequality, and a lack of basic economic security and fairness for working families.
We can meet these challenges. We can spur more economic growth, which will create more good-paying jobs and raise wages. And we can have more economic fairness, so the rewards are shared with everyone. Hillary Clinton is running for President to build an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top. As she laid out in her speech last month in Raleigh, North Carolina, she is setting five big goals to get there:
A summary of Hillary’s economic agenda is below. You can read about all of these proposals in greater detail at https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/.
- Break Through Washington Gridlock to Make the Boldest Investment in Good-Paying Jobs Since World War II
- Make Debt Free College Available to All Americans
- Rewrite the Rules to Ensure That Workers Share in the Profits They Help Create
- Ensure That Those at the Top Pay Their Fair Share
- Put Families First by Matching Our Policies to How Families Live, Learn, and Work in the 21st Century Economy
I. BREAK THROUGH WASHINGTON GRIDLOCK TO MAKE THE BOLDEST INVESTMENT IN GOOD-PAYING JOBS SINCE WORLD WAR II
Our country has a strong bipartisan tradition of investing in our future—from Eisenhower’s Interstate highway system, which unlocked the potential of the American economy and drove the rise of the middle class, to the Apollo program, which put a man on the moon and fueled giant leaps forward in technology and innovation. Hillary Clinton will break through the gridlock in Washington to make these investments, which have been a hallmark of American prosperity, once again possible.
From her first day in office to her last, Hillary will make it a central priority to make sure that every American can find a good-paying job, with rising incomes across the board. That’s why she will make the largest investment in good-paying jobs since World War II. These investments will not just create good jobs today, they will unlock the potential of our businesses to create good-paying jobs in the future. And she is setting a goal of a full employment, full-potential economy, where we break down barriers and create good-paying jobs in every community, for people across the country willing to work hard. Hillary will:
- Launch our country’s boldest investments in infrastructure since we built the Interstate highway system
- Make audacious advancement in research and technology, creating the industries and jobs of the future
- Establish the U.S. as the clean energy superpower of the world—with half a billion solar panels installed by the end of her first term and enough clean renewable energy to power every home in American within ten years of her taking office
- Strengthen American manufacturing with a $10 billion “Make it in America” plan
- Cut red tape, make small business tax filing as easy as keeping a checkbook, and expand access to capital so small businesses can grow, hire and thrive
- Ensure that the jobs of the future in caregiving and services are good-paying jobs, recognize their fundamental contributions to families and to America
- Pursue smarter, fairer, tougher trade policies that put U.S. job creation first and that get tough on nations like China that seek to prosper at the expense of our workers – including opposing trade deals, like the Trans-Pacific Partnership, that do not meet a high bar of creating good-paying jobs and raising pay
- Commit to a full employment, full-potential economy and break down barriers so that growth, jobs, and prosperity are shared in every community in America, no matter where you live and no matter your race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or disability
II. MAKE DEBT FREE COLLEGE AVAILABLE TO ALL AMERICANS
- Appoint Fed governors who share the belief that maximum employment is an essential prong of the Federal Reserve’s dual mandate
An economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top, is based on the idea of equal opportunity and a belief that anyone can rise. That vision of our nation only works if we renew our commitment to education at every level. That’s why Hillary will fight for transformational investments that prepare the next generation for the jobs of the future—starting with debt-free college:
- Eliminate tuition for working families and provide debt-free college to all Americans—because debt should never be a barrier to equal opportunity
- Ease the crushing burden of student debt for 40 million Americans by allowing students to refinance at lower rates and making sure that none of them have to pay more than they can afford
- Ensure that every 4-year old in America has access to high-quality preschool in the next 10 years
- Fight for world-class K-12 education for every child in every zip code
III. REWRITE THE RULES TO ENSURE WORKERS SHARE IN THE PROFITS THEY HELP CREATE
- Lift up programs that invest in our workforce and equip Americans with lifelong skills and education
Businesses thrive all over our country by seeing employees as assets to invest in, not costs to cut. They’re building companies, not stripping them, and creating good jobs, not eliminating them. But too many corporations take the opposite view. They seem to have forgotten that one of the biggest assets on their balance sheets is America itself. Hillary will make it easier for companies that take the “high road,” like sharing profits with their workers and investing in them over the long term. And she will make it harder for them to take the “low road,” by mistreating their workers and customers or walking out on America to avoid paying their fair share in taxes.
- Reward companies that share profits with their employees, not just their executives
- Fight for unions that built the great American middle class and strengthen collective bargaining
- Encourage businesses to provide worker training and apprenticeships
- End the tyranny of “quarterly capitalism” and encourage companies to invest in America for the long-run
- Reform our tax code to reward businesses that invest in jobs in the United States, and impose an exit tax on companies that move overseas to avoid paying their taxes
- Strengthen our antitrust laws and enforcement so businesses get ahead by competing and benefitting their customers – not by unfairly concentrating markets
- Eliminate write-offs and claw back special tax breaks when companies ship jobs and production overseas, and use the proceeds to invest in America
- Make the minimum wage a living wage and fight for equal pay
- Pursue worker-friendly policies to make it harder for companies to race to the bottom in search of profits
IV. REWRITE THE RULES AND MAKE SURE THAT THOSE AT THE TOP PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE
- Defend Wall Street reform and push for new measures to ensure that Wall Street never threatens Main Street again
Our tax code is rigged for those at the top, making it harder to invest in our future, whether it’s in infrastructure, education or healthcare. We need policies to address these discrepancies in our tax code and go after all the scams, loopholes, and special breaks exploited by corporations and the mega-rich, like the carried interest loophole that lets some hedge fund managers pay a lower rate than a teacher or a nurse. She believes that by making sure the most fortunate and corporations pay their fair share, we can afford to pay for the ambitious progressive investments she has put forward, in a fiscally responsible way, without adding to the debt.
As President, Hillary will make sure that corporations and the most fortunate play by the rules and pay their fair share – because they can afford it, and we’re all in this together. She will:
- Reform our individual income tax code to make sure that no millionaire pays a lower tax rate than a middle-class family and impose a surcharge on the incomes of multi-millionaires
- Close tax loopholes and special breaks that make it possible for the wealthy and corporations to avoid paying their fair share
- Charge a risk fee on major Wall Street institutions
- Close the “carried interest” loophole for Wall Street money managers – acting without Congress if it will not move forward on its own
V. PUT FAMILIES FIRST AND MAKE SURE THEY HAVE THE SECURITY AND OPPORTUNITY THEY NEED TO THRIVE IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
- Offer relief to the middle class from rising costs – such as child care, health care, and education
When we forged the basic bargain of our economy, with guarantees like Social Security, minimum wage, overtime pay, child labor laws, and other protections we count on today, our economy was very different. Most families got by on one income, and workers could expect to hold a steady job with good benefits for an entire career. Despite massive shifts in how our economy works today, too many of our policies are outdated and basic protections have not kept up. We need policies that match how we actually live and work in this 21st century economy. That means updating the basic bargain and putting families first. Hillary will:
- Guarantee paid family leave
- Strengthen and expand Social Security
- Provide universal, affordable healthcare – including offering a public option choice in every state, letting people over 55 buy into Medicare, and investing in community health centers
- Cap prescription drug costs and prevent price gouging by pharmaceutical companies
- Work to ensure no family pays more than 10 percent of their income on child care by making the Child Tax Credit more generous for working families, making preschool universal for every 4 year-old in America, and significantly increasing our investment in high-quality child care programs
- Break down barriers to make affordable housing and homeownership possible for hard working families
And now this!
David Cay Johnston: Is a Crook Hiding in Donald Trump’s Taxes?
