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07-13-2015, 03:48 PM
WASHINGTON -- Hillary Clinton focused on the problem of stagnant middle class wages on Monday in the first major economic policy speech of her presidential campaign.
In sweeping remarks at the progressive New School in New York City, the Democratic candidate said that higher wages are driven by strong, fair and long-term growth, offering policy proposals that fit into each of those three categories. Clinton praised the policies pursued by President Barack Obama, but suggested that more needs to be done to help middle-class families. Her message echoed themes espoused by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who has made her mark on the Democratic Party by arguing that the economy is rigged against the middle class.
The speech also name-checked three of the leading Republican presidential hopefuls -- former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Sen. Marco Rubio -- and criticized their economic philosophies.
At the beginning of her address, Clinton suggested that the economy is "not delivering the way that it should" for the middle class.
"It still seems to most Americans that I have spoken with that it is stacked for those at the top," Clinton said, criticizing the concept of trickle-down economics for concentrating wealth at the top while leaving middle- and lower-income Americans with less.
"Twice now a Democratic president has had to come in and clean up the mess left behind," she said, praising the economic records that took place under her husband, former President Bill Clinton, and Obama. "We have to build a growth and fairness economy-- you can't have one without the other."
Though Clinton lauded Obama for saving the automobile industry, proposing new rules for overtime pay and passing the Dodd-Frank and Affordable Care Acts, the crux of the speech was that there are other policies left on the table that could boost paychecks.
"The defining economic challenge of our time is clear: We must raise incomes for hardworking Americans so they can afford a middle-class life," she said. "We must drive strong and steady income growth that lifts up families and lifts up our country."
Progressives have criticized Clinton for not coming out against the Trans-Pacific Partnership being pushed by the Obama administration. While she did not add to the remarks she's already made on the subject, she did say that the expansion in global trade has proven polarizing for America's manufacturing industry, "raising questions about workplace protections and what a good job will look like in the future." Clinton said the United States needs to "set a high bar for trade agreements" but also "be prepared to walk away" if the agreements don't meet the administration's standards.
She also called out companies for focusing "too much on the short term," and quarterly earnings, rather than long-term investments. Those investments, Clinton suggested, should include funds for infrastructure, faster broadband networks, renewable energy, and scientific and medical research. Comprehensive immigration reform, she added, would be another investment in human capital, as would reducing red tape for small businesses.
Clinton decried the decline in women's labor force participation compared to other developed nations, and said she'd work to reduce barriers to women entering the workforce by fighting for affordable childcare, equal pay for equal work and paid leave.
"These challenges have been dismissed as ‘women’s issues’ -- that day is over," she said.
In the section addressing "fair growth," Clinton said she'd defend "and enhance" Social Security and protect Obama's health care law while working to reduce out-of-pocket costs. She also alluded to companies like Uber that are members of the growing "sharing economy," saying that she'd crack down on businesses that classify their workers as contractors in order to avoid providing benefits.
Clinton took the opportunity to criticize Bush for saying last week that Americans need to work longer hours by saying that Americans need a raise rather than a lecture. (Bush later said that he had really been talking about involuntary part-time workers.) She also called Rubio's economic proposals a "budget-busting giveaway to the super-wealthy."
But she reserved even more condemnation for Walker's fights against unions in Wisconsin, suggesting that Republican governors like Walker made their name "stomping on workers' rights."
"It’s time to stand up to efforts across our country to undermine worker bargaining power, which has been proven again and again to drive up wages," Clinton said. "I will fight back against these mean-spirited, misguided attacks."
Addressing the issue of large financial institutions, Clinton said "we have to go beyond Dodd-Frank" to impose additional protections on high-risk trading and hedge funds, while getting more serious about actually pursuing those individuals and institutions on Wall Street that break the law.
In a lighter moment, the candidate said she's guessed that her granddaughter Charlotte's first word will be "enough" because she'd been read to incessantly. Clinton made the quip while emphasizing that she'd press for universal pre-school and support other early childhood education efforts.
And in a tease of a proposal she said she'd develop more in a New Hampshire campaign stop Thursday, Clinton said that she'd back company profit-sharing, calling the proposal a "win-win" for employers and employees.
"Hardworking Americans deserve to benefit from the record corporate earnings they helped produce," she explained. "So I will propose ways to encourage companies to share profits with their employees. That will be good for workers and good for business. Studies show profit-sharing that gives everyone a stake in a company's success can boost productivity and put money directly into employees' pockets." -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. (http://start.westnet.ca/newstempch.php?article=terms.html/) It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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In sweeping remarks at the progressive New School in New York City, the Democratic candidate said that higher wages are driven by strong, fair and long-term growth, offering policy proposals that fit into each of those three categories. Clinton praised the policies pursued by President Barack Obama, but suggested that more needs to be done to help middle-class families. Her message echoed themes espoused by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who has made her mark on the Democratic Party by arguing that the economy is rigged against the middle class.
The speech also name-checked three of the leading Republican presidential hopefuls -- former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Sen. Marco Rubio -- and criticized their economic philosophies.
At the beginning of her address, Clinton suggested that the economy is "not delivering the way that it should" for the middle class.
"It still seems to most Americans that I have spoken with that it is stacked for those at the top," Clinton said, criticizing the concept of trickle-down economics for concentrating wealth at the top while leaving middle- and lower-income Americans with less.
"Twice now a Democratic president has had to come in and clean up the mess left behind," she said, praising the economic records that took place under her husband, former President Bill Clinton, and Obama. "We have to build a growth and fairness economy-- you can't have one without the other."
Though Clinton lauded Obama for saving the automobile industry, proposing new rules for overtime pay and passing the Dodd-Frank and Affordable Care Acts, the crux of the speech was that there are other policies left on the table that could boost paychecks.
"The defining economic challenge of our time is clear: We must raise incomes for hardworking Americans so they can afford a middle-class life," she said. "We must drive strong and steady income growth that lifts up families and lifts up our country."
Progressives have criticized Clinton for not coming out against the Trans-Pacific Partnership being pushed by the Obama administration. While she did not add to the remarks she's already made on the subject, she did say that the expansion in global trade has proven polarizing for America's manufacturing industry, "raising questions about workplace protections and what a good job will look like in the future." Clinton said the United States needs to "set a high bar for trade agreements" but also "be prepared to walk away" if the agreements don't meet the administration's standards.
She also called out companies for focusing "too much on the short term," and quarterly earnings, rather than long-term investments. Those investments, Clinton suggested, should include funds for infrastructure, faster broadband networks, renewable energy, and scientific and medical research. Comprehensive immigration reform, she added, would be another investment in human capital, as would reducing red tape for small businesses.
Clinton decried the decline in women's labor force participation compared to other developed nations, and said she'd work to reduce barriers to women entering the workforce by fighting for affordable childcare, equal pay for equal work and paid leave.
"These challenges have been dismissed as ‘women’s issues’ -- that day is over," she said.
In the section addressing "fair growth," Clinton said she'd defend "and enhance" Social Security and protect Obama's health care law while working to reduce out-of-pocket costs. She also alluded to companies like Uber that are members of the growing "sharing economy," saying that she'd crack down on businesses that classify their workers as contractors in order to avoid providing benefits.
Clinton took the opportunity to criticize Bush for saying last week that Americans need to work longer hours by saying that Americans need a raise rather than a lecture. (Bush later said that he had really been talking about involuntary part-time workers.) She also called Rubio's economic proposals a "budget-busting giveaway to the super-wealthy."
But she reserved even more condemnation for Walker's fights against unions in Wisconsin, suggesting that Republican governors like Walker made their name "stomping on workers' rights."
"It’s time to stand up to efforts across our country to undermine worker bargaining power, which has been proven again and again to drive up wages," Clinton said. "I will fight back against these mean-spirited, misguided attacks."
Addressing the issue of large financial institutions, Clinton said "we have to go beyond Dodd-Frank" to impose additional protections on high-risk trading and hedge funds, while getting more serious about actually pursuing those individuals and institutions on Wall Street that break the law.
In a lighter moment, the candidate said she's guessed that her granddaughter Charlotte's first word will be "enough" because she'd been read to incessantly. Clinton made the quip while emphasizing that she'd press for universal pre-school and support other early childhood education efforts.
And in a tease of a proposal she said she'd develop more in a New Hampshire campaign stop Thursday, Clinton said that she'd back company profit-sharing, calling the proposal a "win-win" for employers and employees.
"Hardworking Americans deserve to benefit from the record corporate earnings they helped produce," she explained. "So I will propose ways to encourage companies to share profits with their employees. That will be good for workers and good for business. Studies show profit-sharing that gives everyone a stake in a company's success can boost productivity and put money directly into employees' pockets." -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. (http://start.westnet.ca/newstempch.php?article=terms.html/) It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/233194702299/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/48146c93/sc/7/rc/1/rc.img (http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/233194702299/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/48146c93/sc/7/rc/1/rc.htm)
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