Clinton Unveils Agricultural Agenda in Iowa

Today, Hillary Rodham Clinton returned to Ankeny, Iowa to discuss her plan to support rural, agricultural America. After being introduced by U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack at the Des Moines Area Community College, Clinton unveiled her plan that includes investments in rural areas including focusing on rural transportation, streamlining the process for community banks, investment in water and broadband infrastructure, and improving Agriculture Department grant programs. Other facets of the plan includes raising the production of agricultural products and making the product more profitable for farmers, promoting a use of clean energy and renewable energy sources, and expanding opportunities for those in rural communities by expanding Head Start, affordable education, and affordable healthcare.

A full video from today’s speech is available on C-SPAN.

Following the event, Clinton answered questions from reporters where she discussed her use of a private email server during her tenure as Secretary of State. She expressed regret and said that she believes in transparency. She said, “I know people have raised questions about my email use as secretary of state, and I understand why. I get it. So here’s what I want the American people to know: My use of personal email was allowed by the State Department. It clearly wasn’t the best choice. I should’ve used two emails: one personal, one for work. I take responsibility for that decision, and I want to be as transparent as possible, which is why I turned over 55,000 pages, why I’ve turned over my server, why I’ve agreed to — in fact, been asking to — and have finally gotten a date to testify before a congressional committee in October. I’m confident that this process will prove that I never sent, nor received, any email that was marked classified.

A video from Clinton’s press conference is available on C-SPAN and is available below.

Tomorrow, Clinton will be in the Cleveland, Ohio area. In the meantime, follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

UPDATE (9/22): Added video from press conference.

News Source: Des Moines Register, Time, The New York Times (2)

Clinton Comes Out Against Drilling in Arctic

The Arctic is a unique treasure. Given what we know, it's not worth the risk of drilling. -H

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) August 18, 2015

On Tuesday, Hillary Rodham Clinton tweeted her support for protecting the Arctic from oil drilling. Several Republicans were quick to criticize Clinton’s position, but her stance against drilling in the Arctic goes against several members of her own party, including President Barack Obama. Clinton’s tweet was praised by a number of environmental groups including Greenpeace.

News Source: Politico

Clinton Pitches College Tuition Plan in New Hampshire

On Monday, Hillary Rodham Clinton unveiled what she is calling the “New College Compact” in which she pledges to make college more affordable for students. She proposes to accomplish this by making more grants and low interest loans available while lowering the cost of education. The plan is estimated to cost $350 billion over 10 years. Speaking at Exeter High School, she said, “College is supposed to help people achieve their dreams, but more and more paying for college actually pushes those dreams further and further out of reach. That is a betrayal of everything college is supposed to represents.”

The plan includes a number of proposals to keep tuition low and the schools invested in their students. One of the proposals is called “skin-in-the-game” where a college is fined for any student who cannot pay off their student loans. She would continue President Barack Obama’s plan to provide free community college, crack down on for-profit institutions, and simplify income-based repayment plans for student loan borrowers. Read more about the plan HERE. Clinton outlined her plan in a speech given at Exeter high school and took questions from those in attendance. Then, she held a press conference answering questions from reporters.

You can also watch the full Town Hall on C-SPAN event by CLICKING HERE. The press conference is also available on C-SPAN by CLICKING HERE.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks during a campaign stop at River Valley Community College Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2015, in Claremont, N.H. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)

On Tuesday, Clinton remained in New Hampshire and took her college affordability plan to River Valley Community College in Claremont. Clinton discussed the plan she unveiled on Monday, but went further attacking Republican presidential candidate Scott Walker for cutting higher education funding as governor of Wisconsin. She said, “You take somebody like Governor Walker of Wisconsin who seems to be delighted in slashing the investment in higher education in his state. Eliminating the opportunities for young people who are doctors or dentists to actually work in underserved areas in return for having their debts relieved; ending scholarships for poor kids; and most surprisingly to me, rejecting legislation that would have made it tax deductible for you, on your income tax, to deduct the amount of your loan payment.” A video from Clinton’s speech on Tuesday is below:

The Clinton campaign also released a video on college affordability which can be seen below:

Clinton returns to Iowa later this week. Follow along on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

News Source: ABC News, CNN, Slate

Clinton Calls for End to Cuban Embargo

Hillary Rodham Clinton gave a speech at Florida International University in Miami today in which she said, “It’s time for [GOP] leaders to either get on board or get out of the way. The Cuba embargo needs to go, once and for all.” Clinton called on Congress to vote to officially end the Cuban trade embargo. She also called for increasing business with Cuba and Latin America in general. The United States has a record of looking east and west as part of its foreign policy, but does not look toward Cuba and Latin America.

A video from the event will be posted when/if available.

News Source: Time

Clinton Outlines Climate Plan in Des Moines

In Des Moines, Iowa Hillary Rodham Clinton outlined her plans to combat climate change and invest in clean energy after touring green-certified transit station. In her plan, she called for cutting incentives to oil companies, extending tax credits for clean energy development, and continued investment in solar and wind energy. Clinton indicated that her plan would move the economy toward decarbonization by 2050 and provide enough renewable energy sources to power every American home by 2027.

The plan is ambitious, and she said that in the coming weeks she will outline plans to pay for the changes she is planning on making. She said, “A lot of these changes will pay for themselves. So there will be front-end money needed. But there are ways of making those investments and getting a return on those investments that will redound to the benefits of the American taxpayer. So I will be talking about energy and climate security, modernizing North American infrastructure, about safe and responsible production, especially making sure tax payers get a fair deal for development on public lands and areas that I think are too sensitive for production that should be taken off the table.”

A video from today’s speech will be posted when/if available.

Clinton will attend the National Urban League Convention in Florida later this week. Until then, follow along on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for all the latest updates.

News Source: Politico (1) (2)

Clinton Outlines Economic Agenda

In a speech today in New York City, Hillary Rodham Clinton gave the first economic  speech of her presidential campaign. She spoke about a number of topics including: raising wages for the middle class, reigning in Wall Street bankers, and creating a stronger economy for everyone. Clinton’s can best be outlined in three categories:

1. Strong Growth. Growing the economy by expanding employment opportunities, tax relief for small businesses and middle class Americans, comprehensive immigration reform, investing in clean energy, increase funding for scientific and medial research, establish an infrastructure bank, and make college more affordable. She also called for equal pay for women, affordable health care, paid sick and family leave, and affordable child care.
2. Fair Growth. Clinton’s strongest argument was that if you work hard, you have a right to expect something in return. She called for raising the minimum wage, reduce health care costs, supporting labor unions, tax reform, expanding early childhood learning, and encouraging businesses to share their profits with employees.
3. Long-Term Growth. In the long term, she called for reforming the capital gains tax, increasing benefits and training for workers, focusing on long term investments, imposing stricter accountability for Wall Street, and planning for the future.

In addition to outlining her her economic plan, Clinton criticized her Republican rivals for the failed trickle down economics strategy saying, “For 35 years, Republicans have argued that if we give more wealth to those at the top by cutting their taxes and letting big corporations write their own rules, it will trickle down — it will trickle down to everyone else.”

Today’s speech, held at The New School, was the result of several hundred meetings between Clinton’s team and economic advisers, including Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz. Clinton’s speech was applauded by many Democrats and liberals as many of her policies appear to have been inspired by Senator Elizabeth Warren, someone who has been pushed to run for president by many. Senator Warren and Clinton have met and discussed economic policy.

A video of the full video of the speech is above. You may also read the full transcript by CLICKING HERE.

Video Source: YouTube

News Source: CNN, The Wall Street Journal

Clinton Introduces “Four Fights” of Campaign

6/13 UPDATE: A full transcript of the speech is available from Time by CLICKING HERE.

In her first official campaign rally held at Four Freedoms Park on Roosevelt Island in New York, Hillary Rodham Clinton outlined what she called the “four fights” of her campaign. Throughout the 45 minute speech, Clinton made references to her experience as a lawyer, Senator, Secretary of State, and as a mother and grandmother. The theme of the speech was the prosperity of Americans, and she shared stories from people she has met and her mother to make her points. In her speech, Clinton also criticized Republicans for not looking forward and believing too much in “yesterday.” She vowed to fight for everyday Americans and prepare the United States for the future.

The key to her speech was the “four fights.” She outlined what those will be, but said that said will outline specific policy changes in the coming weeks. Nevertheless, her vision is clearly outlined by the four fights:

Economy: Clinton outlined a number of changes that would serve to strengthen the economy including strengthening the middle class, increasing the minimum wage, providing equal pay for women, making it illegal to discriminate against LBGT workers, rewriting the tax code, and focusing on lifelong learning that will allow works to adapt to a changing workplace. She also called for more affordable college for everyone and improving the infrastructure by creating an infrastructure bank that would sell bonds to help fund improvements roads, bridges, power grids, and broadband Internet. She called for protecting the environment by investing in clean energy and ending the denial of climate change. All these changes, which she will continue to outline in the coming weeks, will create jobs and improve the lives of American workers.

Family: Families have struggled since the recession and Clinton believes that more attention needs to be paid to helping families by guaranteeing paid sick days, paid family leave, pre-school and child care. She also wants to focus on the uneven incarceration polices and provide help to those suffering with mental health issues and addiction.

America’s Leadership: America has long been the leader in the world, but for America to maintain its leadership and influence, Clinton argues that we have not only show strength in our military, but we have to create economic and diplomatic partnerships across the globe. At the same time, we have to stand up to our adversaries and stand by our allies. We need to be better prepared against cyber attacks and provide better services to our veterans after they have served our country.

Governmental Reform: Clinton argued that now is the time to take government out of corporate hands and back into the hands of Americans. She called for stopping the flow of unaccountable campaign funds, undoing Citizens United, and improving government technology so it is more open to the pubic. She also called for improvements to voting including universal registration, longer early voting periods, and ensuring that voting rights are protected despite the Supreme Court’s recent decision.

Clinton’s speech is only the beginning of the next phase of her campaign. Over the coming weeks, Clinton will travel across the country to spread her message and continue to flesh out her campaign platform. We will follow along and continue to cover her campaign events as she continues to build a strong platform for America’s future.

Join Hillary for America by donating, or you can text JOIN to 47246. As always, you can also follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, and her all new Instagram page.

Image Source: Politico