On Tuesday, Hillary Clinton hit the campaign trail in Pennsylvania with her first event being in Haverford. The event was a town hall on families that featured Chelsea Clinton and actress Elizabeth Banks. During the event, Clinton spoke about a number of her policies and how they will help American families. She spoke about the importance of early childhood education, health care, police policies, women’s rights, criminal justice reform, climate change, and the economy. She said, “I want to do everything possible to put kids and families front and center, to make sure that we provide the opportunities that families deserve to have to have good jobs with rising incomes, the ability to pay for the necessities of life, affordable child care, affordable college.” A video from the event is below.
Clinton then spoke at an organizing event in Harrisburg where she encouraged everyone to register to vote. She said that voting is important in our democracy because it gives everyone a voice. Clinton said that even supporters of her rival, Republican Donald Trump, should register and vote because it is their civic duty, but if she elected, she will be be their president too. Clinton then outlined about a number of key points to her platform saying that she wants to focus on “kitchen table issues” which are the issues that affect the everyday lives of Americans. She continued, “By creating more fairness, we’re going to give people a chance to have better jobs with rising income.” A video from the Harrisburg rally is below.
Following her rally in Harrisburg, Clinton held a press conference during which she continued to speak about recent revelations from Trump’s 1995 tax return and the money his businesses lost in the mid-1990s. She then answered questions from reporters about a range of topics including recent polling numbers, Tim Kaine’s debate later tonight, and health care. A full video of the press event is below.
On Monday, Hillary Clinton and Hillary for America announced a plan that will ensure that businesses, workers, and consumers can all grow and prosper together. This would be a stark contrast from today’s economy in which one typically suffers at the expense of the others. HFA released details of her plan which are outlined below. The full plan can be read on The Briefing.
Hillary Clinton believes we need to build an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top. But today, there are still powerful interests fighting to protect their own profits and privileges at the expense of everyone else. Too many of the rules and incentives in our economy encourage those at the top to abuse their power and take advantage of consumers, workers, small businesses, and taxpayers. That makes it tougher for even well-meaning CEOs to take the high road.
In recent months, we’ve seen three egregious examples of these problems. We saw a drug company, Mylan, excessively raise the price of lifesaving EpiPens without justification. We saw one of our country’s biggest banks, Wells Fargo, bully thousands of employees into committing fraud on unsuspecting customers. And now we’ve learned the latest on Donald Trump: In one year, he lost nearly a billion dollars; he stiffed small businesses, laid off workers, and walked away from hardworking communities; and he apparently got to avoid paying taxes for nearly two decades—while tens of millions of working families paid theirs. That’s what he calls “smart” business.
Today, Clinton is offering her vision for an economy where our businesses, our workers, and our consumers grow and prosper together. She’s outlining a set of proposals to rewrite the rules so that more companies that do right by workers, small businesses, customers, and taxpayers.
Clinton will:
Eliminate Tax Breaks that Allow Corporations and the Wealthy to Avoid Paying Their Fair Share
Shut down the “private tax system” for the most fortunate, starting by immediately closing egregious loopholes and restoring basic fairness to our tax code.
Protect Consumers from Unfair and Deceptive Practices
Strengthen consumer financial protection, including by restricting practices that businesses like Wells Fargo have used to lock the consumers they’ve harmed out of court
Promoting Free and Fair Competition and Stopping Big Businesses from Hurting Small Business
Crack down on big companies that repeatedly exploit their power to stiff small businesses – and give small businesses the power to respond
A new commitment to promote competition, address excessive concentration and the abuse of economic power, and strengthen antitrust laws and enforcement
Rewrite the Rules So Workers Share in the Profits They Create
Reward companies that share profits with their employees, not just their executives
On Tuesday, Hillary Clinton announced a plan she would introduce as president to boost small businesses. She introduced her plan in an article for LinkedIn followed by a teleconference with members of the press and several small business owners. Clinton warned of Donald Trump’s past business practices with small businesses arguing that a Trump presidency would not be good for small business owners. The comprehensive plan builds on her overall economic plan which would create millions of jobs by investing in infrastructure upgrades and clean energy. Small businesses play into her overall plan as they will provide American workers and products. An outline of the plan is below and the full plan is available on The Briefing.
Make it easier to start a business and become profitable
Push states to make it faster and cheaper to start a business
Working with states to standardize licensing requirements
Making technical assistance and resources available to states
Provide incubators, mentoring, and training to 50,000 entrepreneurs and small business owners in underserved communities
Make it easier to get financing and find investors
Streamline regulation and cut red tape for community banks and credit unions
Harness the potential of online lending platforms
Reduce the burden of student debt by allowing entrepreneurs to defer student loan payment
Promote the 100% tax exclusion on capital gains for long-term small business investments
Expand and streamline the SBA’s Small Business Investment Company program
Support new innovative ways to assess creditworthiness for small business owners
Expand access to credit in underserved communities
Give the SBA administrator the authority to continue providing 7(a) loan guarantees to small businesses
Expand access to working capital by expanding the SBA’s working capital guarantee programs
Make it cheaper and faster to file taxes and pay for tax relief
Work to create a new standard deduction for small businesses
Allow 4 million small businesses with gross receipts under $1 million to take advantage of “checkbook accounting”
Allow small businesses to immediately expense up to $1 million in new investments
Quadruple the start-up tax deduction to significantly lower the cost of starting a business
Make it easier to offer health care and other benefits to employees
Simplify and expand the healthcare tax credit
Allow more small businesses pool together to offer retirement plans
Make it easier to work with the federal government
Work to completely revamp the digital experience for small businesses
Use the leverage of more than $400 billion in federal government contracting to encourage businesses to pay their suppliers in full and on time
Guarantee a 24-hour response time to small businesses with questions about federal regulations and access to capital programs
Ensure that Small Business Development Centers are placed in the highest-need communities with staff that speaks the language of local residents
Work to ensure that federal regulations aren’t unnecessarily holding small businesses and our economy back
Increase federal contracting opportunities for women-owned, minority-owned, and veteran-owned small businesses
Defend and strengthen the Export-Import Bank
Encourage small business exports by expanding SBA funding for export development
Make it easier to fight back when you’re getting stiffed
On Monday, Hillary Clinton attended a number of campaign events across New York. In Port Washington, Clinton and Congressman Steve Israel hosted a round table discussion on the prevention of gun violence. During the event, Clinton explained the importance of introducing federal regulations of gun sales and mandatory background checks. The state of New York, for example, has strict gun laws, but people wanting to purchase a gun can get around them by going to neighboring states such as Vermont. Clinton said, “Here’s what I want you to know: most of the guns that are used in crimes and violence and killings in New York come from out of state. And the state that has the highest per capita number of those guns that end up committing crimes in New York come from Vermont.” She continued, “So this is not, ‘Oh, you know, I live in a rural state, we don’t have these problems.’ This is, you know what? It’s easy to cross borders. Criminals, domestic abusers, traffickers, people who are dangerously mentally ill — they cross borders, too. And sometimes they do it to get the guns they use. This has to become a voting issue for those of us who want to save lives.”
Clinton also spent some time in Queens where she spoke with patrons at the Jackson Diner. Following her visit, she took a few questions from reporters and criticized rival, Senator Bernie Sanders, for his inability to answer certain questions about his plans and his record. She said, “I have noticed that under the bright spotlight and scrutiny here in New York, Sen. Sanders has had trouble answering questions. He’s had trouble answering questions about his core issue, namely dealing with the banks. He’s had trouble answering foreign-policy questions. So I look forward to a debate that is in New York with people asking the kinds of questions that New Yorkers ask.”
Hillary also attended two fundraisers in the state. The first was in Mount Kisco and was held at the home of Marco Masotti and Tracy Stein. The second event of the day was in Glen Cove and was hosted by Mindy and Jay Jacobs, Laurie and Marty Scheinman. Also attending the event was Congressman Israel.
Following last night’s Democratic debate, Hillary, Bill, and Chelsea Clinton all returned to the campaign trail. Chelsea was in Providence, Rhode Island where she attended a fundraiser. Bill attended two fundraisers today. The first was in Cincinnati, Ohio and was hosted by Allan Berliant and Jennie Rosenthal Berliant, Eisha and Tim Armstrong, Mayor John Cranley, Richard Lawrence, Francie Pepper, Richard Rosenthal and Kitty Strauss. The second fundraiser was held at the home of Elizabeth Welch in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Also hosting a fundraiser today in Newark, New Jersey was Senator Cory Booker.
Meanwhile, Hillary began her day by attending a post-debate breakfast fundraiser in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with Senator Tammy Baldwin. She then traveled to South Carolina where she hosted a town hall event in Denmark. During her remarks, Hillary again painted Bernie Sanders’ platform as too narrow and explained how her experience allowed her to build a broader platform. Clinton also laid out a new proposal called the “Breaking Every Barrier Agenda” which would provide underserved communities with $125 billion for economic development. She explained that the program would largely be paid for by a tax on large financial institutions. She said, “Those that contributed to the Great Recession are going to contribute to bringing back the communities that were the hardest hit by the Great Recession.”
Hillary and Sanders shared the stage (separately) as they both spoke at the Minnesota DFL Humphrey-Mondale Dinner in St. Paul. During Clinton’s speech, she covered a number of her platform points and poked holes in Sanders’ platform, although, she never mentioned him by name. She said, “Once in a while, a day comes along when we make something big and extraordinary happen all at once. But in my experience, that’s not how we make change most of the time. To make change happen over and over again, you’ve got to keep working at it! You’ve got to keep fighting for it day after day after day. And if you get knocked down, you get right back up!” A video from the event is below.
Tomorrow, Hillary will be in Colorado for a Democratic Party event. For all the latest, follow our revamped Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
MILFORD, NH – FEBRUARY 07: Former U.S. President Bill Clinton campaigns for his wife, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, during a campaign event at Milford Junior High School February 7, 2016 in Milford, New Hampshire. New Hampshire holds the “first in the nation” primary on February 9. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
On the final weekend before the New Hampshire primary, Bill Clinton attended Get Out the Vote events in Keene and Milford. During each of the events, he spoke about his wife’s experience and unique qualifications that make her one the best qualified candidates running. Then, Clinton went after Hillary’s Democratic rival Bernie Sanders, although, he never mentioned him by name. He said, “Hillary’s opponent has a different view. It’s a hermetically sealed box. It’s very effective. The system is rigged against you by the big banks, and both parties are in the thrall of the big banks. Anybody who takes money from Goldman Sachs couldn’t possibly be president.” Videos from today’s events will be posted when/if available.
Tomorrow, Bill, Chelsea, and Hillary will attend events across the state. For all the latest, follow our revamped Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Today, Hillary Clinton returned to the campaign trail hosting three town hall events across New Hampshire. At the first, held in Derry at Gilbert R. Hood Middle School, Clinton gave a speech before opening the floor to questions from those in attendance. She took a number of questions from children and answered questions about a variety of topics. She also responded to a heckler in the crowd by vowing not to call on her to ask a question. A portion of the Derry town hall can be viewed on MSNBC. A full video will be posted when/if available.
The second event was held in Concord at the local high school mirrored the first event in that she opened with a stump speech, then answered questions. Clinton was asked questions about gun control, climate change, social security, and the books she has read recently. The final town hall of the day was held at Keene High School where she was asked about care for the mentally ill, the heroin epidemic in the state, and how she would handle the big banks. A video from the event in Keene is below and video from the event in Concord will be added when/if available.
Tomorrow, Clinton will be in Iowa for three Organizing Events. Bill Clinton will also hit the campaign trail in New Hampshire on behalf of his wife. For all the latest, follow our revamped Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
LAS VEGAS, NV – OCTOBER 13: (L-R) Democratic presidential candidates Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Hillary Clinton and Martin O’Malley take part in a presidential debate sponsored by CNN and Facebook at Wynn Las Vegas on October 13, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Five Democratic presidential candidates are participating in the party’s first presidential debate. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
In an op-ed published in today’s New York Times, Hillary Clinton defended her Wall Street plan saying that it would be tough on big banks and investment firms, and hold them directly accountable for financial instability. During the two Democratic debates, Clinton was criticized by Senator Bernie Sanders for her close ties to Wall Street. Clinton’ Wall Street Plan, which she outlined in October, calls tougher regulations, but some say her plan is not tough enough on the banking industry. The full text of Clinton’s op-ed is below.
SEVEN years ago, the financial crisis sent our economy into a tailspin. Over five million people lost their homes. Nearly nine million lost their jobs. Nearly $13 trillion in household wealth was wiped out.
Under President Obama, our economy has come a long way back. Our businesses have created more than 13 million jobs. People’s savings are being restored. And we have tough new rules on the books, including the Dodd-Frank Act, that protect consumers and curb recklessness on Wall Street.
But not everyone sees that as a good thing. Republicans, both in Congress and on the campaign trail, are dead-set on rolling back critical financial protections.
Right now, Republicans in Congress are working to attach damaging deregulation riders to the must-pass spending bill. They’re attempting to defund the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. They want to roll back common-sense efforts to prevent conflicts of interest by financial managers. And they’re trying to undo constraints on risk at some of the largest and most complex financial institutions.
President Obama and congressional Democrats should do everything they can to stop these efforts. But it’s not enough simply to protect the progress we have made. As president, I would not only veto any legislation that would weaken financial reform, but I would also fight for tough new rules, stronger enforcement and more accountability that go well beyond Dodd-Frank.
My comprehensive plan has already won praise from progressives like Sherrod Brown and Barney Frank. Here’s what it would do.
First, we need to further rein in major financial institutions. My plan proposes legislation that would impose a new risk fee on dozens of the biggest banks — those with more than $50 billion in assets — and other systemically important financial institutions to discourage the kind of hazardous behavior that could induce another crisis. I would also ensure that the federal government has — and is prepared to use — the authority and tools necessary to reorganize, downsize and ultimately break up any financial institution that is too large and risky to be managed effectively. No bank or financial firm should be too big to manage.
My plan would strengthen the Volcker Rule by closing the loopholes that still allow banks to make speculative gambles with taxpayer-backed deposits. And I would fight to reinstate the rules governing risky credit swaps and derivatives at taxpayer-backed banks, which were repealed during last year’s budget negotiations after a determined lobbying campaign by the banks.
My plan also goes beyond the biggest banks to include the whole financial sector. Some have urged the return of a Depression-era rule called Glass-Steagall, which separated traditional banking from investment banking. But many of the firms that contributed to the crash in 2008, like A.I.G. and Lehman Brothers, weren’t traditional banks, so Glass-Steagall wouldn’t have limited their reckless behavior. Nor would restoring Glass-Steagall help contain other parts of the “shadow banking” sector, including certain activities of hedge funds, investment banks and other non-bank institutions. My plan would strengthen oversight of these activities, too — increasing leverage and liquidity requirements for broker-dealers and imposing strict margin requirements on the kinds of short-term borrowing that also played a major role in spurring the financial crisis. We need to tackle excessive risk wherever it lurks, not just in the banks.
Second, I would appoint tough, independent regulators and ensure that both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission are independently funded — as other critical regulators are now — so that they can do their jobs without political interference. I would seek to impose a tax on harmful high-frequency trading, which makes markets less stable and less fair. And we need to reform stock market rules to ensure equal access to information, increase transparency and minimize conflicts of interest.
Finally, executives need to be held more accountable. No one should be too big to jail. I would seek to extend the statute of limitations for major financial crimes to 10 years from five and enhance rewards for whistle-blowers. I would work to ensure that financial firms admit wrongdoing as part of settlements in instances of egregious misconduct, and increase transparency about the terms of settlement and the fines actually paid to the government. Fines should be more than just the cost of doing business to these companies — they should be an effective disincentive for illegal behavior.
And it shouldn’t just be shareholders and taxpayers who feel the pain when banks make bad decisions; executives should have skin in the game. When a firm pays a fine, I would make sure that the penalty cuts into executives’ bonuses, too. And I would fight to close the carried interest loophole that gives some fund managers billions of dollars in tax breaks: They should be taxed like every other citizen.
Republicans may have decided to forget about the financial crisis that caused so much devastation — but I haven’t. The proper role of Wall Street is to help Main Street grow and prosper. When our financial sector works the right way, it helps families buy their first homes, entrepreneurs start and grow small businesses and hardworking Americans save for retirement. Rather than pursuing the kind of high-stakes speculation that devastated our economy before, Wall Street should focus on building an economy that creates good-paying jobs, rising incomes and sound investments so that more families can achieve the security of a middle-class life.
Today, Clinton was scheduled to attend private fundraisers in the Washington, DC area. For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
On Tuesday night, Hillary Rodham Clinton appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. During the interview, Clinton spoke about her campaign and her promise to help all Americas. Colbert asked Clinton about her testimony before the House Select Committee on Benghazi, her Republican rivals, and her TV watching habits. The most surprising moment came when Clinton was asked whether she would let the big banks fail if they had another crisis situation like in 2009. Clinton responded with a simple “yes.” She elaborated saying, “First of all, under Dodd-Frank, that is what will happen because we now have stress tests and I’m going to impose a risk fee on the big bank if they engage in risky behavior. But they have to know, their shareholders have to know that yes, they will fail. And if they’re too big to fail then under my plan and others that have been proposed, they may have to be broken up.” Clips from last night’s show are below.
Last night, Clinton also attended a private fundraiser in Morristown, New Jersey. The fundraiser was hosted by Philip and Barbara Sellinger. As with all private events, the fundraiser was closed to the press.
MANCHESTER, NH – SEPTEMBER 19: Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton raises her arms stands on stage during the New Hampshire Democratic Party Convention at the Verizon Wireless Center on September 19, 2015 in Manchester, New Hampshire. (Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images)
On Thursday, Hillary Rodham Clinton unveiled her plan to regulate Wall Street and protect Americans. In an op-ed on Bloomberg she explained her plan and her reasoning for a number of its points. She then released details of the plan on The Briefing. The plan is very detailed and it would be impossible to insert the entire plan into this post. We have summarized the main points below:
Defend and preserve Dodd-Frank
Veto any legislation that attempts to weaken the law
Fight Republican attempts to repeal it
Reduce dangerous risks in the financial system
Impose a “risk fee” on the liabilities with of banks with more than $50 billion in assets
Reorganize, downsize, or break apart firms that are too large and too risky
Increase oversight of the “shadow banking” system to reduce risk
Introduce high-frequency trading tax for the stock markets
Impose compensation rules on senior management of banking institutions that suffer losses that threaten its financial health
Strengthen the Vlocker Rule (which prohibits banks from making risky or speculative trading bets with taxpayer-backed money)
Increase transparency in the banking system
Introduce international cooperation to curb excessive risk-taking
Increase the financial system’s security against cyber attacks
Hold individuals and corporations responsible when they break the law or put the system at risk
Ensure individual accountability when prosecuting wrongdoing
Ensure that fines affect the bonuses of executives, supervisors, and employees with misconduct takes place on their watch
Prohibit individuals in financial services from working in the industry after being convicted of egregious crimes
Extend the statute of limitations for financial fraud
Strongly prosecute insider traders
Create guidelines for that ensure transparency and accountability
Require that corporations admit to wrongdoing as a condition of settlement agreements
Increase transparency of corporate settlements
Restrict SEC waivers for repeat offenders
Give prosecutors the resources to punish law-breakers
Strengthen the SEC and CFTC
Increase maximum penalties for SEC and CFTC actions
Reward whistleblowers for bringing illegal activities to attention of authorities
Ensure that the financial systems serves investors and consumers, not just itself
Make sure that Wall Street helps Main Street grow and prosper
Protect all Americans from unfair and deceptive practices that put their earned income at risk
Clinton’s plan protects hard working Americans while ensuring that those who threaten the economy and financial system as a whole are held accountable. You can read the plan in full on The Briefing and read her op-ed on Bloomberg. She summed up her plan saying, “The bottom line is that we can never allow what happened in 2008 to happen again. Just as important, we have to encourage Wall Street to live up to its proper role in our economy — helping Main Street grow and prosper. With strong rules of the road and smart incentives, the financial industry can help more young families buy that first home, make it possible for entrepreneurs to create new small businesses and support hardworking Americans saving for retirement. My plan will help us unlock that potential. We’ll create good-paying jobs, raise incomes and help families afford a middle-class life, with less speculation and more growth — growth that’s strong, fair and long-term. That’s what I’m fighting for in my campaign, and that’s what I’ll do as president.”
Tonight, Clinton will present an award during the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Gala, and she will attend a private fundraiser in Washington, DC. For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Hillary Clinton Speeches 