HFA Statement on Third-Quarter GDP Growth

In response to new data showing that the economy grew at an annual rate of 2.9 percent in the third quarter of 2016, Hillary for America Senior Policy Advisor Jacob Leibenluft released the following statement:

“Today’s GDP release shows economic growth at its fastest pace in two years. With more than 15 million jobs created since early 2010 and real median incomes growing more than 5 percent last year, it’s clear we’ve made real progress coming back from the crisis. But Hillary Clinton believes there is still more we need to do to build an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top. Independent experts agree her plan would create good-paying jobs through investments in infrastructure, innovation and education. Donald Trump, on the other hand, would take us backwards, with experts across the political spectrum warning his plans would risk another recession and cost jobs.”

For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Also, be sure to subscribe to the campaign’s official Podcast, With Her.

Tim Kaine Encourages Voters in Florida

On Sunday, Tim Kaine returned to Florida for two days of campaigning.  He began on the campus of the University of Florida in Gainesville. During his speech, Kaine spoke about a number of Hillary Clinton’s key platform points including her plan to reduce interest on student loans and ensure future students graduate from college debt free. Kaine also spoke about her plan to invest in jobs and the economy, but he said that none of it will be matter if they do not get out and vote for her and down ballot Democrats such as U.S. Senate hopeful Patrick Murphy. “We know how important the student vote is. How important the millennial vote is. Let’s face it, this thing is going to be close in Florida. I think you guys should change your name from the Sunshine State to the super close election state,” he said. Watch a video from the event below.

Kaine then traveled to Orlando where he spoke to a crowd of supporters at the Dover Shores Community Center. Kaine spoke about Clinton’s focus on the middle class and raising the minimum wage, creating new jobs by investing in infrastructure and clean energy, and making college more affordable for future students and those currently paying off student loans. Kaine then focused on the importance of the election and defeating Donald Trump. He urged voters to take advantage of early voting, which begins in Florida on Monday. A video from the event will be added when/if available.

For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Also, be sure to subscribe to the campaign’s official Podcast, With Her.

News Source: News 4 Jax, WFTV

HFA Releases Trump Tax Calculator

Today, The Briefing released the following after it was revealed Donald Trump may not have paid taxes for eighteen years.

No time to read? Get the toplines here:

• Over the weekend, The New York Times published quite the story: Donald Trump, self-proclaimed tremendous businessman, lost $916 million (!) in a single year.
• That would have allowed him to take advantage of a loophole in our tax system — and potentially weasel out of paying federal income taxes for 18 years.
• But he still won’t release the rest of his tax returns. So who’s to say what else he’s hiding.
• Check out our Trump “Smart” Tax Calculator, to see how much you’d pay in taxes if you paid at the same rate as Trump.
• Read The New York Times’ original story here.

  This weekend, we got the clearest example yet why Donald Trump has been so reluctant to release his tax returns.

  Here’s the full story: A couple weeks ago, an anonymous source mailed The New York Times parts of Trump’s 1995 tax returns. The Paper of Record investigated further and published a piece on Saturday night detailing how the GOP’s presidential candidate could have taken advantage of our broken, billionaire-friendly tax system to avoid paying his fair share.

  This gets complicated, so let’s go through it point by point:

• It all started with Trump — the man with the “very good brain” — losing nearly a billion dollars in 1995 after making a series of really, really bad investments.
• But while those terrible business decisions no doubt led to workers getting laid off and small businesses getting stiffed, Trump himself stood to benefit from losing all those millions.
  • Our tax code would have allowed him subtract any business-related loss from his own personal taxes.
  • And because he lost so much money in 1995, he may have skirted paying any federal income tax for nearly two decades.
• So while the rest of us were chipping in to help fund our military and our public education system, Donald Trump probably weaseled out of paying a single cent.

We got all of this from just three pages of documents. Imagine what the rest of his tax returns would reveal — what other sketchy business practices he’s embraced and what other murky ethical decisions he’s made.

We can only hope that this new report will lead to more facts coming to light in the next few weeks. In the meantime, though, we put together a Trump “Smart” Tax Calculator, so you can see how much you’d pay in taxes if you paid at the same rate as Trump. (Hint: It’s almost certainly less than what you pay right now.)

With just 36 days to go, we need your help to guarantee that this failed businessman never gets to run the largest national economy in the world. Share this calculator with your friends and make sure they know the truth about Trump’s business “success”.

For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Also, be sure to subscribe to the campaign’s official Podcast, With Her.

Hillary Clinton Campaigns with Senator Sanders in New Hampshire

Hillary Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders teamed up for a campaign event focused on reducing the cost of higher education. Speaking at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, Senator Sanders spoke about his support for Hillary Clinton and her “new college compact.” Clinton then took the stage and spoke about a number of the compact’s key points including her plan to reduce interest rates on student loans and how future college students whose families make less than $125,000 per year will be able to graduate from a public college or trade school debt free. Speaking of her own experience following graduation she said, “I could never have done that if I had the kind of interest rates a lot of people are facing. We are going to fix it. This is wrong.” Clinton said that she believes it is wrong for the government to profit on students’ education. Clinton and Sanders then took part in a question and answer period with those in attendance. A full video from the event is below.

For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Also, be sure to subscribe to the campaign’s official Podcast, With Her.

News Source: MassLive, USA Today

Kaine, Holton Campaign for Hillary on Monday

Tim Kaine and his wife, Anne Holton, were on the campaign trail on behalf of Hillary Clinton today. Kaine spoke in Dayton, Ohio about Hillary’s plans for making college education more affordable by making public colleges debt-free for students with a family income of less than $125,000. The plan would also help those with existing student loans reduce their interest rates. While the education plan was intended to be the primary topic of discussion, Kaine spent some time addressing Clinton’s diagnosis with pneumonia. Speaking with reporters, he said that she was getting better, adding, “I lived through something very similar in my first race (for elected office) and I kind of know what the thinking was, which was ‘OK, we’ve got a diagnosis, it’s serious, but something a lot of people manage.” A video from the event is below.

Holton held two events on behalf of Hillary today in Fort Myers, Florida where she held a roundtable discussion with area teachers. She assured them that education is one of Hillary’s top priorities. Holton expressed her disappointment about the low teacher salaries in Florida and the number of standardized tests students are subjected to. Holton is the former Secretary of Education for the state of Virginia.

Meanwhile, in New York City, James Carville attended a fundraiser on behalf of Hillary for America.

For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Also, be sure to subscribe to the campaign’s official Podcast, With Her.

News Source: Fox 4, Dayton Daily News

HFA Statement on Mike Pence Releasing His Tax Returns

In response to Vice Presidential Candidate Mike Pence’s release of his tax returns, HFA Deputy Communications Director Christina Reynolds said:

“We’re pleased to see that one member of the Trump ticket has decided to meet the long-held threshold for disclosure in a modern day presidential campaign. But it’s Donald Trump – who just this week attacked America’s generals and showered praise on Russia’s authoritarian leader – running to be our next president. Trump has continued to hide behind fake excuses to avoid coming clean with the American people, thumbing his nose at a basic level of transparency practiced by every major party nominee since 1976. As prominent Republicans have speculated, Trump’s returns could reveal further ties to Russia and its oligarchs, the truth about his personal wealth, or more lies about his charitable contributions. But we won’t know until we see them. According to a recent poll, more than than six in 10 Republicans are now asking: what is Trump hiding?”

Last month, Tim Kaine released 10 years of tax returns. On the same day, Hillary Clinton released her 2015 personal tax return, building on the Clintons’ tradition of making their returns public since 1977. You can view both Clinton and Kaine’s returns here.

Considering Trump has released his taxes under audit before, and his actions help determine the speed at which the IRS can complete the audit, why won’t Trump release his tax returns and what is he hiding? Here’s a few theories:

1. Trump may not be worth the $10 billion that he claims
2. Trump may pay little to no income tax
3. Trump is deeply in debt and owes more than a hundred million to a foreign bank
4. Trump wrongly undervalues his properties to local tax men
5. Trump is making a “flood of cash” from running for president
6. Trump is taking tax breaks he shouldn’t
7. Trump is hiding his lack of charitable donations

Here’s 5 FACTS we know about Trump’s tax returns:

1. In multiple years in which we know Trump’s tax rate, he paid a rate of 0%
2. Trump promised millions in charity, but reportedly gave less than $10,000 over a period of 7 years
3. Trump has accepted a grant intended for small businesses affected by 9/11
4. Trump has repeated accepted a tax break intended for middle-class people
5. Trump might not even be undergoing an audit in the first place – and he refuses to present a letter from the IRS, sent to every individual who is audited, to prove it

Prominent Republicans question what Trump is hiding in his tax returns:

George Will: “Perhaps one more reason why we’re not seeing his tax returns is because he is deeply involved in dealing with Russian oligarchs.”

Mitt Romney: “Either he’s not anywhere near as wealthy as he says he is” or “There’s a bombshell in Donald Trump’s taxes.”

Mark Sanford: “I Support You, Donald Trump. Now Release Your Tax Returns.”

Is there ANY way to make Trump release his tax returns?  Last month, Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Member Chris Murphy called for the Senate to vote on their bill, the Presidential Tax Transparency Act, to require presidential nominees to release their tax returns after their conventions.

In the meantime, media, pundits, and Americans across the country continue to challenge Trump to release his tax returns.

New York Times: Letters to the Editor: “Why Won’t Trump Release His Taxes?”

Washington Post Editorial: “Even Mike Pence appears to disagree with Trump on releasing tax returns”

Huffington Post: “Even Donald Trump’s Supporters Are Telling Him To Release His Tax Returns”

For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Also, be sure to subscribe to the campaign’s official Podcast, With Her.

News Source: NPR

Hillary Clinton Campaigns in Tampa

On Monday, Hillary Clinton spoke at a rally in Tampa, Florida. Speaking at the University of South Florida, Clinton focused on her policy proposals focusing on the sharp contrast between her plans and those proposed by Republican Donald Trump. She spoke about her plans to create jobs and grow the economy, raise the minimum wage, combat Zika virus, make higher education more affordable, and reduce student loan debt interest rates. We’re going to make this economy grow, but we’re also going to make it fair,” she said about her plan to ensure incomes rise for all Americans and not just those in the highest income brackets. Clinton also criticized Trump for comments he made about solving the country’s problems alone. She said that working to improve the country “cannot be done by any one person. It must be done by all of us. That is something that Donald Trump does not understand.” A video of Clinton’s speech is below.

For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Also, be sure to subscribe to the campaign’s official Podcast, With Her.

News Source: Miami Herald, News 6

Clinton Unveils Plan to Make College Debt-Free

Today, Hillary Clinton’s campaign unveiled additional details of her plan to reduce the cost of higher education for families and students. Under Clinton’s proposed plan, tuition at in-state public college would be eliminated for families with incomes of less than $125,000 per year. The plan is a combination of her previous plan as well as some key points from her Democratic primary rival Bernie Sanders.

In addition, Clinton’s plan would call for a three-month moratorium on all federal student loan payments. During that time, borrowers could restructure their debt and save money by lowering interest. Full details of Clinton’s plan are available on The Briefing and are outlined below:

• Provide immediate help to graduates who need relief from crushing debt
  • Refinance their student loans
  • Enroll in income-based repayment
  • Push employers to contribute to student debt relief
  • Get relief from debt for starting a business or social enterprise
  • Reward public service
• Debt-Free college for our future students
  • Eliminate college tuition for working families
  • Help students deal with all the costs of attending college
• The New College Compact
  • Colleges and universities will be accountable for reining in costs to provide value to their students; improving completion rates and learning outcomes; and doing more to provide students from disadvantaged backgrounds with the tools they need to reach college and succeed once they get there.
  • Students will be expected to work 10 hours a week to help defray the full cost of attendance. Clinton will push to expand work opportunities that build career skills and introduce students of all backgrounds to public service careers.
  • As part of this New College Compact, Hillary will encourage and reward innovators who design imaginative new ways of providing valuable higher education to students while driving down costs.  And she will crack down on the abusive practices of for-profit colleges that defraud taxpayers while burdening students with debt for educational programs of no value.

For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

News Source: The Briefing, The New York Times

Clinton Releases Statement Supporting PayDay Loan Rule

On Thursday, Hillary Clinton released a statement supporting a new rule proposed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) regulating payday lenders. The rule would change the way payday lenders assess the borrower’s ability to repay the loan, and would make it more difficult for lenders to roll over loans, a practice that typically leads to additional fees. The CFPB’s rules would also prevent lenders from automatically withdrawing fees from borrower’s bank accounts. Clinton supports the rule saying that it will help protect families from high interest rates and outrageous fees. A copy of Clinton’s statement is below:

“Abusive payday lenders have for too long been a drain on the resources of families in need, charging outrageous fees and interest rates, trapping families in never-ending cycles of debt, and subjecting them to brutal debt collection practices. Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — a government watchdog dedicated solely to protecting working Americans from unfair and deceptive financial practices — is putting forward an important proposal to crack down on abusive payday lending, and I stand with them in that effort.

This is an important point of contrast in this campaign. Donald Trump wants to strip the U.S. government’s power to apply rules to payday lenders, abolish this critical consumer watchdog, and roll back the other Wall Street reforms that we put in place after the financial crisis. Working families deserve a president who will look out for them — not payday lenders and special interests on Wall Street.”

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News Source: The Wall Street Journal