Hillary Clinton: Why You Should Vote for Me

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The following op-ed appears in Monday’s issue of USA Today:

Hillary Clinton: Why you should vote for me
Hillary Clinton
USA Today
November 6, 2016

In January, America is going to have a new president. Things are going to change — that much is certain. The question is, what kind of change are we going to have?

We can build an economy that works for everyone, or stack the deck even more for those at the top.

We can keep America safe through strength and smarts — or turn our backs on our allies, and cozy up to our adversaries.

We can come together to build a stronger, fairer America, or fear the future and fear each other.

Everything I’ve done, as first lady, senator, or secretary of State, I’ve done by listening to people and looking for common ground, even with people who disagree with me. And if you elect me on Tuesday, that’s the kind of president I’ll be.

Here are four priorities for my first 100 days — issues I’ve heard about from Americans all over our country.

First, we will put forward the biggest investment in new jobs since World War II. We’ll invest in infrastructure and manufacturing to grow our economy for years to come. We’ll produce enough renewable energy to power every home in America within a decade. We’ll cut red tape for small businesses and make it easier for entrepreneurs to get the credit they need to grow and hire — because in America, if you can dream it, you should be able to build it. We’ll pay for it all by asking the wealthy, Wall Street and big corporations to finally pay their fair share. And this commitment will go far beyond the first 100 days. Creating more good jobs with rising incomes will be a central mission of my presidency.

Second, we will introduce comprehensive immigration reform legislation. The last president to sign comprehensive immigration reform was Ronald Reagan, and it was a priority for George W. Bush. I’m confident that we can work across the aisle to pass comprehensive reform that keeps families together and creates a path to citizenship, secures our border, and focuses our enforcement resources on violent criminals. This is the right thing to do, and it will also grow our economy.

Third, to break the gridlock in Washington, we need to get secret, unaccountable money out of our politics. It’s drowning out the voices of the American people. So within my first 30 days, I will introduce a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United. We should be protecting citizens’ rights to vote, not corporations’ rights to buy elections.

Fourth, we need to get started on end-to-end criminal justice reform. Too many people have been sent away for far too long for non-violent offenses. I believe our country will be stronger and safer when everyone has respect for the law and everyone is respected by the law.

There’s so much more we need to do together, and we certainly won’t get it all done in the first 100 days. But we’re going to roll up our sleeves and get to work for American families — and I’ll never, ever quit.

I want to be president for all Americans — Democrats, Republicans and independents; Americans of every race, faith and background.

My opponent has run his campaign on divisiveness, fear and insults, and spent months pitting Americans against each other. I’ve said many times that Donald Trump has shown us who he is. Now we have to decide who we are.

Because it’s not just our names on the ballot this year. Every issue we care about is on the ballot, too. This is about who we are as a country — and whether we are going to have change that makes us stronger together, or change that pushes us further apart.

It all comes down to this. I love our country. I believe in our people. And I think there’s nothing we can’t achieve if we work together and invest in each other.

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

News Source: USA Today

Final Review: Hillary Clinton’s Comprehensive Platform

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Before the majority of Americans head to the polls on Tuesday, the campaign has heated up in the battle between Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump. Clinton has outlined a comprehensive platform while what has been offered by Trump little substance and foundation. Clinton’s platform is built on a career of public service and an understanding of domestic and foreign policies. While everyone may not agree with all of platform points, taken as a whole it is clear that she has put together a solid plan to more the country forward and ensure that everyone has an opportunity to live up to their full potential.

When Clinton has introduced a major platform topic, we add it to the Platform category of the website. Looking through Clinton’s speeches and policy proposals, a clear plan emerges. From Clinton’s kickoff rally in June 2015 to the announcement of her plan to combat bullying just a few weeks ago, a list of Clinton’s platform speech topics and announcement dates are 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.

Kaine Campaigns in North Carolina, Holton in Nebraska

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On Monday, Tim Kaine campaigned in North Carolina where he began the day at an event in Jacksonville. During his speech, Kaine outlined a number of Hillary Clinton’s key platform points including her plans to create jobs and continue the economic growth started by the administration of President Barack Obama. He said that the goal is to build an economy that works for everyone, and not just those at the top. Kaine also spoke about Donald Trump and attacked Trump for his disrespect for the military. As the father of a Marine, Kaine said, “We need someone who has known about (the military) in the past and know what we look for in the future, even know what the military stands for other than fighting.” Kaine wrapped up the event by asking everyone to vote and to take advantage of the state’s early voting adding, “You are not the kind of people to stand by. We’re going to go out on November 8 and make history and do something that’s never been done.” A video from the event is below.

In Sanford, Kaine continued to focus on the economy and Clinton’s plans to create jobs by investing in infrastructure, manufacturing, clean energy, education and training, and helping small businesses. Kaine urged everyone to not become complacent by current polls indicating that the gap that favored Clinton in the polls is closing, something he said they knew would happen. “I’m the underdog until they call me the winner,” he said asking everyone to vote on November 8th or to take advantage of early voting. A video from the Sanford event is below.

Meanwhile, Kaine’s wife, Anne Holton, was in Omaha, Nebraska where she held two events in appreciation of campaign volunteers. Full coverage from Holton’s events will be posted when/if available.

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

News Source: WNCT, Charlotte News & Observer

Bill Clinton Stresses Early Voting in Pennsylvania

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Bill Clinton returned to Pennsylvania where he spoke at a series of event focused on early voting. At his first stop in Aliquippa, he spoke about a number of Hillary Clinton’s platform points including her plans to grow the economy and create new jobs. Bill spoke about a number of ways Hillary would create jobs including investing in infrastructure, focusing on growth in the manufacturing sector, and investing in clean energy. He admitted that there have been parts of the country left behind, and Hillary will focus on ensuring everyone has an equal opportunity. He concluded by encouraging everyone to vote on November 8th or to take advantage of early voting. A partial video from the event is below.

Bill then traveled to Duncansville where he continued to speak his wife’s blueprint for America and how her vision is starkly different from that of Republican Donald Trump’s. He spoke about a number of Hillary’s primary areas of focus including health care, making college affordable, and investing in rural communities. “Of all the federal development money for economics, should be devoted exclusively to small towns, rural areas, from Coal Country, to Indian Country to places in rural Pennsylvania, rural Arkansas, where nothing good has happened in a long time,” he said. Again, he concluded his speech by urging everyone to get out and vote. Watch a partial video from the event below.

Tonight, Bill was scheduled to speak at an event in Reading. Full coverage from the event will be posted tomorrow.

Meanwhile, in Austin, Texas, a fundraiser was held on behalf of Hillary for America. The event included a conversation with Chris Sacca, Founder and Chairman of Lowercase Capital and star of ABC’s Shark Tank.

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

News Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, CentralPA

Trump’s Self-Serving Business Agenda

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Donald Trump has held 32 events at Trump properties in 16 months of running for President

Today, Hillary Clinton returned to Florida to layout what’s on the ballot this election — an economy that works for everyone not just those at the top. She shared her vision for more good jobs, economic fairness and how to bring Americans together. Meanwhile, Trump spent the morning promoting the opening of his new hotel, making this the 32nd event at Trump properties in 16 months of running for president.

From his using his presidential campaign to promote his business, to a decades-long practice of stiffing small businesses, to outsourcing jobs, to his proposal to cut taxes for billionaires like himself at the expense of everyone else, Trump’s self-serving agenda is clear. America deserves better than Trump – a candidate who would rather line his own pockets than prioritize our economy, businesses, and workers.

Donald Trump’s trickle-down economic tax plan would include cutting taxes for billionaires like himself and his family, at the expense of everyone else.

Trump has doubled down on his promise to repeal the estate tax, which would give his own family as much as a $4 billion windfall. Just think about what we could do instead with that one $4 billion windfall alone, which is just for Donald Trump’s family, if we invested it in America.

Trump’s plan includes a massive loophole that gives many millionaires and billionaires like himself a backdoor tax cut, letting them pay less than half the current tax rate on a substantial portion of their income.

Trump claims his tax cuts would be paid for by economic growth – but they come at the expense of hardworking Americans.  Far from growing the economy, experts on both sides of the aisle predict that Trump’s plans would risk a recession.

Trump’s tax plan is a bait and switch – he claims he’ll protect middle class families, but what he actually does is give huge tax breaks to the rich while raising taxes on at least 8 million middle-class families.

Trump called his tax avoidance “smart.”  Trump’s tax avoidance is not smart – it means $0 for first responders, $0 for education, $0 for veterans and $0 for our military.

New York Times: “Trump declared a $916 million loss on his 1995 income tax returns, a tax deduction so substantial it could have allowed him to legally avoid paying any federal income taxes for up to 18 years.”

New York Times: “Donald J. Trump explicitly acknowledged for the first time during the first presidential debate that he used a $916 million loss that he reported on his 1995 income tax returns to avoid paying personal federal income taxes for years.” Trump’s business failures eventually led to multiple bankruptcies of his companies, which were devastating for his former employees and small contractors. Trump continued to earn millions.

Trump’s business failures eventually led to multiple bankruptcies of his companies, which were devastating for his former employees and small contractors. Trump continued to earn millions.

New York Times: “But even as his companies did poorly, Mr. Trump did well. He put up little of his own money, shifted personal debts to the casinos and collected millions of dollars in salary, bonuses and other payments. The burden of his failures fell on investors and others who had bet on his business acumen.”

Wall Street Journal: “An analysis by Temple University law professor Jonathan Lipson ranked Trump-branded casinos ‘the worst’ among their peers when it came to jobs over a 14-year period. Mr. Lipson, a bankruptcy scholar, found that Trump casinos shed some 7,400 jobs between 1997 and 2010. That works out, on average, to job losses per casino of 900—37% higher than at other Atlantic City gambling venues in the same period.”

No business person or contractor has proven too small for Trump to stiff, no single parent or retiree too in-need to escape the target of Trump University’s scams. The truth is that Donald Trump’s business antics have spelled disaster for countless working people and small businesses.

Trump has repeatedly refused to make good on his obligations to pay small businesses and contractors for work – from Marty Rosenberg, whose family business was paid hundreds of thousands less than it was owed for its work at Trump’s casino, to Andrew Tesoro, the architect of one of Trump’s golf course clubhouse who was told by Trump’s lawyers to accept pennies on the dollar or he’d be tied up in court for years.

Trump doesn’t buy American-made and his own products are outsourced.

The products that are branded with Trump’s name are outsourced from at least 12 countries. That doesn’t include the products used in his hotels and casinos, from bed linens made in Italy to furniture made in China.

Trump has used his campaign to promote and funnel money into his businesses.

Politico: “Trump’s Campaign Paid His Businesses $8.2 Million”

Politico: “Trump has used the campaign itself as a marketing platform to promote everything from the difficult-to-find Trump Steaks to his golf courses and a new Washington hotel. Trump’s tangle of businesses has raised concerns about the potential for conflicts of interest should he win the presidency, while the Trump-branded campaign has drawn mockery and allegations of pocket-padding from Trump’s critics.’”

Huffington Post: “Donald Trump used small donors’ money to buy nearly $300,000 worth of books from the publisher of his Art of the Deal last month, continuing a pattern of plowing campaign money back into his own businesses.”

@KatyTurNBC: “After this morning’s ribbon cutting, Trump will have held 32 events at Trump properties in 16 months of running for President”

Today, Trump is Washington, DC to open a new luxury hotel where he unsurprisingly used undocumented workers to make his project cheaper.  He even sued the District of Columbia in an attempt to pay lower taxes for the property.

Washington Post: “[A] Trump company may be relying on some undocumented workers to finish the $200 million hotel, which will sit five blocks from the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue, according to several who work there.”

Politico: “The city of Washington, D.C., is fighting Donald Trump’s legal drive to cut his tax bills for the luxury hotel he’s set to open in the Old Post Office Building next month … Attorneys for the Republican presidential nominee and real estate mogul contend that the roughly $1.7 million annual tax bills for the development for 2015 and 2016 were too high.”

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

Tim Kaine Campaigns at Penn State University

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Tim Kaine returned to Pennsylvania on Friday where he campaigned on the campus of Penn State University. Speaking to a large crowd, Kaine outlined what President Hillary Clinton would focus on if elected president. He spoke about her plans to build the economy, give small businesses access to more resources, promote equality and access, and create new jobs by investing in the country’s infrastructure and manufacturing sector. Kaine also spoke about college affordability and ensuring that those currently repaying student loans can refinance their debt at lower interest rates. He also spoke about Clinton’s plan to guarantee that future students graduate debt-free. On student loans, Kaine said, “You should not have to mortgage your future to prepare for your future.” Watch a video of Kaine’s speech below.

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

News Source: Daily Collegian, WGAL, Penn Live

Clinton Pens an Open Letter to Latina Millennials

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POPSUGAR published the following message from Hillary Clinton:

An Open Letter to Latina Millennials From Hillary Clinton
POPSUGAR
By Hillary Clinton
October 7, 2016

As Hispanic Heritage Month comes to a close, I want to take the opportunity to say thank you to the amazing, inspiring young Latinas I’ve met as I’ve crossed the country for this campaign.

Your generation is unlike any that has come before. You’re growing up at a time when you have an incredible opportunity to write our nation’s next chapter. Many of you are the first in your family to go to college or own your own business. You’re the daughters of trailblazers who broke barriers so you could pursue your dreams. You’re activists, entrepreneurs, and dreamers, and you know what it means to work hard and never let anything get in your way.

From actors like Gina Rodriguez to DREAMers like Larissa Martinez, the high school valedictorian who came out as undocumented in her graduation speech, each of you is building the legacy we celebrate this month. And you’re doing it by writing your own story.

But despite all your hard work and success, there are still too many barriers holding you back. I see Latina students trying to get a college education, slammed with rising tuition costs and student debt. I see entrepreneurs eager to start new businesses, navigating too much red tape. I see mothers balancing work and family as best you can, but still struggling to find safe, affordable childcare.

HERE ARE THE MAIN PARTS OF MY PLAN

More and more women are the breadwinners in families across America, yet on average Latinas make 55 cents for every dollar a white man makes. We need to update our policies to match how families live and work today. Let’s close that pay gap, raise the minimum wage, guarantee paid family leave, and make childcare available to every family.

We’ll put in motion a plan I created with Bernie Sanders to make college tuition-free for working families and debt-free for all families. If you already have student loans, we’ll help you refinance them or defer them to start a business. The number of Latina-owned small businesses has more than tripled in the last twenty years. That’s amazing. We should be doing more to support Latina entrepreneurs, because you’re a big force for economic growth.

And I will fight to pass comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship. This is a goal whose time has long since come. I know many families are disappointed that we haven’t achieved it yet — I am too. But we can’t give up or become resigned. We need to stand together and fight to get this done, for as long as it takes. And if I’m elected, I’m going to make this a top priority of my presidency.

When I listen to Latinas talk about your culture, the importance of family stands out. You tell me that when someone in your family succeeds, everyone succeeds. When someone is struggling, you all come together to help them. To me, this is the definition of community. And I want our country to start thinking this way too. That’s what I mean when I say that we’re stronger together.

And I think we need to spread that message far and wide, especially now. Because this election has left a lot of people feeling anxious or scared. I hear it everywhere I go. We’ve seen the rise of a presidential candidate who began his campaign by declaring that Mexicans are rapists and murderers. He said a distinguished federal judge couldn’t be trusted to do his job because of his Mexican heritage. And he derided Alicia Machado, a former Miss Universe and new American citizen, calling her “Miss Housekeeping” because she’s Latina.

So much of his rhetoric is full of prejudice and paranoia. So I understand why so many young people tell me they wonder if our country even sees their value — as Latinos, as Latinas, as Americans.

So let me be clear. Whether you’re Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Afro-Latino . . . whether your family just arrived or has been here since before the United States even existed . . . you make our nation stronger, smarter, and more creative. You belong. And millions of your fellow Americans respect, value, and appreciate you. I am one of them.

This is your chance — your chance to shape America’s future, your chance to stand up to racism and exclusion and say, “This is my country too.” So let’s stand together.

Millennials make up nearly half of Latino eligible voters in this election. This is your chance — your chance to shape America’s future, your chance to stand up to racism and exclusion and say, “This is my country too.” So let’s stand together. Let’s show the world once and for all that, in America, love always trumps hate.

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

News Source: POPSUGAR

Tim Kaine, Bill Clinton on the Campaign Trial for Hillary

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Tim Kaine returned to the campaign trail on Wednesday following his strong debate performance on Tuesday night. During his speech in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Kaine claimed victory, but did address criticisms that he interrupted Mike Pence too many times joking that even his wife gave him a hard time about it. He did go after Pence for not defending his running mate Donald Trump saying, “Your running mate ought to be able to defend you.” Kaine continued with his speech talking about a number of Hillary’s key platform points including creating new jobs, raising the minimum wage, supporting labor unions, improving health care, supporting the middle class, and ensuring that everyone has an equal chance in America. A video of Kaine’s speech is below.

Bill Clinton remained in Ohio where he wrapped up a multiple day bus tour of the state. This morning he was in Youngstown where he spoke about Hillary’s plans to create new jobs and help communities that have been hit hard by unemployment and a loss of manufacturing and mining jobs. He said that he understands voters’ anger saying, “Look, there’s a reason for the road rage today. People go 15 years without a raise, they’re mad.” He then outlined a number of of Hillary’s platform proposals that would help communities like Youngstown including investments in infrastructure and clean energy. Speaking at the local UAW hall, Bill also spoke about the importance of labor unions and Hillary’s continued support for them while Republicans like Trump and Pence try to stamp out unions. A video from Bill’s speech is below.

Bill then traveled to Canton where he continued to his focus on the economy and job creation. He said, “I think we’re on the verge of the greatest period of prosperity, discovery and advancement in the history of this country, if we do that right thing.” But, Bill warned, there are people like Trump who are more interested in helping those at the top of the income scale and ignore those in the middle and working classes. He said that in order to grow the economy, we need to tap into previously untapped resources. “We need more manufacturing loans, we need more small business loans and more small business startups, we need more investments in science and technology,” he said. A 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: NBC 10, The Washington Post, Fox 8, WKYC

Hillary Clinton’s Vision for An Economy Where Our Businesses, Our Workers, and Our Consumers Grow and Prosper Together

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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:

  1. Eliminate Tax Breaks that Allow Corporations and the Wealthy to Avoid Paying Their Fair Share
  1. 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
  • Respond to unjustified price increases in long-standing, lifesaving drugs like EpiPens
  1. 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
  1. Rewrite the Rules So Workers Share in the Profits They Create

Full fact sheet available here.

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: The Briefing

Details: Hillary Clinton’s Comprehensive Presidential Platform

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Since launching her campaign in April 2015, Hillary Clinton has outlined a number of major platform points in a series of speeches. As we near the election, the campaign has heated up in the battle between Clinton and Republican Donald Trump. With a little over a month to go, it is important that Clinton continue to deliver substantive speeches and combat a Trump platform that offers no substance or foundation. Clinton’s platform is built on a career of public service and an understanding of domestic and foreign policies. While everyone may not agree with all of platform points, taken as a whole it is clear that she has put together a solid plan to more the country forward and ensure that everyone has an opportunity to live up to their full potential.

When Clinton has introduced a major platform topic, we add it to the Platform category of the website. Looking through Clinton’s speeches and policy proposals, a clear plan emerges. From Clinton’s kickoff rally in June 2015 to the announcement of her plans to protect the rights of disabled Americans earlier this month, a list of Clinton’s platform speech topics and announcement dates are 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.