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Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, 2016/Labor and employment
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Read what Hillary Clinton and the 2016 Democratic Platform said about labor and employment below.
| CANDIDATE SUMMARY | |
Clinton on labor and employment
- Hillary Clinton announced a plan to increase and expand the Child Tax Credit (CTC) as a form of tax relief on October 11, 2016. Under her proposal, the CTC would increase from $1,000 to $2,000 for each child four years of age or younger. She would also "lower the threshold for refundability from $3,000 to the first dollar of earnings for families."[2]
- On September 30, 2016, Clinton announced a plan to create a new National Service Reserve to connect Americans interested in volunteering with communities in need. The initiative would allow local and state leaders to call on reservists to provide emergency relief, natural disaster assistance, and support for programs tackling community issues like homelessness and drug addiction. Participation in the program could lead to college credits and special credentials.[3]
- Clinton wrote an op-ed in Fortune discussing the challenges working women and mothers face on September 29, 2016. "I’ll never forget what it was like to be a mom at work. It wasn’t easy. And I was lucky: I had financial security, a supportive employer, and affordable childcare. Too many families don’t. I’ve met so many parents stuck in impossible situations, at their wits’ ends trying to make it all work. It just shouldn’t be this hard to work and have a family," Clinton wrote. She then highlighted her plan to limit childcare expenses to 10 percent of a household’s income, establish 12 weeks of paid family leave, raise the minimum wage, encourage Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, and promote pay transparency.[4]
- During a rally in Orlando, Florida, on September 21, 2016, Clinton discussed her vision for an “inclusive economy that welcomes people with disabilities.” Clinton made the following policy proposals to expand job opportunities for workers with disabilities: achieving a fair wage, increasing accessibility to higher education, launching a program called Autism Works to improve the success of workers with autism, and ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.[5]
- On June 28, 2016, Hillary Clinton presented her “Tech & Innovation Agenda,” which included the following elements:
- Creating jobs “through new commitments in computer science and STEM education, support for entrepreneurial ecosystems, and other policies to build the human capital pipeline;”
- Delivering “high-speed broadband to all Americans;”
- Promoting “more high-tech exports and ensuring the free flow of data;”
- Establishing “rules of the road to support innovation—rules that foster healthy competition, reduce barriers to entry, and effectively protect intellectual property—while safeguarding privacy and security;” and
- Making “our government smarter, more efficient, and more responsive, using new technologies to deliver real results for the American people.”[6]
- On May 25, 2016, Clinton pledged to send a $275 million infrastructure plan to Congress within her first 100 days in office if elected president.[7]
- During a campaign event on May 24, 2016, Clinton discussed her plan to increase wages and create jobs. She said, "We've got to get incomes rising. We've got to get more good jobs. And here's how we're going to do it: We're going to do it by investing -- investing in infrastructure, manufacturing, clean energy. Because some country is going be the clean-energy superpower. It's going to be either Germany, China or us. I want it to be us."[8]
- While campaigning in Kentucky on May 16, 2016, Clinton said that former President Bill Clinton would have some role in her administration relating to the economy. She said, “I want to help bring back the kind of economy that worked for everybody in the 1990s. I’ve already told my husband that if I’m so fortunate enough to be president and he will be the first gentlemen, I’ll expect him to go to work … to get incomes rising.” A spokesman later clarified that Clinton was not referring to a specific position and that it would be premature to do so.[9]
- In May 2016, Clinton proposed reducing childcare costs to no more than 10 percent of a household's income through tax credits and subsidized childcare. She also noted that she would advocate for 12 weeks of guaranteed paid family and medical leave.[10][11]
- On May 2, 2016, while campaigning in West Virginia, Clinton was confronted by a man who lost his job in the coal industry and wanted to know why his community should trust her when she said in March, “We're going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business.” Clinton responded, "What I said was totally out of context from what I meant because I have been talking about helping coal country for a very long time. What I was saying is that the way things are going now, we will continue to lose jobs. That's what I meant to say."[12]
- On April 26, 2016, Clinton visited manufacturing plants in Indiana and called for "a renaissance in manufacturing." She said, "Steel is crucial to our manufactuting [sic] base. I will not let this vital industry disappear." According to NBC Chicago, “Clinton faulted the Republican-controlled Indiana legislature for passing a right-to-work law and repealing the common construction wage, calling the move a ‘total violation of economics 101.’”[13]
- During the ninth Democratic debate held in Brooklyn, New York, on April 14, 2016, the candidates were asked about raising the minimum wage. Hillary Clinton said, I have said from the very beginning that I supported the fight for $15. I supported those on the front lines of the fight for — it happens to be true. I also — I supported the $15 effort in L.A. I supported in Seattle. I supported it for the fast food workers in New York. The minimum wage at the national level right now is $7.25, right? We want to raise it higher than it ever has been, but we also have to recognize some states and some cities will go higher, and I support that. I have taken my cue from the Democrats in the Senate, led by Senator Patty Murray and others, like my good friend Kirsten Gillibrand, who has said we will set a national level of $12 and then urge any place that can go above it to go above it. Going from $7.25 to $12 is a huge difference. Thirty-five million people will get a raise. One in four working mothers will get a raise. I want to get something done. And I think setting the goal to get to $12 is the way to go, encouraging others to get to $15. But, of course, if we have a Democratic Congress, we will go to $15.”[14].
- While campaigning in Nevada at the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, Local Union No. 159 on February 13, 2016, Clinton discussed the importance of the role of organized labor in restoring the middle class. She said, "I know how important you are to getting this economy working for everybody again. We can't develop the middle class if we don't get back at having a strong American labor movement." Clinton asked the audience to spread her message, saying, "I want you to explain that we're going to have new jobs in infrastructure and manufacturing and clean, renewable energy. We're going to put people to work across America again, and we're going to see incomes going up just like we did in the 90s."[15]
- Clinton began a monthlong effort November 29, 2015, to highlight her agenda for creating more U.S. jobs by announcing a $275 billion plan to invest in infrastructure development, according to USA Today. The proposal included $250 billion in direct investment by the federal government over the next five years. Another $25 billion would fund a national infrastructure bank, an idea which has struggled to gain traction in Congress. The bank would support $225 billion in loans intended to spur private investment, adding a total of $500 billion in new infrastructure funds into the economy, the Clinton campaign estimated. Her infrastructure proposal would be paid for by closing corporate tax loopholes, including ending “preferences for companies that stash their profits in overseas banks to avoid U.S. taxes” and ending “a corporate tax loophole that allows large companies to avoid taxes by moving their headquarters overseas,” according to USA Today. At the event, Clinton said, “Investing infrastructure makes our economy more productive and competitive. To build a strong economy for our future, we must start by building strong infrastructure today.”[16] [17]
- On November 3, 2015, Clinton proposed raising the minimum wage to $12.00 an hour from the current $7.25. She said, "I want to raise the federal minimum wage to $12, and encourage other communities to go even higher. I think we can manage it, and I don't think there should be any unintended consequences to job creation.”[18]
- Speaking after a meeting with AFL-CIO leadership on July 30, 2015, Clinton hinted she supported raising the minimum wage to $12 by complimenting the legislative efforts of Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) on the issue. More generally, Clinton said, “It’s going to be important that we set a national minimum, but then we get out of the way of cities and states that believe that they can and should go higher. I’ve said before that the cost of living is different in various parts of the country. I supported what New York did, what L.A. did, what other cities are doing. And I think they should be experimenting with what that will do to raise incomes and create more opportunity for people. But there should be a higher federal level, so I’m going to be supporting the effort to do that in Congress."[19]
- While outlining on her economic policy plan on July 13, 2015, Clinton said, "I will crack down on bosses who exploit employees by misclassifying them as contractors or even stealing their wages."[20]
- During a rally to support Martha Coakley in October 2014, Clinton said, "And don't let anybody, don’t let anybody tell you, that, you know, it's corporations and businesses that create jobs. You know, that old theory, trickle-down economics. That has been tried. That has failed. It has failed rather spectacularly." She later clarified her statement saying, "Our economy grows when businesses and entrepreneurs create good-paying jobs here in an America where workers and families are empowered to build from the bottom up and the middle out -- not when we hand out tax breaks for corporations that outsource jobs or stash their profits overseas."[21]
- Clinton also commented on raising the minimum wage at this rally, saying, "And don't let anybody tell you that raising the minimum wage will kill jobs. They always say that. I've been through this. My husband gave working families a raise in the 1990s. I voted to raise the minimum wage. And guess what? Millions of jobs were created or paid better and more families were more secure. That's what we want to see here, and that's what we want to see across the country."[21]
| The 2016 Democratic Party Platform on labor and employment | |||
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Recent news
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See also
Footnotes
- ↑ CNN, "Hillary Clinton launches second presidential bid," April 12, 2015
- ↑ Hillary for America, "Hillary Clinton Announces New Details of Middle Class Tax Cut Plan," October 11, 2016
- ↑ Hillary Clinton for President, "Hillary Clinton Announces New National Service Reserve, A New Way for Young Americans to Come Together and Serve Their Communities," September 30, 2016
- ↑ Fortune, "Hillary Clinton: What I Learned From Being a Mom Who Works," September 29. 2016
- ↑ Hillary Clinton for President, "In Orlando, Clinton Vows to Protect the Rights of People with Disabilities," September 21, 2016
- ↑ HillaryClinton.com, "Factsheet: Hillary Clinton’s Initiative on Technology & Innovation," accessed July 6, 2016
- ↑ The Los Angeles Times, "Hillary Clinton prepares new pledge on infrastructure spending amid fresh furor over her emails," May 25, 2016
- ↑ Patch.com, "Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders Continue Southland Blitz," May 24, 2016
- ↑ The Wall Street Journal, "Hillary Clinton Says She’d Expect Bill Clinton to Help Fix the Economy," May 16, 2016
- ↑ The Washington Post, "The enormous ambition of Hillary Clinton’s child-care plan," May 12, 2016
- ↑ Hillary for America, "Clinton to Commit to Bold, New Goal As President to Limit Child Care Costs to No More than 10 Percent of Family’s Income," May 10, 2016
- ↑ NBC News, "Hillary Clinton Apologizes to Coal Country Over 'Out of Business' Comments," May 3, 2016
- ↑ NBC Chicago, "Hillary Clinton Visits Manufacturing Plants in Northwest Indiana," April 26, 2016
- ↑ The New York Times, "Transcript: Democratic Presidential Debate in Brooklyn," April 15, 2016
- ↑ Las Vegas Review Journal, "Hillary Clinton campaigns at Strip casino, Henderson union hall," February 13, 2016
- ↑ AP, "Clinton pledges hundreds of billions for infrastructure," November 30, 2015
- ↑ USA Today, "Hillary Clinton infrastructure plan begins monthlong focus on jobs," November 29, 2015
- ↑ The Huffington Post, "Hillary Clinton: Raise Federal Minimum Wage To $12 Per Hour," November 3, 2015
- ↑ The Hill, "Hillary hints at support for $12 minimum wage," July 30, 2015
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Clinton says she’d ‘crack down’ on independent contractor abuse. Obama already has.," July 15, 2015
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 Politifact, "In Context: Hillary Clinton and Don’t let anybody tell you that corporations create jobs," accessed January 29, 2015
- ↑ Democratic Party, "The 2016 Democratic Party Platform," accessed August 24, 2016
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
