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Hillary Clinton Puts Families First in Michigan

Posted in 2016 Election, Appearances, Campaign Events, Clinton/Kaine 2016, Democratic Party, Fact Sheets, Hillary 2016, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Clinton 2016, Hillary For America, Hillary for President, Hillary Rodham Clinton, issues, policy speeches, Republican Party, Uncategorized, tagged 2016 election, Appearances, campaign events, Clinton/Kaine 2016, Democratic Party, Donald Trump, Economy, fact sheets, Hillary 2016, Hillary Clinton, Hillary For America, policy speeches, Republican Party on August 11, 2016| 2 Comments »

After touring the Futuramic Tool and Engineering facility in Warren, MI, Hillary delivered remarks addressing her plans for the economy in contrast to the very hazy, foreshortened bullets (I hesitate to call them plans) offered by Donald Trump. Bullets are great on a memo or a meeting agenda. The American people want to hear how candidates plan to boost the economy. Hillary presented a detailed, multifaceted, intersectional set of initiatives that, working in concert, will benefit all Americans and American families, not just those at the top.

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Just a note on Trump’s latest lies and other words. He told a crowd this morning that Hillary talks for 10 minutes and then goes home and sleeps. Everyone here knows that is not true, and we actually often wonder if she ever gets a chance to sleep. His speech consisted largely (he thinks bigly is a word) of reading off a series of numbers from notes in his hand. They were just numbers out of context. They meant nothing, and it was mystifying. Hillary, in interview situations, for example, and town halls, can rattle off numbers from her head, without knowing a particular question is coming, and relates the numbers to concrete realities. Trump held up a graph that he stared at more than he showed it to the audience. It was a shabby imitation of Ross Perot who at least really knew the graphs and what they showed. Perhaps Perot even made those graphs himself. Trump looked at the graph and read the numbers as if they were alien to him and he had never seen them before. In one instance he said, “I agree with this one.” What an unprepared puppet of the billionaire boys club that he calls his economic advisory team!

Here is Hillary’s plan.

Stronger Together: Hillary Clinton’s Plan for An Economy That Works for Everyone, Not Just Those at the Top

Earlier today, Hillary Clinton delivered a speech in Warren, Michigan, posing four questions that should make voters’ choice in this election crystal clear. First, which candidate will actually stand up to those at the top and restore balance and fairness to our economy? Second, who has a better plan to create good-paying jobs? Third, who will really go to bat for working families? And, fourth, who can break through the dysfunction in Washington deliver real results for the American people?

Donald Trump fails each of these tests. Instead of restoring balance and fairness to our economy, he wants to provide trillions in tax breaks to corporations and the super-wealthy, exploding our deficit while leaving working families to hold the bag. Instead of creating good-paying jobs, his economic proposals would produce crisis and recession, resulting in 3.4 million lost jobs according to independent analysts who also projects that the economy would create 10.4 million jobs under Hillary Clinton’s plans. Instead of standing up for working families, Trump has made a career out of stiffing small businesses and outsourcing jobs. Instead of breaking through Washington gridlock, Trumps’ temper tantrums and name-calling would just make things worse.

Unlike Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton has the agenda, experience, and know-how to restore fairness to our economy, create good-paying jobs, stand up for working families, and break-through Washington’s dysfunction to deliver real results for the American people. She understands that we are stronger together when we grow together—when we all contribute to our prosperity and we all share in the rewards. While we have worked our way back from the Great Recession, too many Americans are still left out and left behind. Instead of growing together, we’re in danger of growing apart – with too few good-paying jobs, too much inequality, and a lack of basic economic security and fairness for working families.

We can meet these challenges. We can spur more economic growth, which will create more good-paying jobs and raise wages. And we can have more economic fairness, so the rewards are shared with everyone. Hillary Clinton is running for President to build an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top. As she laid out in her speech last month in Raleigh, North Carolina, she is setting five big goals to get there:

Break Through Washington Gridlock to Make the Boldest Investment in Good-Paying Jobs Since World War II

Make Debt Free College Available to All Americans

Rewrite the Rules to Ensure That Workers Share in the Profits They Help Create

Ensure That Those at the Top Pay Their Fair Share

Put Families First by Matching Our Policies to How Families Live, Learn, and Work in the 21st Century Economy

A summary of Hillary’s economic agenda is below. You can read about all of these proposals in greater detail at https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/.

I. BREAK THROUGH WASHINGTON GRIDLOCK TO MAKE THE BOLDEST INVESTMENT IN GOOD-PAYING JOBS SINCE WORLD WAR II

Our country has a strong bipartisan tradition of investing in our future—from Eisenhower’s Interstate highway system, which unlocked the potential of the American economy and drove the rise of the middle class, to the Apollo program, which put a man on the moon and fueled giant leaps forward in technology and innovation. Hillary Clinton will break through the gridlock in Washington to make these investments, which have been a hallmark of American prosperity, once again possible.

From her first day in office to her last, Hillary will make it a central priority to make sure that every American can find a good-paying job, with rising incomes across the board. That’s why she will make the largest investment in good-paying jobs since World War II. These investments will not just create good jobs today, they will unlock the potential of our businesses to create good-paying jobs in the future. And she is setting a goal of a full employment, full-potential economy, where we break down barriers and create good-paying jobs in every community, for people across the country willing to work hard. Hillary will:

Launch our country’s boldest investments in infrastructure since we built the Interstate highway system

Make audacious advancement in research and technology, creating the industries and jobs of the future

Establish the U.S. as the clean energy superpower of the world—with half a billion solar panels installed by the end of her first term and enough clean renewable energy to power every home in American within ten years of her taking office

Strengthen American manufacturing with a $10 billion “Make it in America” plan

Cut red tape, make small business tax filing as easy as keeping a checkbook, and expand access to capital so small businesses can grow, hire and thrive

Ensure that the jobs of the future in caregiving and services are good-paying jobs, recognize their fundamental contributions to families and to America

Pursue smarter, fairer, tougher trade policies that put U.S. job creation first and that get tough on nations like China that seek to prosper at the expense of our workers – including opposing trade deals, like the Trans-Pacific Partnership, that do not meet a high bar of creating good-paying jobs and raising pay

Commit to a full employment, full-potential economy and break down barriers so that growth, jobs, and prosperity are shared in every community in America, no matter where you live and no matter your race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or disability

Appoint Fed governors who share the belief that maximum employment is an essential prong of the Federal Reserve’s dual mandate

II. MAKE DEBT FREE COLLEGE AVAILABLE TO ALL AMERICANS

An economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top, is based on the idea of equal opportunity and a belief that anyone can rise. That vision of our nation only works if we renew our commitment to education at every level. That’s why Hillary will fight for transformational investments that prepare the next generation for the jobs of the future—starting with debt-free college:

Eliminate tuition for working families and provide debt-free college to all Americans—because debt should never be a barrier to equal opportunity

Ease the crushing burden of student debt for 40 million Americans by allowing students to refinance at lower rates and making sure that none of them have to pay more than they can afford

Ensure that every 4-year old in America has access to high-quality preschool in the next 10 years

Fight for world-class K-12 education for every child in every zip code

Lift up programs that invest in our workforce and equip Americans with lifelong skills and education

III. REWRITE THE RULES TO ENSURE WORKERS SHARE IN THE PROFITS THEY HELP CREATE

Businesses thrive all over our country by seeing employees as assets to invest in, not costs to cut. They’re building companies, not stripping them, and creating good jobs, not eliminating them. But too many corporations take the opposite view. They seem to have forgotten that one of the biggest assets on their balance sheets is America itself. Hillary will make it easier for companies that take the “high road,” like sharing profits with their workers and investing in them over the long term. And she will make it harder for them to take the “low road,” by mistreating their workers and customers or walking out on America to avoid paying their fair share in taxes.

Reward companies that share profits with their employees, not just their executives

Fight for unions that built the great American middle class and strengthen collective bargaining

Encourage businesses to provide worker training and apprenticeships

End the tyranny of “quarterly capitalism” and encourage companies to invest in America for the long-run

Reform our tax code to reward businesses that invest in jobs in the United States, and impose an exit tax on companies that move overseas to avoid paying their taxes

Strengthen our antitrust laws and enforcement so businesses get ahead by competing and benefitting their customers – not by unfairly concentrating markets

Eliminate write-offs and claw back special tax breaks when companies ship jobs and production overseas, and use the proceeds to invest in America

Make the minimum wage a living wage and fight for equal pay

Pursue worker-friendly policies to make it harder for companies to race to the bottom in search of profits

Defend Wall Street reform and push for new measures to ensure that Wall Street never threatens Main Street again

IV. REWRITE THE RULES AND MAKE SURE THAT THOSE AT THE TOP PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE

Our tax code is rigged for those at the top, making it harder to invest in our future, whether it’s in infrastructure, education or healthcare. We need policies to address these discrepancies in our tax code and go after all the scams, loopholes, and special breaks exploited by corporations and the mega-rich, like the carried interest loophole that lets some hedge fund managers pay a lower rate than a teacher or a nurse. She believes that by making sure the most fortunate and corporations pay their fair share, we can afford to pay for the ambitious progressive investments she has put forward, in a fiscally responsible way, without adding to the debt.

As President, Hillary will make sure that corporations and the most fortunate play by the rules and pay their fair share – because they can afford it, and we’re all in this together. She will:

Reform our individual income tax code to make sure that no millionaire pays a lower tax rate than a middle-class family and impose a surcharge on the incomes of multi-millionaires

Close tax loopholes and special breaks that make it possible for the wealthy and corporations to avoid paying their fair share

Charge a risk fee on major Wall Street institutions

Close the “carried interest” loophole for Wall Street money managers – acting without Congress if it will not move forward on its own

Offer relief to the middle class from rising costs – such as child care, health care, and education

V. PUT FAMILIES FIRST AND MAKE SURE THEY HAVE THE SECURITY AND OPPORTUNITY THEY NEED TO THRIVE IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

When we forged the basic bargain of our economy, with guarantees like Social Security, minimum wage, overtime pay, child labor laws, and other protections we count on today, our economy was very different. Most families got by on one income, and workers could expect to hold a steady job with good benefits for an entire career. Despite massive shifts in how our economy works today, too many of our policies are outdated and basic protections have not kept up. We need policies that match how we actually live and work in this 21^st century economy. That means updating the basic bargain and putting families first. Hillary will:

Guarantee paid family leave

Strengthen and expand Social Security

Provide universal, affordable healthcare – including offering a public option choice in every state, letting people over 55 buy into Medicare, and investing in community health centers

Cap prescription drug costs and prevent price gouging by pharmaceutical companies

Work to ensure no family pays more than 10 percent of their income on child care by making the Child Tax Credit more generous for working families, making preschool universal for every 4 year-old in America, and significantly increasing our investment in high-quality child care programs

Break down barriers to make affordable housing and homeownership possible for hard working families

And now this!

David Cay Johnston: Is a Crook Hiding in Donald Trump’s Taxes?

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Hillary Clinton’s Commitment to the Future of Quality Universal Health Care

Posted in 2016 Election, Fact Sheets, Health Care, Hillary 2016, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Clinton 2016, Hillary For America, Hillary for President, Hillary Rodham Clinton, issues, Uncategorized, tagged 2016 election, ACA, Democratic Party, fact sheets, health care, Hillary 2016, Hillary Clinton, Hillary For America on July 9, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Ever since the ACA passed, Hillary has echoed over and over that it was a good first step, and we have to do more. Other candidates in this election cycle have campaigned on a promise to repeal the ACA, Hillary has vowed all along to improve, strengthen, and enhance it. Here is her commitment to the future of health care.

Hillary Clinton’s Commitment: Universal, Quality, Affordable Health Care for Everyone in America

The Affordable Care Act was a critically important step toward the goal of universal health care, offering coverage to 20 million more Americans, and ensuring all Americans will never be denied coverage on account of a pre-existing condition or their gender. Today, 90 percent of all Americans have health insurance, the most in the history of our country.

Despite this progress, Hillary believes that we have more work to do to finish our long fight to provide universal, quality, affordable health care to everyone in America. This starts by strengthening, improving and building on the Affordable Care Act to cover more Americans.

First, Hillary will work with governors to expand Medicaid in every state, so that access to care no longer depends on where you live. It is a disgrace that 19 states have left 3 million Americans without health insurance because their states have refused to expand Medicaid. It is wrong that Republican governors and legislatures are leaving too many Americans without health insurance even though they qualify for coverage. Hillary will launch a national campaign to enroll people who are eligible but not already enrolled. She will expand access to affordable health care to families regardless of immigration status by allowing families to buy health insurance on the health Exchanges regardless of their immigration status.

Second, Hillary will get health care costs under control so that those who have health insurance can afford the health care they need. She will not stand for unjustified health premium increases – she will make sure the Secretary of Health and Human Services has the authority to block or modify unreasonable health insurance premium rate increases so that coverage is more affordable. Hillary has comprehensive plans to address increasing out-of-pocket and prescription drug costs. She will cap prescription drug costs that people have to pay out of pocket, and limit excessive out-of-pocket costs for families. And Hillary will work on long-term solutions to reduce consumer costs of prescription drugs so that these drugs are affordable for all, while not stifling innovation that produces life-saving and life-extending scientific breakthroughs.

Third, consistent with her previous proposals on public options, Hillary will pursue efforts to give Americans in every state in the country the choice of a public-option insurance plan, and to expand Medicare by allowing people 55 years or older to opt in while protecting the traditional Medicare program.

Hillary has also laid out strategies to address a multitude of pressing health care challenges – from Alzheimer’s, to autism, mental health and substance abuse, to public health infrastructure and environmental health, to women’s health, all the way through Zika.

As we advance toward the goal of universal health care, Hillary believes we must do more to address the lack of access to primary health care, dental care, mental health care and affordable prescription drugs.

One critical component of establishing universal primary care is to expand our proven system of Federally Qualified Health Centers. Today, 25 million people in the United States get their care from these community health centers each year. We must significantly expand that coverage so that every American, regardless of where they live, has good quality primary health care available to them at a cost they can afford.

The Affordable Care act significantly expanded mandatory funding for FQHCs. As part of her comprehensive health care agenda, Hillary is committed to doubling the funding for primary care services at community health centers over the next decade. If you are in town visiting Fort Collins, there are a number of local dispensaries that offer deals on cannabis. In doing so, we will dramatically expand access to millions more people with the help from houseofcannabis. This means extending the current mandatory funding under the Affordable Care Act and expanding it by $40 billion over the next 10 years.

Hillary also supports President Obama’s call for a near tripling of the size of the National Health Service Corps, which will increase funding to $810 million in 2017 and grow over time to $1.3 billion by 2027.

These are good investments for patients and for taxpayers. Today, community health centers save more than $1,200 per person per year. This is a savings to the overall health care system of $49 billion each year. And by allowing people to access health care when they need it, we will avoid costly illnesses, hospital stays and trips to emergency rooms. A healthier population also means fewer missed days of school and work. In sum, working toward providing universal primary care to all Americans by investing in community health centers will save billions in unnecessary health care spending.

Together these steps will get us closer to the day when everyone in America has access to quality, affordable health care.

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Hillary Clinton’s Plan to Protect Small Businesses

Posted in 2016 Election, Fact Sheets, Hillary 2016, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Clinton 2016, Hillary For America, Hillary for President, statements, Uncategorized, tagged 2016 election, Democratic Party, Donald Trump, fact sheets, Hillary 2016, Hillary Clinton, Hillary For America, Republican Party, small business, statements on July 7, 2016| Leave a Comment »

In Atlantic City, Hillary recounted stories of small business people who did work for Donald Trump and were not paid. She has a plan to prevent small businesses from being bullied and stiffed by big businesses and bad actors like this one.

NEW TESTIMONIAL VIDEO: When Trump Wins, the Little Guy Loses

On the night of the California primary, in the clubhouse of the Trump National Golf Club Westchester, Donald Trump touted his less-than-stellar business record and claimed he would “make it very, very good” for small business in America.

Architect Andrew Tesoro designed that clubhouse. Trump loved it. But when Tesoro sent Trump a bill for his work, he replied through his lawyers: Accept pennies on the dollar or I’ll tie you up in court for years.

In a new video released by Hillary for America, Tesoro says he was humiliated by Trump and felt he had no choice but to accept a low-ball payment for his work. Trump almost put him out of business. He made nothing for years, maxed out his credit lines, and dipped into his son’s college savings to survive.

Tesoro is one among many Trump has targeted, and Hillary for America is updating the ArtOfTheSteal.biz to outline Trump’s step-by-step guide to getting rich on the backs of those don’t have the resources to fight him. Call this the “Trump Discount.”

Trump’s “master grifter” strategy has sunk small businesses and hurt working families. Forcing those who cannot match him in court to either sue or settle for less than they deserve, Trump has shown again and again that for him, winning means the little guy loses.

Trump’s grand scheme for business success had four steps:

1. Contract out some work to a local small business.

Now, this part seems nice! If you’re looking for someone to install the chandeliers in your mansion or build some cabinets, why wouldn’t you hire a mom-and-pop operation who will put some real care into the job?

2. After the work is done, just don’t pay.

That’s right — after completing the job, the aforementioned small business would send out an invoice for payment… that wouldn’t ever come.

This is the step where Trump loses me. It’s also where Edward Friel of Atlantic City found himself:

“After submitting the final bill for the Plaza casino cabinet-building in 1984, Paul Friel said he got a call asking that his father, Edward, come to the Trump family’s offices at the casino for a meeting. There Edward, and some other contractors, were called in one by one to meet with Donald Trump and his brother, Robert Trump.”

3. Offer the contractor two options: Begin an expensive lawsuit, or accept way less money than previously agreed upon.

We’re talking a fraction of the price of the job — after the work was already done. Take landscaper Herman Caucci and marble supplier John Millar:

“Caucci, who himself was owed more than $500,000, says Millar agreed to take 10 cents on the dollar, but court documents suggest he got about 30 cents on the dollar over the next year. Millar is deceased. His family wouldn’t respond to repeated calls for comment.

Either way, the money wasn’t enough. Millar eventually had to lay off workers, shut down his business Avalon Commercial, close many of his retail stores and borrow from friends to make ends meet, according to court documents and Millar’s lawyers and former employees.”Maybe bigwigs with wealthy fathers like Donald Trump can afford a bankruptcy or two, but small business owners? They can’t.

“’HE ALMOST bankrupted us,’ says the retired owner of a construction business on the east coast. Thirty years ago he ran a small business with around ten employees, which was hired by Donald Trump to work on an 11-month project at his Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City. It was the biggest contract, by far, that the business had ever had. The builders worked as they had never done before to complete the job on time. As soon as they finished, Mr Trump stopped paying. He owed around $200,000 of a bill totalling about $700,000, a huge sum for a small company.”

4. Watch as the business sinks — hitting owners and employees alike.

While Donald gets off with discounted work, more than one business were nearly driven to shut their doors. Seems exactly the opposite of “looking out for the little guy” to me.

We’re not talking once or twice here. According to USA Today, there have been literally hundreds of suits against Trump for unpaid bills. That’s hundreds of hard-working people who have been cheated by the Donald — and been brave enough to fight back.

Read the rest at http://www.artofthesteal.biz/

Trump is not even ashamed of this strategy or his practices. Hillary, on the other hand, thinks small businesses should be protected from this behavior. This is where business insurance comes in.

Hillary for America Unveils Plan to Ensure Small Businesses Get Paid, Not Stiffed By Bad Actors in Big Business

Hillary Clinton has a new plan to strengthen small businesses by cracking down on bad business actors whose fraudulent business practices jeopardize small businesses and their workers. Hillary Clinton’s plan proposes giving small businesses recourse to fight back against unscrupulous big business practices that stiff small businesses when bills come due. She will leverage hundreds of billions of dollars in federal contracting to make sure small businesses get paid faster – and expand programs that put more working capital in the hands of small business owners so they can thrive, grow and hire. These proposals are part of her plan to fight for the largest investment in good-paying jobs in her first 100 days in office, one of her five major goals for our economy.

The announcement follows Clinton’s speech in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on Wednesday outside the former Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, where she decried Trump’s failed business record and was joined by one Atlantic City small businessman, Marty Rosenberg, who was not paid in full for his work on a Trump property.

“I thought a lot about my dad in the last weeks as I learn more about Donald Trump’s business behavior,” Hillary Clinton said in Atlantic City. “My dad was a small businessman. If his customers had done to him what Trump did to these companies, he wouldn’t have made it, either. … We believe in an America where small businesses are respected, not scammed. I have a plan to make sure big businesses can’t stiff suppliers and contractors like Donald’s been doing for years.”

Clinton’s plan would enhance legal protections for small businesses that are repeatedly stiffed by large firms and give them better tools to protect themselves against predatory behavior by large companies. She would increase federal regulatory enforcement for unscrupulous big businesses that have a pattern or practice of using their market power to repeatedly exploit small businesses by not paying them, or otherwise defrauding or deceiving them. She also would ensure that small businesses have expanded means of recourse, such as through banding together to hold these practices accountable in court.

“Small businesses are the foundation of the American Dream, for generations providing opportunity for millions of American families and workers,” said former Small Business Administration Administrator Karen Mills, now a senior fellow at Harvard Business School. “Despite their resilience the recession hit them hard, but they have proven that given the resources and opportunity, they can and will continue to drive our nation’s economic growth and competitiveness. Secretary Clinton has laid out a plan that ensures small businesses aren’t taken advantage of and get paid on time, leverages federal dollars to ensure prompt payment, and expands access to working capital. This is important because whether it’s a Main Street shop or a startup tech firm, customer demand, cash flow and a friendlier tax and regulatory environment are critical. Secretary Clinton’s focus is on making sure small businesses have a government that is working for them, fighting for them and enabling them to grow and create jobs.”

Additionally, Clinton’s plan calls for leveraging the more than $400 billion in federal government contracting to encourage businesses to pay their suppliers in full and on time. Her plan also calls for expanding proven SBA loan guarantee programs that broaden access to working capital, so small businesses can weather periods where they are not paid on time – and thrive, grow, hire, and expand.

To read Clinton’s full proposal for defending, protecting and supporting small businesses from abusive big business practices, visit her website here.

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Hillary Clinton’s Initiatives for Debt-Free Grads

Posted in 2016 Election, Democratic Party, Hillary 2016, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Clinton 2016, Hillary For America, Hillary for President, Hillary Rodham Clinton, issues, policy/plans, Uncategorized, tagged 2016 election, Education, fact sheets, HIgher Education, Hillary 2016, Hillary Clinton, Hillary For America, issues, policy/plans on July 6, 2016| 3 Comments »

Hillary Clinton’s Commitment: A Debt-Free Future for America’s Graduates

Education is the key to so much we want to achieve as a country: a stronger, more equitable economy; a healthier, more vibrant democracy; a future in which we meet challenges with ingenuity and skill. Education is also the key to our young people achieving their dreams. It’s how we develop our talents and imagine different futures for ourselves. So any serious plan for America’s future must include a bold plan to put quality education – including college – within everyone’s reach, no matter how much money they have.

College used to be pretty affordable. For millions of Americans, that’s not the case anymore. Too many families in the United States are struggling with student debt, and the problem has reached crisis levels. Within the last ten years, total student debt in our economy has more than doubled and now exceeds $1.2 trillion. Nearly 7 out of every 10 new graduates of four-year colleges are in debt, and these indebted graduates carry an average balance of nearly $30,000. Student debt has surpassed credit card debt, car loan debt, and home equity lines of credit to be the second largest source of consumer debt.

And this is not just an issue for borrowers: It is holding our economy back. This debt prevents people from forming families, buying homes, and starting small businesses. If you plan on starting a new business then review Sky Blue vs Lexington law breakdown. It sends the wrong signal to future students whom we need to complete college to drive economic growth.

Meanwhile, for families sending their kids to colleges and universities, tuition has ballooned out of control and has become increasingly unaffordable even at public colleges and universities. Tuition has risen 40% in the last ten years at four-year public colleges and universities, after inflation, while family incomes have remained basically flat. And states have been cutting their spending on higher education – by roughly 20% per student since the recession – rather than expanding their investments.

Simply put, this situation has careened out of control. Hillary Clinton has a plan to help millions of Americans with their debt right now, and a plan to make college debt-free for future generations.

Provide Immediate Help to Graduates Who Need Relief from Crushing Debt Hillary has made clear she will fight to ensure that all borrowers can:

Refinance their student loans at current rates, just as borrowers can refinance a car or home loan. Refinancing would help 25 million borrowers across the country, with the typical borrower saving $2,000 over the life of the loan.

Enroll in income-based repayment. Nobody should have to pay more than 10 percent of monthly income, and college debt should be forgiven after 20 years – and 10 years if a borrower works in the public interest. Hillary will simplify, expand and develop options for automatic enrollment in these programs.

Push employers to contribute to student debt relief. Employers must be part of the solution to the student debt crisis. Clinton will create a payroll deduction portal for employers and employees that will simplify the repayment process. She will explore further options to encourage employers to help pay down student debt.

Get relief from debt for starting a business or social enterprise.  Aspiring entrepreneurs will be able to defer their loans with no payments or interest for up to three years so that student debt and the lack of family wealth is not a barrier to innovation in our country. For social entrepreneurs and those starting new enterprises in distressed communities, her plan will provide up to $17,500 in loan forgiveness.

Reward public service.  AmeriCorps members who complete two years of national service and a year of public service can have their loans forgiven. Teachers who teach in high-need areas or in subjects with teacher shortages – such as computer science or special education – will get enhanced loan forgiveness.

A Moratorium on Student Debt to Get Millions of Borrowers Relief from Crushing Debt: Today, Hillary Clinton is announcing that she will take immediate executive action to offer a three-month moratorium on student loan payments to all federal loan borrowers. During this time-out from paying student loans, every borrower will be given the resources and targeted help they need to save money on their loans. With dedicated assistance from the Department of Education during this moratorium, borrowers will be able to consolidate their loans, sign up quickly and easily for income-based repayment plans, and take direct advantage of opportunities to reduce monthly interest payments and fees. Borrowers who are delinquent or in default will receive additional rehabilitation options to help them get back on their feet. Clinton will also use the moratorium to crack down on for-profit colleges and loan servicers who have too often taken advantage of borrowers – and to ensure that borrowers can resolve outstanding issues in a timely and fair manner.

Debt-Free College for our Future Students

Hillary Clinton has pledged to achieve the goal of debt-free college for future graduates, so that cost is never a barrier for young people seeking to pursue their dreams of higher education (click here for more details). It’s a simple, but bold idea:  Every student should be able to graduate from a public college or university in their state without taking on any student debt.  To reach this goal, Hillary is enhancing the New College Compact she announced last year. Her plan will:

Eliminate college tuition for working families. Families with income up to $125,000 will pay no tuition at in-state public colleges and universities – covering more than 80 percent of all families. From the start of this plan, every student from a family making $85,000 a year or less will be able to go to a 4-year public college or university tuition free. This income threshold will increase by $10,000 a year every year over the next four years so that by 2021, all students with a family income of $125,000 will have the opportunity to pay no tuition. She will also continue her commitment to ensure that community colleges are tuition-free for all working families.

Help students deal with all of the costs of attending college. Hillary Clinton will protect Pell Grant funding to help low- and middle-income students pay non-tuition expenses, and she will restore year-round Pell Grant funding so that students have the necessary support they need to take summer classes and meet their goal of completing college. She will make a major investment in HBCUs, Minority-Serving Institutions and other low-cost, modest-endowment private schools so that these deserving students also benefit from the lower cost of college. She will work to expand opportunities for students to earn money for expenses through term-time work and to receive college credit for national service. She will expand support for student-parents, including a fifteen-fold increase in federal funding for on-campus child care.

The New College Compact: Hillary Clinton’s plan requires everyone to do their part. The federal government will make a major new investment to make this possible, but states will have to step up and meet their obligations as well.

States will have to commit to a combination of reinvestment and reform over the next four years and beyond to ensure that federal support is funding students and not excessive cost growth.

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.

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Go to Green Bay in debt to get best professionals advises.

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Hillary Clinton at the National Action Network Convention: The Fight for Environmental and Climate Justice

Posted in 2016 Election, Appearances, Campaign Events, Democratic Party, Fact Sheets, Hillary 2016, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Clinton 2016, Hillary For America, Hillary for President, Hillary Rodham Clinton, policy/plans, Primaries/Caucuses, Uncategorized, tagged 2016 election, Al Sharpton, Appearances, campaign events, Democratic Party, fact sheets, Hillary 2016, Hillary For America, National Action Network, New York, Primaries/Caucuses on April 13, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Reverend Al Sharpton’s National Action Network convened in New York today, and Hillary Clinton was there. She spoke on mass incarceration, just as she did shortly after launching her campaign a year ago this month, and unveiled her plan to fight for environmental and climate justice.

Factsheets

Hillary Clinton’s Plan to Fight for Environmental and Climate Justice

Across America, the burdens of air pollution, water pollution, and toxic hazards are borne disproportionately by low-income communities and communities of color.

Air pollution from power plants, factories, refineries, transportation and waste incineration significantly exacerbate asthma, and African-American children are twice as likely as white children to suffer from asthma, three times more likely to be hospitalized, and five times more likely to die from the disease. Nearly half of Latinos in the United States live in counties where the air does not meet EPA public health standards for smog.

From Flint, Michigan, to Toledo, Ohio, to Charleston, West Virginia, families have been exposed to lead, dangerous algae, and toxic chemicals in their drinking water.

Exposure to pesticides and chemicals has been linked to childhood cancer, and the likelihood of such exposure can depend on where children live. For example, in the Manchester neighborhood of Houston, which is 85 percent Latino and where 27 schools are within one mile of a high-risk chemical facility, children who attend public schools are 56 percent more likely to get leukemia than those who live 10 miles away.

Simply put, this is environmental racism. And the impacts of climate change, from more severe storms to longer heat waves to rising sea levels, will disproportionately affect low-income and minority communities, which suffer the worst losses during extreme weather and have the fewest resources to prepare.

Hillary believes we need to break down all the barriers holding Americans back—including the burdens imposed by unhealthy air, polluted water, and exposure to toxins. Environmental and climate justice can’t just be slogans—they have to be central goals. Clean air and clean water aren’t luxuries—they are basic rights of all Americans. No one in our country should be exposed to toxic chemicals or hazardous wastes simply because of where they live, their income, or their race. And the impacts of climate change must be addressed with an eye to climate justice, so no community gets left out or left behind. As President, Hillary will:

Eliminate lead as a major public health threat within five years. Lead is a well-documented neurotoxin, and childhood lead exposure can irreversibly harm brain development, produce developmental delays, cause behavioral problems, and negatively impact school performance. There is no safe blood lead level in children. For every dollar invested in preventing childhood exposure to lead, between $17 and $200 is saved in reduced educational, health, and criminal justice expenses and improved health and economic outcomes—but the few federal programs that exist are inadequate to address the scope of the problem and have seen significant budget cuts and volatility in recent years. The ongoing tragedy in Flint has put a spotlight on the urgency of this crisis, but Flint is not alone. More than 535,000 children are poisoned by lead in the United States, and children of color are more likely to be poisoned than white children.Eliminating lead as a major public health threat to our children is a goal we can and must meet as a nation. Clinton will establish a Presidential Commission on Childhood Lead Exposure and charge it with writing a national plan to eliminate the risk of lead exposure from paint, pipes, and soil within five years; align state, local and philanthropic resources with federal initiatives; implement best prevention practices based on current science; and leverage new financial resources such as lead safe tax credits. Clinton will direct every federal agency to adopt the Commission’s recommendations, make sure our public water systems are following appropriate lead safety guidelines, and leverage federal, state, local, and philanthropic resources, including up to $5 billion in federal dollars, to replace lead paint, windows, and doors in homes, schools, and child care centers and remediate lead-contaminated soil.

Protect public health and safety by modernizing drinking and wastewater systems. As the crisis in Flint has made painfully clear, we have not invested enough in the drinking and wastewater systems that keep our communities healthy and safe. Aging and inadequate wastewater systems discharge more than 900 billion gallons of untreated sewage a year, posing health risks to humans and wildlife, disrupting ecosystems, and disproportionately impacting communities of color.In addition, many struggling communities around the United States have limited or no access to clean, safe water, including farmworker communities in the Central Valley of California, Navajo and other Native American communities in the west, and small towns throughout the Great Plains. Drinking water and wastewater treatment is often the largest single energy cost for municipalities—meaning inefficient water treatment is a financial drain on low-income communities. Clinton has a $275 billion plan to invest in modernizing American infrastructure, including drinking and wastewater infrastructure, and will work with states, municipalities, and the private sector to bring our water systems into the 21^st century and ensure that all Americans have access to clean, safe drinking water.

Prosecute criminal and civil violations that expose communities to environmental harm and work with Congress to strengthen public health protections in our existing laws. When companies and individuals break the law and expose communities to harm, they should be held accountable with appropriate criminal or civil enforcement under environmental, public health, and safety laws. When residents of Flint were exposed to harmful lead pollution, there were no criminal violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act, even though officials knew or should have known that the drinking water had been contaminated. When Freedom Industries polluted the drinking water in Charleston, West Virginia, the corporate officials involved were allowed to plead guilty to misdemeanor violations of the Clean Water Act. The judge said that they were “hardly criminals,” and no one went to jail for more than 30 days. After 29 miners died at the Upper Big Branch Mine, our worst mining disaster in 40 years, prosecutors charged and convicted Don Blankenship, the former head of Massey Energy, for conspiracy to violate the Mine Safety and Health Act. Blankenship received only one year in jail, however, because violations of the Mine Safety Act are only misdemeanors. The same is true for the Occupational Safety and Health Act, where willful violations that cause death only authorize misdemeanor charges. The Lead Disclosure Rule, which protects children from lead paint, does not contain any criminal provisions, relying instead on a separate law, the Toxic Substances Control Act, which only authorizes misdemeanor charges. And even when there is a criminal conviction for environmental violations, too often, victims receive no restitution for the harm they have suffered.Clinton will work with Congress to update our environmental, public health, and safety laws by enhancing the criminal provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act, adding criminal provisions to the Lead Disclosure Rule, improving the lead inspection standards of the Renovation, Repair and house painting Rule, and increasing the penalties for violations of the Mine Safety and Health Act and the Occupational Safety and Health Act so that they are felonies that carry the possibility of serious jail time. Clinton will also work with Congress to ensure that victims of environmental crimes receive compensation for their injuries, direct the EPA and Justice Department to work together on using Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to prevent or rectify environmental injustices, and direct Justice Department prosecutors to be just as tough on environmental criminals as they are on other criminals who endanger our communities.

Create new economic opportunity through brownfield clean-up and redevelopment. There are over 450,000 brownfield sites across the United States where the presence of hazardous substances, pollutants, and contaminants pose threats to public health and deprive local communities of economic development opportunities. EPA’s Superfund program has insufficient resources to clean up the remaining sites on the National Priority List, and most brownfields are overseen by capacity-constrained state and local governments.Clinton will work to replenish the federal Superfund, partner with state and local governments in pushing responsible parties to pay their fair share of clean-up costs, and collaborate with local leaders to redevelop brownfields in a way that creates good-paying jobs and new economic opportunities for impacted communities. To protect the health and safety of local residents, workers will be trained by accredited organizations. To help create long-term career paths, contractors working on these projects will be required to participate in registered apprenticeship programs and newcomers to the workforce will be encouraged to join these programs.

Reduce urban air pollution by investing in clean power and transportation. The US has made important progress in reducing sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, nitrogen oxides and other pollutants through cleaner power generation and more efficient cars and trucks. Yet in many communities, particularly communities of color, air pollution continues to threaten public health and safety. More than 40 percent of Americans live in places where pollution levels are often too dangerous to breathe. Urban air pollution contributes to asthma episodes, missed school and work days and reduced life expectancies for community residents. Clinton will defend and implement President Obama’s Clean Power Plan and ensure that states prioritize environmental and climate justice when designing their compliance plans. Through her Clean Energy Challenge, Clinton will provide competitive grants to states, cities, and rural communities that exceed federal standards and take the lead in deploying cost-saving and pollution-reducing clean energy and energy efficiency solutions. In the transportation sector, which is the leading source of ground-level ozone and other urban air pollutants, Clinton will defend and extend federal pollution standards for cars, trucks, and buses, and invest in efficient transit that connects people to jobs and opportunity. Clinton will accelerate the transition to zero or near-zero emission trucking and shipping and award Clean Energy Challenge grants to states and cities that develop innovative transportation solutions that cut air pollution and oil consumption, while improving access to employment and education opportunities for low-income communities and communities of color.

Broaden the clean energy economy, build career opportunities, and combat energy poverty by expanding solar and energy efficiency in low-income communities and communities of color. Clinton is committed to ensuring that no one is left behind or left out in the transition to a clean energy economy. In addition to addressing the ways that low-income communities and communities of color face disproportionate burdens from air pollution and a changing climate, Clinton will ensure that the economic benefits of clean energy and energy efficiency are broadly shared. Through her Clean Energy Challenge, Clinton will overcome barriers that prevent low-income families from reducing energy costs through solar panel installations and residential energy efficiency improvements. Clinton will ensure that states, cities and rural communities prioritize environmental and climate justice when receiving Clean Energy Challenge grants. Clinton will also work to expand good-paying job opportunities for people of color throughout the clean energy economy and support prevailing wage and project labor agreements for new infrastructure that utilize skilled labor and help recruit and train workers from communities most heavily impacted by pollution. In today’s economy, African Americans hold only 1.1 percent of energy jobs and receive only 0.01 percent of energy sector profits. This must change in the clean energy economy we build for the future.

Protect communities from the impacts of climate change by investing in resilient infrastructure. Climate change will target every community in America, and we know the poorest and most vulnerable communities will suffer the most. Climate change will cause more frequent and severe downpours in the Northeast, potentially overwhelming aging drainage systems and causing sewerage backups in predominantly low-income areas. Sea level rise will threaten vulnerable communities from Baltimore to New Orleans. More frequent and severe heat waves disproportionately threaten the health of those who cannot afford adequate air conditioning or have preexisting health conditions. State and local leaders are beginning to recognize the need to factor climate risks into infrastructure planning and find creative solutions that protect their communities. For instance, Philadelphia’s Green City, Clean Waters program installed porous pavements, rain gardens, rain barrels, and other green infrastructure solutions to reduce stormwater runoff and prevent sewer overflows. Clinton will give states and local communities the data, tools, and resources they need to make smart investments in resilient infrastructure and to help diminish the local impacts of climate change.

Establish an Environmental and Climate Justice Task Force to make environmental and climate justice, including cumulative impacts, an integral part of federal decision-making. While multiple federal agencies already consider environmental justice when awarding grants or permitting projects, including through the National Environmental Justice Advisory Committee at EPA, more needs to be done to tackle the cumulative health, economic, and environmental impacts of pollution and climate change in vulnerable communities.On her first day in office, Clinton will establish an Environmental and Climate Justice Task Force and charge it with finding and fixing the next 50 Flints—the low-income urban and rural communities facing the most acute environmental risks. The Task Force would also:

Be directed to make recommendations on addressing cumulative environmental impacts and preventing other communities from facing similar burdens in the future, particularly in light of the additional challenges posed by climate change, including through stronger enforcement of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.

Include outside experts, the environmental justice community, and federal, state, and local officials, and draw on all of the resources of the federal government to conduct its work.

Be supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences’ research and partnership grant programs, which Clinton would significantly expand.

Clinton’s vision for ensuring environmental and climate justice is one pillar of both her Breaking Every Barrier agenda to confront all our challenges together and deliver results for every American, and of her comprehensive energy and climate agenda, which includes major initiatives in the following areas:

Clean Energy Challenge: Develop, defend and implement smart federal energy and climate standards. Provide states, cities and rural communities ready to lead on clean energy and exceed these standards with the flexibility, tools and resources they need to succeed.

Modernizing North American Infrastructure: Improve the safety and security of existing energy infrastructure and align new infrastructure we build with the clean energy economy we are seeking to create.

Safe and Responsible Production: Ensure that fossil fuel production taking place today is safe and responsible, that taxpayers get a fair deal for development on public lands, and that areas that are too sensitive for energy production are taken off the table.

Revitalizing Coal Communities: Protect the health and retirement security of coalfield workers and their families and provide economic opportunities for those that kept the lights on and factories running for more than a century.

Energy and Climate Security: Reduce the amount of oil consumed in the United States and around the world, guard against energy supply disruptions, and make our communities, our infrastructure, and our financial markets more resilient to risks posed by climate change.

Collaborative Stewardship: Renew our shared commitment to the conservation of our disappearing lands, waters, and wildlife, to the preservation of our history and culture, and to expanding access to the outdoors for all Americans.

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Hillary Clinton Unveils Manufacturing Plan in Syracuse

Posted in 2016 Election, Appearances, Fact Sheets, Hillary 2016, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Clinton 2016, Hillary For America, Hillary for President, Hillary Rodham Clinton, policy/plans, Primaries/Caucuses, Uncategorized, tagged 2016 election, Appearances, fact sheets, Hillary 2016, Hillary Clinton, Hillary For America, Hillary for President, New York, policy/plans, Primaries/Caucuses on April 1, 2016| 2 Comments »

Hillary began her visit to Syracuse today with a roundtable addressing manufacturing.

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Factsheets

Hillary Clinton’s Strategy to “Make it in America”

Harnessing the Strength of Manufacturing Nationwide, as she did in Upstate New York

Hillary believes that manufacturing matters because workers who build things here are the heart of our economy. Well-paying manufacturing jobs support families, and making things in America here is critical to our innovation and prosperity. Throughout her career and in this campaign, Hillary stood up for American manufacturing.

As Senator, Hillary fought for workers and manufacturers in New York. She stood up to China when they tried to put tariffs on New York’s exports. In communities across the state, from Buffalo to Rochester to Albany, Hillary brought together government at every level, workers, and businesses large and small to join and invest in good-paying jobs and production in the state. Today, in Syracuse, Hillary is providing more detail on her vision for American manufacturing, with a $10 billion investment in “Make it in America Partnerships” that will take her strategy to stand with manufacturers in upstate New York nationwide. This new proposal will be largely paid for based on revenues from Clinton’s previously announced “clawback” proposal that would rescind tax breaks for companies that outsource jobs abroad.

While too many politicians and experts in Washington gave up on American manufacturing, Hillary never did. That’s why she believes we need a comprehensive strategy to break down all the barriers to making things here, and ensure America’s global leadership in manufacturing. We need to buy what America makes: hundreds of billions of dollars of investment in our nation’s infrastructure and making America the world’s clean energy superpower will drive demand for jobs, equipment, and production here. And she will oppose trade agreements, like the Trans-Pacific Partnership, that do not meet her high standards for creating good jobs, raising wages, and enhancing our national security.

In December of last year, Hillary put forward five principles for winning the global race for manufacturing jobs. Today, she is providing more detail on the principle of harnessing the strength of manufacturing communities nationwide through “Make it in America” partnerships, and reiterating the principles she has already discussed throughout this campaign:

1. Establish “Make it in America Partnerships” that make America the first choice for manufacturing production by harnessing regional strengths. Hillary Clinton’s plan will dedicate $10 billion in funding toward “Make it in America Partnerships” that link together all parts of the supply chain and build on the strength of a region in particular industries. Her plan will help make all elements of manufacturing more innovative and competitive, while encouraging domestic manufacturing and reshoring. It builds on President Obama’s National Network for Manufacturing Innovation, and bipartisan legislation written and spearheaded by Senator Sherrod Brown, one of our nation’s foremost champions for manufacturing:

o Harness all of a region’s strengths: Clinton’s plan will use federal resources to take the lead in bringing together workers, unions, businesses, universities, and government at every level to harness their combined strengths to encourage industries to locate in their region, and create jobs and innovation with wide economic benefits. This approach will help ideas for new goods and production methods move from university labs to factory floors to markets across the city, country, and world. This approach will build up supply chains and “upward spirals” of production, good-paying jobs, skills, and innovation so that manufacturing communities across America are the first choice for parts production and assembly, in everything from steel, cars, and aircraft to wind turbines and clean energy products.

o A pledge by businesses to keep jobs and investment in America: Businesses participating in Hillary’s strategy would pledge not to shift jobs or profits gained from “Make it in America” incentives to other countries by outsourcing production, or “inverting” to move their residence abroad and avoid paying their fair share of U.S. taxes. Hillary’s plan embraces economic patriotism, and will support companies that invest in their workers and good-paying jobs here in the U.S. But it won’t support companies that walk out on America. When America’s incredible innovators come up with an invention or design, we should also build it here.

o Promote participation by smaller manufacturers to build up the entire manufacturing ecosystem and supply chains: “Make it in America” partnerships would include participation by and sharing with smaller manufacturers throughout a region, so they learn the skills they need to thrive and participate profitably in the supply chain. This could include “test and learn” demonstration centers where small manufacturers could learn cutting-edge techniques, or “teaching hospitals” where workers, university and community college experts, and students could learn new skills from each other. That way, we will help small manufacturers become links in the global supply chain so we build things here.

o Create good-paying jobs without stealing them from other regions, or undermining labor and “Buy America” standards: Hillary’s proposal will only reward plans that create good-paying jobs. She will not reward regions that simply relocate jobs or production from one community to another. And across her proposals, as she has throughout her career, she will support strong “Buy American” standards, and the right of unions to organize and collectively bargain. Her plan will not allow proposals that undermine worker rights or strong labor and domestic sourcing standards – so that the new manufacturing jobs we create are good, high-paying jobs.

o Ensure American competitiveness in the global clean energy economy. Clinton will help American workers and businesses compete for jobs and investment in the $13.5 trillion global clean energy market and advanced vehicles and make all American manufacturing more internationally competitive by improving industrial energy efficiency by one third within ten years of taking office. Achieving this goal will save American companies more than $50 billion a year. Clinton will ensure that American leadership in producing some of the lowest-carbon steel, aluminum, glass and other materials in the world is recognized in the market and rewarded in public and private procurement through a new “Buy Clean” product labeling system.

2. Prevent foreign countries like China from abusing global trade rules, and reject trade agreements that do not meet high standards. Hillary will put American workers first when it comes to trade. She will stand up to foreign countries like China when they abuse global trade rules and take action against the theft – physical and virtual – of America’s inventions:

o Crack down on foreign countries, like China, that cheat the rules: If foreign countries dump products on our markets, like China is doing right now with steel, Hillary’s administration will take countervailing action. She will appoint a new trade prosecutor to keep other countries honest. She will take on foreign countries that keep their goods artificially cheap by manipulating their currencies, and expand our toolbox to include effective new remedies to respond, such as duties, tariffs, or other measures. And Hillary opposes China’s efforts to be recognized as a “market economy,” which would defang our anti-dumping laws.

o Say “no” to new trade agreements that don’t meet her high bar – including the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Hillary will hit pause and say “no” to new trade agreements unless they create American jobs, raise wages, and improve our national security. After looking at the final terms of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, including what it contains on currency manipulation and its weak rules of origin standard for what counts as a car that can get treaty benefits, she opposed the agreement because it did not meet her test. And she will hold every future trade agreement to the same high standard.

o Review the trade agreements we already have on the books. Hillary has said for almost a decade that we need to renegotiate NAFTA, and she still believes that today. And she would review all of our trade agreements with the same scrutiny.

o Fight for American exports. U.S. exports total more than $2 trillion dollars and exporters pay workers higher wages. Clinton will support the efforts of businesses large and small to tap new markets – both at home and internationally – to support good paying jobs and spur economic growth. That is why she stands for American workers in the face of misguided opposition by supporting the Export-Import Bank, and other policies that drive American exports.

3. Revitalize the hardest-hit manufacturing communities by preventing downward cycles of lost employment, knowledge, and physical capital, and encouraging virtuous cycles of new employment and production:

o Revitalize hard-hit manufacturing communities by building on her proposal to provide tax relief to encourage investment in hard-hit areas that have seen jobs and production depart. Specifically, Clinton’s plan would make areas that have seen or are about to face significant manufacturing job or plant losses eligible for new investment tax incentives – called the “Manufacturing Renaissance Tax Credit” – modeled on the New Markets Tax Credit to attract new capital, business, and jobs; a zero capital gains option on long-term investments; and relief for renovating, refurbishing, or repurposing plants.

o Link this tax relief to a coordinated, comprehensive, government-wide effort to prevent “downward spirals” resulting from departing production in hard-hit communities, and align resources from across agencies to make funds and programs easier to access.

4. Crack down on companies shipping jobs and earnings overseas – and create incentives for companies to bring back jobs to the U.S.

o Claw back the special tax breaks that corporations received for locating research and production here at home if they ship jobs overseas, and use the proceeds to invest in America.

o End abusive inversions and impose an “exit tax” on companies that leave America to lower their tax burden.

o Provide federal support and tax relief for research and innovation in America, particularly at smaller businesses and startups.

o Coordinate government efforts within the U.S. and overseas to recruit and ease the path for companies to bring back jobs to the U.S.

o Double support for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, a public-private partnership that helps smaller American manufacturers compete.

o Expand access to capital, especially for smaller manufacturers.

5. Invest in America’s manufacturing workforce to ensure that they will always be the best in the world. America has the potential to win the global competition for manufacturing jobs by harnessing the incredible talent and skills of its workforce. That is why Clinton’s plan will:

o Encourage proven, high-quality training and apprenticeships – including a $1,500 tax credit for every apprentice hired through a bona-fide apprenticeship program – while insisting on accountability for employment and earnings outcomes.

o Expand nationwide credentialing with strong industry input that can lead to more and better-paying jobs in every state in the union.

o Build on models that allow federal student aid to be used toward high-quality career and technical training programs with promising or proven records—including traditional career and technical education, and innovative, flexible online programs.

o Provide tuition-free community college, and reduce student debt by allowing students to refinance their loans.

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(I apologize. My regular source for news photos is not working.)

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Hillary Clinton and the Irish: A History and a Future

Posted in Fact Sheets, Hillary 2016, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Clinton 2016, Hillary For America, Hillary for President, Hillary Rodham Clinton, policy/plans, tagged 2016 election, fact sheets, Hillary 2016, Hillary Clinton, Hillary For America, Hillary for President, Ireland, Irish America Magazine, policy/plans on March 5, 2016| Leave a Comment »

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Factsheets

Growing Together: Hillary Clinton’s Vision for Advancing Equity and Opportunity for Irish Americans & Immigrants of Irish Descent

From adding rich diversity, to spurring small businesses and economic growth, Irish Americans and Irish immigrants have helped build this country and strengthen our communities.

Hillary has a record of standing by the Irish American community:

As First Lady, she directly supported the Northern Ireland peace process by engaging women’s groups, bringing them into the process and setting the foundation for a more durable peace. Her visits to the Catholic and Protestant sectors in Belfast to meet working-class women from both communities helped empower key voices for peace. During the talks, Hillary was active in urging all of the parties to keep moving forward and advocated the inclusion of women in the peace process. She helped lay the groundwork for cross-community parties such as the Women’s Coalition in decisive years when the peace process was being bedded down. Once the peace talks began, Hillary was influential in ensuring the peace accords addressed equality based on gender, religion, and sexual orientation. She visited Northern Ireland five times, beginning in 1995 when she visited with President Clinton in what was described as a turning point for the conflict.

As Senator from New York, she represented New York’s vibrant Irish-American community. She visited the Republic of Ireland on her first trip in the Senate, and Northern Ireland on her second trip. She worked with community leaders, met with Irish leaders every year she was a Senator and had an intern in her office from Northern Ireland every year. She was a member of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, where she defended human rights and religious tolerance in Europe. Hillary also continuously supported comprehensive immigration reform and sponsored the Immigrant Children’s Health Improvement Act in the Senate, which later became law and allows immigrant children and pregnant women to obtain Medicaid.

As Secretary of State, she ensured Ireland was high on the U.S. foreign policy priority list. She traveled to Northern Ireland in 2009, urging Stormont to complete the process of devolution, which contributed to the Hillsborough Agreement in 2010. She also pledged that the United States would stand behind Northern Ireland as it continued its work toward lasting peace and stability.In one of her last oversees trips as Secretary of State, she traveled to Northern Ireland and Ireland in December 2012. She pledged to work with the Irish Government on shoring up their economy and in March 2009, she met with Charlie Bird, the Washington Correspondent of Ireland’s public broadcaster RTE, for one of her earliest sit-down interviews since becoming the Secretary. She appointed a Special Economic Envoy for Northern Ireland, which helped regenerate the local economy by securing new investment in Northern Ireland, and worked behind the scenes, continuing to encourage Northern Ireland’s leaders and promote implementation of the Good Friday agreement.

As a citizen, Hillary was inducted into the Irish American Hall of Fame in 2015 for her contribution to Northern Ireland peace. Prior to this, she has received countless awards and honors for her role in Ireland and advocacy on behalf of Irish America including a “Lifetime Achievement Award” from the Worldwide Ireland Funds.

As President, Hillary will continue to fight for issues that are important to the Irish American Community. She will fight to:

Keep families together through comprehensive immigration reform: There are an estimated 50,000 undocumented immigrants from Ireland living in the United States. As president, Hillary will fight for comprehensive immigration reform that provides a full and equal path to citizenship, treats every person with dignity, upholds the rule of law, protects our borders and national security, and brings millions of hardworking people into the formal economy. She will protect and defend the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA), put in place a simple, straightforward, accessible system for parents of DREAMers and others with a history of service and contribution to their communities to be able to make their case and be eligible for deferred action, and call on Congress to repeal the 3- and 10-year bars. Hillary believes we should do more to encourage Irish immigrants who are eligible for citizenship to take that final step, including expanding fee-waivers and outreach programs.

Ensure Quality Education: Hillary will champion new opportunities in education to ensure nothing stands in the way of all Americans achieving their full potential. Hillary will increase our investment in Early Head Start and the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting program. She also has a plan to make pre-K universal for all 4 year-olds in America, and will fight for strong public schools in every community across the country. Like too many Americans, Irish Americans and Irish immigrants face difficulty in paying for college and paying off their student debt. Through her New College Compact, Hillary will fight to ensure that cost is not a barrier for anyone who wants to attend college—and that debt won’t hold them back when they do.

Create Good-Paying Jobs and Get Incomes Rising Again: Hillary has said getting incomes rising is the defining economic challenge of our time, and she will fight to raise incomes so that all American families can get ahead and stay ahead. Her plan includes raising the minimum wage, ensuring equal pay for women, providing incentives for companies to share profits with their employees, guaranteeing paid family and medical leave, and boosting apprenticeships to help more people get into the workforce. She recently announced a major plan to invest $125 billion to create good-paying jobs, rebuild crumbling infrastructure, and connect housing to opportunity in communities that are being left out and left behind. Her plan includes investing $20 billion to create youth jobs, and another $25 billion to support entrepreneurship and small business growth in underserved communities. She will pay for the new investments in this initiative through a tax on Wall Street—ensuring that the major financial institutions that contributed to the Great Recession are doing their part in bringing back the communities they hurt the most.

Expand Access to Affordable Health Care to All Families: Hillary has been fighting her entire life to ensure that families have access to affordable health care. She will stand up to Republican attempts to roll back the Affordable Care Act and will protect the progress we have made. She will work to lower out-of-pocket health care costs, reduce the cost of prescription drugs and transform our health care system to reward value and quality. She believes we should let families—regardless of immigration status—buy into the Affordable Care Act exchanges. As president, Hillary will fight to defend Medicare and Social Security as well as expand benefits for widows and women who have taken time out of the workforce—so that all American families can retire with dignity.

Stand with Our Allies and Re-Affirm the Importance of the Trans-Atlantic Alliance: Hillary knows that the world is too complex and complicated for the U.S. to go it alone. As President, she’ll ensure that we support our allies like Ireland and the United Kingdom, and work together on important issues such as climate change, fighting terrorism, and economic security. Above all, this is an alliance of values, rooted in a deep commitment to liberty and democracy.

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Hillary Clinton’s Tough Wall St. Plan … and She Won’t Back Down!

Posted in 2016 Election, Fact Sheets, Hillary 2016, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Clinton 2016, Hillary For America, Hillary for President, Hillary Rodham Clinton, policy/plans, tagged 2016 election, fact sheets, Hillary 2016, Hillary Clinton, Hillary For America, Hillary for President, Wall Street on January 14, 2016| Leave a Comment »

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Factsheets

Clinton Is The Candidate With The Toughest Plan To Broadly Tackle Risk On Wall Street And In Our Financial System

Hillary Clinton believes that raising incomes for hard-working Americans is the defining economic challenge of our time. It requires not only strong growth and fair growth, but also long-term growth—growth that isn’t as vulnerable to crashes that hurt our families and set our country back. Despite misleading attacks, Clinton has a strong, comprehensive plan to help ensure that middle class families never again have to bail out Wall Streetand to hold the financial sector accountable for putting our economy at risk. She would:

Defend Dodd-Frank against Republican attacks.

Impose a risk fee on the largest financial institutions and a tax on high-frequency trading.

Require firms that are too risky to manage to reorganize or even break apart.

Strengthen the Volcker Rule.

Strengthen oversight of the “shadow banking” system to reduce risk.

Hold individuals, not just corporations, accountable when they break the law, including through criminal prosecution.

Ensure that the financial sector serves the interests of investors and consumers, not just itself.

Slow the revolving doorbetween the financial industry and government financial regulators.

Tackling these issues isn’t new for Hillary Clinton. She has a long record of fighting for Main Street over Wall Street:

In 2007, nearly a year before the crisis, shewent to Wall Street to call directly for a moratorium of home foreclosures, to freeze adjustable loan rates, and to require accountability on Wall Street.

In March 2008, she called for new action tohelp millions of at-risk homeowners restructure their mortgages and a new housing stimulus package to fight concentrated foreclosures.

In 2007, shecalled for ending the carried interest loophole, which allows some wealthy investors to pay lower tax rates on their income than average Americans.

In 2008, sheintroduced legislation to cap the amount top executives could earn tax-free through deferred compensation, require top executives to return large performance-based pay packages if financial irregularities were discovered, and give shareholders a vote on executives’ pay packages.

In 2008, before the crisis, shepledged to create a CFPB-like “Financial Product Safety Commission to crack down on abusive and predatory lenders and to protect consumers who use credit cards, car loans, home mortgages, and other financial products.” According to the Daily Beast, she put the idea for this kind of agency“at the heart” of her “Fair Credit for Families Agenda” — and the “idea eventually was rebranded” as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Progressives, analysts and reformers have praised her broad approach to tackling risk in our financial system while protecting financial reforms from Republican attack:

Paul Krugman: “Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders had an argument about financial regulation during Tuesday’s debate — but it wasn’t about whether to crack down on banks. Instead, it was about whose plan was tougher. . . . For what it’s worth, Mrs. Clinton had the better case.”

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio: “Having studied all the Wall Street reform proposals, I firmly believe Hillary Clinton has put forward the toughest, farthest-reaching plan of anyone running for President. She would not only go beyond Dodd-Frank to ensure the needed authority exists to break up or downsize banks that are too large, but she also imposes new constraints on activities in the shadow banking sector, which is too often overlooked. Hillary Clinton’s plan confronts risk-taking wherever it occurs, from investment and commercial banks to insurance firms to hedge funds. Her plan goes the farthest to crack down on the true causes of the last financial crisis, and to prevent the next one.”

Former Congressman Barney Frank, author of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, on Clinton’s high-frequency trading tax: “I think it’s a good idea.”

Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee: “The things she does will contribute to safety and soundness, will make Wall Street more trustable by the public. All the things that we need out of Wall Street, it does.”

The New Yorker: “If you agree with the Democrats thatWall Street should be reformed, though, Clinton’s more comprehensive solution better grasps the world of finance today.”

Vox’s Matt Yglesias: “Hillary Clinton has often stood accused of pandering or shaping policy proposals for political purposes, but her proposals for improving regulation of the financial system show her doing exactly the opposite — tackling the issue of mega-bank risk in a thoughtful way that is likely to prove politically thankless.”

Ezra Klein: “This is a very good financial reform plan form [sic] Hillary Clinton”

Politico’s Mike Grunwald: “Hillary’s ‘risk fee’ is so much smarter than an arbitrary cap on bigness. And this focuses on the right risks.”

Roosevelt Institute CEO Felicia Wong: “Secretary Clinton released a detailed and comprehensive agenda today and her proposals to strengthen Dodd-Frank and the Volcker rule, step up enforcement, and increase rules around shadow banking and high-frequency trading demonstrate a thoughtful and serious approach to these issues.”

Roosevelt Institute’s Mike Konczal: “Clinton’s agenda is a very detailed and comprehensive dive into financial reform. It is broad, covering parts of the financial markets that aren’t often discussed. If anything, it goes into such footnoted specifics that it can be overly wonky.”

MSNBC: Clinton unveils a plan that Wall Street won’t like.

Brandon Garrett, University of Virginia law professor and authors of Too Big to Jail: “Clinton has proposed for the first time a top-to-bottom plan for policing and preventing corporate crime and financial misconduct. We have not seen the likes of it in this campaign or elsewhere. . . . While there have been critics of [the lack of corporate accountability] on both sides of the aisle, some good proposals for legislation, concerns raised by judges, and saber-rattling statements from the Department of Justice, what we have not seen is a plan for action that fundamentally rethinks how financial offenses are handled.

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Factsheet: Hillary Clinton’s Plan to Defeat Alzheimer’s

Posted in 2016 Election, Fact Sheets, Hillary 2016, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Clinton 2016, Hillary For America, Hillary for President, Hillary Rodham Clinton, policy speeches, Uncategorized, tagged 2016 election, Alzheimer's, Caregivers, fact sheets, Hillary 2016, Hillary Clinton, Hillary For America, Hillary for President, policy/plans on December 22, 2015| 3 Comments »

On the campaign trail, Hillary has heard stories from caregivers dealing with Alzheimer’s patients. Here is her plan of attack on this condition that creates havoc in families.

Hillary Clinton’s new plan to fight Alzheimer’s will change this man’s life.

Dec 22, 2015 by Logan Anderson

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Factsheets

An End to Alzheimer’s Disease

Hillary Clinton’s Plan to Prevent, Effectively Treat and Make a Cure Possible by 2025

The signature piece of Hillary Clinton’s commitment to target and defeat the diseases of our day is a groundbreaking investment in research to prevent, effectively treat and make possible a cure to Alzheimer’s disease by 2025. She also outlined new measures to support family caregivers and improve caregiving for individuals living with Alzheimer’s, building on the robust caregiving agenda she announced last month. Her proposals, informed by experts in the scientific and caregiving communities, will enable our country to make a cure possible and provide needed relief to millions of Alzheimer’s patients and their families.

Background on Alzheimer’s in the United States

Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia, primarily impacting older Americans, but also taking a toll on younger Americans who suffer from early-onset Alzheimer’s. As brain cells degenerate, memories and mental function are lost and lives are cut short.

More than five million Americans suffer from Alzheimer’s. With the median age of the American population rising, the overall number of people suffering from Alzheimer’s is expected to grow nearly threefold to nearly 15 million Americans by 2050.

Alzheimer’s is the 6^th leading cause of death in the United States and is the only cause in the top ten for which we lack the ability to prevent, cure or even slow it. The FDA has not approved a new compound to treat the disease in more than a decade.

In addition, the disease takes a toll on the millions of family members who care for them, too many of whom have to choose between their work and their caregiving and too many suffer an impact on their emotional and physical health as a result of their responsibilities.

Alzheimer’s is also one of the costliest diseases in America: Its annual cost, combined with those of related dementias, exceeds $200 billion. Recent reports suggest that by 2050 the total cost may exceed $1 trillion per year. In its human and financial costs, Alzheimer’s stands out—yet the fight against Alzheimer’s and other dementias is underfunded relative to these tremendous costs. Hillary Clinton believes that it is time for dramatic action to find a solution.

And thanks to Maria Shriver’s groundbreaking reporting in The Shriver Report: A Woman’s Nation Takes on Alzheimer’s, we know now that women are at the epicenter of the epidemic: two-thirds of the people over age 65 who have Alzheimer’s are women, as are a majority of Alzheimer’s and dementia caregivers.

We also know from epidemiological research that both African-American and Latino individuals have an elevated prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease. Evidence suggests that the prevalence of Alzheimer’s and other dementias among older African-American individuals is twice as high as it is among older white individuals, and the prevalence among older Latino individuals is one and a half times as high as among as older white individuals.

Preventing and Effectively Treating Alzheimer’s by 2025

In the last few years, researchers have begun to illuminate the basis of this dreaded disease. The Alzheimer’s Association has noted that nearly all we know about Alzheimer’s, we have learned within the last 15 years, due in large part to significant federal investments in research. We have developed new knowledge of the roots of Alzheimer’s, the genes and other biomarkers that indicate susceptibility to the disease, pathways by which the disease progresses, and promising methods of preventing and treating it. Yet it is clear that the research is underfunded and intensive transdisciplinary research is needed to fully understand and conquer this disease.

Hillary Clinton has consulted with leading physician-scientists to understand what it would take to rapidly accelerate the progress we are making. Her proposal, invoking the grand tradition of American scientific discovery, takes what was once a remote possibility – developing a cure for Alzheimer’s – and invests the needed resources, organizes a broad national effort, and inspires leaders in the public, nonprofit, and private sectors to develop effective interventions to prevent and effectively treat Alzheimer’s and related dementias, thereby making a cure possible.

Clinton’s plan will:

Commit to preventing, effectively treating and making a cure possible for Alzheimer’s by 2025. Top researchers have noted that this is achievable if we make the commitment, marshal the resources, and provide the needed leadership. The National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease, authorized by the congressionally-enacted National Alzheimer’s Project Act, has set out this goal – and Clinton will embrace it as a top priority of her administration and make it a reality for those afflicted with this disease and their families. This will be a critical milestone on the pathway to a cure, potentially saving millions of lives and billions of dollars.

Dedicate a historic decade-long investment of $2 billion per year for Alzheimer’s research and related disorders. This past year, the National Institutes of Health invested $586 million in Alzheimer’s research, less than 1% of the annual cost of this disease. The newly approved appropriations bill would add $350 million in annual investment for Alzheimer’s research. As part of her new investment in NIH, Clinton would build on this commitment and rapidly ramp up our investment to $2 billion annually, the level leading researchers have determined is needed to prevent and effectively treat Alzheimer’s and make a cure possible by 2025.

Ensure a reliable stream of funding between now and 2025. Just as important as increasing the level of investment, Clinton will fight to make funding predictable and reliable between now and 2025 so that researchers can work consistently toward effective treatments and a cure. This gives researchers greater freedom to pursue the big, creative bets – including cross-collaboration with researchers in related fields – that can result in dramatic pay-offs not only for Alzheimer’s but for other neurodegenerative illnesses as well.

Establish a plan of action with NIH, leading researchers, and other stakeholders to see the 2025 goal through. Clinton will appoint a top-flight team to oversee this initiative and consult regularly with researchers to ensure progress toward achieving the treatment target. She knows that reaching the goal will involve investments across the drug development cycle, from basic research to applied and translational research to public-private partnerships for clinical research. She will also work with stakeholders across sectors to recruit participants for clinical trials—a tremendous obstacle to developing new therapies. At each stage, her plan will embrace a range of approaches to drive new knowledge into effective treatments.

Making this bold new research investment in preventing and effectively treating Alzheimer’s will pay off not just for Alzheimer’s disease but for a range of neurodegenerative illnesses, from Parkinson’s disease to Lewy body dementia to frontotemporal dementia, and will also help us understand the intersection of Alzheimer’s with other conditions, including the high rate of individuals with Down syndrome who experience early-onset Alzheimer’s.

This commitment to Alzheimer’s research is only part of Clinton’s overall commitment to a substantial increase in investment at the National Institutes of Health to prevent, treat, and secure cures for the broad array of diseases that afflict Americans.

Easing the Burden of Alzheimer’s

Studies estimate that by 2050, nearly 15 million individuals aged 65 and older will be living with Alzheimer’s disease. Each of those 15 million would require caregiving and family support.

A number of questions exist as to the extent to which Alzheimer’s is accurately and timely diagnosed and disclosed to patients and caregivers—and the extent to which patients are empowered to play a role in planning their future care. Clinton understands the enormous weight that Alzheimer’s disease imposes on an ever-growing number of Americans and their families.

The proposals Clinton announced today build on the robust caregiving agenda she outlined last month. In addition to fighting for all caregivers by providing tax relief to family members who care for ailing parents and grandparents, counting the hard work of family caregivers toward Social Security, expanding access to family caregiver respite, supporting paid family leave for caregivers, and creating a new Care Workers Initiative across the federal government to address the needs of paid caregivers, Clinton’s caregiving policies will also address specific needs of those living with Alzheimer’s and the family members who care for them.

Clinton’s plan will:

Cover comprehensive Alzheimer’s care-planning services and help coordinate care among physicians. Beyond the difficulty of planning for Alzheimer’s care, Alzheimer’s complicates the management of other conditions—from which more than 2 in 3 patients with Alzheimer’s or other dementias suffer. Care-planning sessions empower caregivers and patients to understand their diagnosis, know their options, benefit from existing community services and supports, and plan in advance how to manage caregiving and treatment for their conditions. Even the simple act of documenting a patient’s dementia diagnosis and care plan can spark better management of other conditions across health care providers and minimize painful and costly complications. Clinton will fight for Medicare to cover a comprehensive care-planning session with a clinician following every new diagnosis of Alzheimer’s or related dementias—and through the proper documentation of the diagnosis and care plan, promote coordinated care across physicians. These initiatives are consistent with the HOPE for Alzheimer’s Act, a bipartisan effort championed by Senator Debbie Stabenow and Representative Christopher Smith, and would propel outcomes recommended by the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease.

Help protect loved ones who wander. At least 6 in 10 Alzheimer’s sufferers will wander from home at some point in a state of profound disorientation—leaving them vulnerable to the elements, traffic hazards, and crime. Their safety is of great concern. A small but cost-effective federal grant program known as the Missing Alzheimer’s Disease Patient Alert Program, which has funded nonprofit initiatives to identify, locate, and protect Alzheimer’s patients who wander—with a reported 98 percent success rate in finding individuals reported missing—is currently up for reauthorization. Clinton will work with Congress to reauthorize the Missing Alzheimer’s Disease Patient Alert Program—a policy that will ensure families’ and caregivers’ improved access to coordinated help if their loved ones go missing.

Ensure our seniors know their Medicare benefits, including annual cognitive screening. While Alzheimer’s cannot yet be cured, proper diagnosis and treatment can make a vital difference in quality of life—and allow patients to play an active role in planning for their future. Medicare already covers annual wellness visits, including cognitive assessment, yet this benefit is under-utilized: months or even years often pass between the first signs of dementia and a medical diagnosis. Regular, holistic cognitive screening—by a physician or other qualified practitioner in a medical setting—can help identify gradual mental decline, reducing the likelihood of missed or delayed dementia diagnosis. Clinton will direct the Social Security Administration to raise awareness of the Medicare-covered annual wellness visits and their associated preventive and screening benefits, including the cognitive screening that especially matters for Alzheimer’s and other related dementia, by presenting this information alongside Social Security payments that beneficiaries will open and read.

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Quora question and Hillary’s response.

When an Alzheimer’s patient requires multiple specialists, like neurology, psychiatry, rehabilitation, etc, what role does the primary care physician play in coordinating all of those inputs and making sure they aren’t contradicting each other?

Hillary Clinton, Senator, Secretary of State, 2016 presidential candidate

More than 5 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer’s disease today, and that number is expected nearly to triple by 2050. I’ve met so many families who are dealing with the heartbreaking reality of watching a loved one’s memory and mental capacity slip away, all while they struggle to find—and afford—the right care. Primary care physicians are critical to planning and overseeing this process—and my proposed plan will make it easier for them to do so.

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Hillary Clinton: Fighting for Full LGBT Rights

Posted in 2016 Election, Fact Sheets, Hillary 2016, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Clinton 2016, Hillary For America, Hillary for President, Hillary Rodham Clinton, policy/plans, tagged 2016 election, fact sheets, Hillary 2016, Hillary Clinton, Hillary For America, Hillary for President, LGBT rights, policy/plans on December 17, 2015| 4 Comments »

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Factsheets

Fighting for Full Equality for LGBT People

Thanks to the hard work of generations of LGBT advocates and activists who fought to make it possible, our country won a landmark victory this past June when the Supreme Court recognized that in America, under our Constitution, LGBT couples, like everyone else, have the right to marry the person they love. The Obergefell decision was a watershed moment and we must fight to protect the progress we have won in our courts. But our work to reach the promise of full equality remains unfinished. LGBT kids continue to be discriminated against and bullied at school, a restaurant can refuse to serve a transgender person, and a same-sex couple is at risk of being evicted from their home. Hillary Clinton believes that we must stand firm and keep fighting until every American can not only marry, but also live, work, pray, learn and raise a family free from discrimination and prejudice. She believes that America is at its best when we are inclusive, open, and striving towards true equality.

As President, Clinton will:

Fight for full federal equality for LGBT Americans. Today in America nearly 65 percent of LGBT individuals report experiencing discrimination in their daily lives and nearly 50 percent report that this discrimination occurs in the workplace. LGBT youth are nearly twice as likely as their peers to be physically assaulted at school and 74 percent of LGBT students say they’ve been verbally harassed for their sexual orientation. Despite this discrimination, 31 states do not have fully inclusive LGBT non-discrimination laws. Clinton will:

Work with Congress to pass the Equality Act. The Equality Act would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and related statutes to add gender identity and sexual orientation to the list of protected classes such as race, sex, national origin, and religion. The Act would provide LGBT individuals explicit and comprehensive protection from discrimination in all facets of American life—employment, housing, schools, access to credit, public education, jury service, and public accommodations. Clinton will fight for the passage of the Equality Act to secure full federal equality for LGBT Americans.

Continue President Obama’s LGBT equality executive actions. President Obama has taken critical steps to protect LGBT people in employment, housing, and health care. For example, the Administration issued nondiscrimination protections for LGBT people employed by the federal government and federal contractors; published formal regulations prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in federally funded housing programs; and published a Health and Human Services regulation for hospitals participating in Medicaid and Medicare requiring respect for advanced directives and visitation requests regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Clinton will fully implement and enforce the President’s LGBT equality executive actions.

Support efforts underway in the courts and federal government to clarify that under federal statutes “sex discrimination” includes discrimination on the basis of “gender identity” and “sexual orientation.” Courts across the country have concluded that “sex” discrimination encompasses discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation, and federal agencies are following their lead. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has held that discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation constitutes sex discrimination under Title VII; the Department of Housing and Urban Development has concluded that the Fair Housing Act covers claims based on gender identity and sexual orientation; and the Department of Education has clarified that under Title IX of the Civil Rights Act, discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation is discrimination based on sex; and HHS is finalizing a proposed regulation implementing Section 1557 of the ACA, the act’s nondiscrimination protections, to recognize that sex discrimination includes gender identity and sex stereotyping. Clinton will support efforts to prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation as discrimination on the basis of sex to help secure additional protections in important aspects of life until Congress acts to provide full federal nondiscrimination protections.

Support LGBT youth, parents, and elders. LGBT youth face unique challenges at school and at home, LGBT parents face discriminatory barriers when attempting to start a family, and LGBT elders carry the consequences of a lifetime of discrimination into retirement. Clinton has fought for children and families throughout her career, and will:

End discriminatory treatment of LGBT families in adoptions. An estimated 108,000 children in foster care are waiting to become part of loving families. But some states create roadblocks to prevent LGBT people from adopting or fostering children—requiring more burdensome or costly procedures or even refusing to place youth with same-sex parents altogether. Such practices not only prevent LGBT Americans from becoming parents, they also deny children the chance to live in a safe, happy, and healthy home. Adoption by same-sex couples remains illegal in Mississippi, and even in states where adoption is technically legal, LGBT individuals still face discrimination. Clinton will work with Congress to pass the Every Child Deserves a Family Act, which would prohibit federally funded child welfare agencies from discriminating against potential foster or adoptive families on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status.

Improve school climate for all students. We have told LGBT youth that it gets better, but as a nation, we have to do more to honor that promise. More than half of LGBT students say they’ve experienced discrimination at school due to their perceived or actual sexual orientation or gender identity. LGBT youth are more than twice as likely as other students to be verbally harassed at school. Studies show that bullying and harassment contributes to higher rates of absenteeism, dropouts, adverse health consequences, and academic underachievement among LGBT youth. Clinton will fight to pass the Safe Schools Improvement Act to specifically prohibit bullying and harassment on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, and religion in federally funded school districts, and the Student Non-Discrimination Act to prohibit public schools from discriminating against students on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation.

End LGBT conversion therapy for minors. Studies have reaffirmed that conversion and reparative “therapies” focused on sexual orientation and gender identity are ineffective and deeply harmful to LGBT and gender-questioning youth. According to the American Psychiatric Association, “The potential risks of reparative therapy are great, including depression, anxiety and self-destructive behavior.” Clinton believes that we should support our LGBT youth and provide competent care to those struggling with their identity. She will support efforts in Congress and in the states to end conversion therapy for minors.

Combat youth homelessness. LGBT youth are vastly overrepresented in the homeless population: up to 45 percent of homeless youth identify as LGBT, even though LGBT youth comprise just 5 to 7 percent of the overall youth population. In 2015, Congress failed to reauthorize the Runaway and Homeless Youth and Trafficking Prevention Act, which provided federal funding for homeless prevention resources, emergency shelters, street outreach, transitional living, and rural assistance. Clinton will work with Congress to ensure adequate funding and safe and welcoming shelter for homeless youth.

Ensure LGBT elders can retire with dignity and respect. Many LGBT elders enter retirement with the emotional and economic effects of having lived through a lifetime of discrimination, and the number of LGBT older adults in the U.S. is expected to double to at least 3 million by 2050. Clinton believes LGBT elders must be protected against discrimination and, as President, she will work to ensure they receive the support they need and deserve.

Collect national data to better serve LGBT individuals and families. Understanding the size of the LGBT population is critical to creating informed policies and tracking the prevalence of health and economic disparities facing the community. But no major federally supported population survey routinely asks respondents to share both their sexual orientation and gender identity. Clinton will work to improve data collection on critical issues such as LGBT unemployment, health coverage, violence, and poverty by adding sexual orientation and gender identity questions to federally supported surveys such as the American Community Survey and the Current Population Survey.

Honor the military service of LGBT people. Every day, LGBT service members valiantly fight for our country around the world. Clinton believes we should honor their service and ensure they receive the benefits they have earned. As Commander-in-Chief, Clinton will:

Upgrade service records of LGBT veterans dismissed due to their sexual orientation. Tens of thousands of men and women were forced out of the military before and during “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Many were given less than honorable discharges simply because of their sexual orientation. Clinton will direct the Department of Defense to review and correct the records of these discharged service members to make sure they receive the honorable discharge they deserve.

Support efforts to allow transgender personnel to serve openly. According to recent studies, there are an estimated 15,500 actively serving transgender members of the U.S. military, making the Department of Defense the largest employer of transgender people in America. In July 2015, Defense Secretary Carter created a working group in the Department of Defense to study the policy and readiness implications of welcoming transgender personnel to serve openly. Clinton believes the U.S. should join the many other countries that allow transgender individuals to serve openly alongside their comrades in arms.

Secure affordable treatment for people living with HIV and AIDS. While the United States has made great progress in the treatment and prevention of HIV and AIDS, our job is not done. As Secretary of State, Clinton began an ambitious campaign to usher in an AIDS-free generation, and as President, she will continue to drive towards that goal. Clinton will:

Call on Republican governors to extend Medicaid coverage to provide life-saving health care to people living with HIV. Before the enactment of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), an individual was eligible for Medicaid only if he or she was low-income and determined to be of “categorical need”. Many childless low-income adults with HIV failed to qualify as categorically needy because asymptomatic HIV did not render a person “disabled” for purposes of Medicaid. This created a pernicious catch-22: HIV-positive individuals needed access to care before their health deteriorated but were not deemed Medicaid-eligible until their disease progressed to full blown AIDS. As Senator, Clinton co-sponsored the Early Treatment for HIV Act to fix this loophole. With the passage of the ACA, however, Medicaid was reformed to no longer tie eligibility to a finding of “categorical need”; income status alone now triggers eligibility. An analysis of the ACA’s impact on persons living with HIV estimated that of 70,000 persons with HIV who were uninsured before the law, roughly 47,000 would be newly eligible for Medicaid. However, with the Supreme Court’s ACA decision, these new eligibility criteria only apply in states that accept Medicaid expansion. As a result, childless low-income Americans in non-expansion states remain ineligible for Medicaid if they contract asymptomatic HIV. Clinton believes that every state should extend Medicaid coverage to provide life-saving health care to people living with HIV.

Cap out-of pocket expenses for people with HIV/AIDS. It is an abomination that a pharmaceutical company can raise the price of life-saving medicine for HIV and AIDS patients by more than 5,000 percent. Clinton has announced a plan to hold the pharmaceutical industry accountable and to achieve lower drug costs for Americans, including for medications that help treat HIV and reduce the risk of contracting AIDS. Clinton will ensure that Americans can get the care their doctors prescribe by requiring health insurance plans to cap covered out-of-pocket prescription drug costs at $250. She also will allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices and will stop direct-to-consumer advertising subsidies for drug companies—reinvesting those funds in research.

Expand the utilization of HIV prevention medications, including pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). While we work to diagnose and treat all Americans with HIV and AIDS, we also must work to prevent exposure. Decades of research are beginning to offer a promising path to prevention. In 2010, a major two year study showed that PrEP was effective at preventing HIV infection 90 percent of the time when used as directed. As a result, both the CDC and the World Health Organization have recommended widespread use of PrEP among certain at-risk groups. In March, the CDC announced $125 million over three years in grants to state and local health departments to increase knowledge about and uptake of PrEP among transgender individuals and black men who have sex with men (MSM). Clinton will increase the CDC investment to ensure populations at greatest risk of infection have access to the drug, and encourage states to follow suit.

Protect transgender rights. We must do more to end discrimination against the transgender community. Transgender people are twice as likely than the average American to be unemployed, and in a recent national survey, 75 percent of respondents said they had hidden their gender or gender transition to avoid discrimination. For a majority of transgender individuals, the simple act of filling out a government form can lead to harassment or questioning. Clinton believes no individual should be held back from fully participating in our society because of their gender identity. At the State Department, Clinton made it possible for transgender Americans to have their true gender reflected on their passports for the very first time. As President, she will:

Protect transgender individuals from violence. There is a tragic epidemic of violence against the transgender community. This year alone marks the highest recorded number of transgender homicide victims—nearly all of them women of color. Transgender individuals are also 10 times more likely than the general prison and jail populations to be sexually assaulted. Everyone in prison, jail or detention deserves to be safe from assault. To better understand—and end—the incidence of violence, Clinton will direct the U.S. Department of Justice to require that gender identity and sexual orientation data be collected whenever demographic data is collected with respect to programs for victims of crime, and to encourage jurisdictions to improve reporting of hate crimes data based on a victim’s actual or perceived gender identity or sexual orientation.

Streamline identity documents. Without accurate identity documents, transgender people face obstacles accessing employment, health care, education, housing, and voting. Some states require evidence of a medical transition (which not everyone chooses to pursue) to change one’s gender on official documents. As Secretary of State, Clinton worked to remove such barriers for transgender individuals seeking to change their gender marker on their passport. As President, Clinton will build on the work of the Obama Administration to ensure the federal government models best practices in allowing transgender individuals to change their gender marker on identification documents, and she will call on states to do the same.

Invest in law enforcement training on interactions with LGBT individuals. Clinton will invest in law enforcement training that focuses on issues such as implicit bias, use of force, and de-escalation, as well as fair and impartial policing including in their interactions with the LGBT community, in particular transgender individuals. It will also focus on educating police officers on correctly identifying bias-motivated crimes.

Promote human rights of LGBT people around the world. In 2011, Secretary Clinton stood before the United Nations Human Rights Council and told the world’s leaders, “Gay rights are human rights” – spearheading the effort to pass the first-ever UN resolution to protect the LGBT community abroad. Clinton will continue her work to promote LGBT human rights and ensure America’s foreign policy is inclusive of LGBT people around the world. As President, she will:

Increase support for the Global Equality Fund. As Secretary of State, Clinton launched the Global Equality Fund to support programs that advance the human rights of LGBT persons abroad. Hundreds of millions of people live in places where they can be arrested, even executed for their sexuality or gender identity. As President, Clinton will increase our investment in the Global Equality Fund by $50 million over the next decade to advance the human rights of LGBT people around the world.

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