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Hillary’s Child Care Policy Q & A
On Friday Hillary’s Senior staff held a detailed and informative Q & A about Hillary’s recently announced new child care policy.
Here is the Facebook link:
Here are some excerpts:
Jen Greenfield Raising the minimum wage is a great first step toward helping low-income families, but a true "living wage" is much higher for families with young children. What do you plan to do to help families with young children, especially in the high child care cost areas like Seattle, Denver, NY city, etc.? In Denver, for instance, child care costs MOST of a median family income--so it's not just a low-income household problem, it's a problem for middle-income folks as well.
12 · www.facebook.com/... · Reply · 17 hrsHillary Clinton Hillary has heard stories like yours over and over, across the country no matter where she goes. From low-income families to middle class families, working moms and dads are spread too thin. They’re using every single hour of the day, and still can’t get everything done or make ends meet. But Hillary believes that there are a number of things that we can do that would make a real difference: -It’s past time for us to guarantee paid family leave in America—Hillary wants families to have 12 weeks’ worth. -We have to get incomes rising again. We can start by raising the minimum wage—but you’re right, that’s not enough. We need to ensure equal pay for women. And we should encourage companies to share profits with their workers. -We should also look at other family-friendly workplace policies. Take scheduling. Some workers are told to work a shift at a couple hours’ notice—without enough time to arrange for childcare. Let’s encourage employers to adopt predictable scheduling policies. -We need universal pre-k for all 4 year olds. And we should make the investments necessary to finally put childcare within every family’s reach. —Sara . Linda Lareau Child care has always been susidized by preschool teachers incredibly low wages. How can we make both affordable childcare and livable wages for childcare teachers? 20 · www.facebook.com/... · Reply · 17 hrsView previous repliesHillary Clinton I’m glad you asked that question. Too many child care workers are not receiving a living wage. It’s not only unfair to them and their families, it also fuels turnover and undermines the quality of childcare itself. Hillary has proposed an initiative--called Respect And Increased Salaries for Early Childhood Educators (RAISE)--to get at this problem. RAISE supports local efforts to increase child care workers’ pay and invest in their professional development. The bottom line is: Hillary believes that child care workers are doing some of the most important, critical work in this country—we should value it, and they should receive the pay they deserve. —Ann . Marissa Christenson Hi, I'm so excited to vote for you in November! Unfortunately, I live in a state (Utah) which chose not to expand Medicaid. We cannot afford to hire a nurse, but no day care will take my 4-yr-old son, who is tube fed, nonverbal, and just beginning to walk. He has two typical younger brothers. Any help for families such as ours, with special needs and/or medical issues? 13 · www.facebook.com/... · Reply · 16 hrsHillary Clinton Thank you so much for sharing this—we can’t imagine all that you do every single day, to care for your children and your family, and make ends meet. Your story demonstrates why it is essential that we have affordable health insurance for every single child in this country. That is why Hillary is committed to building on the Affordable Care Act and SCHIP, encouraging every governor to expand Medicaid, and ensuring that children with special needs or health care concerns—like your son—has the care and support they need not only to be healthy, but to thrive. —AnnThe Woman Card
Back on the campaign trail
Hillary will be back on the campaign trail Sunday and Monday with events planned for Kentucky.
For more info on this and upcoming Hillary events, visit Hillary’s event page
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California Rally
An event that is in the planning stages for June 6, the day before the California primary, is a Hillary rally and concert in Los Angeles at the Greek Theatre.
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Christina Aguilera, John Legend, Stevie Wonder to Lend Voices to Hillary Clinton Campaign
Hillary Clinton will return to Los Angeles on June 6 for a fundraising concert at the Greek Theatre featuring Christina Aguilera, John Legend, Stevie Wonder, Ricky Martin and Andra Day.
The event, on the eve of the California primary, will raise money for the Hillary Victory Fund, a joint committee of the Clinton campaign, the Democratic National Committee and state party committees.
A campaign aide said that the “She’s With Us” event will “bring attention to important issues impacting families,” including criminal justice reform, gun violence prevention, immigration, women’s social and economic equality, and climate change.
VP Chatter
The VP chatter about Elizabeth Warren joining Hillary on the ticket won’t die down. Yesterday Slate got in on the action:
Slate: Why Hillary Should Pick Elizabeth Warren for Veep
By Michelle Goldberg On Thursday we learned, via Politico, that had Joe Biden run for president, he would have asked Elizabeth Warren to be his running mate. According to reporters Glenn Thrush and Annie Karni, Biden has “recently told associates that Warren would be an equally smart pick for Hillary Clinton.” TheHuffington Post reported that several people in the Clinton campaign are also pushing for Warren.. That reportedly several people in the Clinton campaign are pushing for Warren gives this particular pre-emptive VP rumor some teeth, if that is actually true. Of course, Warren is great in the Senate, and might not even want the VP position. Then again, if asked how do you turn this honor down? And VPs aren’t always just figure heads, often they get involved in policy and sometimes they even run things (see Cheney).
They are right. Choosing Warren would be an uncharacteristically bold and thrilling move for the cautious Clinton, one that would help unite Sanders supporters behind her candidacy while throwing its feminist promise into high relief. Clinton is already playing the woman card; now, to belabor a metaphor, she should double down.
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If you haven’t said it yourself, you’ve surely heard it: “Of course I want to see a woman in the White House, but …” Warren on the ticket would annihilate many of those “buts.” She would help to neutralize some of Clinton’s very real flaws; it would be harder to accuse Clinton of doing the bidding of big banks while running with Warren, the scourge of Wall Street. Warren’s presence would give disappointed supporters of Bernie Sanders a reason to rally to the Democratic banner. And by Clinton’s side, she would make it blazingly clear what an epochal moment this is for American women. She’s a choice who could electrify both Clinton’s fiercest progressive critics and her most devoted acolytes.
I actually agree with that sentiment. Elizabeth Warren would be the ideal choice to get the cadre of disappointed Bernie’s supporters excited about this race again.
Whomever Clinton chooses, this is but a faint preview of what the next six months are going to look like. She is not going to win this race by persuading white men who are uncomfortable with women in power. She will do it by turning out the Obama coalition, probably adding more married white women to it. Warren can help her do that. She’s shown that she’s eager to, leaping into the Twitter fray against Trump. If a vice presidential candidate’s job is to attack, Warren is ready. Watching her go after the short-fingered orange chauvinist from now until November will be a pleasure. The fight for the first female president should be a joyful feminist crusade, one that progressives can join without reservation. Warren can make it one.
Personally, I think the eventual choice will be a Hispanic male like Tom Perez, current Secretary of Labor, but it is an intriguing question whether Hillary should double down on the woman component with a perfect choice for many other reasons. Of course, there are a lot of other issues to consider in regards to Warren, her high position in the Senate (she is becoming the new Lion of the Senate for Democrats) and the loss of a Senate seat for Democrats, at least temporarily, which we may not be able to afford for any length of time given that the Supreme Court vacancy might have to be filled, preferably by a Democratic Senate.
Trump: My taxes are nobody’s business
Trump’s Billionaire Tax Cuts for fellow Billionaires
xDonald Trump wants to spend $3 trillion (yes, with a T) on tax cuts for people like him. https://t.co/UjYpjnCK8Wpic.twitter.com/Kn5Adb8w3X
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) May 13, 2016Hillary Clinton Pounces After Trump Spirals Out Of Control On Tax Returns
The Clinton campaign pounced all over Donald Trump after the presumptive Republican nominee told the American people that the amount that he doesn't pay in taxes is none of their business
Clinton campaign, Deputy Communications Director Christina Reynolds said, “Our country has a long history of presidential candidates releasing their full tax returns and for good reason. Voters deserve to know what’s in Donald Trump’s returns – how exactly he makes his money and what he does with it. Enough is enough. We know he’s done his best to avoid paying his fair share of taxes. What else is he hiding in those tax returns?”
The question isn’t how much Trump has paid in taxes, but what Trump has done to avoiding paying his fair share of taxes.
Trump is bent on not releasing his tax returns, which is customary for presidential candidates. Even Mitt Romney got into the act (and Romney was very hesitant about his own tax returns in 2012) calling Trump’s decision to not release his taxes "Disqualifying".
Hillary’s campaign is not going to let Trump get away with it.
The Clinton campaign also sent around an op-ed by supporter Michael Rattner in The New York Times that laid out what Trump is likely hiding:
Real estate guys can take advantage of the best loopholes left in the tax code, thanks in part to some aggressive nudging of lawmakers. For starters, real estate investors can take deductions for the ostensible depreciation of the value of their buildings, even though the point of owning buildings is that they generally appreciate.
For another, they often borrow against those properties, and because they hold these investments in partnerships or limited liability companies, the interest payments are tax-deductible.
“If you get close to paying taxes, you just buy another building,” a real estate friend told me.
Trump may be paying an extremely low tax rate because of all the deductions he is likely taking. A rate that would go down to basically zero if his tax plan comes to pass. A tax plan that would blow the budget to smithereens with an almost $15 Trillion Dollary shortfall over 10 years.
Donald Trump’s defensive none of your business answer on his tax rate, along with his continued dependence on flimsy and debunked excuses for why he can’t release his returns are both signals that the issue is a sore spot.
Trump constructed an image for himself as being the voice of the angry outsider populist, when his tax returns are likely to reveal a man who has used his wealth to become an insider and work the system to his advantage.
Republicans have learned nothing from Mitt Romney’s 2012 campaign. Trump is Romney on a larger scale, which is why the Clinton campaign is using the tax returns issue to define Donald Trump.
The GOP’s Reckoning
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Finally, the great Leonard Pitts Jr. with his latest column about what this election is about:
The GOP's reckoning draweth nigh
It has come to this: Trump 2016.
In response, a remarkable constellation of GOP officials and enablers have pronounced themselves unalterably opposed to the duly selected leader of their party.
“With God as my witness,” wrote GOP strategist Rick Wilson, “I will never vote for Donald Trump.”
And the unkindest cut of all: A number of Republicans say Trump’s candidacy will drive them into the arms of someone the party has long regarded as the very embodiment of evil. “I’m with her,” tweeted GOP speechwriter Mark Salter, invoking the campaign slogan of the dreaded Hillary Clinton.
One is tempted to draw an analogy to rats deserting the Titanic, but that would be unfair to the rats. After all, they didn’t drive the ship into that iceberg. The Republicans, though, are very much the architects of their present misfortune.
When you spend decades stoking people’s insecurities, resentment and outrage, when you devote thousands of radio and television hours to scapegoating the marginalized and demonizing the vulnerable, when you campaign on coded appeals to xenophobia, racism and misogyny, when you make facts optional and lies routine, when you prioritize expedience above integrity and embrace ignorance as somehow more authentically American, you may not credibly profess surprise when you produce a candidate who embodies all those traits.
Now, the party offers us its kookiest crank as president. Make no mistake: Any country that would elect Donald Trump as president deserves Donald Trump as president. But the question is: Are we that country? Are we that far gone? Whether we are or are not, it’s past time we knew. So fine, let’s do this.
What’s coming in November is not an election. No, it’s a reckoning, long overdue.
Leonard Pitts, Jr.Ok, that’s it for today. Have a great weekend, everybody. Be safe.
Child Care Issues are going to be central to the general election
