*** SUPPORT HILLARY CLINTON ***
Donate Today!
Today’s Hillary News & Views begins with the Clinton campaign’s reaction to the Democratic Platform draft that passed this weekend.
Here’s the statement from Senior Policy Advisor Maya Harris:
“We are proud that the draft 2016 Democratic Platform, which the drafting committee approved yesterday, represents the most ambitious and progressive platform our party has ever seen, and reflects the issues Hillary Clinton has championed throughout this campaign, from raising wages and creating more good-paying jobs to fixing our broken immigration system, reforming our criminal justice system, and protecting women’s reproductive health and rights. As our Chairman, Congressman Elijah Cummings, directed us at the outset, our platform does not merely reflect common ground—it seeks higher ground.
“For the first time ever, our platform calls for ending mass incarceration, shutting down the school-to-prison pipeline, and taking on the challenges of systemic racism. This year’s platform contains the most ambitious jobs plan on record, including historic investments in infrastructure, pledges to increase American manufacturing and stop companies from shipping jobs overseas, and a robust, stand-alone plank on youth jobs. It contains ambitious, progressive principles on wages, stating that working people should earn at least $15 an hour, citing New York’s minimum wage law and calling for raising and indexing the federal minimum wage. It also calls for the elimination of the ‘tipped’ wage and for the right of workers to form or join a union. And for the first time, the Democratic Party platform explicitly calls for repealing the Hyde Amendment, which restricts access to women’s reproductive rights, particularly low-income women and women of color.
“Four years ago, the Democratic platform called for an ‘all-of-the-above’ energy strategy. This platform moves far beyond that framework, with a robust commitment to combating climate change and ambitious goals, like generating 50 percent of our electricity from clean sources within a decade. This vision was further strengthened through an amendment offered by representatives of both campaigns to see America running entirely on clean energy by mid-century.
“We are also pleased that there were many issues where committee members worked collaboratively to articulate a bold vision, including making sure Wall Street greed and recklessness never again threatens American families and businesses on Main Street; proposing a surtax on multi-millionaires to ensure the richest among us are paying their fair share to build an economy that works for everyone; and expanding Social Security benefits by raising more revenue above the $250,000 threshold.
“Members also worked together on framing Democrats’ shared commitment to comprehensive immigration reform, with an eloquent unity amendment stating, ‘Immigration is not a problem to be solved, it is a defining aspect of the American character and history to be supported and defended against those who would exclude or eliminate legal immigration avenues and denigrate immigrants.’
“And we are proud the draft 2016 Democratic platform sets forward progressive principles and high standards on trade, including calling for trade agreements to be more protective of workers’ rights, labor rights, the environment, and public health. The draft reviewed by committee members yesterday included a call to review past trade agreements and update them to reflect these principles. An amendment adopted yesterday further emphasized the fact that many Democrats oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership because ‘the agreement does not meet the standards set out in this platform.’ Hillary Clinton is one of those Democrats, and has been strongly and unequivocally on the record opposing TPP. Just this week, she said, ‘We will defend American jobs and American workers by saying ‘no’ to bad trade deals and unfair trade practices, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership.’
“Make no mistake about it: The 2016 Democratic platform represents an ambitious, progressive agenda that all Democrats can and should be proud of.”
Hillary Clinton released two statements as well.
Here’s Clinton on the Affirmative Action case:
“The Supreme Court’s decision today in Fisher v. University of Texas is a win for all Americans. It means that universities can continue to make diversity and inclusion central goals of their admissions processes, and means our college campuses will continue to be places where young adults of all backgrounds can learn from each other.
“Having a student body with diverse experiences and perspectives breaks down barriers, enriches academia, and prepares our young people to be leaders and citizens in our increasingly diverse country. We need to guarantee that the doors to higher education are open not just to some, but to all—and that we are giving students equal opportunities to succeed and thrive. Today’s Supreme Court decision affirms a basic truth about our country: we are stronger together.”
On the anniversary of marriage equality:
“One year ago today, we celebrated a watershed moment for equality in America. Thanks to the bravery of LGBT Americans like Jim Obergefell and Edie Windsor, and the determination and tireless organizing of the LGBT community and their allies, marriage equality became the law of the land in all 50 states.
“Over the last year, more barriers to equality have fallen – including, finally, the last state law banning same-sex couples from adopting. Just this month, President Obama designated Stonewall as the first national monument commemorating LGBT history in America.
“We’ve also seen how much work is still unfinished. The attack in Orlando broke our hearts, and reminded us that LGBT people – particularly people of color – are still targets for harassment and violence. Discriminatory laws in states like North Carolina highlight the need for full federal equality under the law for LGBT Americans. And Donald Trump’s pledge to consider appointing Supreme Court justices who would overturn marriage equality underscores the fact that so much of the progress we’ve made is at stake in November.
“But even when the road ahead seems daunting, never forget: on this day in history, love triumphed in the highest court in the land. Today, our march toward a more perfect union continues—toward equality, dignity, and justice for all.”
Clinton has been focusing heavily on LGBT issues recently, both because of National Pride Month and the tragedy in Orlando.
To the LGBT community: We're with you.
Love, @HFA.https://t.co/4SP1d3s8nz
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 25, 2016
We're going to keep fighting for equality, at home and around the world.https://t.co/4JjtWshXRI
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 26, 2016
.@BarneyFrank on the time he marched in NYC's gay pride parade with the First Lady of the United States in 2000.https://t.co/G1b5cUV0pJ
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 25, 2016
Edie Windsor writes for MSNBC:
Don’t ever let anybody tell you love can’t change the world. I’m the out lesbian who had the temerity to sue the United States government – and won federal recognition for all married LGBT couples – so you can take my word for it.
That’s why I’m going to do everything I can to make sure Hillary Clinton becomes the next president of the United States.
Confronting injustice takes courage, and Hillary has lots. As we were filing motions in my case, then-Secretary of State Clinton was declaring to the world, “Gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights.” Over the years, I’ve watched Hillary speak out against “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” champion hate crimes legislation and work to make it easier for LGBT couples to adopt. As a candidate for president, she rooted for the Supreme Court to rule in favor of marriage equality and celebrated with us when marriage equality became the law of the land exactly two years after the victory in my case.
But despite recent gains, we still have work to do. As we were painfully reminded in Orlando, our community is still a prime target for harassment and violence. In many parts of the country, LGBT Americans can be married on Saturday, ejected from home on Sunday and fired on Monday simply because of who they are. States like Mississippi and North Carolina have passed laws that seek to treat LGBT Americans as second-class citizens. Too many LGBT youth face homelessness. Too many transgender people are still fighting for their most basic rights.
We need a president who isn’t afraid to take on these challenges and has the persistence to actually solve them. Hillary will fight for the Equality Act, which would protect against discrimination in employment, housing and more. She’ll end so-called “conversion therapy” and take on LGBT homelessness and violence. And she’s the only candidate with a plan to move us closer to an AIDS-free generation. It was the AIDS epidemic that first brought us together to fight as a community, and it is now time to end the epidemic by finding a cure.
Growing up as a young girl after the Depression, I never dreamed that the LGBT community would be where we are today. It’s been the joy of a lifetime to see the world change for the better for LGBT Americans before my very eyes.
But even though I’m not so young anymore, I’m not willing to stop fighting. I don’t want a single LGBT young person to have to face the stigma, isolation and internalized homophobia that so many of us had to deal with. This Pride month, let’s commit to making sure every lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender young person can grow up in a country where they can not only marry the love of their life, but go to school, work, and live free from fear and discrimination.
Hillary is the president who will fight to get us there. Because she knows what I know: Love trumps hate, the United States Constitution endures and justice will ultimately prevail.
The new ABC News-Washington Post poll finds a major shift in the race, going from 46 Trump to 44 Clinton in May to 51 Clinton — 39 Trump today:
Support for Donald Trump has plunged as he has alienated fellow Republicans and large majorities of voters overall in the course of a month of self-inflicted controversies, propelling Democrat Hillary Clinton to a double-digit lead nationally in a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
The poll, conducted in the immediate aftermath of a massacre in Orlando that was perpetrated by a man who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, showed Obama’s approval rating at 56 percent — its highest level in Post polling since May 2011, after the killing of Osama bin Laden.
Obama is more popular now than Republicans George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush in the waning months of their presidencies. Although Obama’s approval rating has not reached the level of former Democratic president Bill Clinton’s in 2000, his standing suggests that he could be a relatively effective surrogate for Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail.
In May, Trump was more competitive with Clinton because he had just secured the Republican nomination and the party’s electorate was coalescing around his candidacy. Clinton’s unfavorable ratings among registered voters tied their record high last month, matching Trump’s at 57 percent and weighing her down.
But that dynamic reversed over the past month, with Democrats unifying behind Clinton and Republicans expressing fresh doubts about Trump. While 88 percent of Democrats or Democrat-leaning independents say they support Clinton, a smaller 79 percent of Republican-leaning voters back Trump.
And there is evidence in the poll that the emergence of Trump as the Republican Party’s standard bearer has pushed some GOP voters out of the fold. Just 69 percent of self-identified Republicans who supported a candidate other than Trump in the primary say they now support Trump; 13 percent say they back Clinton, while 11 percent volunteer “neither."
There is also little evidence that Trump is winning over Democratic primary voters. On the campaign trail in recent weeks, Trump has made direct appeals to disaffected supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). But the poll finds that just 8 percent of voters who backed Sanders in the primaries say they support Trump, down from 20 percent in May.
A 61 percent majority of all Americans say Clinton is qualified to serve, while Clinton maintains a 2-to-1 advantage on which candidate has the best personality and temperament to be president.
Clinton has released a fact sheet detailing policy proposals that specifically target the growing Caribbean-American community:
Caribbean Americans and Caribbean immigrants have helped build this country and strengthen our communities. Hillary recognizes that these accomplishments sometimes mask the challenges the Caribbean-American community faces—such as enduring racism, access to quality education and health care, good-paying jobs and retirement security. She will fight to break down these barriers so that everyone, regardless of their background has a chance to live up to their potential.
As President, Hillary will fight to:
Keep Families are Kept Together: Caribbean immigrants make up 3.2% of the undocumented immigrants in this country. Instead of breaking up law-abiding immigrant families who have enriched America, Hillary will offer them a path to full and equal citizenship. She will also protect and implement the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA) programs to keep Caribbean families together. Further, Hillary will call on Congress to repeal the 3- and 10-year bars so that families don’t have to choose between pursuing a green card and staying with their families. Caribbean immigrants accounted for 10.7% of all immigrants granted lawful permanent residence from 2000 to 2009. Hillary believes we should support Caribbean immigrants who are eligible for citizenship to take that final step, including by expanding fee-waivers and increasing access to language and outreach programs. And shortly after the massive earthquake in Haiti in January 2010, just over 53,000 applied for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), but U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services estimates that 20,000 to 50,000 more individuals are eligible. As president, Hillary will enhance outreach, to reach more immigrants living in the U.S. who are still eligible for TPS.
Ensure Quality Education for Caribbean-American Youth: 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 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, so that every Caribbean American and Caribbean immigrant child—including those in the U.S. territories in the Caribbean—has access to a world-class education. Too many Caribbean Americans and Caribbean 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. Her plan will also provide scholarships and child care support for student parents, so that these parents can build a brighter future for their families.
Get Incomes Rising and Create Good-Paying Jobs: Hillary has said getting incomes rising again 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. While the unemployment rate of white Americans is 3.8%, it's nearly 6% for Caribbean immigrants, and Caribbean Americans have higher rates of poverty than the overall population. Hillary has a 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.
Ensure Every family can build and maintain a strong economic foundation: Too many Caribbean American and Caribbean immigrant families have to worry about how one financial setback can erase all of the progress they’ve made. Hillary will fight for economic security for every family, because economic security is a foundation for economic opportunity. Hillary recently announced her plan to invest $25 billion to lift more families into sustainable homeownership and connect housing to opportunity. The ACA has helped to address disparities in health care and Medicaid accessibility; the uninsured rate among those from the Caribbean has fallen by 7.2% since 2011, with well over 222,000 individuals gaining insurance coverage as a result of the ACA. Moreover, with nearly 20% of the Caribbean-immigrant families at or below the poverty line, the ACA has expanded access to Medicaid and other services for those who need it most. Hillary will stand up to Republican attempts to roll back the ACA 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. Finally, Caribbean Americans would be especially harmed by Social Security cuts or Medicare privatization, given the higher share of seniors in the community. 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.
Hillary has a record of standing with the Caribbean American and Immigrant communities:
As Senator from New York, Hillary championed initiatives to improve the lives of Caribbean immigrants, their families and communities. She introduced the Count Every Vote Act to ensure that all citizens, including foreign language speakers, had equal access to voting, and sponsored the Legal Immigration Children’s Health Improvement Act to restore access to Medicaid and SCHIP benefits for immigrant pregnant women and children. Hillary not only voted consistently in support of comprehensive immigration reform, but also authored legislation to address the backlog of family visas and expedite the reunification of immigrant families.
As Secretary of State, Hillary was committed to bolstering economic development, public health, and human rights in the Caribbean and Latin America. She launched several initiatives aimed at expanding the U.S.-Caribbean relationship, such as the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas and the Caribbean Idea Marketplace. She increased the U.S. financial commitment to the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative, which helped local communities cut down on illegal trafficking. She also announced a Caribbean Climate Change Adaptation Initiative, which awarded six Caribbean countries grants for alternative energy, and spearheaded the International Diaspora Engagement Alliance, which aimed to bridge the gap between diaspora communities and businesses in their countries of origin.
Clinton’s recent visit to North Carolina earned some glowing local press coverage.
The Raleigh News & Observer editorial board writes:
Here then, here in Raleigh, was a candidate for president of the United States who spoke to an enthusiastic crowd at the N.C. State Fairgrounds on Wednesday with substance – with ideas on helping the middle class, on making college affordable and health care accessible and jobs more plentiful and wages more predictable, starting with a higher minimum wage.
Hillary Rodham Clinton also brought a hefty resume: first lady and adviser to President Bill Clinton, one of the most successful presidents of the 20th century; eight years in the U.S. Senate; four years as secretary of state; and before all that, a lifetime of interest in community service, particularly programs pertaining to children.
She was specific and hopeful in one of her best appearances thus far in a campaign marked by the blustering and non-specific rhetoric of Republican Donald Trump, who focuses almost entirely on criticizing Clinton as a “liar,” though he doesn’t back up his accusations and offers vague promises about solving all the country’s ills.
Clinton, by contrast, laid things out in Raleigh: raising the minimum wage, tax breaks for the middle class, debt-free college education, economic oversight to prevent the wild swings that produced the Great Recession, penalties to discourage American firms from moving their jobs overseas, more investment in clean energy and not suppressing unions in collective bargaining.
Clinton also wants to target drug companies that have jacked up the costs of prescription drugs for no reason other than that they can.
The Hillary Clinton who came to Raleigh was a confident, capable, positive and hopeful leader, inclusive in her ideas, specific in her solutions.
Clinton continues to double down on the Obama coalition, aiming to win the November election through progressive policies that maximize turnout among people of color.
BuzzFeed reports:
The Clinton campaign will hire a new black vote official, three sources confirm to BuzzFeed News.
Nadia Garnett, a veteran of Democratic campaigns and the Center for Community Change, will be the campaign’s African-American vote director, the sources said.
LaDavia Drane, a well-liked veteran political operative who was the executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus, is the campaign’s black outreach director, which involves managing political relationships and surrogates. Drane will stay on with the campaign in her role, a campaign source said, but will now report to Garnett. There was some speculation as to whether Drane would take on a role at the DNC, another source said.
Clinton camp is expanding its black outreach operation, according to three sources familiar with the plan. With hires in the works that will cover different facets of black America — grassroots, faith leaders, elected officials, etc. — the more robust plan, campaign sources said, is needed to be successful in the general election. Drane had previously been solely responsible for an entire slate of outreach.
Amid criticism from black Democrats regarding Drane’s grassroots bona fides, Drane skillfully cultivated relationships with the so-called “Mothers of the Movement,” women whose children’s deaths due to gun violence or at the hands of police spurred the Black Lives Matter movement and a new brand of racial justice activism. Last month, Clinton delivered the keynote address at a gathering of the Trayvon Martin Foundation in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Clinton’s campaign has released a new ad decimating Trump’s response to Britain’s vote to leave the European Union:
Melissa McEwan writes for Blue Nation Review:
“This time of uncertainty only underscores the need for calm, steady, experienced leadership in the White House.”
Truer words never spoken.
We do not need a leader who feasts on volatility with zero regard for the resulting instability and the tumult it wreaks in the lives of the most vulnerable people.
To the absolute contrary, we need a leader who sees the havoc that wildly fluctuating markets, leadership voids, empowerment of white nationalism, and the potential crumbling of a major global alliance will cause on average people if calm is not restored.
Donald parading around Scotland, crowing about how “fantastic” the Brexit vote is, when it has left Scotland, in particular, with no good options, is an embarrassment. And worse yet: It is dangerous.
Real leaders, good leaders, emerge in times of crisis. Hillary is clearly the only person who is fit and prepared to lead.
Because all we will get from Donald, the Vulture of Volatility, is an exacerbation of the very problems that are exposing vulnerable people to further harm.
As if it wasn’t hard enough to get Hamilton tickets…
CNN reports:
Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign is hosting a special performance of the Broadway smash hit "Hamilton: An American Musical" as part of a joint fund-raiser for the campaign and the Democratic National Committee.
The campaign has rented every seat in the 1,300-seat Richard Rogers Theatre for the extra performance, according to a campaign aide. Tickets to the July 12 show range from $2,700 for general admission to $100,000, which includes two premium seats with the candidate and an invitation to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
The fund-raiser, at a minimum, will raise $3.5 million, according to ticket prices and the size of the theater. But the event is expected to bring in far more.
"The best moments of our nation's history teach us that anyone can smash every expectation we have for them and shape the course of our collective history," Clinton said. "In 2016, that lesson feels more pointed than ever, so it's no wonder this remarkable piece of theater has captured the imaginations of people all over America."
The fund-raiser is being put on by the Hillary Victory Fund, a joint fund-raising committee that benefits the Clinton campaign, the Democratic National Committee and state Democratic parties across the country.
The Clinton campaign announced earlier this month that the joint fund-raising agreement has now raised $62 million.
*** SUPPORT HILLARY CLINTON ***
Donate Today!