Clinton vows hundreds of billions for infrastructure, jobs

[webfact]

Clinton vows hundreds of billions for infrastructure, jobs
By LISA LERER and KATHLEEN RONAYNE

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton unveiled the first piece of a new jobs agenda on Sunday, promising hundreds of billions of dollars in fresh federal spending in an effort to compete with the liberal economic policies of her primary challengers.

Her initial proposal, a $275 billion infrastructure plan, falls short of the $1 trillion pledged by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders to rebuild the nation's crumbling bridges, ports, highways and airports. But it marks an effort by Clinton to fulfill her party's desire to use national programs to boost the middle class without alienating independent voters more concerned with increasing the federal deficit.

"Some candidates may be running to make a point," Clinton told New Hampshire Democrats, in a veiled criticism of Sanders. "I am running to make a difference."

The state Democratic Party's Jefferson-Jackson dinner is an annual fundraiser that offers an opportunity for the presidential candidates — former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley among them — to woo influential activists in the early voting state.

"I'm not a former socialist. I'm not a former Republican. I'm a life-long Democrat," O'Malley said, taking subtle digs at Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, and Clinton, who identified as a Republican in high school.

Already Clinton has proposed an array of new federal programs, including a $350 billion college affordability plan. Other new policies, like universal pre-K, combating substance abuse and expanding family leave, could add hundreds of billions in spending.

Clinton aides say her economic initiatives will be the most expensive of her campaign and plan to roll out proposals for new investments in manufacturing and research in the coming weeks. On Sunday, she added a pledge to give all American households access to high-speed Internet by 2020.

So far, she's offered few specifics about how she'd fund her plans. Her campaign said that her infrastructure proposal would be paid for by closing corporate tax loopholes but didn't detail which breaks would be targeted.

Republicans have seized on her spending, with the Republican National Committee accusing her of treating American tax dollars like "every day is Black Friday."

At the same time, Clinton has pledged to roll out hundreds of billions of dollars in middle-class tax cuts, saying she'd increase taxes on the wealthy to fund the new breaks. She's vowed not to raise taxes on families earning less than $250,000 a year, using that pledge to draw a contrast with Sanders.

Clinton says Sanders would require middle-class Americans to pay higher taxes to fund his single-payer health care plan, a charge his campaign disputes.

"I'm the only Democrat in this race pledged to raise your income, not your taxes," Clinton said at an earlier event in Boston.

But Sanders argues that Americans want the federal government to do more to help working Americans, who've spent years struggling through a sluggish economic recovery. His policies include a $750 billion debt-free college plan and $5.5 billion youth jobs program. He's not detailed the cost of his single-payer health care plan, but his campaign says it would save taxpayers money in the long run because it would eliminate wasteful health spending.

"Let me also say that if these were normal times, many people in our country could be supportive of establishment politics, establishment economics and establishment foreign policy," he told New Hampshire Democrats. "But these are not normal times."

Clinton's infrastructure proposal allocates $250 billion in direct investment by the federal government over the next five years. An additional $25 billion would fund a national infrastructure bank, an idea unveiled by President Barack Obama in his first term that has been blocked repeatedly by congressional Republicans. The bank would support $225 billion in loans intended to spur private investment in struggling projects, adding a total of $500 billion in new infrastructure funds into the economy, her campaign estimates.

"To build a strong economy for our future, we must start by building strong infrastructure today," she said at the launch of "Hard Hats for Hillary" on Sunday afternoon, a new effort by her campaign to mobilize union workers.

Clinton also picked up a key endorsement, winning the backing of Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, in a charged rally at historic Faneuil Hall. A former union member, Walsh can marshal his political forces to help Clinton both in the Massachusetts primary and neighboring New Hampshire.

"Get your sledgehammers ready," he told hundreds of cheering union members, "we have a glass ceiling to demolish."
___

Follow Lisa Lerer and Kathleen Ronayne on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/llerer and http://twitter.com/kronayne


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-11-30

[shirtless]

Whats is a clinton promise really worth, absolutely nothing, she should retire she is a disgrace

[Yoram]

Yep, They all vow the moon and the sun and billion and trillions for this and that, once they get elected all is forgotten, and if any of the promises ever materialized it will be only a fractions of the election's promises. yet, people still fall for it election after election.

[Rancid]

Government contracts for Clinton Foundation donors?

[phantomfiddler]

It will be a sad day for America if this horrible woman is elected as president. Obviously trying to buy votes as a last resort, she exhibits the greatest flaw in the democratic system. Promise the most to the largest group of freeloading bone idle great unwashed, and you are in like Flynn and then the plundering starts.

[SOTIRIOS]

.......where will this money come from........collateral accounts.....???..

[BuaBS]

.......where will this money come from........collateral accounts.....???..

but...but ...will there be enough money left to bail out the bankers , increase military spending and spy on everyone ?

[Buckwheat Flour]

.......where will this money come from........collateral accounts.....???..

"So far, she's offered few specifics about how she'd fund her plans. Her campaign said that her infrastructure proposal would be paid for by closing corporate tax loopholes but didn't detail which breaks would be targeted."

"At the same time, Clinton has pledged to roll out hundreds of billions of dollars in middle-class tax cuts, saying she'd increase taxes on the wealthy to fund the new breaks. She's vowed not to raise taxes on families earning less than $250,000 a year, using that pledge to draw a contrast with Sanders."

Don't let fantasy and contradiction worry you......

[Jingthing]

Hillary Clinton being a former republican makes her election to the presidency even more likely.

Bernie Sanders being a current socialist makes his election to the presidency impossible.

Being a boring ass / no charisma former mayor of riot city Baltimore makes O'Malley a candidate for VICE president.

Carson is toast.

If the elephants put up Trump, he's toast.

If the elephants put up Rubio or Kasich, then that will be a contest.

Cruz ... it makes me puke just to think of him.

Edited November 30, 2015 by Jingthing

[Thaidream]

Have to agree with Jing on this- there would be a real battle if Kasich was nominated and faced Clinton. However, doubtful it will happen. Politics in America is all about money. Bernie Sanders has the best program to actually help the poor and middle class. Yes, he is somewhat socialist but that is what America really needs. The current revolving door of politicians beholden to the Bankers, Lawyers and Accountants in America is what cause high prices, increase in the poor and a general lowering of the standard of living. Sanders would never be elected because he is not beholden to the money people in America. If I had to guess, Clinton will win the presidency because she will pull out Bill Clinton during her campaign. Vote for Hillary and you get Bill too, Americans will eat this up. The problem is once she is elected, many won't be eating very well.

[Jingthing]

The USA could do much worse than Hillary Clinton.

It will be one of those elections again.

Voting for the least distasteful and that will be Hillary Clinton as I also agree the elephants won't put up Kasich who is clearly a very decent man even though I disagree with most of his politics.

Hillary must be very happy that the elephants are not picking their strongest candidate.

Edited November 30, 2015 by Jingthing

[spidermike007]

This sounds like a similar promise that Obama made. I remember him talking over and over about infrastructure. It was a major talking point. I know alot of money was allocated. Was it spent? Does not seem like it. The country is really falling apart. Bridges are crumbling, roads are in dire need of repair, and they just keep talking. Could Hillary be sincere about this? It would be a great thing. But, the reality is that it would take many trillions. Billions would just get the project started. And can she be counted on to follow through? How many positions did Obama promise, and how many were followed through? Remember his famous green energy dept? Remember the reduction in extraordinary rendition? How about Gitmo? How about all of his declarations about scaling back national security spying? I could go on and on and on.

Edited November 30, 2015 by spidermike007

[oneday]

America's version of "vote buying" and don't give a second thought to the national debt.

[connda]

The first thing that virtually all US presidents do after getting into the Oval Office is to completely abandon all of their campaign promises. The only place that will get hundreds of billions for infrastructure and jobs is in the next Middle East or North African country that the US destroys and then rebuilds with the assistance of sole-source contracts to variously friendly corporations who are large campaign contributors. I've lived too long and I've seen this dance more than once.

[chuckd]

This sounds like a similar promise that Obama made. I remember him talking over and over about infrastructure. It was a major talking point. I know alot of money was allocated. Was it spent? Does not seem like it. The country is really falling apart. Bridges are crumbling, roads are in dire need of repair, and they just keep talking. Could Hillary be sincere about this? It would be a great thing. But, the reality is that it would take many trillions. Billions would just get the project started. And can she be counted on to follow through? How many positions did Obama promise, and how many were followed through? Remember his famous green energy dept? Remember the reduction in extraordinary rendition? How about Gitmo? How about all of his declarations about scaling back national security spying? I could go on and on and on.

Obama, Pelosi and Reid delivered on the stimulus bill to the tune of $831 Billion in 2009.

It was laughingly called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Obama came out later and admitted there were really no shovel ready jobs created after all.

Hillary is simply trying to keep up with Bernie in her outlandish requests for even bigger government.

[JHolmesJr]

Where does all that money come from?

[DaddyWarbucks]

The first thing that virtually all US presidents do after getting into the Oval Office is to completely abandon all of their campaign promises. The only place that will get hundreds of billions for infrastructure and jobs is in the next Middle East or North African country that the US destroys and then rebuilds with the assistance of sole-source contracts to variously friendly corporations who are large campaign contributors. I've lived too long and I've seen this dance more than once.

That sounds like a good prediction.

Domestic spending will be what is left over from invasions, occupations, and nation-building.

[Thaidream]

Hillary will win because Americans love Bill Clinton who presided over good economic times in America and kept the military mostly out of war. The problem is that America has developed into a burgeoning third World country. When you have Company CEOs making millions of dollars while their lowest salary is the minimum wage- this is not a sustainable business model. At the same time Obama creates 15000 IRS agent to police his Obama Care Health Bill while health care costs are the highest in the World. Couple this with a higher education system that costs upwards of $50K per year without jobs that pay enough to cover a graduates loans and you have recipe for disaster. The Clinton clique will do nothing to really solve America's problems because they are beholden to the very people that have caused America to slip into Third World status. Eventfully the American people will realize that American democracy is broken and do something about it. The Second American Revolution should arrive in approximately 30 years.

[elgordo38]

.......where will this money come from........collateral accounts.....???..

They will borrow the money from the banks you know the money you worked hard for all your life and stuck in the bank at almost zero percent interest. They can also sell more phantom treasury bills, print more emoney and if worst comes to worst tax you. There is always room on your body to shove another tube in.

Edited November 30, 2015 by elgordo38

[BuaBS]

Where does all that money come from?

Yellen's FED computer. She just types in a big number , and it magicaly appears as money .

[ggt]

This is something that "must" be done in America...they could fund the project by offering to pay able bodied welfare recipients to get off their butts and work for a living like those who have been paying for their life of leisure...

Oh my, this is definitely not a Democratic Party idea...

[Trouble]

If Hillary is elected she will push for more government spending, more government programs, etc. What she and Obama don't understand is that promising more populist programs which no one can deliver only drives up the annual deficit because they will never collect enough taxes to pay for their programs as can be seen from in the ballooning of the national debt under the Obama Administration. So promising to tax the rich and close loopholes is pointless as even if they did this there would still be a deficit which adds to the National Debt which as we speak stands at 18.7 trillion. Deficit reduction to these people is something they talk about but don't grasp. The cost to the American Tax Payer for debt service is already at something approaching 500 billion per year. That's surely one of the reasons the federal reserve is so careful about the interest rates. Raising the interest rates will add significant cost to the government interest on the debt. The numbers on debt service become completely unsustainable down the road. Sorry but as much as we all want to help the American people, the Democrats just don't get it. It's like spending on a credit card with no limit to pay for things you can't afford. I hate to use Greece as an example but it is a case study in how the Democrats want to do business. Helping people is great but at what cost down the road? Can't the American economy ever reassert itself and generate the income and taxes to sustain the debt. Sorry but at least the Republicans talk about the problem of unsustainable debt during their debates. Democrats just keep promising to tax and provide programs. It won't work. Like it or not we are in a world economy now and have to compete with the cheap labor abroad. Companies continually seek to use the tax laws to their benefit just and you and I do. Blaming the big corporations and the rich for the problem of too little taxes is just an excuse when it is the spending that is the problem.

[JHolmesJr]

This is something that "must" be done in America...they could fund the project by offering to pay able bodied welfare recipients to get off their butts and work for a living like those who have been paying for their life of leisure...

Oh my, this is definitely not a Democratic Party idea...

Or maybe stop starting unwinnable wars.

[spidermike007]

This sounds like a similar promise that Obama made. I remember him talking over and over about infrastructure. It was a major talking point. I know alot of money was allocated. Was it spent? Does not seem like it. The country is really falling apart. Bridges are crumbling, roads are in dire need of repair, and they just keep talking. Could Hillary be sincere about this? It would be a great thing. But, the reality is that it would take many trillions. Billions would just get the project started. And can she be counted on to follow through? How many positions did Obama promise, and how many were followed through? Remember his famous green energy dept? Remember the reduction in extraordinary rendition? How about Gitmo? How about all of his declarations about scaling back national security spying? I could go on and on and on.

Obama, Pelosi and Reid delivered on the stimulus bill to the tune of $831 Billion in 2009.

It was laughingly called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Obama came out later and admitted there were really no shovel ready jobs created after all.

Hillary is simply trying to keep up with Bernie in her outlandish requests for even bigger government.

Alot of the money went to the banks, so they could buy up more banks with low interest loans. Some recovery package. They could have asked for a lot more. Basically, the big banks sent in a lobbyist, and he said, we would like very, very low interest loans for our clients, that we can pay back when we want, and we will not offer any sort of security for the loan, and you cannot put any conditions on the loans. And our fearless leaders said, ok sounds fine. Let's do it.

[bendejo]

It appears someone is taking this seriously, infrastructure stocks are up the first business day after the announcement.

[ToS2014]

What the government giveth to one, they must TAKE from another. How about the government step aside for once and not try to 'spend'...sorry and oops, what a pipe dream! Why can't some people just be happy and retire, was pretty easy for me!

If one can recall history, early budgets were dominated by discretionary spending; now the budget (debt) is dominated by mandatory spending. Seems peculiar how we have become 'smarter'.

Edited December 1, 2015 by ToS2014

[Credo]

Infrastructure needs to be kept up. Everybody uses it. Keeping roads and bridges safe and roadworthy is a great use of money.

[chuckd]

This sounds like a similar promise that Obama made. I remember him talking over and over about infrastructure. It was a major talking point. I know alot of money was allocated. Was it spent? Does not seem like it. The country is really falling apart. Bridges are crumbling, roads are in dire need of repair, and they just keep talking. Could Hillary be sincere about this? It would be a great thing. But, the reality is that it would take many trillions. Billions would just get the project started. And can she be counted on to follow through? How many positions did Obama promise, and how many were followed through? Remember his famous green energy dept? Remember the reduction in extraordinary rendition? How about Gitmo? How about all of his declarations about scaling back national security spying? I could go on and on and on.

Obama, Pelosi and Reid delivered on the stimulus bill to the tune of $831 Billion in 2009.

It was laughingly called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Obama came out later and admitted there were really no shovel ready jobs created after all.

Hillary is simply trying to keep up with Bernie in her outlandish requests for even bigger government.

Alot of the money went to the banks, so they could buy up more banks with low interest loans. Some recovery package. They could have asked for a lot more. Basically, the big banks sent in a lobbyist, and he said, we would like very, very low interest loans for our clients, that we can pay back when we want, and we will not offer any sort of security for the loan, and you cannot put any conditions on the loans. And our fearless leaders said, ok sounds fine. Let's do it.

Sorry, but the bank bailout was under the Bush administration and was separate legislation from the Stimulus package of 2009.

TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) issued $617 Billion to 956 bank and finance recipients.

As of 20 November 2015, $390 Billion has been repaid and the program has received an additional $291 Billion in revenue from dividends, interest, and other fees.

TARP has now turned a profit of some $64 Billion and is the only government run program in recorded history to have ever returned a profit.

PS: That last sentence is tinged with sarcasm and may not be factual. There may be other programs that have turned a profit. It's just that nobody has ever heard of any.

https://projects.propublica.org/bailout/list

[up2u2]

Bernie is really the front runner on real and tangible social and economic change that America is in desperate need of and Hillary is getting pushed harder to actually come up with a 'Bernie Lite' version of herself. Face it, Democrats Clinton, Obama have made absolutely no inroads into Republican Reaganomics and Bush ll's absolute ballsup of the economy transferring trillions of dollars to the wealthy elite and Corporate America. Hillary will fluff the pillows a little, straighten the doona and jump straight into bed with Wall Street and Corporate America. Hillary is certainly feeling the 'Bern'.

Trillion dollar investment in infrastructure and a 'one payer' health care system, a publicly funded tuition free education system, $18 an hour minimum wage is easily funded with just a few minimal changes.

Reduce Military spending by 35%, remove Corporate Welfare, a 90% tax on the wealthy elite earning over $1M income per year, enforce the 35% Corporate tax rate with ZERO rebates, remove all assets and Jail ANY CEO that launders income offshore to avoid paying Tax, 50% death duties Tax on assets over $5M (this stops the transfer of generational wealth), compulsory industry Union representation for workers to increase wages and a fairer distribution of profits, all companies that employ over 1000 people must have 4 employees out of the 12 Directors on the Board who represent the workers, lift the 5% Tax haven on Hedge Funds to the full Corporate rate of 35%, A Super Tax of 75% on Wall Street speculation profits (whatever Wall Street invests in if it doesn't include start ups and investment in jobs growth and manufacture the profits are taxed at 75%) losses are shifted to shareholders.

Just those small changes would fund all the social programs and create growth and employment and equal prosperity for all Americans not just the wealthy elite and Corporate America. Bought time they paid their way.

The public will have more cash than they know what to do with. Maybe look into a generous holiday, sick pay, overtime award, parental leave scheme, publicly funded Trade Schools.

America needs to start putting its wealth to better use rather than just handing it over to the few wealthy elite and greedy Corporate America.

[spidermike007]

Bernie is really the front runner on real and tangible social and economic change that America is in desperate need of and Hillary is getting pushed harder to actually come up with a 'Bernie Lite' version of herself. Face it, Democrats Clinton, Obama have made absolutely no inroads into Republican Reaganomics and Bush ll's absolute ballsup of the economy transferring trillions of dollars to the wealthy elite and Corporate America. Hillary will fluff the pillows a little, straighten the doona and jump straight into bed with Wall Street and Corporate America. Hillary is certainly feeling the 'Bern'.

Trillion dollar investment in infrastructure and a 'one payer' health care system, a publicly funded tuition free education system, $18 an hour minimum wage is easily funded with just a few minimal changes.

Reduce Military spending by 35%, remove Corporate Welfare, a 90% tax on the wealthy elite earning over $1M income per year, enforce the 35% Corporate tax rate with ZERO rebates, remove all assets and Jail ANY CEO that launders income offshore to avoid paying Tax, 50% death duties Tax on assets over $5M (this stops the transfer of generational wealth), compulsory industry Union representation for workers to increase wages and a fairer distribution of profits, all companies that employ over 1000 people must have 4 employees out of the 12 Directors on the Board who represent the workers, lift the 5% Tax haven on Hedge Funds to the full Corporate rate of 35%, A Super Tax of 75% on Wall Street speculation profits (whatever Wall Street invests in if it doesn't include start ups and investment in jobs growth and manufacture the profits are taxed at 75%) losses are shifted to shareholders.

Just those small changes would fund all the social programs and create growth and employment and equal prosperity for all Americans not just the wealthy elite and Corporate America. Bought time they paid their way.

The public will have more cash than they know what to do with. Maybe look into a generous holiday, sick pay, overtime award, parental leave scheme, publicly funded Trade Schools.

America needs to start putting its wealth to better use rather than just handing it over to the few wealthy elite and greedy Corporate America.

Other than the 90% tax, which all who earn that much would find egregious, I would love to see most of what you are stating here put into action. It would essentially represent a complete reversal of what the US has seen over the past 30 years, and especially during the past 15 years. But, even after employing the farthest reaches of my imagination, I cannot even begin to fathom how something like this would ever take place, without a revolution. I love most of it. The hedge fund tax haven is evil. corporate taxes, deductions and allowing American corporations to use overseas locations, and overseas income, as a tax dodge, or as a headquarters to avoid paying taxes, are a laughing stock, and a complete rip off of the American public. Military spending is so far beyond where it needs to be. But, how about "intelligence" spending too? Watching those CEO's going to prison is a wet dream of a good percent of the public. Me included. Wonder how well they would fare in prison? I would go a step further and encourage locking them up with the general prison population. Fresh meat for the boys.