Now, before he tweets about how he’s really one who will put ‘America First’ in trade, let’s remember where Trump makes many of his own products. Because it sure is not America.
He’s made Trump ties in China and Trump suits in Mexico instead of here in Michigan. He keeps saying it’s not possible to make these things in America anymore, and that’s just wrong.
So we created a website — hillaryclinton.com/make-it-here — on it we list a hundred places across the United States that already producing similar goods.
Now one positive thing Trump could do to make America great again is actually make great things in America again.
Now, let’s look at the second question: which candidate will fight for fairness? And this is an urgent need. We need to grow the economy and we need to make it fairer. The tide is not rising fast enough, and it’s certainly not lifting all boats. Since the crash, too many of the gains have gone to the top one percent.
The rules and incentives in our system reward corporations for putting short-term stock prices above long-term investments in their workers, equipment, and research. While corporate profits are at near-record highs, paychecks for most people have barely budged. Incomes aren’t growing fast enough to keep up with costs like prescription drugs and child care.
I believe that every employee, from the CEO suite to the factory floor, contributes to a business’ success, so everybody should share in the rewards – especially those putting in long hours for little pay.
So I’m proposing a new tax credit to encourage more companies to share profits with workers. More broadly, we will fight for a more progressive, more patriotic tax code that puts American jobs first.
Right now, when a corporation outsources jobs and production, it can write off the costs. We must stop that, and we must make them pay back any tax breaks they received from any level of government in our country.
For those that move their headquarters overseas to avoid paying their fair share of taxes, they’re going to have to pay a new exit tax. So if they want to go, they’re going to have to pay to go.
And Wall Street, corporations, and the super-rich, should finally pay their fair share of taxes. That’s why I support the so-called ‘Buffett Rule,’ because multi-millionaires should not be able to pay a lower tax rate than their secretaries.
We should also add a new tax on multi-millionaires, crack down on tax gaming by corporations and close the carried interest loophole – something I’ve advocated for years.
Now, compare what Trump says. Now there is a myth out there that he’ll stick it to the rich and powerful because, somehow, he’s really on the side of the little guy. Don’t believe it.
Not when he pledges to rip up basic rules that hold corporations accountable, when he wants to scrap regulations that stop polluters from poisoning the air our children breathe and the water we drink, let insurance companies write their own rules again.
Trump would roll back the tough rules that we have imposed on the Financial Industry. I’ll do the opposite – I think we should strengthen those rules so that Wall Street can never wreck Main Street again.
Trump even wants to abolish the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a new agency that has already returned more than $11 billion to 25 million Americans who were taken advantage of by corporations. Why would you get rid of that?
And then there is Trump’s tax plan. He would give trillions in tax cuts to big corporations, millionaires, and Wall Street money managers. That would explode our national debt and eventually lead to massive cuts in priorities like education, healthcare, and environmental protection.
In his speech on Monday, he called for a new tax loophole – let’s call it the Trump Loophole – because it would allow him to pay less than half the current tax rate on income from many of his companies. He’d pay a lower rate than millions of middle class families.
One nonpartisan expert at the Tax Policy Center described this plan as, and I quote, ‘a really nice deal for Donald Trump.’
Of course, it’s hard to say how nice, because he refuses to do what every other presidential candidate in decades has done and release his tax returns.
But we do know that the 400 richest taxpayers in America would get an average tax cut of more than $15 million a year from the Trump loophole.
Then there’s the Estate Tax, which Trump wants to eliminate altogether. If you believe that he’s as wealthy as he says, that alone would save the Trump family $4 billion. It would do nothing for 99.8 percent of Americans. So they’d get a $4 billion tax cut, and 99.8 percent of Americans get nothing.
Just think about what we could do with those $4 billion dollars. We could pay for more than 47,000 veterans to get a 4-year college degree. We could provide a year’s worth of health care to nearly 3 million kids. Or we could fund about a year’s worth of federal assistance to state and local law enforcement. I think there are a lot of better ways to spend the money.
On Monday, I’m going to be in Scranton, Pennsylvania, with Vice President Biden. He has a saying: ‘Don’t tell me what you value. Show me your budget and I will tell you what you value.’
Well, Donald Trump wants to give trillions in tax breaks to people like himself. I want to invest it in veterans, our kids, our police officers, and so much more. And you can then draw your own conclusions about values.
Now, it’s true that both of us have proposed to cut taxes for middle class families. He’s making a big promise. But his advisors have said, his own advisors have said, he may not stand by them.
Instead, the tax cuts he doubled down on in his speech in Detroit on Monday offer trillions to the richest Americans and corporations.
One of the differences between Donald Trump and me is I’m telling you what I will do, I’m laying out my plans, and I will stand by them, and I want you to hold me accountable for delivering results. This all reminds me of that old saying, ‘if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.’
And that brings us to the third question: Which candidate can you actually count on to go to bat for workers and working families?
It’s not enough to pay lip service to being on your side. We have to recognize how Americans actually live and work in the 21st century – and then offer real solutions that make your lives easier.
We know that women are now the sole or primary breadwinner in a growing number of families.
We know more Americans are cobbling together part time work, or striking out on their own. So we have to make it easier to be good workers, good parents, and good caregivers, all at the same time.
That’s why I’ve set out a bold vision to make quality, affordable childcare available to all Americans and limit the costs to 10 percent of family income.
On Monday, Trump offered his first real ideas on this topic. Because previously, he dismissed concerns about childcare. He said it was, quote, ‘not an expensive thing’ because you just need some blocks and some swings.
Now he says he wants to exclude childcare payments from taxation. His plan was panned from the left, the right, the center – because it transparently is designed for rich people like him. He would give wealthy families 30 or 40 cents on the dollar for their nannies, and little or nothing for millions of hard-working families trying to afford childcare so they can get to work and keep the job.
I think instead we should expand the Child Tax Credit to provide real relief to tens of millions of working families struggling with the costs of raising children – the same families that his plan ignores.
And that’s just the start. Because the more we do to help working families, the more our entire economy will benefit.
For example, guaranteeing equal pay won’t just increase paychecks for women – it will boost family budgets and get incomes rising across the board. And I don’t understand why Trump’s against that.
Paid family leave won’t only make life easier for Moms and Dads – it will also keep skilled, talented Americans in the workforce and grow our economy. That’s why every other advanced country already has it. Again, he’s against it.
Raising the federal minimum wage won’t just put more money in the pockets of low-income families – it also means they will spend more at the businesses in their neighborhoods. Trump’s against that as well.
This is something that even the original automakers understood, way back at the beginning of the 20th century, when they decided to pay the unbelievable sum of $5 a day to autoworkers. And when they were criticized by other businesses, ‘How can you pay that much?’ they had the best answer, ‘We want people to be able to buy our cars.’ This is Economics 101, we need to get incomes and wages rising and it will help the whole economy grow and be fairer.
And protecting and expanding Social Security doesn't just help older Americans retire with dignity – it helps to ease burdens on families and communities. And I also believe the same thing about comprehensive immigration reform.
We already have millions of people working in the economy and paying $12 billion a year to Social Security even though they are undocumented. So by moving toward reform, we will unleash a lot of new income and growth, and we will level the playing field so that American workers can't be taken advantage of because undocumented workers can be exploited by employers, which is one of the reasons we have this disconnect.
And finally, strengthening unions doesn’t just serve members – it leads to better pay and benefits, and working conditions for all employees. I’ve also said I will defend and improve the Affordable Care Act, and for me, that includes giving Americans, in every state, a choice of a public option health insurance plan that will help everybody afford coverage, it will strengthen competition, and drive down costs.
Now these are all causes I've worked on for decades and I believe they point to a fundamental truth about our economy. It can seem like a zero sum, when you are competing for a job, a promotion, or a contract if someone wins and someone loses, but that is not the full picture. If you step back, you’ll see we’re all in this together. If we can grow together, we can all rise together. Because, you know what I like to say, we are stronger together, and that’s why the fourth question is key.
And it’s this: who can bring people together to get any of this done? Right? Well, I believe I can because I think I can provide serious, steady leadership that can find common ground and build on it based on hard, but respectful bargaining with the other side.
Leadership that rises above personal attacks and name calling, not revels in it. I just don’t think insults and bullying is how we’re going to get things done. And I don’t think that’s the appropriate approach for us.
I know it’s hard to imagine, but there was a time when Democrats and Republicans actually worked together.
I know that’s true, I did it as First Lady, Senator, and Secretary of State. It’s how we created the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which covers 8 million kids. It’s how we rebuilt New York after 9/11, and how we passed a treaty reducing the threat from Russia’s nuclear weapons.
So I am convinced based on my experience, that we can do this. And one of the reasons that I asked Tim Kaine to be my running mate is he also has a record of working across the aisle to get things done as a mayor, governor, and a Senator.
So we’re going to make full use of the White House’s power to convene. We’re going to get everyone at the table – not just Republicans and Democrats, but businesses and labor unions, academics and experts, but, most importantly, Americans, like all of you.
I think there are a lot of great ideas out in America, and I want you to have a say in your government. And that means we have to get unaccountable money out of our politics, overturn Citizens United, and expand voting rights, not restrict them.
I intend, starting even before the election, to bring together leaders from across our economy, from a lot of different places to talk about jobs, and competitiveness, and I hope Mark and John can join me, because we need the best ideas that are out there making a difference. We need to pull together.
The bottom line is this: I’m running for President to build an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top. And based on what we know from the Trump campaign, he wants America to work for him and his friends, at the expense of everyone else.
He’s offered no credible plans to address what working families are up against today. Nothing on student loans or the cost of prescription drugs. Nothing for farmers or struggling rural communities. Nothing to build a new future with clean energy and advanced agriculture.
Nothing for communities of color in our cities to overcome the barriers of systemic racism. Nothing to create new opportunities for young people. Just a more extreme version of the failed theory of trickle-down economics, with his own addition of outlandish Trumpian ideas that even Republicans reject. And as we heard him say at his convention, he may believe that he alone can fix our country, but clearly, he doesn’t know the people of Michigan. He doesn’t see the businesses, and labor unions, the local governments, the clergy coming together every single day to make things better.
So yes, there is still a long road ahead, but Michigan is on the rise. And everyone is contributing. That’s America at its best.
So I hope you will stay active and engaged and working together to create jobs and strengthen your own communities. And I hope you will work to get out the vote in November, because if we are able to win, then I want you all to work with me to build the kind of progress that America deserves to see.
We’re going to do this together. We are stronger together. Let’s go out and build the future! Thank you all, God bless you!