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Bernie Sanders in Houston Sunday, While Clinton Does a Weak Imitation

On July 13, Hillary Clinton delivered a ‘comprehensive’ speech on the economy that amounted to a bunch of buzzwords and no policies. While Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren call for re-implementing Glass-Steagall and breaking up the too-big-to-fail banks, in her July 13 speech, Clinton called for nothing specific. She seems to hope the public will trust her to revive the middle-class by virtue of the fact that she can spout vague platitudes.

Clinton tried the same old Democratic rhetoric. She referenced the common people she has met, hoping that the public might believe she is empathetic. Folks know that she is in the top 1% of the top 1%, but still, she went for it:

I hear this everywhere I go. The single mom who talked to me about juggling a job and classes at community college while raising three kids. She doesn’t expect anything to come easy, but if she got a raise, everything wouldn’t be quite so hard. The grandmother who works around the clock providing childcare to other people’s kids. She’s proud of her work but the pay is barely enough to live on, especially with the soaring price of her prescription drugs. The young entrepreneur whose dream of buying the bowling alley where he worked as a teenager was nearly derailed by his student debt. If he can grow his business, he’ll be able to pay off his debt and pay his employees, including himself, more, too.

Elizabeth Warren talks in specifics, about re-introducing Glass-Steagall, and breaking up big banks:

When those banks are broken up and forced to bear the consequences of the risks they take on … regulatory oversight can be lighter and clearer as well.

Bernie Sanders talks about raising the minimum wage:

…the federal minimum wage of seven dollars and a quarter (an hour) is a starvation wage that must be raised. The minimum wage must become a living wage, which means 15 bucks an hour over the next few years.

While Clinton spoke in the vaguest language possible:

I’ll also push for broader business tax reform to spur investment in America, closing those loopholes that reward companies for sending jobs and profits overseas… We must raise incomes for hard-working Americans so they can afford a middle-class life. We must drive strong and steady income growth that lifts up families and lifts up our country.

While Sanders calls for medicare for all, Hillary’s plan for health care is maintaining the status quo:

To make paychecks stretch, we need to take on the major strains on family budgets. I’ll protect the Affordable Care Act – and build on it to lower out-of-pocket health care costs and to make prescription drugs more affordable.

Some of Clinton’s vague promises seem to be directly lifted from past Obama speeches:

Our economy obviously runs on energy, and the time has come to make America the clean-energy superpower. I advocate that because these investments will create millions of jobs, save us money in the long run and help us meet the threats of climate change. And let’s fund the scientific and medical research that spawns innovative companies and creates entire new industries..

Here’s what Obama said in 2024 on the same topic:

…we will put Americans to work in new jobs that pay well and can’t be outsourced – jobs building solar panels and wind turbines; constructing fuel-efficient cars and buildings; and developing the new energy technologies that will lead to even more jobs, more savings, and a cleaner, safer planet in the bargain.

Clinton flirts vaguely with redistribution of wealth, without the guts to actually use those words. While she pretends to get it, saying things like, “Inequality is a drag on our entire economy,” even her biggest fans don’t really buy it. After the speech, her popularity among Democrats dropped. More importantly, Wall Street doesn’t buy it for a second — Clinton is a top recipient of corporate dollars, while Bernie Sanders is leading the pack of candidates in small individual donations.
Go see Bernie Sanders in Houston this Sunday July 19!

by Nick Cooper

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