Hillary Clinton Sheds Progressive Façade With Bold Rightward Lurch
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/clinton_sheds_progressive_facade_with_bo
ld_rightward_lurch_20151119/
Posted on Nov 19, 2015
By Sarah Lazare / Common Dreams
Joseph Sohm / Shutterstock
From her call for a major air and ground war against ISIS to her attack on
single-payer, observers note that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is
rapidly shedding her progressive façade as she grows increasingly
confident she has the Democratic nomination locked down (an assumption
which, evidence shows, is debatable).
This trend comes despite her declaration during the first Democratic debate
in October, after being pressed by the CNN moderator: I dont take a
backseat to anyone when it comes to progressive experience and progressive
commitment.
Growing more hawkish by the day
In case there was any doubt, Clintons much-anticipated foreign policy
speech on Thursday makes it clear she plans to run on her hawkish
credentials.
Speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, Clinton called for
a new phase in the fight against the Islamic State (referred to as ISIS or
IS), including a major intensification in a bombing campaign; ground forces
actually taking back more territory; an intelligence surge; and no-fly
zones over Syria. Our goal is not to deter or contain ISIS, but to defeat
and destroy ISIS, she said, in an implicit criticism of President Barack
Obama as being too tepid on military interventionand a signal that she
intends to tack far to his right.
Since working under Obamas White Househardly the image of restraintthats
exactly what Clinton has been doing. As Bob and Barbara Dreyfuss recently
pointed out last year, Clinton used her secretary of state role to
consistently advocate escalation of military force, from Afghanistan to
Libya to Syria, making her the pro-war wing of the Obama administration.
Clinton has only moved further in the militarist direction after exiting the
administration, expressing skepticism of the nuclear deal between world
powers and Iran, escalating her rhetoric towards Russia, and proclaiming an
unbreakable bond with the widely-reviled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu.
Clinton has stated publicly that she believes that her vote in favor of the
2003 invasion of Iraq was wrong and has been pressed on this issue during
the campaign, including during Saturdays Democratic debate, where she
admitted: I dont think any sensible person would disagree that the
invasion of Iraq led to the massive level of instability we are seeing right
now.
But as many others have pointed out, in the years since Clinton cast her
vote in favor of the Iraq War, she appears to have learned nothing. If
Hillary Clinton wins her partys nomination, Voxs Zack Beauchamp warned in
April, shell be the most hawkish Democratic nominee since the Iraq War
began.
Attacking Bernie Sanders on Single-Payer Healthcare
Speaking in Dallas on Tuesday, Clinton launched an unbridled attack on
Bernie Sanders plan for a single-payer, publicly-funded, universal
healthcare program. I dont see how you can be serious about raising
working and middle class families incomes if you also want to slap new
taxes on themno matter what the taxes will pay for, she said.
Her statements were followed up by those of top Clinton aides speaking to
media outlets. If you are truly concerned about raising incomes for
middle-class families, the last thing you should do is cut their take-home
pay right off the bat by raising their taxes, spokesperson Brian Fallon
told Politico.
The push captured the ire of single-payer advocates, including National
Nurses United. Any politician that refuses to finance guaranteed healthcare
has abandoned my patients, and I will never abandon my patients, said NNU
Co-President Jean Ross, RN.
According to Slate staff writer Jim Newell, Clinton is essentially
red-baiting about Bernie Sanders Wacky Taxes in her dismissal of a policy
that, on paper, draws plenty of support among Democratic voters.
Newell argued that Clinton, in fact, is going further than many in her own
party by appropriating one of the rights central talking points against
government-funded universal health insurance: Think of the taxes! Shes not
just saying that a single-payer system is a political nonstarter with
conservatives. Shes reciting the actual conservative talking point that
would make a single-payer system a political nonstarter.
Huffington Post correspondent Jonathan Cohn recently noted that Clinton
appears to have intensified her tactic of attacking Sanders at the
Democratic debate on Saturday. However, Cohn argued, when Clinton and her
aides talk about the Sanders agenda, they always leave out some critical
context. The proposals on healthcare, college tuition and the like would
yield benefits that, in many cases, would flow to the middle class and
offset the impact of those new taxes.
In short, Cohn added, the Clinton campaign has made a conscious decision
here. It is not merely criticizing Sanders for suspicious math. It is
suggesting the test for any proposed initiative is what taxes it imposes,
regardless of what benefits it might bring.
Going to bat for Wall Street, not workers
Also on Saturday, Clintondespite her vows to tackle Wall Streetreiterated
her opposition to the Glass Steagall Act, which was repealed by her husband
in 1999 and would break up big banks by splitting investment and commercial
banking. Her position, in fact, is popular with Wall Street, but
increasingly unpopular with those demanding economic equality and
accountability for the financial institutions behind the 2008 financial
crisis.
The big six banks in this country have 43 percent more deposits, 81 percent
more assets and three times the amount of cash they had before the financial
crisis, author and Demos fellow Nomi Prins said last month. A major reason
America has such an inequality problem is that it has a highly concentrated,
establishment-supported casino banking system that disperses capital toward
more risky endeavors than infrastructure building and small and mid-size
business support.
Meanwhile, Walmart workers on Wednesday took their demands for $15 an hour
to the Brooklyn headquarters of Clinton, who refused their request for all
candidates to address their demands at last weeks debates.
I was recently fired for my activism after working at Walmart for five
years but I am fasting to try and improve the working conditions and wages
for all of my friends still working at the store, declared Tyfani Faulkner,
a former Walmart customer service manager in Sacramento, CA. I am going to
Hillary Clintons office to demand that she speak up for me, for my daughter
and for the tens of thousands of Walmart workers across this country working
and living in poverty.
http://www.truthdig.com/ http://www.truthdig.com/
Hillary Clinton Sheds Progressive Façade With Bold Rightward Lurch
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/clinton_sheds_progressive_facade_with_bo
ld_rightward_lurch_20151119/
Posted on Nov 19, 2015
By Sarah Lazare / Common Dreams
Joseph Sohm / Shutterstock
From her call for a major air and ground war against ISIS to her attack on
single-payer, observers note that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is
rapidly shedding her progressive façade as she grows increasingly
confident she has the Democratic nomination locked down (an assumption
which, evidence shows, is debatable).
This trend comes despite her declaration during the first Democratic debate
in October, after being pressed by the CNN moderator: I dont take a
backseat to anyone when it comes to progressive experience and progressive
commitment.
Growing more hawkish by the day
In case there was any doubt, Clintons much-anticipated foreign policy
speech on Thursday makes it clear she plans to run on her hawkish
credentials.
Speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, Clinton called for
a new phase in the fight against the Islamic State (referred to as ISIS or
IS), including a major intensification in a bombing campaign; ground forces
actually taking back more territory; an intelligence surge; and no-fly
zones over Syria. Our goal is not to deter or contain ISIS, but to defeat
and destroy ISIS, she said, in an implicit criticism of President Barack
Obama as being too tepid on military interventionand a signal that she
intends to tack far to his right.
Since working under Obamas White Househardly the image of restraintthats
exactly what Clinton has been doing. As Bob and Barbara Dreyfuss recently
pointed out last year, Clinton used her secretary of state role to
consistently advocate escalation of military force, from Afghanistan to
Libya to Syria, making her the pro-war wing of the Obama administration.
Clinton has only moved further in the militarist direction after exiting the
administration, expressing skepticism of the nuclear deal between world
powers and Iran, escalating her rhetoric towards Russia, and proclaiming an
unbreakable bond with the widely-reviled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu.
Clinton has stated publicly that she believes that her vote in favor of the
2003 invasion of Iraq was wrong and has been pressed on this issue during
the campaign, including during Saturdays Democratic debate, where she
admitted: I dont think any sensible person would disagree that the
invasion of Iraq led to the massive level of instability we are seeing right
now.
But as many others have pointed out, in the years since Clinton cast her
vote in favor of the Iraq War, she appears to have learned nothing. If
Hillary Clinton wins her partys nomination, Voxs Zack Beauchamp warned in
April, shell be the most hawkish Democratic nominee since the Iraq War
began.
Attacking Bernie Sanders on Single-Payer Healthcare
Speaking in Dallas on Tuesday, Clinton launched an unbridled attack on
Bernie Sanders plan for a single-payer, publicly-funded, universal
healthcare program. I dont see how you can be serious about raising
working and middle class families incomes if you also want to slap new
taxes on themno matter what the taxes will pay for, she said.
Her statements were followed up by those of top Clinton aides speaking to
media outlets. If you are truly concerned about raising incomes for
middle-class families, the last thing you should do is cut their take-home
pay right off the bat by raising their taxes, spokesperson Brian Fallon
told Politico.
The push captured the ire of single-payer advocates, including National
Nurses United. Any politician that refuses to finance guaranteed healthcare
has abandoned my patients, and I will never abandon my patients, said NNU
Co-President Jean Ross, RN.
According to Slate staff writer Jim Newell, Clinton is essentially
red-baiting about Bernie Sanders Wacky Taxes in her dismissal of a policy
that, on paper, draws plenty of support among Democratic voters.
Newell argued that Clinton, in fact, is going further than many in her own
party by appropriating one of the rights central talking points against
government-funded universal health insurance: Think of the taxes! Shes not
just saying that a single-payer system is a political nonstarter with
conservatives. Shes reciting the actual conservative talking point that
would make a single-payer system a political nonstarter.
Huffington Post correspondent Jonathan Cohn recently noted that Clinton
appears to have intensified her tactic of attacking Sanders at the
Democratic debate on Saturday. However, Cohn argued, when Clinton and her
aides talk about the Sanders agenda, they always leave out some critical
context. The proposals on healthcare, college tuition and the like would
yield benefits that, in many cases, would flow to the middle class and
offset the impact of those new taxes.
In short, Cohn added, the Clinton campaign has made a conscious decision
here. It is not merely criticizing Sanders for suspicious math. It is
suggesting the test for any proposed initiative is what taxes it imposes,
regardless of what benefits it might bring.
Going to bat for Wall Street, not workers
Also on Saturday, Clintondespite her vows to tackle Wall Streetreiterated
her opposition to the Glass Steagall Act, which was repealed by her husband
in 1999 and would break up big banks by splitting investment and commercial
banking. Her position, in fact, is popular with Wall Street, but
increasingly unpopular with those demanding economic equality and
accountability for the financial institutions behind the 2008 financial
crisis.
The big six banks in this country have 43 percent more deposits, 81 percent
more assets and three times the amount of cash they had before the financial
crisis, author and Demos fellow Nomi Prins said last month. A major reason
America has such an inequality problem is that it has a highly concentrated,
establishment-supported casino banking system that disperses capital toward
more risky endeavors than infrastructure building and small and mid-size
business support.
Meanwhile, Walmart workers on Wednesday took their demands for $15 an hour
to the Brooklyn headquarters of Clinton, who refused their request for all
candidates to address their demands at last weeks debates.
I was recently fired for my activism after working at Walmart for five
years but I am fasting to try and improve the working conditions and wages
for all of my friends still working at the store, declared Tyfani Faulkner,
a former Walmart customer service manager in Sacramento, CA. I am going to
Hillary Clintons office to demand that she speak up for me, for my daughter
and for the tens of thousands of Walmart workers across this country working
and living in poverty.
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