Friday, September 02, 2016
Hillary Clinton Has A Plan To Help American Workers
Donald Trump has made it clear that he does not support raising wages for American workers. In fact, he is on record as saying that worker wages are too high -- in spite of the fact that worker wages have been virtually stagnant for decades now.
Hillary Clinton knows that the path to a healthy and growing economy is to make sure workers make a fair wage -- a wage on which they can support their families in a decent manner. And she knows that workers in the U.S. need higher wages right now. Here is her plan to help American workers:
1. Cut middle-class taxes.
Hillary is proposing middle-class tax breaks to help families cope with the rising cost of everyday expenses, like child care and education- and she’s announced new tax credits to help families caring for an ill or aging family member. She’ll pay for them by raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans and closing loopholes in our tax code.
2. Make college affordable.
We can lift American incomes by making quality education attainable for everyone. Under Hillary’s college plan, students won’t have to take out loans for tuition or books at in-state public colleges and universities, and Americans with student loan debt will be able to refinance their loans at a lower rate.
3. Raise the minimum wage.
At $7.25 per hour, the federal minimum wage isn’t nearly enough to make ends meet. Americans who work 40 hours per week at the minimum wage earn just $15,080 a year—below the poverty threshold for a family of two or more. That’s why Hillary wants to raise the federal minimum wage to $12 an hour—and why she supports city and state efforts to raise their own minimum wage even higher.
4. Support unions.
Hillary believes unions are critical to a strong economy—and key to a strong middle class. That’s why she is fighting to protect collective bargaining rights and strengthen America’s labor movement.
5. Rebuild our infrastructure.
Hillary’s $275 billion plan will not only repair America’s roads and bridges, build world-class airports, and expand internet access—it will also create good-paying, middle-class jobs in the construction, building, and transportation industries.
6. Boost manufacturing jobs.
Manufacturing is a vital source of good-paying jobs in our economy. Hillary’s plan will spur reinvestment in communities that have lost manufacturing jobs and give more support to small manufacturers and start-ups.
7. Invest in clean energy.
Renewable energy is one of America’s fastest growing industries. Hillary launched two bold national goals to make the United States the world’s clean energy superpower and create new jobs in areas like wind and solar.
8. Lower child care costs.
In many states, child care is more expensive than college tuition, putting families in an impossible position. Along with guaranteeing paid family leave, Hillary wants to make it so that no family has to spend more than 10 percent of its income on child care.
Thursday, September 01, 2016
Most People Don't Trust Trump With Nuclear Weapons
This would be a moot question in most presidential elections. While Democrats and Republicans disagree on many issues, sometimes substantially, there is no doubt that the presidential candidates of both parties have understood that the use of nuclear weapons is unthinkable -- especially the unilateral use of those weapons.
But 2016 is a very different election year. That's because the Republican candidate, Donald Trump, has questioned why nuclear weapons couldn't be used -- and in fact, has said he would consider using them. He doesn't seem to realize that could kill hundreds of thousands of innocent people, make many new enemies for this country, and make the world a much more dangerous place.
That makes it a valid question to ask -- Do you trust Donald Trump with nuclear weapons? And a recent poll asked national respondents that question. What they found was that a majority of voters (53%) do NOT trust Trump with nuclear weapons. Only 39% said they would be comfortable with Trump's finger on the nuclear button.
The survey was done by Public Policy Polling between August 26th and 28th of a random national sample of 881 likely voters, with a margin of error of 3.3 points.
It May Be A Good Congressional Election For Democrats
The closer it gets to election day, the better it is looking for Democrats. Nearly every pundit is now predicting that Democrats will again seize the Senate, and some are starting to predict the Democrats could even finish with a House majority.
The latter will be difficult, thanks to some rather effective gerrymandering done by Republicans on the state level in 2010 -- but it is doable, especially considering the GOP residential candidate (who seems to have no coattails).
The charts above would tend to show Democrats have a real chance this year. About 46% of voters blame Republicans for the do-nothing Congress, while only 7% blame Democrats. In addition, both congressional party officials and the parties in general show that Democrats are viewed more favorably than Republicans.
These charts were made from information in a very recent Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between August 19th and 23rd of a random national sample of 1,300 voters, with a 4 point margin of error.
The Issues That Are Important In The Presidential Election
These charts are made from a recent Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between August 19th and 23rd of a random national sample of 1,300 voters, with a margin of error of 4 points.
Wisconsin Is Trending Democratic This Year
Two news polls have been taken recently of voters in Wisconsin. And they both show Hillary Clinton is leading Donald Trump in that state -- by 3 points in one poll and by 5 points in the other (top chart).
The Senate race looks even better for Democrats. Former Senator Russ Fiengold is leading current Senator Ron Johnson in both polls. Feingold lost the seat to Johnson in 2010 -- when teabaggers flocked to the polls on election day, and too many Democrats stayed at home (because it was an off-year election).
But this is an election year, and the outcome looks to be very different. Feingold is leading by 3 points in one poll and by 13 points in the other. This senate seat is almost sure to flip this year.
The presidential and senate polls are from RealClearPolitics, and they are:
Monmouth University Poll -- 8/27-30, 404 likely voters (4.9 point moe)
Marquette University Poll -- 8/25-28, 650 likely voters (5 point moe)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)