“Do the math about what a minimum wage brings in, in income. If we don’t send a very clear signal that we’re all in this together, the character of America will change.”

–Hillary Clinton, 4/11/06

In the U.S. Senate


Hillary Clinton fought to tie the minimum wage to future increases in congressional salaries. Hillary Clinton repeatedly introduced the Standing with Minimum Wage Earners Act to bind future salary increases for Congress to mandatory increases in the federal minimum wage. Under the provisions of the legislation, the federal minimum wage would be “automatically increased” by “a percentage equal to the percentage by which the annual rate of pay for Members of Congress increased for such year…” Speaking to the importance of her bill, Senator Clinton said, “We can no longer stand by and regularly give ourselves a pay increase while denying a minimum wage increase to help the more than 7 million men and women working hard across this nation. At a time when working families are struggling to put food on the table, it’s critically important that we here in Washington do something. If Members of Congress need an annual cost of living adjustment, then certainly the lowest-paid members of our society do too.”

Hillary Clinton repeatedly introduced legislation to increase the federal minimum wage. Hillary Clinton’s Standing with Minimum Wage Earners Act of 2006 would have increased the federal minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour over two years. Introducing her 2006 bill, Senator Clinton stated: “I ask my colleagues to recognize the moral aspect of this issue. It is simply wrong to pay people a wage that they can barely live on… We should raise the federal minimum wage so that working parents can lift their children out of poverty. It is past time to make this investment in our children and families.” Senator Clinton’s Standing with Minimum Wage Earners Act of 2007 would have increased the federal minimum wage from $5.85 to $9.50 an hour.

Hillary Clinton cosponsored bills to increase the minimum wage five times and consistently voted to support it. Over the course of her time in the U.S. Senate, Hillary Clinton cosponsored bills to raise the federal minimum wage in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2007. Senator Clinton opposed Republican efforts to weaken the minimum wage, and she repeatedly backed Democratic efforts to raise it. Although she opposed the Iraq funding bill it was folded into, Clinton cosponsored the original version of the Fair Minimum Wage Act that increased the minimum wage for the first time in ten years, from $5.85 to $7.25 an hour. It was one of the five bills Senator Clinton cosponsored to raise the minimum wage.


As First Lady

In 1996, Hillary Clinton was a vocal supporter of successful efforts to raise the minimum wage. The San Jose Mercury News reported in 1996, “The argument for increasing the minimum wage – which first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton endorsed Saturday – is simple and direct: The wage has not been increased since 1987 and those earning minimum wage receive no benefits or vacation.” And as she wrote in “It Takes a Village,” released earlier that year, “There are additional actions we can take, through our government, to preserve our country’s promise of opportunity for all. We can raise the minimum wage, which is nearing a forty-year low; two out of five minimum-wage earners are the sole breadwinners in their households, and many recent studies show that a modest increase does not cost jobs.” In his 2007 Hillary Clinton biography “A Woman in Charge,” Carl Bernstein wrote that, “In the ten weeks since the [1996] election, she had been working with administration officials to find ways of saving vital government services and programs that Gingrich and the Republican majority were determined to eliminate in the new session of Congress. They included legal aid for the poor, educational assistance incentives, important Medicare and Medicaid benefits, pension protection, and the minimum wage.” The minimum wage was successfully increased in August of 1996.

In 1999, Hillary and Ted Kennedy worked together to push for a minimum wage increase. As she said at a White House event with Ted Kennedy in September 1999,“America can afford to raise the minimum wage. The last time it was raised in 1996, 10 million Americans got a raise and the economy continued to create jobs at an unprecedented pace. Now raising the minimum wage is certainly an American issue and a human issue, but it is particularly a woman’s issue. It is also a children’s issue and a family issue. So I would hope that every member of Congress—the next time they visit a parent in a nursing home, sit down in a restaurant for a meal, see someone cleaning their office, or know what goes on in so many other settings where people work hard every day—would want every American to share in this kind of prosperity, and would want to raise the minimum wage.” Unfortunately, their push was unsuccessful.
Today

Hillary argues that a minimum wage increase will drive our economy by closing the wage gap between men and women. At a recent speech before the United Methodist Women Assembly, &feature=youtu.be&t=32m34s Hillary Clinton made the case for an increase in the minimum wage saying, “Twenty years ago, American women made 72 cents on the dollar; today, it’s still not equal. Women hold a majority of lower-wage jobs in our country, and nearly three-quarters of all jobs that rely on tips, like waiters, and bartenders, and hair stylists, which pay even less than the average hourly work wage. Now, holding back women is not right, but it’s also not smart. No country can truly thrive by denying the contributions of any of its people, let alone, half of its people…
&feature=youtu.be&t=34m3s

But if we took a different approach, women can drive economic recovery and growth, they can lift up themselves, their families, and countries, if we ensure equal pay for equal work, if we raise the minimum wage…”

05/27/2016 08:43 am ET

Crunching the numbers shows that independents couldn’t have won Bernie Sanders the nomination. Declining trust in political institutions could be driving support for Sanders and Donald Trump. And the “gold standard” of polling isn’t so pristine these days. This is HuffPollster for Friday, May 27, 2016.

CLINTON WOULD HAVE WON IN ANY PRIMARY SYSTEM - Harry Enten and Nate Silver: “Sanders fans have claimed that because caucuses have lower turnout the current national caucus and primary vote underrates how well Sanders is doing. In fact, the opposite is true. When we switch all caucuses over to primaries, Sanders actually does worse. Clinton’s lead in the popular vote would grow from 2.9 to 3.3 million votes. Moreover, her edge in elected delegates would expand significantly….But what would happen if every state held a primary that was open to independent voters? Clinton’s margin in the national popular vote shrinks to about 8 percentage points (from 12)….In fact, if all states held primaries open to independents — instead of closed primaries, or caucuses of any kind — Clinton might have a larger lead in elected delegates than she does now….Realistically, if you throw everything together, the math suggests that Sanders doesn’t have much to complain about. If the Democratic nomination were open to as many Democrats as possible — through closed primaries — Clinton would be dominating Sanders. And if the nomination were open to as many voters as possible — through open primaries — she’d still be winning. [538]

Bernie Sanders voters will likely rally behind Clinton - Alan Abramowitz: “There is mounting concern in Democratic Party circles that even after Clinton clinches the nomination... she will have difficulty winning over Sanders’ base of young, liberal voters… An examination of survey data from the 2008 presidential election, an election in which Democrats experienced an equally if not more contentious nomination battle between Clinton and Barack Obama, suggests that unifying Democrats may actually be easier in 2016 than it was in 2008. The major reason for this is that Donald Trump is a far less attractive alternative to disgruntled Democrats than John McCain was in 2008….Sanders supporters probably do not have to love Clinton in order to vote for her in the general election. They merely have to like her as well or better than Trump, and that should be a very easy bar to clear.” [UVA Center for Politics]




More Poll News at Huffington Pollster

By Claude Brodesser-Akner | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on May 28, 2016 at 9:00 AM, updated May 28, 2016 at 9:42 PM

WOODBRIDGE — In an interview with NJ Advance Media on Friday, former President Bill Clinton argued that serving as U.S. secretary of state is the best training for the presidency than at any other time in modern memory.

"This is the first time I can remember the domestic and international responsibilities are so tied up together," Clinton said during a visit to the Reo Diner in Woodbridge.

The former president made the comments shortly after appearing at a rally at nearby Edison High School to campaign for his wife, Hillary Clinton, the former U.S. secretary of state who is now the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination.

"There's turmoil in elections everywhere," Bill Clinton said. "You've been watching it in Europe. You know, they had a very close election in Austria over whether they should basically close the borders."

Earlier this week, Austrians went the polls to elect their own president, and were faced with an eerily similar version of Donald Trump: Norbert Hofer, a right wing populist, had campaigned with a Trump-inspired slogan of "putting Austria first," a promise build a fence along Austria's southern border and to "stop the invasion of Muslims."

Hofer won the first round of voting but narrowly lost in a run-off election.

"It's very important that the next president be strong enough in international relations," Clinton said. "You know, keep us safe, but also: Give us the space we need to keep growing (economically). Because if we get stronger, it'll drag the right world in the right direction, and a lot of these tensions will go down."

The former president argued that Hillary Clinton's expertise in global diplomacy wasn't merely helpful, but practically a job requirement for a president who'll run a nation that's nearly a fourth of the economic output of the global economy.

"We just had a report in the last couple weeks that America's growth was dragged down in the last quarter," the former president said. "At a time when we're hiring people, wages are finally rising, we're coming back, was dragged down by all this trouble in the world."

Continued...

May. 28, 2016 1:41 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic officials have rejected Bernie Sanders' request to remove two high-profile Hillary Clinton supporters from leadership positions at the party's summer convention.

snip

Democratic officials responded to Sanders' request on Saturday, saying in a letter that Malloy and Frank were elected under party rules and that Sanders wasn't alleging any violations of that process.

The DNC says it reviewed the challenge, found it failed to meet the criteria and "we are compelled to dismiss it."


http://bigstory.ap.org/article/a9a368ce98164309aa0a3f4cd74ad6c8/sanders-fails-oust-clinton-backers-convention-roles

A number of comments over the past week or so have suggested we should try and focus on some of the positive stories about HRC that get lost in the noise of the outrage of the day. I took the suggestion to heart and decided to highlight a few of the causes and initiatives HRC has championed over the years either directly or in conjunction with activists, NGOs and political leaders. Some are links to organizations who have chosen to highlight either HRC’s involvement with them or her documented statements supporting their causes on their websites. Please click on the links to learn about the individual groups and/or initiatives etc...as there is only so much I could cut and paste before this got way too big.
This is not meant to be an exhaustive compilation of HRC’s involvement in social advocacy or a recitation of her land-mark speeches and most of the items I have included are more obscure and may not be considered “worthy” of front-page coverage in the MSM (because HRC does not need constant positive reinforcement from the media to do what she thinks is right). In addition, these causes and initiatives are specifically related to Women’s Rights, not because they are the more important than any other issue, but because they are as equally important as any other issue.
Finally, you may have seen these videos, read these stories, know the successes or failure rate of any given advocacy etc...That’s great and please share your views — this edition of HNV is not to proclaim HRC the most successful champion/politician/woman of all time, it is simply to highlight her deep connection to, and advocacy for women’s issues. Cheers.

This video is not the beginning of HRC’s advocacy on Women’s Rights but it is perhaps the most famous speech she has ever given (well until her acceptance speech in November and then inaugural speech in January). I have included it not because it will provide anyone with new information but because it is incredibly powerful and deserves to be heard many times over.

From this video you can see that HRC is passionate about Women’s rights which includes women’s access to reproductive care. I love this next video because it shows what a strong, unflinching and intelligent advocate HRC is on behalf of women and their right to choose when, where and if to start families. On a side note — is it me or does Christopher Smith refer to HRC as the “distinguished gentleman” when her yields to her?

Speaking of reproductive rights, HRC is also a strong ally to those seeking to end child marriage — she understands that forcing young girls to marry and bear children while they are children themselves is not only is morally wrong but frequently consigns the girl and her children to a lifetime of poverty, servitude and in many cases abuse.
Here are a few quotes from HRC on this issue and links to a few stories and organizations HRC has had some involvement with in the past.

Hillary Clinton Catches Up With Her Hero Nujood Ali​
Stopping child marriage is not just a must for moral or human rights reasons—it lays the foundation for so many other things we hope to achieve. Primary education. Improved child and maternal health. Sustainable economic development that includes girls.

http://www.glamour.com/story/glamour-exclusive-hillary-clinton-catches-up-with-her-hero-nujood-ali

BY Christopher Brennan
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Updated: Friday, May 27, 2016, 8:32 AM

The self-aggrandizing “Pharma Bro” known for hiking up the price of an AIDS drug has thrown his political support behind a man with another giant ego: Donald Trump.

Martin Shkreli, the 33-year-old former CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, said on Twitter Thursday that he would vote for the presumptive Republican nominee in his likely general election matchup.

“I haven't been called by the Trump camp. I support him vs. Hillary,” he said, adding that the brash billionaire should pick an experienced vice presidential candidate.

Shkreli, who is currently awaiting trial for securities fraud, said later that “all you people who don't like trump are jealous, stupid and poor! don't make me laugh!”

Continued at NY Daily News

By Melissa McEwan
May 27, 2016


In a Q&A with TIME, Bernie Sanders positions himself as arbiter of the Democratic Party’s future, goes hard negative on the Clintons, calls a progressive activist (and a BNR founder) “scum of the Earth,” and reiterates one of the most delusional talking points of 2015—that he’s the “strongest candidate to beat Donald Trump.” We are longtime activists, advocates, and Democrats, and we reject the hubris that would have one man disparage the work of millions who don’t happen to agree with him.

Dear Bernie,

Reading your recent TIME interview, we felt the need to respond.

First, it says so much that you’re willing to use the term “scum of the earth” about someone who has helped build progressive infrastructure, but not about Donald Trump and his sleazy operatives, who you’re obsequiously hoping will breathe new life into your campaign.

Second, when you speak about the Democratic Party as its self-appointed savior, do you realize how that offends millions of rank and file Democrats who support the nominee-to-be Hillary Clinton? Not to mention the thousands of elected Democrats who have worked their hearts out to promote Democratic and progressive causes?

Do you really imagine that, at the local level, Democrats—elected and activists—are only debating whether or not they are beholden to Wall Street billionaires? We’re working ourselves to early graves fighting for clean water, good schools, early childcare programs, abortion access, jobs programs, equality measures, library funding, needle exchanges, infrastructure improvements, dog parks, lunch programs, fair housing, and countless other issues that are more immediate and personal than the sweeping broadsides you make against “the establishment.”

Continued at Blue Nation Review