“‘Stronger Together’ is not just a slogan for our campaign. It’s a guiding principle for the future we’re going to build.”
All photos by Anne C. Savage, special to Eclectablog.
Hillary Clinton was in Warren, Michigan today and continued to outline the stark contrast between her vision for America and Donald Trump’s dystopian view of our incredible country.”He describes America as an embarrassment,” she said. “He said – quote — ‘We’re becoming a third-world country.’ “I don’t believe that. We have a lot of urgent and important work to do – and that’s what I’m going to talk about today – but all the people I’ve met in this campaign have convinced me that Donald Trump is wrong. America’s best days are still ahead of us.”
The speech was delivered at Futuramic Tool & Engineering, a company that began in 1955 as an automotive industry supplier that has evolved into working in the aerospace industry on the military with the F35 fighter jet and with NASA, manufacturing parts for the SLS Rocket Booster, a component of a future manned space mission to Mars.
“In Ann Arbor, high tech firms are thriving,” Clinton reminded the crowd. “The next generation of engineers are getting trained up in Houghton. And here at Futuramic, you’re on the front lines of what we hope will be a true manufacturing renaissance.”
During her speech, Clinton addressed a topic that is on the minds of many Michiganders – the Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement. Once a supporter, Clinton has changed her position and no longer supports the trade deal that most see as compromising the position of American workers. Clinton told the crowd, “My message to every worker in Michigan and across America is this: I will stop any trade deal that kills jobs or holds down wages – including the Trans-Pacific Partnership. I oppose it now, I’ll oppose it after the election, and I’ll oppose it as President.”
Clinton also condemned Trump’s hypocrisy on trade. “Now, before he tweets about how he’s really one who’ll put ‘America First’ in trade, let’s remember where Trump makes many of his own products. Because it’s sure 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. That’s just wrong.
“We created a website — hillaryclinton.com/make-it-here — with a list of a hundred places across the United States already producing similar goods. One positive thing Trump could do to make America great again is to actually make great things in America again.”
Clinton made it clear that this campaign is more than just about winning an election for her. “My mission will be to make our economy work for everyone, not just those at the top,” she said. “This is personal for me. I’m a product of the American middle class.
Here is the full speech with the transcript below:
It’s wonderful to be back in Michigan. You can feel the energy and dynamism driving this state’s come-back.
In Detroit, new businesses are opening. Neighborhoods like Midtown and Eastern Market are coming back. And, the auto industry just had its best year ever.
In Ann Arbor, high tech firms are thriving. The next generation of engineers are getting trained up in Houghton and here at Futuramic, you’re on the front lines of what we hope will be a true manufacturing renaissance.
Of course, none of us can be satisfied until the economic revitalization we’re seeing in some parts of Michigan reaches every community. But it’s inspiring to see this combination of old-fashioned hard work and cutting-edge innovation.
I just wish my opponent in this election saw the same Michigan I do. When Donald Trump visited Detroit on Monday, he talked only of failure, poverty, and crime. He’s missing so much.
And the same is true when it comes to our country. He describes America as an embarrassment. He said – quote — “We’re becoming a third-world country.”
I don’t believe that. We have a lot of urgent and important work to do – and that’s what I’m going to talk about today – but all the people I’ve met in this campaign have convinced me that Donald Trump is wrong. America’s best days are still ahead of us.
Consider our assets: We have the most dynamic, productive workforce in the world. The most innovative businesses. The top colleges and universities. The best science and technology. And enormous capacity for clean energy production.
We’re resilient, determined, and hard-working… There’s nothing America can’t do – if we do it together.
Donald Trump doesn’t understand any of this. And he hasn’t offered any credible solutions for the very real economic challenges we face.
Those challenges emerged long before the recession, and they’ve persisted through our recovery. There’s too much inequality, too little upward mobility, and it’s just too hard to get ahead.
There are common-sense things government could do that would give Americans more opportunities to succeed — but powerful special interests and the tendency to put ideology ahead of practical progress have led to gridlock in Congress.
Many hard-working Americans are frustrated – even angry. They feel like they’re out there on their own and no one has their back. That’s not how it’s supposed to be in America. And if I am fortunate enough to be your President, I will have your back every single day.
My mission will be to make our economy work for everyone, not just those at the top.
This is personal for me. I’m a product of the American middle class.
My grandfather worked at the same lace mill in Scranton, Pennsylvania, for fifty years. And because he did, my father was able to go to college, and eventually start his own small business – and send me off into the world to follow my dreams.
No matter how far those dreams have taken me, I’ve always remembered that I’m the daughter of a small-business owner and the granddaughter of a factory worker — and proud of it.
I want every American family to be able to tell the same story. If you work hard and do your part, you should be able to give your children all the opportunities they deserve. That’s the basic bargain of America.
Whether we will be able to renew that bargain on even better terms for the 21st century depends in no small part on the outcome of this election.
So here are four questions that the American people should ask of both candidates — and our answers should make your choice in November crystal clear:
First, which candidate has a real plan to create good-paying jobs?
Second, who will restore fairness to our economy and ensure that those at the top pay their fair share?
Third, who will really go to bat for working families?
And, fourth, who can bring people together and deliver results that will make a difference in your lives?
I hope that after giving a fair hearing to both sides, you’ll join the millions of people across the country supporting our campaign – not just Democrats, but a growing number of Republicans and Independents as well.
When it comes to creating jobs, it’s not even close. Even conservative experts say Trump’s agenda will pull our economy back into recession. And according to an independent analysis by a former economic advisor to Senator John McCain, if you add up all of Trump’s ideas – from cutting taxes for the wealthy and corporations to starting a trade war with China to deporting millions of hard-working immigrants — the result would be a loss of 3.4 million jobs.
By contrast, the same analyst found that with my plans, the economy would create more than 10 million new jobs.
Let me tell you how we’ll do it.
I believe every American willing to work hard should be able to find a job that provides dignity, pride, and decent pay that can support a family.
So starting on Day One, we will work with both parties to pass the biggest investment in new, good-paying jobs since World War II.
We’ll put Americans to work building and modernizing our roads, bridges, railways, and airports.
We’ll help cities like Detroit and Flint connect under-served neighborhoods to opportunity, expand affordable housing, and repair schools and failing water systems.
We should be ambitious: Let’s connect every household to broadband by the year 2020. And let’s build a cleaner, more resilient power grid with enough renewable energy to power every home in the country.
Some country is going to be the clean energy superpower of the 21st century and create millions of jobs. It’s probably going to be China, Germany, or America. I want it to be us!
And here’s something you don’t always hear enough from Democrats: a big part of our plan will be unleashing the power of the private sector to create more jobs at higher pay.
We’ll create an infrastructure bank to get private funds off the sidelines and complement our public investments. $25 billion in seed funding could unlock more than $200 billion and really get our country moving.
We’re also going to invest $10 billion in “Make it in America” partnerships to support American manufacturing… and recommit to scientific research that can create entire new industries.
Let’s also expand incentives like the New Markets Tax Credit that can bring business, government, and communities together to create good jobs in places that have been left out or left behind…
From neglected neighborhoods in Detroit and Flint to Logging Country, Coal Country, and Native American communities…
From rural areas ravaged by addiction and lost jobs to industrial regions hollowed out when factories close.
As President, I’ll also make a major push to empower small businesses and entrepreneurs…
With new national initiatives to cut red tape at every level and expand access to credit, especially through community banks and credit unions.
I’ll propose a new plan to dramatically simplify tax filing for small businesses. Right now, the smallest businesses spend 20 times more per employee to prepare their taxes compared to their larger competitors. It should be as easy as printing out a bank statement.
Let’s free entrepreneurs to do what they do best – innovate, grow, and hire. In America, if you can dream it, you should be able to build it.
Donald Trump has a different view. He’s made a career of stiffing small businesses from Atlantic City to Las Vegas. There are companies that were left hanging but paid their workers anyway — putting businesses they’d worked a lifetime to build at risk. It wasn’t because Trump couldn’t pay them, it was because he wouldn’t pay them.
Now, we have to do more to create jobs, but we also have to create better jobs.
For example, our modern service economy is empowering consumers with more choices and greater flexibility. But we need to do more to empower the workers in our service sector too. The people taking care of our children and our parents deserve a good wage, good benefits, and a secure retirement.
And, it’s crucial that every American has access to the education and skills they need to get the jobs of the future.
So we’ll fight to make college tuition-free for the middle class and debt-free for all.
We’ll also liberate millions of people who already have student debt by making it easier to refinance and repay what you owe as a portion of your income so you never have to pay more than you can afford.
It’s not right that Donald Trump can ignore his debts, but students and families can’t refinance theirs.
And here’s something neither party talks about enough: a four-year degree shouldn’t be the only path to a good job. You should be able to learn a skill, practice a trade, and make a good living doing it.
So many Americans have the talent and the will to succeed — whether they’re kids right out of high school or older people displaced by automation and outsourcing.
For too long, big promises about the power of training and retraining haven’t delivered like they should. It doesn’t help anyone to be trained for a job that doesn’t exist.
So we’ll support high-quality union training programs, propose new tax credits to encourage more companies to offer paid apprenticeships that let you earn while you learn, and do more to dignify skills training across the board – for welders, machinists, health technicians, and so many other fields.
I’m sure some of you are thinking, that all sounds good. But what about trade? After all, Trump talks about it all the time.
Well, let’s start with this: It’s true that too often, past trade deals have been sold to the American people with rosy scenarios that didn’t pan out. Those promises now ring hollow in many communities across Michigan and our country that have seen factories close and jobs disappear.
Too many companies lobbied for trade deals so they could sell products abroad but instead moved abroad and sold back into the United States.
It’s also true that China and other countries have gamed the system for too long. Enforcement — especially during the Bush administration — has been too lax. Investments at home that would make us more competitive have been blocked. And American workers and communities have paid the price.
But the answer is not to rant and rave – or to cut ourselves off from the world. That would kill even more jobs. The answer is to finally make trade work for us, not against us.
So my message to every worker in Michigan and across America is this: I will stop any trade deal that kills jobs or holds down wages – including the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
I oppose it now, I’ll oppose it after the election, and I’ll oppose it as President.
As a Senator, I fought to defend New York’s manufacturers and steel-makers from unfair Chinese trading practices.
And I opposed the only multilateral trade deal that came before the Senate while I was there, because it didn’t meet my high bar.
As Secretary of State, I fought hard for American businesses to get a fair shot around the world and to stop underhanded trading practices like currency manipulation and theft of intellectual property.
As President, I’ll stand up to China and anyone else who tries to take advantage of American workers and companies.
I’m going to ramp up enforcement by appointing a new chief trade prosecutor, tripling the number of enforcement officers, and when countries break the rules, we won’t hesitate to impose targeted tariffs.
And Trump? He may talk a big game on trade, but his approach is based on fear, not strength. Fear that we can’t compete with the rest of the world even when the rules are fair. Fear that our country has no choice but to hide behind walls.
If Team USA was as fearful as Trump, Michael Phelps and Simone Biles would be cowering in the locker room. Instead, they’re winning gold medals. Because America isn’t afraid to compete.
Right now, thousands of Michigan companies are exporting billions of dollars of products around the world. We want them to sell even more – and create more jobs here at home.
But corporations shouldn’t abandon profitable operations here to move abroad, just to give shareholders a quicker return, CEOs a bigger bonus, and unions a weaker hand to play.
Now, before he tweets about how he’s really one who’ll put “America First” in trade, let’s remember where Trump makes many of his own products. Because it’s sure 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. That’s just wrong.
We created a website — hillaryclinton.com/make-it-here — with a list of a hundred places across the United States already producing similar goods.
One positive thing Trump could do to make America great again is to actually make great things in America again.
Now, let’s look at the second question: which candidate will fight for fairness?
This is an urgent need. The tide isn’t rising fast enough, and it’s certainly not lifting all boats. Since the crash, too many of the gains have gone to the top 1 percent.
The rules and incentives of our economy reward corporations for putting short-term stock prices above long-term investments in 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 should stop that, and instead make them give back tax breaks they received here at home. For those that move their headquarters overseas to avoid paying their fair share of taxes, they should pay a new exit tax.
And Wall Street, corporations, and the super-rich should finally pay their fair share of taxes.
I support the Buffet 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 been calling for years.
What does Trump say? There’s a myth out there that he’ll stick it to the rich and powerful because, at heart, 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… and let insurance companies write their own rules again.
Trump would roll back tough rules on the financial industry. I’ll do the opposite – we should strengthen those rules so that Wall Street can never wreck Main Street again!
Trump even wants to eliminate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which has already returned more than $11 billion to 25 million Americans. Why would you get rid of that?
Then there’s 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 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.
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, 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 this 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. But it would do nothing for 99.8 percent of Americans. Let me repeat that: the Trump family gets 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 fund about a year’s worth of federal assistance to state and local law enforcement. That’s a better way 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 in our veterans, our kids, and our police officers. You can judge for yourself about our values.
Now, it’s true that both of us have proposed to cut taxes for middle class families. As usual, he’s making big promises. But, his advisors have said that he may not stand by them. Instead, the tax cuts he doubled down on in his speech on Monday offer trillions to the richest Americans and corporations. One of the differences between Donald Trump and me is that I’ll stand by my plans.
So this is another case of the old saying that “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”
This 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. And 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 costs to 10 percent of family income.
On Monday, Trump offered his first real ideas on this topic. Previously, he dismissed concerns about childcare. He said it was, quote, “not an expensive thing” because you just need some blocks and you need some swings.
Now he says he wants to exclude childcare payments from taxation. But his plan was panned left, right, and center – because it’s transparently designed for rich people.
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.
We can do better. 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 Donald Trump’s plan largely ignores.
This is just a 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. Yet for some reason, Trump’s against it.
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 economy already offers it. But again, Trump’s against it.
Raising the federal minimum wage won’t just put more money in the pocket of low-income families – it also means they spend more money at the businesses in their neighborhoods. Trump’s against that as well.
Expanding Social Security won’t just help older Americans retire with dignity – it will ease burdens on families and communities.
Passing comprehensive immigration reform won’t just help keep hard-working families together – it will grow our entire economy.
Strengthening unions doesn’t just serve their members – it leads to better pay, benefits, and working conditions for all employees.
And giving Americans in every state the choice of a public-option health insurance plan won’t just help those who struggle to afford coverage – it will strengthen competition and drive down costs for everyone.
These are all causes I’ve worked on for decades. I believe they point to a fundamental truth about our economy. It may seem zero-sum when you’re competing for a job, a promotion, or a contract – someone wins and someone loses. But that’s not the full picture. If you step back, you’ll see that we really are all in this together.
If we grow together, we can all rise together. Because we’re stronger together.
And that’s why the fourth question is key: Who can bring people together to get any of this done?
What we need is serious, steady leadership that can find common ground and build on it based on hard but respectful bargaining.
Leadership that rises above personal attacks and name calling, not revels in it.
Donald Trump insults, shouts down, and bullies his opponents. He can’t even play nice with his friends.
I know it’s hard to imagine, but there was a time when Democrats and Republicans actually worked together. I know because 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, rebuilt New York after 9/11, and passed a treaty reducing the threat from Russia’s nuclear weapons.
So I am convinced we can work together again.
One of the reasons I asked Tim Kaine to be my running mate is that he has a record of working across the aisle to get things done, as a mayor, governor, and now Senator.
Together, we’ll make full use of the White House’s power to convene. We’ll get everyone at the table – not just Republicans and Democrats, but business and labor leaders… academics and experts… and, most importantly, all of you. I want working people to have a real say in your government again.
That means we have to get unaccountable money out of our politics, overturn Citizens United, and expand voting rights, not restrict them.
Starting even before the election, we will bring together leaders from across our economy and our communities for meetings on jobs, American competitiveness, and working families. We all need to pull together and give our country the best chance to succeed.
The bottom line is this: I’m running for President to build an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top.
Donald Trump 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 and struggling rural communities looking to build a new future with clean energy and advanced agriculture.
Nothing for communities of color in our cities to overcome barriers of systemic racism and create new opportunities for young people.
All he does offer is an even more extreme version of the failed theory of trickle-down economics, with the addition of his own unique Trumpian spin – outlandish ideas that even many Republicans reject.
Trump may believe that he “alone can fix” our country. Clearly, he doesn’t know the people of Michigan. He doesn’t see businesses, labor unions, local government, clergy and community leaders coming together every single day to make things better.
Yes, there is still a long road ahead, but Michigan is on the rise. And everyone is contributing. That’s America at its best.
I hope you’ll stay active and engaged – working together to create jobs and build up your communities… working together to get out the vote and win in November… and working together after the election to press for the real progress we need.
As your president, I’ll be your partner every step of the way. Because our nation needs every one of us to lend our energy, talents, and ambition to making America better.
“Stronger Together” is not just a slogan for our campaign. It’s a guiding principle for the future we’re going to build.
And it’s the choice we’ve got to make this November… whether our country will work for everyone, or just for those at the top.
Whether it’ll be a “stronger together” economy where we all rise together, or an “us versus them” economy where we all fight over a shrinking pie.
I think the choice is clear.
I believe with all my heart that the American Dream is alive and big enough for everyone to share in its promise.
So I’m asking for your support to help make that happen.
Thank you very much.
