General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsEnough about Hillary's negatives
Yes, Hillary did some things that certain Democrats are upset about.
But all political candidates have pluses and minuses. How about we discuss Hillary's positives for once? She's been in the public spotlight for decades. What has she accomplished? What tough political battles has she won for the 99%? What leading-edge ideas has she championed before their time?
Surely, there is a compelling track record of leadership and achievement.
1000words
(7,051 posts)It's like she's one of us.
Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)LittleBlue
(10,362 posts)Now you've done it
Aerows
(39,961 posts)while making $480,000/year are clear evidence of her struggles.
CountAllVotes
(20,878 posts)Lots of pantsuits
ripcord
(5,553 posts)HooptieWagon
(17,064 posts)She has much empathy for us 99% who also struggle to buy two luxury mansions and send our kids to Ivy League schools.
Dragonfli
(10,622 posts)With no jobs and no money, they left to seek work and a home to live in
Ken Burch
(50,254 posts)"I'll be around Wall Street - I'll be around Davos...I'll be everywhere the 1% are. Wherever you can look - wherever there's a high-priced speech to give, I'll be there. Wherever there's a book deal, I'll be there. Whenever there's riot cops beatin' folks protesting "free trade" I'll be there...thanking the cops. I'll be in the way banks foreclose on folks whose pain I "felt" . I'll be in the way rich kids laugh at "welfare mothers", when they know supper's ready and they get to eat it while the welfare mothers don't. And when all the jobs are offshored, all the people are homeless and all the homes are empty, I'll be there too".
Proud Public Servant
(2,097 posts)And straight out of the gate, too! Well done!
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)Jackpine Radical
(45,274 posts)840high
(17,196 posts)Demo_Chris
(6,234 posts)WillyT
(72,631 posts)pa28
(6,145 posts)I cried a little.
Guy Whitey Corngood
(26,507 posts)Ed Suspicious
(8,879 posts)dflprincess
(28,089 posts)There's nothing else to say.
bobduca
(1,763 posts)She had to carry her stuff from the whitehouse in a bag made of carpet to New York!
Boom Sound 416
(4,185 posts)JI7
(89,281 posts)that's probably the best thing she did as sec of state.
<As Hillary Clinton contemplates her next move, one thing is clear: as secretary of state she changed the narrative on women by championing their social, political and economic rights around the world.
Clintons long-term commitment to the cause of women led her to create the position of United States Ambassador-at-Large for Global Womens Issues in the beginning of her term in 2009. The aim of the office is to ensure that womens issues are fully integrated in the formulation and conduct of U.S. foreign policy.
Hillary Clinton has been superb in shining a global spotlight on womens rights and empowerment, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof told The Story Exchange.>
http://thestoryexchange.org/hillary-clinton-women-men/
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)JI7
(89,281 posts)it's in what i posted. what she did means that when conducting foreign policy issues that affect women will be considered more .
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)I'm sure Kerry's demands will change the world. He is a great Secretary of State, but how effective were his demands in the Israel/Palestine negotiations and Ukraine?
JI7
(89,281 posts)Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)JI7
(89,281 posts)Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)My point was, Oslo wasn't called that for no reason
karynnj
(59,507 posts)without the precedent of Clinton. He did things for women before anyone heard of either Clinton as a prosecutor in MA.
JI7
(89,281 posts)she was trying to do with the dept.
Boom Sound 416
(4,185 posts)Emphasis
yortsed snacilbuper
(7,939 posts)She can beat all the Koch brother puppets hands down.
tularetom
(23,664 posts)The question is, what will she do for us (the 99%) after she beats them hands down? Or is betting the Koch brother puppets the only reason to vote for her and we don't care what she does as president? That's a pretty low bar to choose the "leader of the free world" doncha think?
Dragonfli
(10,622 posts)it's Koch on Koch violence.
HooptieWagon
(17,064 posts)... a founding member. Along with Bill, Rahm, Terry, and Al. Yes, funded by Koch money.
Dragonfli
(10,622 posts)I should have remembered that, I believe they all still associate with Will Marshall, I know they still parrot what he pushes at PPI just like they did in the early days.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)Let's cut to the chase. Elizabeth Warren has achieved a lot more than that.
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)After Giuliani dropped out with cancer.
Peacetrain
(22,881 posts)the Taliban used to control women in Afghanistan.. long before 9/11.. when they tore down the Great Buddhas..
Edit to add.. it was through her diligence in trying to get people to wake up and smell the coffee that the Taliban, had destroyed all the hospitals and there was only one left in the entire country that would treat women..
Some of us did not just fall off the turnip truck..
OKNancy
(41,832 posts)to work with RAWA
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)Besides, the question is not what Hillary did for the women of Afghanistan, but what she has done for Americans -- other than encourage the outsourcing of our jobs to India and H1-B visas for foreign tech personnel.
lumpy
(13,704 posts)the better part of her life working for the best interests of Americans then they are completely clueless as Mitt Romney.
bobduca
(1,763 posts)Americans.
The Koch brothers are Americans.
Your statement is therefore true!
lumpy
(13,704 posts)JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)I just think that while her intentions were good on the issue of the abuse of women in Afghanistan, and I'm glad she has spoken against it, she did not succeed in dissuading men in Afghanistan from abusing the women there.
She actually has taken some stances on economic issues that are not too bad, but she needs to come forward as strongly and with policy proposals as good as those of Elizabeth Warren, I cannot support her. We cannot allow the economic inequality to continue to grow the way it has over the past 30 years.
We do not need more deregulation. We do not need more privatization. We need a stronger public sector. I don't see Hillary responding to that need adequately to get the country back on the right track. I don't see her as nearly as inspiring as Elizabeth Warren.
Hillary has been in politics a long time, and we have the same old same old ignoring the vital economic issues and tasks that are ruining and dividing our country.
Elizabeth Warren has taken the economic bull by the horns, and that is what we need right now.
lumpy
(13,704 posts)It was snarkey , and you probably realize that now.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)but we need to elect a president who will help American middle class and minimum wage working families. It's nice to have a president who stands for good things when it comes to countries over which we really have no control, but we need a president who can stand up to the 1% and Wall Street here in our country. It's easy to tell people in other countries to treat their citizens well, but the president's job is to execute the laws and advocate for better laws here.
As far as foreign affairs are concerned, I want a president who will stay out of wars as much as possible. I don't want a president who votes for a war without very carefully considering the evidence in favor of the war.
quinnox
(20,600 posts)she was ahead of her time on that issue, among major politicians.
Little Star
(17,055 posts)JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)She apparently did not foresee the problems she would face. And she did not put up enough of or an effective enough fight.
BootinUp
(47,207 posts)I.E. people are always open to new ideas regardless of the time that idea is promoted?
Proud Public Servant
(2,097 posts)Do you believe they didn't really support universal health care? Or that they weren't major politicians?
wyldwolf
(43,870 posts)She got it further along than anyone - though it ultimately failed.
HooptieWagon
(17,064 posts)It wasn't even considered, and Obamacare didn't pass until 20 years later.
wyldwolf
(43,870 posts)Tell us how close Truman and Kennedy got.
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)And it was a very simple plan that works well.
wyldwolf
(43,870 posts)of course, we know 'HillaryCare' was much more ambitious.
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)wyldwolf
(43,870 posts)The Clinton health plan required each US citizen and permanent resident alien to become enrolled in a qualified health plan and forbade their disenrollment until covered by another plan. It listed minimum coverages and maximum annual out-of-pocket expenses for each plan. It proposed the establishment of corporate "regional alliances" of health providers to be subject to a fee-for-service schedule.
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)What percentage would it have added.
wyldwolf
(43,870 posts)HooptieWagon
(17,064 posts)Truman proposed a national health care plan as part of his Fair Deal in 1948, which actually got a congressional vote (further than Hillary). It didn't pass, the only part of the Fair Deal that passed was the Fair Housing Act. Then LBJ actually did get Medicare passed (he had a Dem majority in Congress, which Truman mostly lacked) in 1965. The Medicare Bill was signed into law by LBJ at the Truman Presidential Library, with HST and wife Bess present. So both got healthcare further along than Hillary, decades earlier.
JI7
(89,281 posts)didn't get it passed because he didn't try hard enough or just not effective as Senator ?
HooptieWagon
(17,064 posts)... and I provided 2 examples. No mention of "presidents" in the post I was responding to. Second, Hillary was first lady, and it is presumed her husband the president was going to provide political muscle to get it passed. After all, he asked her to come up with a plan initially. So for all practical purposes, she had presidential backing equal to Truman and LBJ.
I know Ted Kennedy worked hard to get a health coverage bill passed. AFAIK it never made it out of committee and to a vote. I don't know why. Possibly, b/c for many years there was a republican president sure to veto, and the later years republican congress that wouldn't permit it to come up.
wyldwolf
(43,870 posts)Truman's plan was a volunteer plan... open to anyone who wanted to pay into it. Much like an insurance company owned by the Federal government. Not exactly universal or single payer but, yeah, Truman did get a major health care overhaul before congress.
The Clinton plan was much more of a Universal one though still not single payer. The Clinton health plan required each US citizen and permanent resident alien to become enrolled in a qualified health plan and forbade their disenrollment until covered by another plan. It listed minimum coverages and maximum annual out-of-pocket expenses for each plan. It proposed the establishment of corporate "regional alliances" of health providers to be subject to a fee-for-service schedule.
LBJ's medicare bill wasn't a universal plan. It only covered the elderly.
HooptieWagon
(17,064 posts)... but it was the first socialized healthcare plan, and it covered a significant segment of the population. Remember, Social Security only covered some of the population when it was introduced also.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)Doesn't count.
lumpy
(13,704 posts)jwirr
(39,215 posts)needs to know where she stands and see what she can do about it.
bigwillq
(72,790 posts)Jim Lane
(11,175 posts)If I had to choose one of the two to be the next President, I'd rather see Clinton in office than Cuomo.
I think it's virtually certain that precisely one of them will run. Cuomo won't run against Clinton but will run if she clears the way for him. The problem is that, if Cuomo runs, he'll have a very good chance of winning the nomination. He would take the Democratic Party even farther to the right than Clinton would.
bigwillq
(72,790 posts)I wouldn't vote for either one.
Nye Bevan
(25,406 posts)Only to be thwarted by the Republicans (of which Liz Warren was one at the time) and their "Harry and Louise" scaremongering.
And as we all know it was many, many years later before anyone tried this again.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinton_health_care_plan_of_1993
Little Star
(17,055 posts)JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)and deal with them before they arose.
She did not adequately predict the problems that arose. And she did not know how to deal with them when they inevitably arose. Bill Clinton was very good at that sort of thing. But of course he signed so much pro business anti people legislation and set America back in that regard. He is well liked, but I don't think he will be remembered in history as one of our greatest presidents.
The repeal of Glass-Steagall, advancing deregulation, signing NAFTA . . . .
Hey, guys. We have to do better than the Clintons. If they are the best we have we are in deep, deep trouble.
joshcryer
(62,280 posts)Zorra
(27,670 posts)OKNancy
(41,832 posts)100% NARAL, planned parenthood and NOW rating. Pro choice on all votes
Voted NO on constitutional ban of same-sex marriage - supports full marriage equality
Re-introduce the Equal Rights Amendment
Supports arts education and the Nat. Endowment for the arts
Pro- public education ( based on her voting record)
Voted NO on drilling in ANWR
Scored 100% by the Humane Society
Rated 0% by the Christian Coalition
went against Bill and does not support NAFTA
voted against CAFTA
supports same day voter registration - against voter id laws
supported verified paper ballot for every electronic voting machine
Voted NO on prohibiting lawsuits against gun manufacturers
Voted NO on banning lawsuits against gun manufacturers for gun violence
pro stem cell research
believes in climate change
Voted YES on restricting employer interference in union organizing.
has voted yes on all minimum wage increases
voted No on Alito and Roberts for the Supreme court
100% rating by Service Employees International Union (SEIU) - Positions
100% rating by Alliance for Retired Americans
100% rating by the NEA ( National Education Association )
100% rating by the NAACP
A= rating by United To End Genocide - Positions on Darfur
LOL - new one: F- rating by Gun Owners of America - Positions on Gun Rights
Lifetime AFL-CIO score = 94%
Boom Sound 416
(4,185 posts)The senate votes are a record.
What other senate votes are their?
Little Star
(17,055 posts)Boom Sound 416
(4,185 posts)Senate votes are concrete and arguably accomplishments.
The ratings are not accomplishments.
Erich Bloodaxe BSN
(14,733 posts)was appropriately passed or defeated.
One of the constant criticisms leveled at Kucinich was that he never 'achieved' anything. He had all the right votes, but never really got stuff passed.
Accomplishments are introducing legislation and actually getting it passed.
Otherwise we could all demand our bosses pay us for merely 'trying' to do our jobs, rather than actually accomplishing anything.
So if we're going to examine her Senate record, the first question would be 'What legislation did she introduce?' and the second one would be 'Of the legislation she introduced, what did she get passed?'
If the answer to the second is nothing, then she'll be batting .000 right there with Kucinich.
Boom Sound 416
(4,185 posts)pscot
(21,024 posts)it's a suspiciously liberal list. But it's mute on her wired connection to the bankers and corporados, climate change and the National Surveillance/Security State; issues that matter a lot
Boom Sound 416
(4,185 posts)That she wrote
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)Supporting and voting on good bills does not make you a leader.
Thinkingabout
(30,058 posts)JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)In Clinton's first term as senator, New York's jobless rate rose by 0.7 percent after a nationwide recession.[40] The state's manufacturing sector was especially beleaguered, losing about 170,000 jobs.[41] In 2005, Clinton and Senator Lindsey Graham cosponsored the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition, which provides incentives and rewards for completely domestic American manufacturing companies.[42] In 2003, Clinton convinced the information technology firm Tata Consultancy Services to open an office in Buffalo, New York,[43] but some criticized the plan because Tata is also involved in the business of outsourcing.[44] In 2004, Clinton co-founded and became the co-chair of the Senate India Caucus[45] with the aid of USINPAC, a political action committee.[46][47] In 2005, Clinton voted against ratification of the Central America Free Trade Agreement,[48] believing that it did not provide adequate environmental or labor standards.[49] In this she differed with her husband, who supported CAFTA; the ratification was successful.[50]
Senator Clinton led a bipartisan effort to bring broadband access to rural communities. She cosponsored the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act, which encourages research and development in the field of nanotechnology.[51] She included language in an energy bill to provide tax exempt bonding authority for environmentally-conscious construction projects,[52] and introduced an amendment that funds job creation to repair, renovate and modernize public schools.[52]
. . . .
In February 2008, Clinton voted in favor of an expanded version of the economic stimulus package crafted by the House and President Bush.[93] The bill would have added benefits to senior citizens, disabled veterans, and the unemployed, but narrowly failed to break a filibuster.[93] Due to campaigning, Clinton missed the subsequent final vote for the House-Bush version, which passed easily 8116 and became the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008.[94] A few days later, Clinton also missed a key vote on whether to strip telecommunications company retroactive immunity from a new Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act update bill, an action that fell well short of passing;[95] she similarly missed the final 6829 vote on the Act updating.[96]
. . . .
As the Financial crisis of 20072008 reached a peak with the liquidity crisis of September 2008, Clinton proposed a revival of the New Deal-era Home Owners' Loan Corporation, to help homeowners refinance their mortgages.[99] Writing in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, she said that "This is a sink-or-swim moment for America. We cannot simply catch our breath. We've got to swim for the shores."[99] Regarding the proposed bailout of United States financial system, she initially pronounced the $700 billion rescue plan flawed, but said she would support it.[100] On October 1, 2008, she voted in favor of the Senate legislation, HR1424, saying that it represented the interests of the American people; it passed the Senate 7425.[101]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_career_of_Hillary_Rodham_Clinton
She has not lead on economic issues as has Elizabeth Warren. I like Elizabeth Warren better. I see nothing in that article on Wikipedia about Hillary and labor unions. I take it for granted that Hillary Clinton supports them, but we need a president who will actively support trade unions including teachers' and other public employees' unions.
Hillary is not strong enough on the middle class and working class economic issues. We need strong leadership in that area. I cannot picture Hillary as standing up to Wall Street well enough to get them to organize with her to do something about the serious economic issues we face.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025110128
I am not what you would call a Marxist, but Richard Wolff certainly gives us a lot to think about in this video. Hillary needs to think of her response to the issues he raises.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017197122
Thinkingabout
(30,058 posts)Political affiliation
Warren voted as a Republican for many years saying, "I was a Republican because I thought that those were the people who best supported markets".
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)that really matter. I like Elizabeth Warren's.
Her stance on the rights of women in Afghanistan are wonderful, but they are very easy to hold since most Americans agree with her on those issues.
I want to see what she says about the student loan debt problem.
I want to know whether she would have gone to Wisconsin when union members were marching and gathering in the state capitol.
I want to know whose side she is on. Because we will not succeed as a country unless the terrible dependence on debt is replaced by good wages and good jobs. The job of the next president will be to build an economy with good wages, good jobs and an end to the suffocation fo the middle and working classes due to personal debt.
Our country was built on the concept that a good portion of the people could buy or homestead property fairly easily. The big issue now is whether we can continue to claim to be a democracy mostly only the upper class really owns any property.
Thinkingabout
(30,058 posts)Obama wants to do something about wages and student loans but we see the results of those issues. I am concerned EW is going to be for the markets.
nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)she was one of the people who went after one President Nixon as a young attorney. (And that is one reason the right hates her guts, most people don't even know that one)
She has been a leader in breaking a few glass ceilings...
While I do not particularly like the end solution, she was for almost universal access to health care before others were.
While her book "It takes a village" has problems with me on the religion chapter, as a first lady she advocated for programs to make it easier for families.
In the recent past she led the world in LGBT rights with the speech Zorra posted above.
As a member of the Clinton Foundation she has done a lot for education and access to silly shit like clean water.
The list of both negatives and positives is long. I just hope she decides to play grand mother and let the torch be passed to the next generation, to be brutally honest. Another Bush v Clinton in 2016 will not be healthy. (And that means I hope Jeb also stays home)
roamer65
(36,747 posts)Main goal is to keep the Rethugs out of office.
Warpy
(111,406 posts)Hillary War II is just getting started.
wyldwolf
(43,870 posts)Wellesley College where she majored in political science.
Yale Law School, where she served on the Board of Editors of the Yale Review of Law and Social Action.
Political Activist Experience
Pragmatic Liberal
Always fascinated by radicalism, she wrote her senior thesis on a great radical organizer of poor people, Saul Alinsky of Chicago. Though when she was offered a job by Alinsky, after she wrote about him, and she turned him down--because she didn't think he was effective enough. She said to her boyfriend at that timebe in politics you have to win. And it didn't look to her like Alinsky was winning enough of his battles. She came to question his methodology and concluded in her thesis that larger government programs and funding were needed, not just community action at the grass roots.
She was the commencement speaker at Wellesley in 1969, chosen by her fellow students--there had never been a student commencement speaker there before. The scheduled speaker was Sen. Edward Brooke of Massachusetts, who Hillary had campaigned for, a Republican, the first black to be a member of the U.S. Senate in a hundred years. In his remarks he was patronizing, Hillary thought. He seemed to defend the Nixon administration's conduct of the war, and didn't mention the wrenching events of 68. When he finished, Hillary got up and extemporaneously excoriated him. As a result of that speech, she was featured in Life magazine as exemplary of this new generation of student leaders. They ran a picture of her in pedal pushers and her Coke-bottle glasses. That article made her well known in the student movement in the U.S.
She monitored the Black Panther trial in New Haven. She monitored the trial to see if there were any abuses of the rights of the Panthers on trial, and helped schedule the monitors. Her reports were turned over to the ACLU.
1971 Senator Walter Mondale's subcommittee on migrant workers, researching migrant problems in housing, sanitation, health and education.
Political Campaign Experience
1964 In high school, volunteered for Republican candidate Barry Goldwater.
1968 New Hampshire, Eugene McCarthy primary challenge to LBJ.
1972 Campaigned in the western states for 1972 Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern
1976 Jimmy Carter Presidential race, served as an Indiana campaign coordinator.
The Clinton Campaigns (Bill Clinton has stated Hillary played pivotal roles in his campaigns)
1974 Bill Clinton's Congressional race (L)
1976 Bill Clinton's Attorney General race (W)
1978 Bill Clinton's Governor's Race (W)
1980 Bill Clinton's Governor's Race (L)
1982 Bill Clinton's Governor's Race (W)
1992 Bill Clinton's Presidential Race (W)
1996 Bill Clinton's Presidential Race (W)
2000 Hillary Clinton's Senate Campaign (W)
2006 Hillary Clinton's Senate Campaign (W)
Legal Experience
1969 Truehaft, Walker and Bernstein in Oakland, one of the most liberal law firms in the country. They defended the Panthers.
1970 Yale University - city legal services, provided free legal advice for the poor.
1971 Staff attorney, Children's Defense Fund in Cambridge, Massachusetts
1971 Carnegie Council on Children, legal consultant.
1974 Impeachment Inquiry staff in Washington, D.C., advising the House Committee on the Judiciary during the Watergate scandal.
1974 University of Arkansas, Fayetteville School of Law - One of only two female faculty members.
1976 Rose Law Firm. In 1979, she became the first woman to be made a full partner.
1976 Worked pro bono on child advocacy.
1978 Jimmy Carter appoints Clinton to the board of the Legal Services Corporation.
She was twice named by the National Law Journal as one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America, in 1988 and in 1991.
First Lady of Arkansas
1979 Chaired the Rural Health Advisory Committee
1979 Introduced the Arkansas' Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youth, a program that helps parents work with their children in preschool preparedness and literacy.
1982 - 1992 Chaired the Arkansas Educational Standards Committee
She was named Arkansas Woman of the Year in 1983 and Arkansas Mother of the Year in 1984.
Clinton had co-founded the Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families in 1977.
Served on the boards of the Arkansas Children's Hospital Legal Services (1988-1992)and the Children's Defense Fund (as chair, 1986-1992)
Corporate board of directors of TCBY (1985-1992),Wal-Mart Stores (1986-1992), and Lafarge (1990-1992)
Redefined the role of First Lady
1993 First to bring a serious universal healthcare plan to be considered by the US Congress
1997 Helped develop the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997
The First Lady led the effort on the Foster Care Independence bill, to help older, unadopted children transition to adulthood. She also hosted numerous White House conferences that related to children's health, including early childhood development (1997) and school violence (1999). She lent her support to programs ranging from "Prescription for Reading," in which pediatricians provided free books for new mothers to read to their infants as their brains were rapidly developing, to nationwide immunization against childhood illnesses. She also supported an annual drive to encourage older women to seek a mammography to prevent breast cancer, coverage of the cost being provided by Medicare.
Hillary Clinton was the only First Lady to keep an office in the West Wing among those of the president's senior staff. While her familiarity with the intricate political issues and decisions faced by the President, she openly discussed his work with him, yet stated that ultimately she was but one of several individuals he consulted before making a decision. They were known to disagree. Regarding his 1993 passage of welfare reform, the First Lady had reservations about federally supported childcare and Medicaid. When issues that she was working on were under discussion at the morning senior staff meetings, the First Lady often attended. Aides kept her informed of all pending legislation and oftentimes sought her reaction to issues as a way of gauging the President's potential response. Weighing in on his Cabinet appointments and knowing many of the individuals he named, she had working relationships with many of them.
She persuaded Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin to convene a meeting of corporate CEOs for their advice on how companies could be persuaded to adopt better child care measures for working families.
With Attorney General Janet Reno, the First Lady helped to create the Department of Justice's Violence Against Women office. One of her closest Cabinet allies was Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Following her international trips, Hillary Clinton wrote a report of her observations for Albright. A primary effort they shared was globally advocating gender equity in economics, employment, health care and education.
During her trips to Africa (1997), Asia (1995), South America (1995, 1997) and the Central European former Soviet satellite nations (1997, 1998), Hillary Clinton emphasized "a civil society," of human rights as a road to democracy and capitalism.
The First Lady was also one of the few international figures at the time who spoke out against the treatment of Afghani women by Islamist fundamentalist Taliban that had seized control of Afghanistan.
One of the programs she helped create was Vital Voices, a U.S.-sponsored initiative to promote the participation of international women in their nation's political process. One result of the group's meetings, in Northern Ireland, was drawing together women leaders of various political factions that supported the Good Friday peace agreement that brought peace to that nation long at civil war.
Hillary Clinton was also an active supporter of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), often awarding its micro-loans to small enterprises begun by women in developing nations that aided the economic growth in their impoverished communities. Certainly one of her more important speeches as First Lady addressing the need for equal rights for women was international in scope and created controversy in the nation where it was made: the September 1995 United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China.
When asked about his wife's role in his administration in August of 2000, President Bill Clinton said "She basically had an unprecedented level of activity in her present position over the last eight years.''
Her record as First Lady, Hillary Clinton says, includes work on a major Clinton administration child-care initiative, a huge federal-state children's health insurance program, adoption and foster care bills and foreign aid appropriations for small loans overseas.
''The record's there, and what I did is sort of self-evident I think, but it may come as new information to a lot of people,'' Mrs. Clinton said in an interview in 2000.
Pressed later about whether her new descriptions of acting as, in essence, a senior presidential adviser went beyond the job of first lady, Mrs. Clinton laughed out loud and said: ''I'm not going to have it any more. And the next first lady doesn't have to do it.''
Agency heads, other administration officials, Democrats and some Republicans on Capitol Hill generally confirm Mrs. Clinton's assertions, but say that her role was kept quiet to avoid the kind of vilification she had attracted over her central part in health care policy.
Mrs. Clinton described her White House issues staff, which had offices in both the West Wing and the old Executive Office Building, ''as part of the domestic policy operation in the White House.'' Although she also had a small staff in the East Wing to handle first lady social responsibilities, Mrs. Clinton said that ''I realized very soon that, you know, if I had some first lady staff over here, I wouldn't be able to get things done.''
She said that she and her policy staff had the responsibility for pushing legislation and programs that would benefit children, women and health care -- issues that have concerned her, she said, for the last 30 years.
Mrs. Clinton's Democratic supporters on Capitol Hill echo her claims.
''Her office and her in particular were key allies of ours and the progressives in the Senate who were trying to pursue an agenda in the areas of children, education, health care and job training,'' said Nick Littlefield, who worked with Senator Edward M. Kennedy and was the staff director to the Health, Education and Labor Committee at the time. He added that ''once we discovered that Mrs. Clinton was running a public advocacy organization inside the White House, it followed automatically that we would start talking to her.''
She said, for example, that the Clinton administration program to guarantee free immunizations for poor and uninsured children, passed in 1993, ''was basically drafted in my office under my supervision.'' The program was a precursor to health care and its policy was largely rejected by Congress, but the Clinton administration did get $585 million for vaccines.
Mrs. Clinton also said that her staff had a large part in the development of the Corporation for National Service, the Clinton administration's domestic version of the Peace Corps.
''I hired Shirley Sagawa, who had been Ted Kennedy's person on national service, and so basically it was my staff that was involved in drafting that legislation,'' she said.
Eli J. Segal, the first chief executive of the Corporation for National Service and the 1992 Clinton campaign chief of staff, called the first lady's assertion ''100 percent correct.''
Among her other accomplishments, Mrs. Clinton said she helped to initiate and promote the Children's Health Insurance Program, created by Congress in 1997 to provide $24 billion over five years to states to insure children.
''She was a one-woman army inside the White House to get this done,'' Mr. Littlefield of the Health, Education and Labor Committee said. He said that he and Senator Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat who was the major force behind the bill, enlisted Mrs. Clinton's help in the spring of 1997 when the president became ''skittish'' about the program. Mr. Littlefield said the Senate majority leader, Trent Lott, was threatening that it was a ''deal buster'' on the balanced budget agreement that he and Mr. Clinton had reached.
''At that point we went to Mrs. Clinton and said, 'You've got to get the president to come around on this thing,' '' Mr. Littlefield said. ''And she said, 'Absolutely.' And we very quickly noticed a change. The president was very much on board.''
She also said she helped to write bills on adoption and foster care, and lobbied for them.
At the end of the 1997 Congressional session, Representative Dave Camp, a conservative Michigan Republican who was frantically negotiating to save an adoption bill, got a call in the House cloakroom from Mrs. Clinton.
''It was 9:30 or 10 at night,'' Mr. Camp recalled. ''I thought only Congressional night owls did that. I was surprised. You know, you're working wearily on these things, and you're worrying whether this is doing any good.'' Mrs. Clinton gave him a pep talk, Mr. Camp said, and told him the bill was worth it.
''I want to be honest,'' he said. ''It was helpful to me.''
The bill, an administration priority intended to speed up the adoption of children in foster care, had been heavily promoted by Mrs. Clinton on Capitol Hill. Four days after her call, it passed the House and Senate and was soon signed into law by the president.
Others in the Clinton Administration said that they learned to count on Mrs. Clinton as more than a spokeswoman.
''I don't think that the Endowment would be alive today if it weren't for strong White House support, and I'm sure she plays a very important role,'' said Jane Alexander, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts.
At the Agency for International Development, Brian Atwood, the administrator, said of Mrs. Clinton's grasp of complex development issues: ''She understands these issues better than 90 percent of the people who operate within the foreign policy community.''
Mrs. Clinton has been working with A.I.D. to import to inner cities lessons learned abroad, on child immunization, for example, and inexpensive techniques to combat diarrhea. She has taken a particularly strong interest in ''microenterprise lending,'' or efforts in developing nations and troubled cities to lend small amounts of money for new businesses, often run by women.
It is no coincidence, Mr. Atwood said, that the Administration is seeking to slightly increase the budget for A.I.D. next year. ''She deserves more credit for that,'' he said, ''than anyone.''
As United States Senator
* Secured, with Senator Schumer and New York's Congressional delegation, $21.4 billion for New York City's clean up and recovery.
* Fought for the Victims Compensation Fund to provide substantial payments to 9/11 victims.
* Extended Disaster Unemployment Assistance for 52 weeks.
* Expedited benefits to the families of fire fighters, police and other public safety officers who died in the September 11 terrorist attacks.
* Secured $10 million for mental health treatment for students in New York and $5 million for mental health treatment for public safety officers.
* Ensured that no less than $500 million of nearly $2.7 billion in Community Development Block Grants funding be used for small businesses and residents in Lower Manhattan.
* Co-sponsored the "Terrorism Risk Insurance Act" which the President signed into law in November 2002.
* Secured $12 million for baseline screening and long-term health care for workers and volunteers at Ground Zero; brought national attention to the need for additional resources for health tracking.
* Worked with FEMA so that $4.5 billion would go toward building a world-class transportation system in Lower Manhattan.
* Secured $140 million for New York Hospitals and health care providers that responded to and were hurt by the disaster.
* Worked to pass the National Construction Safety Team Act that eliminates bureaucratic barrier for safety teams to inspect buildings in the event of a disaster.
* Hosted a Senate field hearing on air quality impacts of the WTC attacks, and pushed the EPA to test and clean indoor air in Lower Manhattan.
* Passed legislation to create a special 9/11 Heroes Stamp, with proceeds going to the benefit of the families of fallen public safety officers.
* Helped pass the first 13-week extension of Unemployment Insurance in February 2002.
* Negotiated a bipartisan bill passed by the Senate to extend Unemployment Insurance another 13 weeks for 2.2 million Americans who lost benefits on December 28, 2002.
* Sponsored an amendment to promote teacher and principal recruitment, securing $35 million in grants including $2.6 million to help Albany, Brooklyn, Dobbs Ferry, Staten Island, the West Bronx, and Niagara Falls recruit teachers.
* Won adoption of the "Healthy and High Performance Schools" amendment to study the impact of sick and dilapidated schools on children.
* Launched the Energy Efficient Schools initiative to make buildings more efficient and save local districts money.
* Released a statewide report that said New York Schools needed a significant amount of federal aid to repair and renovate their schools: 83 percent could not afford basic repairs like new roofs or maintenance on playground; 40 percent lacked adequate safety equipment, and 80 percent said that they do not have the computers phones and training they need.
* Introduced the "Investing for Tomorrow's Schools Act" to promote healthier and more energy efficient school buildings, and the bill will target hundreds of millions of dollars to New York State schools.
* Worked with the New York Congressional delegation to create a new visa that allows part-time Canadian students continue their education in Western New York's colleges and universities.
* Worked to double funding for the National Science Foundation over five years and preserve a critical program for improving math and science in K-12.
* Fought for an $11.25 billion increase in childcare funding to help more families receive higher quality care.
* Introduced legislation to help children in foster care keep track of their school, medical, and other vital records and secured this provision as an amendment in the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, which was approved unanimously by the Senate Education Committee.
* Introduced legislation to pave the way for children emerging from foster care to serve in AmeriCorps.
* Cosponsored "The Great Lakes Legacy Act" which secures almost $500 million to protect and restore the Great Lakes, and the "Daniel Patrick Moynihan Champlain Basin Program Act of 2002" which honors Senator Moynihan for his work and provides counties in New York and Vermont with funds to restore the Lake Champlain basin.
* Fought to reauthorize the New York City Watershed Protection Program.
* Introduced the "Finger Lakes Initiative Act of 2002" in October 2002 to secure $50 million over the next 5 years to enhance the environmental, economic and cultural benefits of the Finger Lakes.
* Worked with Senator Schumer to pass a one-year ban on drilling in the Finger Lakes, and will continue to work on making the ban permanent.
* Cosponsored "The Clean Power Act of 2001" and "The Acid Rain Control Act" to reduce the amounts of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, and mercury and eliminate the devastating effects of Acid Rain in the Adirondacks.
* Introduced legislation to create a national health tracking system for chronic diseases and environmental health hazards. The bill calls for placing an environmental health officer in every state's public health department, creating a chronic disease rapid response force, fully funding chronic disease prevention and research, and coordinating pollution and disease data.
* Supported "Brownfields Revitalization and Environmental Restoration Act" and succeeded in getting two amendments added to the law: one that targets Brownfields assistance to communities that have high rates of asthma, cancer, birth-defects, and other health problems, and the other ensures that local communities can make sure that contaminated sites in their area are not overlooked.
Encouraged the EPA to go forward with original plans to remove the PCB-contaminated sediments from the Hudson River, which the EPA decided to do in December 2001.
* Fought for funding to clean up Long Island Sound, and offered an amendment to aid in curbing nutrient pollution from facilities that discharge into the Sound.
* Fought to maintain protections against arsenic in drinking water.
* Worked with Senator's DeWine and Dodd to reinstate the "Pediatric Rule" so that all drugs and vaccines are tested and safe for children.
* Introduced legislation to combat global HIV/AIDS, and ensured that provisions were included in the global HIV/AIDS bill.
* Co-sponsored a bill to increase the Federal Matching Assistance Program by 1.35 percent to help ease the financial burden on states as Medicaid costs continue to rise-this proposal would bring almost $550 million in relief to New York.
* Worked with Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR) to include provisions for hospitals to retain and attract qualified nurses in the "Nurse Reinvestment Act of 2002."
* Secured $100 million to increase the number of FDA food safety inspectors.
* Introduced bipartisan legislation to increase access to respite care services for families and supported measures to increase worker and volunteer training.
* Worked with Senator Harkin (D-IA) and Senator Durbin (D-IL) to give the USDA the authority to keep meat safe from dangerous pathogens.
* Introduced legislation with Senator DeWine (R-OH) to protect against future vaccine shortages by providing a stockpile of routine childhood vaccines and requires manufacturers to give a years notice if they plan to stop making the vaccine.
* Announced the "SCHIP Enhancement Act" in July 2001 to expand CHIP and reward states that cover children up to 300 percent of the federal poverty line.
* Fought to extend SCHIP and Medicaid to parents of eligible children as well as making sure legal immigrants are covered and that disabled children are covered under Medicaid.
* Introduced legislation with Senator Jeffords (I-VT) and Senator Snowe (R-ME) that allows small businesses to join together to purchase health insurance for employees and keep costs down, and worked to give small businesses tax credits for purchasing health insurance.
* Worked with Senator Reed (D-RI) to establish a trust fund for teaching hospitals.
zappaman
(20,606 posts)Erich Bloodaxe BSN
(14,733 posts)There seems to be an ongoing theme of work for children and later women as well. And you actually listed her accomplishments as a Senator, not merely some vague list of votes. So thanks.
And, btw, if that's not already an OP somewhere, you might think of making it one. It's a far better argument for her than anything I've seen from any other supporters.
wyldwolf
(43,870 posts)... and most of it was several OPs back in 2008.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)yet based on that long list, it looks like she remained oblivious to the underlying economic crisis building due to the excessive use of credit, rising college costs, skyrocketing housing costs and stagnant wages. It was clear to me by the early 2000s that there was a housing bubble. Looks like she missed that one.
The most important problem in the US today is our economic decline. Hillary is not the one to rely on to resolve that problem.
Elizabeth Warren is.
lumpy
(13,704 posts)MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)Thanks.
wyldwolf
(43,870 posts)As a US Senator, many of her accomplishments were specific to New York, but her work on unemployment and SCHIP and women's rights are far reaching.
I think redefining the role of the first lady to the point her advice and work were actually pursued is important.
Her valiant universal health care efforts...
To me, her positives so outweigh her negatives that the negative pale. I'll support anyone in '16 with a 'D' next to her/his name but the other potential candidates (save for Joe Biden) mostly just talk a good game (Sen. Obama mainly just talked a good game in '08 but I haven't been disappointed too much.)
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)No?
Did Hillary make speeches or lobby for it?
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)This part's interesting:
"In a previous campaign ad, Clinton claimed credit for SCHIP without any qualifiers"
wyldwolf
(43,870 posts)MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)Soon after the legislation passed, the New York Times reported, "Participants in the campaign for the health bill both on and off Capitol Hill said the first lady had played a crucial behind-the-scenes role in lining up White House support."
...
The second one is better for Bill:
Clymer wrote that Kennedy "worked with" Hillary Clinton to get White House support for a Senate measure to grant $24 billion for the new program, rather than the $16 billion approved by the House. "With strong administration support, the $24 billion stayed in," he wrote.
You can have this sig too! Info here. @massliberal
I updated my prior post.
Response to wyldwolf (Reply #76)
MannyGoldstein This message was self-deleted by its author.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)Clearly, Hillary was oblivious to that problem.
And it just so happens that economic issue is the central problem today.
No less than Lloyd Blankfein recognizes the dangers we face because of the economic inequality in our country.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025110128
Hillary has had positions of leadership and the opportunity to prioritize these economic issues for most of her career, but she has not used her position and fame to even point them out.
We can do better than Hillary.
This is a crucial period in terms of the economic future of middle class Americans and the environment. Hillary helped a little bit on the environment and proposed minor programs to help women and the revitalization of Lower Manhattan, but she is remarkable only because of her lack of important initiatives with the really big issues of our time: the economic future of the American middle and working classes and the environment.
joshcryer
(62,280 posts)What had she done?
Bobbie Jo
(14,341 posts)I take it you've seen this show before too.
joshcryer
(62,280 posts)It's cute. There exist no more qualified and experienced candidate in modern history.
nolabear
(42,001 posts)Copied for much needed ammunition later on.
OKNancy
(41,832 posts)I'll take it to the Hillary Clinton group if you don't mind
wyldwolf
(43,870 posts)starroute
(12,977 posts)See http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1016&pid=67554
Has she changed her position on free trade? And if she has, what else has she changed it on?
Or if she hasn't and was just doing her job as part of the Obama administration, what else might she change course on for the sake of expediency?
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)Other than health care access and child care, not much that she has done concerns improving the economic picture for America's middle class. And remember, wages have not risen adequately in at least 30, probably more years. So the middle class was in decline when Bill Clinton was president. And what did he do about it? He signed NAFTA (which you say she opposed), but the TPP was mostly negotiated during her time as Secretary of State. (And let's don't forget the recommendation her State Department made for the Keystone Pipeline.)
Supporting the extensions of unemployment insurance is good, but those were not very strong measures, didn't forestall or put an end to foreclosures. I don't recall her proposing really strong measures to support the financial disaster that the middle class suffered after the 2008 crisis.
She did a lot for disaster relief in lower Manhattan, and that is good, but she was responding to an event, not leading a movement to fight for the middle class.
About the only thing she has done that is relevant to the issue of the decline of the middle class (which was already underway when Bill Clinton was president) is this:
"She persuaded Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin to convene a meeting of corporate CEOs for their advice on how companies could be persuaded to adopt better child care measures for working families."
It's a long list, but it only shows that Hillary Clinton did not have the foresight to put the economic issues of the American working and middle classes at the top of her to do lists.
It's only impressive if you don't care much about the horrible losses of jobs and economic hope in the US in recent years.
wyldwolf
(43,870 posts)lumpy
(13,704 posts)Women's rights and Human rights for many years. How anyone can say she hasn't accomplished anything fails to give credit to any of us who have worked without accolade for these important and crucial issues.
bvar22
(39,909 posts)....Flag Burning and Violent Video Games.
Demo_Chris
(6,234 posts)leftstreet
(36,117 posts)marble falls
(57,405 posts)zentrum
(9,865 posts)...after wondering if, hmmm, Obama could be a muslim, after all, during the 2008 campaign.
She authorized Bush to invade Iraq and took the coward's excuse of not knowing what that vote meant.
She was against LGBT equal rights in marriage until it became politically safe to be for those rights.
No doubt she's a stronger fighter than Obama will ever be---but for what?
Draft Elizabeth Warren in 2016
zeemike
(18,998 posts)The first bill she co sponsored when becoming senator was the flag burning amendment.
Now that was a fight against the crime of flag burning...one we can all get behind...she lost but never the less it set the stage for all that came after that...and I can't remember the rest.
As POTUS I am sure she will work in the same bi partisan way to do other things like that.
wyldwolf
(43,870 posts)See, facts still matter.
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)I'm pretty sure she did.
wyldwolf
(43,870 posts)He said, "The first bill she co sponsored when becoming senator was the flag burning amendment."
1. It wasn't an constitutional amendment. Clinton was on record numerous times as being against a constitutional amendment on flag burning
2. The legislation to criminalize flag burning was in 2005 - so it was FAR from the first bill she co-sponsored. The tenets of that bill were this: it would be a crime to destroy a flag on federal property (one on display there, not your personal flag), intimidate anyone by burning a flag or burning someone else's flag. I'd vote for that. A flag is my personal property so if you destroyed it, how would that be different than destroying my car? How would burning a flag on federal property be different than destroying a statue? And why would it be ok to burn a flag to intimidate me?
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)wyldwolf
(43,870 posts)MineralMan
(146,341 posts)Hillary's negatives, Manny. I'm sure you'll be writing about them on her Inauguration Day. Good luck with all that.
Sincerely,
Positive-way MineralManny
leftstreet
(36,117 posts)That's like uh...getting Silver at the Olympics
which is certainly noteworthy
ret5hd
(20,540 posts)would come up with some ideas of their own,
Just sayin'.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Stop looking for heroes. BE one.[/center][/font][hr]
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)Which is why I'm asking.
QuestForSense
(653 posts)In 1978, Bill was making $26,500 as attorney general of Arkansas and she was making $24,250 as a young attorney in Little Rock.
She initially invested $1,000 in cash on Oct. 1, 1978. By Oct. 12, she made $5,300 and reinvested the $6,300 in several transactions. In a series of trades through the rest of 1978, she accumulated profits of $49,069, offset by losses of $22,548. The White House calculated her net gain at $26,521 in 1978.
In 1979, she continued trading in this account with profits of about $109,600, offset by losses of about $36,600. Her net gain for 1979 was $72,996.
I'd call that a pretty spectacular achievement.
wyldwolf
(43,870 posts)My wife and I are making a decent income but dental bills for my kid is getting a bit pricey.
WilliamPitt
(58,179 posts)hrmjustin
(71,265 posts)zappaman
(20,606 posts)We've already seen some posters say they will throw away their vote on a "write in" candidate.
I'm sure that makes the Republican leadership thrilled.
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)Unless someone else is running who to her left and has a shot.
hrmjustin
(71,265 posts)Beacool
(30,253 posts)Skinner should consider removing the word "Democratic" from this site.
The same RW memes and talking points are used to attack a Democrat.
Scuba
(53,475 posts)Raygun would be so proud of you!
Beacool
(30,253 posts)It has been a non-stop lynching. The only ones who won't admit to it are those who don't like the person who is being attacked.
Scuba
(53,475 posts)... want to stop that?
JEB
(4,748 posts)Erich Bloodaxe BSN
(14,733 posts)I'll never forget W trying to give Angela Merkel a back rub. Just creepy as all get out.
JEB
(4,748 posts)I find that unacceptable. If it was that good of a fake, I still find that unacceptable.
lumpy
(13,704 posts)Presidents do it. It is part of a world wide political game of showing respect for ideological differences. A politician will have little chance of getting anywhere by spitting in a well known face.
JEB
(4,748 posts)to subject it to that evil face.
I bet she can smell the sulphur from that distance.
dsc
(52,172 posts)she also allowed the spouses of gay state department employees to be treated the same as other spouses, and did those before Obama started any movement on gay rights. Many people here probably don't give a rats ass about those issues but for some those are important.
SixString
(1,057 posts)LuvLoogie
(7,062 posts)Wellesley grad
Yale Law Doctorate
First Lady (to Bill Clinton) of Arkansas
First Lady (again to Bill Clinton) U.S.
U.S. Senator representing N.Y.
U.S. Secretary of State
Raising peach of a daughter who
Graduated from Stanford
Earned Masters at Oxford
Masters at Columbia
Doctorate at Oxford
Makes Republicans piss themselves
lumpy
(13,704 posts)in general.
Beacool
(30,253 posts)That's why this place has ceased to be "Democratic". It's just a site where people vent to their heart's content and where all Democrats are not welcome. They now spew every RW meme. Who keeps asking what are Hillary's accomplishments and who is dismissive of everything she has achieved? The RW, that's who. Around here they think they are ever so clever by co-opting the Right's attacks on a fellow Democrat.
They make me sick.
Boom Sound 416
(4,185 posts)You should list that twice too
Beacool
(30,253 posts)Her list of "firsts" is extensive. She's also the only first lady to have sought public office. The only woman to have competed in every primary. She and Obama also broke the record for most votes in a primary in the history of the US. She got almost 18M votes. Yet, around here in a so called "Democratic" site, she is reviled. They are a disgrace!!!
Boom Sound 416
(4,185 posts)Last edited Wed Jun 18, 2014, 11:46 AM - Edit history (1)
But the point is, what did she do once she arrived