Here's a look at what might have been. Hillary Clinton's website provided the clues to how she might govern if elected. She and her campaign had envisioned a mass groundswell of support from the Obama Coalition, plus women's votes, minorities and working middle class voters, religious voters and even some Republicans who would make up this new Democratic Coalition. But it was not to be. Even though she did win the popular vote, as Al Gore did, she couldn't convince enough middle class blue-collar voters to join her ticket. The Media, along with the FBI, Voter Suppression provided by the GOP, and some outside help from Putin and the KGB did their part to help bring her down. But now we are left with the what-if scenario. If Hillary had been elected, this might have been possible.
She talked and wrote about:
*Wall Street Reform: With all the talk surrounding her e-mails and corporate coziness and paid speeches, Hillary had laid out a comprehensive plan to target excesses on Wall Street. They included higher taxes for the wealthy, plus the protection of the Dodd-Frank bill, along with closing loopholes in the tax code for billionaires, and even imposing a "risk fee" on banks with more than $50 billion in assets.
*For the problem of Substance Abuse and Opioid Addiction; she suggested more funding for recovery and standards for all those who prescribe drugs. Also ending the School to Prison pipeline, and ending the era of Mass Incarceration, which included treatment for drug offenders instead of years in prison.
*Income Inequality: She championed the Minimum Wage hike, and did acknowledge the $15.00 per hour wage as a living wage.
*Campaign Finance Reform: She championed this early on, with talk of ending the Citizens United ruling through a Constitutional Amendment if necessary. The dark money that has flooded into campaigns has insured that the Right controls over 33 state legislatures, most of the Governor-ships, and of course, both chambers of the U.S. Congress as well as the Presidency.
*Campus Sexual Assault: A growing problem on U.S. College campuses, and Hillary was vocal about the need for more disclosure and prevention.
*Climate Change: She talked of making America the great Energy Superpower for the 21st Century, pledging to have more than half a billion solar panels installed in the U.S by the end of her first term, and to produce enough clean, renewable energy to power all homes within 10 years of taking office. This also encompasses the Paris Accord, which is now in danger of being scuttled. She also spoke of updating and creating a Smart Grid for the U.S.
*College Affordability: Hillary had talked of a goal of 2021 to allow families with income of $125,000 or less to pay no tuition at state run colleges. And to make community colleges free for those who wanted to go and met the academic requirements. She also had a plan to help those with crippling student debt to renegotiate the loans, that would mean they would never have to pay back more than 10 percent of their current income from their jobs. And the debt would be forgiven after 20 years.
*Gun Violence Prevention: This included some common sense measures such as background checks for gun purchases and the repeal of some of the high volume automatic weapons.
*Investment in Infrastructure: She had a comprehensive plan, with emphasis on the regions that were hardest hit, ironically the Rust Belt region where she lost heavily. She included a long comprehensive five point plan to rebuild manufacturing jobs in hard hit and economically depressed regions of the country.
*Health Care Reform: Hillary planned to re-negotiate drug prices for prescription drugs, as well as working to reform some of the obvious and more glaring problems in the ACA. Another aspect of this, prominent with the Flint Drinking Water crisis, included a plan to eliminate lead poisoning in drinking water within 5 years. Also, to modernize the drinking and wastewater systems that are aging. And to clean up over 450,000 toxic brownfield sites in the U.S.
*Ending Inversions: She proposed an exit tax on companies that wanted to export jobs and plants overseas.
*Poverty: She advocated for Rep. Jim Clyburn's 10-20-30 plan, which meant 10% of Federal resources would go to communities with 20% of the population that has been below the poverty line for 30 years or more. Her poverty plan included some energy efficiency solutions for low-income communities, as well as the need to re-tool pipes and restore clean drinking water. She also wanted to be able to connect all Americans to the internet for the 21st Century.
*National Service: Hillary wanted to create the National Service Reserve for young people to be able to serve in their communities. Members would address pressing needs in local towns and cities. Rebuilding homes, restoring parks, or helping the homeless were some of the suggested services. They could get certification for a number of hours per year. She also had the idea of asking returning veterans to join this initiative.
The website listed over 100 pages of information and plans, some quite detailed, that Hillary Clinton had proposed for almost all the big problems facing Americans. Some things may come to fruition with the new administration, particularly around the Infrastructure plan she had proposed. But other than that, the only way for these progressive issues to continue would be for the activists and leaders of the party to pick up the pieces and continue to fight and promote these causes into the next Election, which is coming in 2018.
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