Tag Archives: hillary clinton

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Who Needs Debt Forgiveness?

Ah, student debt. 43.3 million Americans have it. And Hillary Clinton feels our pain.

As part of her latest platform proposal, the Initiative on Technology & Innovation, Clinton is proposing that a small subset of the currently-afflicted be eligible for some forgiveness, to the tune of $17,500. Sounds like a step in the right direction, at first blush.

Unfortunately, this newly-eligible will subset will consist solely of the young “innovators who start social enterprises or new businesses in distressed communities.”

There’s much to laud in Clinton’s new proposal, including access to debt-free college and employee profit-sharing. But, debt relief for entrepreneurs seems tone deaf at best, trending toward a neoliberal approach to systemic class inequality: liberate the job creators, for they will save us all. Continue reading Who Needs Debt Forgiveness? →

Home, Labor Studies

National Nurses Union Endorses Bernie Sanders for President

It’s officially election season, and will be for some time to come. Some surprises have thrown the traditional players for a loop, including the rising support for Bernie Sanders. Drawing huge crowds at rallies across the country, and even a bit of controversy along the way, Sanders has galvanized his progressive base. And, as of Monday, he has also secured his first national trade union endorsement from the National Nurses union.

From CNN:

“Bernie Sanders has a proven track record of uncompromised activism and advocacy for working people, and a message that resonates with nurses, and, as we have all seen, tens of thousands of people across the country,” NNU Executive Director RoseAnn DeMoro said in a press release announcing the endorsement. “He can talk about our issues as well as we can talk about our issues. We are proud to stand with him in his candidacy for President today.”

The nurses organization officially announced their support at an event with Sanders in Oakland, California. The group, which is 90% women, called the meeting a “Brunch with Bernie.”

“Bernie’s issues align with nurses from top to bottom,” DeMoro said, noting that Sanders earned the groups support because of his positions on trade, minimum wage and expanding Social Security and Medicare.”

Earlier this year, the group conducted an internal poll to decide who to endorse. Charles Idelson, the group’s spokesman, said the Vermont senator won “overwhelming support,” but no percentage was given.

Previously, the American Federation of Teachers endorsed Hillary Clinton. Meanwhile, Sanders has received support, if not outright endorsement — though neither is permitted according to AFL-CIO rules —  from a number of union locals.

Photo by Gage Skidmore via flickr (CC-BY-SA).

Home, Urban Studies

Hillary Clinton’s commitment to civil rights

This article originally appeared on The Hill.

By Basil Smikle Jr.

On a subfreezing morning in January 2003, then-Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) walked to the pulpit of Trinity Baptist Church’s Martin Luther King Day celebration in the Bronx to make a startlingly rousing speech to their predominantly African-American congregation. Typically, such speeches are principally aspirational — they acknowledge that society has largely rebuked racial discrimination’s ugly past but urge steadfastness in tackling challenges that lay ahead. But it was Clinton’s stirring repudiation of Trent Lott, then the Republican Senate Majority Leader from Mississippi who a month earlier praised Strom Thurman’s 1948 pro-segregation presidential campaign, that enthused the audience. Her remarks suggested changes in leadership alone will not eradicate racism and discrimination but the rigidity of the pathways to political and economic enfranchisement must acquiesce to the strength inherent in this country’s diversity. Continue reading Hillary Clinton’s commitment to civil rights →