Wow, I can't believe some of the things Hillary is saying these days:
"Let's finally do something about the growing economic inequality that is tearing our country apart," she said. "The top 1% of our households hold 22% of our nation's wealth. That is the highest concentration of wealth in a very small number of people since 1929. So let's close that gap. Let's start holding corporate America responsible, make them pay their fair share again. Enough with the corporate welfare. Enough with the golden parachutes. And enough with the tax incentives for companies to shift jobs overseas."
That's her ... in
June 2007.
But look a what she's said more recently:
Echoing Elizabeth Warren, she said,
"We've had millions of Americans just drop out of the labor force," she said. "Corporate profits, however, are at a 40-year high. So here we contrast very high corporate profits, and the average American family has lost $1,000 in income in the last seven years...we face new threats that neither the president nor federal regulators have adequately acknowledged or addressed...I don't think we'd be comfortable with our own government speculating in real estate or buying up companies, and we should be doubly uncomfortable with the idea of a foreign government doing these things in our country...Finally, we need to start addressing the risks posed by derivatives and other complex financial products... We can’t let Wall Street send the bill to your street."
... in
November 2007.
Of course, rhetoric must be backed up by policy.
That's why she proposed a 90-day foreclosure moratorium and a 5 year freeze on subprime adjustable rate mortgages.
I think this puts her to the left of Obama, whose advisor says it would reward people for bad behavior.
She's also proposed an aggressive health care plan centered around providing subsidies to require all Americans to get health care:
Mrs. Clinton’s plan would require all Americans to get coverage and would provide subsidies to make it more affordable.
Weird. Can it be enforced?
It's great that we progressives have been holding Hillary's feet to the fire. I'm excited about this new, populist Hillary.
But with the Dow over 13,000 and unemployment below 6%, I'm afraid most people just won't care enough about her economic themes for it to help her much. People are more concerned about how we're going to get out of the war in Iraq.
[Warning: Technical Errors may delay the publication of this diary by 7 1/2 years]