Today's Hillary News & Views kicks off with a wonderful quote from Clinton's interview with Lena Dunham.
Time reports:
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton told Girls creator Lena Dunham that she is “absolutely” a feminist in a new interview.
The conversation between Clinton and Dunham will be featured on Dunham’s newsletter and site LennyLetter.com, which is launching Sept. 29.
Dunham’s interview of Clinton will discuss the future First Lady’s life in college, “and the ambivalence she felt in her early 20s about her own life and career path,” a Lenny Letter spokesperson told Politico. The interview will also reportedly include comedy sketches, plus a cameo from Amy Schumer.
I transcribe:
LD: Do you consider yourself a feminist?
HRC: Yes. Absolutely!
You know, I'm always a little bit puzzled when any woman of any age, but particularly a young woman, says something like - you've heard it - something like, "Well, I believe in equal rights but I'm not a feminist."
Well, a feminist is, by definition, someone who believes in equal rights.
I'm hoping that people will not be afraid to say. That doesn't mean you hate men. That doesn't mean that you want to separate out the world so that you're not part of ordinary life. That's not what it means at all.
It just means that we believe that women have the same rights as men. Politically, socially, culturally, economically. That's what it means.
In a wide-ranging interview with radio host Tom Joyner, Clinton addressed several issues that specifically impact black Americans.
Black Enterprise reports her comments on...
Historically Black Colleges and Universities:
I know, as you all do, how important the HBCUs are in our higher education system. They have closed the opportunity gap for hundreds of thousands of students each year, and have been really in the front lines of producing leaders.
So, under my new college compact, we’re going to support, encourage, and reward HBCUs that help our students succeed. So students can complete college without cost being a barrier or debt holding them back.
I believe that for all of the HBCUs that are trying to do this important work, we’re going to have federal funds investing more in the public HBCUs. We’re going to do more to provide them the support, ensuring that the Pell grants can be used to fund living expenses. And for private HBCUs, we’re going to have a dedicated $25 billion dollar fund to provide support to them.
Generally, we’re going to make sure that we have extra opportunities for HBCUs because I think the role they play is indispensable.
Small business advocacy and increasing resources for black entrepreneurs:
I’ve said all over the country that I want to be the small business president and I, particularly, want to be the small business president for women and minority-owned businesses because I think, and for a variety of reasons, a lot of it is related to the financial crisis.
I want to make the Small Business Administration, once again, a really aggressive and vigorous agency. Reaching out for people—not just waiting for folks to come to them—I want to do more networking so that, literally, we have a team of people who are available 24/7 to council and support and send on their way people with good ideas.
I had an African American woman say to me one time, that more good ideas die in the parking lots of banks than anywhere in America. What we’ve got to do is reverse that and there’s a lot of programs that are already in place, but they’re not being given the emphasis or the funding or support that they need.
I think we need to look at what are the niches we have to fill, so that more people can find the help that they specifically need. I’m excited by this. Most new jobs in America are started by small businesses as they grow, and we have got to get back into the job creation business. And you can’t do that if you don’t support small businesses.
Birtherism, and the Prejudice and Paranoia fed by Donald Trump:
First of all, it is totally untrue. Secondly, the president and I have never had any kind of confrontation like that. This is such a bad example of what is wrong with instantaneous reactions and Americans getting all worked up and people feeding prejudice and paranoia like Donald Trump.
And, obviously, all of us have to stand against it, and I have been blamed for nearly everything. That was a new one to me, but I’ll just keep going and talking about what I want to do to get incomes rising and making college affordable, and making all of the positive changes that we have to be worried about.
Planned Parenthood and Reproductive Rights:
Planned Parenthood has been taking care of women for years, for so long. Millions of women have gotten basic healthcare there, and what I really resent is that when these people go after Planned Parenthood, they are, in essence, saying they want to deprive millions of women from getting cancer screenings, finding out whether they have HIV, [and] getting help on family planning and contraceptives.
It is a mean spirited, partisan attack on an organization that has been there for women, often the only place that young women, lower-income women, have been able to go and get treated with respect and get the kind of healthcare they deserve. What you see is the ongoing debate over abortion, and everybody can have their own opinion about that. It is legal and therefore in those facilities, which are a minority of the facilities of Planned Parenthood, where abortion is provided (and not using one federal dollar to do it), the Republicans want to basically destroy the entire program that Planned Parenthood stands for. I am adamantly opposed to that.
Black Lives Matter and Criminal Justice Reform:
We ought to be looking at what we are going to do to lead on social justice by admitting and taking on the systemic racism that we still face in America. Just look at, you know, how President Obama has led us through difficult times and every step of the way, faced unrelenting opposition and obstruction and, once again, here in this campaign, we are seeing a lot of those same voices and forces coming up and trying to, you know, turn the clock back.
So what I hope we can do is come together around reforming criminal justice, but not just reforming the inequities that exist—the disparities that unfortunately persist—but looking at how we are going to close the opportunity gap and in particular, how we are going to help young people, and predominantly, you know, young men, have different choices because they have different opportunities so, this is a big issue for me.
And I want the folks to know that they can count on me to address it, and they can count on me to work hard with the communities that are really focused on this to make a difference.
Building on her pledge earlier this year to work with mayors, Clinton is headed to Boston.
The Boston Globe reports:
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will visit Boston next week, planning to discuss substance-abuse issues with Mayor Martin J. Walsh and Attorney General Maura Healey, a Clinton campaign official said Thursday. Clinton will hold a Boston fundraiser the same day, according to a copy of the invitation.
On Oct. 1, Clinton will “engage in a conversation with the community on substance abuse and its tragic effects on individuals and families,” the official said on background. Later that day, Clinton will headline an evening fundraiser.
Substance abuse, particularly the opioid epidemic, has surged as a political issue this year. Clinton has said repeatedly that she has been surprised by the regularity with which she hears on the campaign trail about how widespread the problem is. The former secretary of state earlier this month announced a $10 billion plan to target drug and alcohol abuse.
Walsh has long made substance abuse and addiction a centerpiece priority of his career, and Healey before she took office this year announced a major push against heroin and prescription drug abuse.
Healey has endorsed Clinton’s candidacy. Walsh has said he has not decided between Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden, if Biden decides to run for president.
Clinton's latest prescription drug proposals have health industry lobbyists in a tizzy.
The Wall Street Journal reports:
Mrs. Clinton started unveiling plans Tuesday aimed at addressing consumers’ concerns about rising prescription drug prices. Her plan includes a proposal to require drug makers to devote a sufficient portion of revenue to research and development, and to bar insurers from offering health plans that charge patients more than $250 a month in copayments for drugs.
The group representing drugmakers began pushing back hard Tuesday.
“Secretary Clinton’s proposal would turn back the clock on medical innovation and halt progress against the diseases that patients fear most. These sweeping and far-reaching proposals would restrict patients’ access to medicines, result in fewer new treatments for patients, cost countless jobs across the country and erode our nation’s standing as the world leader in biomedical innovation,” said Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America President and CEO John J. Castellani.
Mrs. Clinton noted Tuesday that some have blamed her for a drop in biotech stocks, but she defended her plan, saying drugs are too expensive.
“Insurance companies are not driving a hard enough bargain” with drug companies, she told the Des Moines Register in an interview streamed over the web.
Finally, some Twitter highlights, starting with the incredible Women for Hillary video:
Programming Note: Work responsibilities will make it more difficult for me to participate in the comments than in the past. Just a reminder that these news diaries are not meant to be fodder for pie fights. Please keep the comments on topic, and follow the example of both of our leading candidates when you see attempts to derail. Thank you! - Lysis
For more on Hillary Clinton's campaign for the presidency, check out…
The Hillary 2016 Platform Series
Part 1: Criminal Justice Reform
Part 2: Immigration Reform
Part 3: Voting Rights
Unfiltered Hillary: The Transcripts
September 4, 2015: MSNBC Interview with Andrea Mitchell
August 14, 2015: Iowa Wing Ding Dinner
July 31, 2015: National Urban League
July 20, 2015: Facebook Q&A
July 17, 2015: Iowa State Democratic Party Hall of Fame Dinner
April 23, 2015: Women in the World Summit
Crossposted at Hillary HQ.com, an independent, progressive blog committed to electing Hillary Clinton as the next President of the United States.