Not Ready For Hillary

The other day I was having a friendly conversation with a couple of friends, neither of whom is as much of a progressive as I am. Both believed that the Clintons were left of center. They are both right of center. More than any other couple in the political spotlight, their views are nearly identical. On social issues, Hillary is closer to the center than Bill, but on foreign policy she is certainly to his right. And on economics, they are both straight down the center. Overall, it balances out to be on the right-wing side of center.

To show, just look at how Bill got to be President and how Hillary became the first woman candidate who was a shoo-in for the nomination. For those with short memories, that was in 2008. But back in 1992, Bill had put together a backroom coalition to remake the Democratic Party into more like the Republican Party. Just with some of the traditional liberal values shared by Northern Republicans and Democrats. The plan was to engage with businesses to come to mutual agreements on policy. This was the start of what is now usually called a public / private partnership. Over the last 20 years, we have seen that business is the one controlling the partnership. The Democratic idea has gone bad. An idea that pushed the people’s agenda aside as being, at best, equal to that of business. Also, during Clinton’s administration, he led the charge to weaken welfare. A frequent target of complaint by Republicans. The new rules lowered government expenses, helping to bring the budget into balance. Early in his first administration, he did some smart things. He raised taxes on wealthy people. The tax increase was not enough to bring the worsening income gap back, but it slowed it down. So, when welfare was weakened, the economy was starting to finally recover after 12 years of Reagan and Bush. This hid the problems with the new limited welfare until George W. Bush presided over the economic crash of 2008. But there was more that Clinton did that contradicted a left-wing Democratic agenda. He carried the banner for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). An agreement that has defined exactly what pro-business trade agreements look like. There was very little to protect workers on either side of the border, but large corporations made out well. Therefore, businesses continue to put a lot of time and money into getting new trade agreements. And last, Clinton went along with the elimination of Glass-Steagall regulations that kept investment banks separate from ‘regular’ banks. Removing the wall allowed investment houses to reclassify themselves as banks and become eligible to get bailout money during the 2008 crash, which as an investment house they would not have been eligible for. And let us not ignore that balancing the budget was not really a good idea and lowering debt bad. But the problems caused by his budgets did not appear until after the Y2K jobs bubble deflated and George Bush had already paid out bonuses to rich people by lowering only their taxes. Our economy never recovered and nearly collapsed in 2008.

Hillary has shown no inclination that she would do things differently on the domestic front, except fight harder for school improvements and women’s rights. But in foreign affairs, Hillary is on the same war hawk page occupied by Dick Cheney. She is more willing to put guns and troops on the ground than either her husband or Barack Obama was. Both Hillary and Bill have continued to maintain close connections with many of the banking industry’s top people, and in an era where banks have become dangerously large, she must start sooner rather than later defining exactly how she would diminish the power of the banks.

And for both Hillary and Bill, both must share in the blame for the Patriot Act and the war on terror. After 9/11, Hillary in the Senate was not shy about supporting W’s war without borders or a defined enemy. Bill also supported G. W. Bush’s wars in public statements. The Patriot Act was originally written during Bill Clinton’s last term. The Republican Congress was outraged at many of its provisions, and so it was not enacted, until just after 9/11.

We need America to change direction. The power of corporations continues to increase daily. They can heavily influence the public forum. I would be ready for anyone who insists that corporations be removed from the public forum. I am ready for candidates who will agree to the following two succinct statements.
People First, Nothing Else second.
When people succeed, business success will follow. (This statement cannot be reversed)

To me, they describe all that I am against in politics, economics, and international affairs. I do not believe Hillary is ready to be president. I remain not ready for Hillary.