Clinton Makes the Economic Case

I've made no attempt to hide the fact that I think Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) needs to rethink her position on the Iraq War. But on some economic issues of late, Clinton is showing some fight. For instance, she voted against the bankruptcy bill and against the corporate-written Central American Free Trade Agreement. And this week, she gave a terrific speech about the minimum wage that really touches on populist themes that I haven't heard her voice in such a way before.

Here are some excerpts:

"Never has a political party given so much to so few who needed it so little. And it never ends. You know, we're more than happy to continue to provide tax breaks for the wealthiest among us while we cut the social safety net, while we refuse to raise the minimum wage. Well, shame on us. You know, I think at some point there has to be a recognition that we are tilting the scales dramatically against average Americans. Middle-class wages are stagnant. Health care costs are going up and the number of the uninsured is going up because people who work hard for a living are no longer offered insurance or cannot afford to pay what it costs. Pension and retirement security is at risk. There's something really wrong with this picture...

"With all due respect to those who have a different economic philosophy, rich people did not make America great. I'm all for rich people. Ever since my husband got out of office and got into the private sector, I think it's great. I never knew how much the President really liked us. He can't give us enough tax cuts. I have nothing against rich people. That's part of the American dream. But with all due respect, it is not rich people who made America great. It is the vast American middle class. It is the upward mobility of people who thought they could do better than their parents...

"The job of government is to level the playing field, help right that balance because otherwise people are powerless to defend themselves especially when they have to get up every day and go to work to keep body and soul together and to put food on the table. I think there's going to be a day of reckoning. You can't continue to tilt the scales against the vast majority of the Americans and not be held accountable in the political process. The mask has been ripped off of compassionate conservatism and people see it for what it is: partisan politics to favor the privileged."

That's the kind of candor and language that we need to hear more of from Democrats.

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