Hillary Clinton took a swipe at corporations that she said hurt Americans and offered a more inclusive approach to economic progress, stressing that American dream should be large enough to let eveyone benefit from its promise.
The Democratic candidate also lambasted her Republican rival Donald Trump over his tax record, questioning his business practice.
“Let’s prove — let’s prove that the American dream is big enough for everyone to share in its promise,” she told a gathering in Toledo in a speech in which she ripped several bad corporate actors.
“Let’s prove that we’re going to stand together, make the smart decisions that will get the economy going and growing for everybody, not just those at the top, that we will stand up against special privilege and special interest, that we will be ready after this election to have an agenda that will really make a difference here in Toledo and across Ohio,” she added.
Clinton related the promise of American dream to her family, telling how her grandfather, a factory worker from Scranton, Pennsylvania, worked to pass on the concept of realizing the American dream.
“He went to work in the same lace mill every day for 50 years. He believed he passed it down to my dad, who passed it down to me, that if he did what he was supposed to do, he’d have a good life and his kids would have an even better life. That is the American dream. That is what we believe in, that’s what we’ve got to keep going generation after generation.”
Outlining some feature of her economic plans, she said, “we’ve got to create more good jobs with rising incomes. That means we’ve got to have good schools in every zip code. That means everybody willing to work — and I say that very clearly — you’ve got to be willing to work, and if you’re willing to work, you should be able to get ahead and stay ahead. That is the basic bargain.”
On the other side, if companies and corporations invest in their workers and communities and America’s’ future, she will stand with them.
“That is the choice. Our goal is to make it easier for everyone to do better.”
Clinton cited what she called “egregious: corporate behavior.
“Look at Wells Fargo. Really shocking, isn’t it? One of the nation’s biggest banks bullying thousands of employees into committing fraud against unsuspecting customers. Secretly opening up millions of accounts for people without their consent, even their knowledge. Misusing personal information and then sticking customers with hidden fees.”
Turning to her GOP rival Trump she questioned why he has not released his tax returns and claimed he was “taking from America with both hands.”
“Here is my question: What kind of genius loses a billion dollars in a single year?” Clinton said, indicating she would continue to attack Trump on the issue of income tax going into future debates ahead of November 8 election.
“Now, a lot of us were wondering, what is he hiding? It must be really terrible. Well, The New York Times has discovered at least part of the answer. Back in the 1990s, Trump apparently lost a billion dollars in a single year on bad investments and failing casinos. Now, how anybody can lose a dollar, let alone a billion dollars in the casino industry is kind of beyond me, right? It’s just hard to figure. But as a result, it doesn’t look like he paid a dime of federal income tax for almost two decades.”
There were no immediate comments by Trump himself or his campaign in reaction to Clinton’s remarks but he recently been arguing that he has been smart to avoid paying high income taxes.
