In Economic Speech, Clinton Lays Out Infrastructure, Trade, Tax Proposals

By Matthew McMullan
Aug 11 2016 |
Photo courtesy Hillary Clinton via Flickr

The candidate gets a few jabs in at her opponent, too.

First Donald Trump spoke in Detroit. A few days later, at an advanced manufacturing facility in Warren, it was Hillary Clinton’s turn.

Both candidates chose Michigan – America’s mitten, home to Redamak’s, Bell’s Beer, and the Detroit Lions – to roll out economic policy plans for their future administrations. Trump’s speech, true to form, was big on rhetoric while light on details. The casual observer would expect Clinton to get more specific with her proposals.

She did – though there were more than enough jabs at Trump and his own plans along the way. Here’s what she had to say about infrastructure investment:

"Starting on Day One, we will work with both parties to pass the biggest investment in new, good-paying jobs since World War II.

"We will put Americans to work building and modernizing our roads, our bridges, our tunnels, our railways, our ports, our airports. We are way overdue for this, my friends. We are living off the investments that were made by our parents and grandparents' generations.”

Clinton’s plan would put up $250 billion for an infrastructure package and, as she alluded to in her speech, she’d do it in the first 100 days of her presidency. What’s more, she’s proposing another $25 billion to be used to launch a public-private infrastructure bank. The Clinton campaign thinks that seed money would raise up to $250 billion more, an undoubtedly rosy presumption.

She also mentioned her $10 billion proposal for “Make it in America” partnerships, which would expand on the network of public-private manufacturing research hubs established during the Obama administration.

She touched on other issues as well, saying she’d create disincentives through the tax code for businesses that offshore production jobs, and that said her administration would support credits for those businesses that offer apprenticeship programs.

She gave a notable shout-out for the clean-energy industry:

“Some country is going to be the clean energy superpower of the 21st century and create millions of jobs and businesses. It's probably going to be either China, Germany, or America. I want it to be us! We invent the technology, we should make it and use it and export it.”

But an even bigger part of her speech was on trade. After the messaging snafu at the Democratic National Convention, in which a member of her inner circle suggested Clinton would ultimately support the Trans-Pacific Partnership once in office, the candidate was very firm on the topic.

“I oppose it now, I'll oppose it after the election, and I'll oppose it as president,” Clinton said to applause, before highlighitng her plans to establish and appoint a “new chief trade prosecutor” and more staff for the office of the U.S Trade Representative in order to boost trade enforcement.

You can read her whole speech here.