By Hillary Clinton
LatinaLista
Latina Lista has invited all the major candidates running for President of the United States to blog on Latina Lista to address our readers. So far, several candidates have accepted our invitation. In the coming weeks, each of the candidates, who have accepted, will take their turn as a Guest Voz to present her/his ideas and hopes for the country if she/he is elected.
We start this very special feature on Latina Lista with the only female candidate running for President — Hillary Clinton.
Ms. Clinton is a familiar face across the country having served as First Lady when her husband was President of the United States and most recently as a Senator representing New York for the past seven years.
Ms. Clinton has always been known for her work and advocacy on behalf of children, women and families. Today, she speaks to us about what she proposes to do to help women and families nationwide.
It should also be noted that today, October 26, is a special day for Ms. Clinton — it is her 60th birthday.
I want to thank Marisa Treviño for the opportunity to address the readers of Latina Lista. It is great to find spaces like this blog, where women from all backgrounds, and even from different countries, can gather to discuss the issues they care about and exchange ideas about how to change their lives and change our country.
Latinas will have an important role in helping bring about the change America needs. It is estimated that between 2002 and 2012, the number of Latinas in the labor force will grow by 2.8 million, accounting for almost 30 percent of the increase in female workers. As more Latinas enter the workforce, the greater the need becomes for an advocate at the highest level to address their challenges and needs.
The struggle to balance work and family is one of those challenges. Everywhere I go, I see the anxiety and the frustration of families trying to strike this balance. Having to take an unpaid leave of absence when they’re pregnant. Taking precious vacation days to care for a sick child or a sick parent. Being stretched to the breaking point by the cost of raising their children on their own.
And if you have fewer resources, greater challenges, or an unsympathetic employer, the struggle to balance work and family can be overwhelming. Too many Americans feel trapped between being there for their kids and being a good employee.
Unfortunately, our government’s policies have not caught up with the new realities of American life. The traditional family – with one breadwinner and one homemaker – is now the exception rather than the rule.
As a result, two-thirds of all of working parents say they do not have enough time with their children.
This is a critical national priority, because we all have a stake in the next generation. And it is a particularly pressing issue for the Latino community, 34 percent of which is under age 18, compared to 25 percent for the overall population.
That’s why last week I announced an agenda to help parents balance work and family and ensure that Americans aren’t faced with a choice between keeping their job and caring for a newborn baby.
I believe we should set a goal of every family in America being able to take time off when their children are born or adopted, and at least some of that time should be paid leave for those who need it. My plan would set an ambitious goal for all states to implement a paid family leave program by the year 2016, and offer $1 billion per year in grants to encourage innovative paid family leave programs at the state level. Promoting paid family leave is critical for giving new parents the opportunity to bond with their children at the most important time in their development.
My plan would also expand the Family Medical Leave Act to cover 13 million additional workers across the country, and guarantee every American worker seven days of paid sick leave to help them deal with a health crisis faced by themselves or their children.
Access to quality, affordable child care is also critical for parents seeking to fulfill their work and family obligations. As First Lady, I remember Patti Solis Doyle – who is now my campaign manager – returning to work at the White House after maternity leave. I could tell that Patti missed her first born, so I told her to bring the baby into the office.
But not everyone has the luxury of a supportive workplace. That’s why we need to make child care accessible and affordable for all parents. So that new moms– or women who don’t have any childcare options – don’t have to choose between being a good mother and good employee. By creating work places that put children first, we make them the priority that they deserve to be. My plan would increase child care funding through the Child Care and Development Block Grant and foster public-private partnerships to expand child care options at the state level.
I will also promote model workplaces in corporate America and reward employers who help their employees balance work and family. Pro-family work policies and increased workplace flexibility help improve American competitiveness and economic growth.
Finally, we need to prevent parents from being discriminated against because of pregnancy or their caregiving responsibilities. Most people believe that current law already protects parents from this type of discrimination. But unfortunately too many mothers and fathers are not protected. If that sounds horribly outdated, that’s because it is. A pregnant woman should not be fired because her employer does not allow any employee to take unpaid leave for a temporary disability. And no dad should be fired for taking a few days off to help his wife recover from childbirth, or care for their newborn or adopted baby. As President, I will work to prohibit discrimination against parents.
America is ready for change – and I believe women will lead that change. It’s up to us to do our part to take back the White House and change this country, and with your help, that’s exactly what we’re going to do.
Comment(28)
EYES OF TEXAS
Socialism, don’t you just love it. Government control of everyones life from the craddle to the grave. Not the kind of America I want to live in.
Liquidmicro
Isn’t this pandering?? Pandering to the fact that there are more single Latina mothers than any other group.
Why should the state be made to fund child care for these children?? More social welfare that I don’t want to pay for. It’s the parents child, let them raise it. If work is that important then they shouldn’t have the child.
Mothers and fathers are already allowed time of at the birth of a child, the mother even receives state unemployment (temporary disability) and most companies pay leave for an amount of time. Its called Parental Leave.
So exactly what is she going to change that isn’t already there?
Frank
Many of the single mothers are illegal aliens too. I agree liquid, we already have such plans in place so what is Hillary adding to that?
Horace
Government mandated paid sick leave at the employer’s expense. Reason 1,001 why Hillary shouldn’t be elected president.
“I believe we should set a goal of every family in America being able to take time off when their children are born or adopted, and at least some of that time should be paid leave for those who need it. My plan would set an ambitious goal for all states to implement a paid family leave program by the year 2016, and offer $1 billion per year in grants to encourage innovative paid family leave programs at the state level. Promoting paid family leave is critical for giving new parents the opportunity to bond with their children at the most important time in their development.
My plan would also expand the Family Medical Leave Act to cover 13 million additional workers across the country, and guarantee every American worker seven days of paid sick leave to help them deal with a health crisis faced by themselves or their children.”
sick-freak
Lets all salute Commrad Hillary. We can all rejoice that we have a genuine Socialist (I mean “progressive”) running for president.
Big government, big taxes, big brother, big pile of excrement!
Oh please mommy tell me another fairy tale.
How can any thinking person take her seriously?
BlackinUSA
Name calling never solved any issues in America. Sen. Clinton you are going to have a very tough time winning over people predisposed to NOT liking you. Whether you or any other Democrat becomes the POTUS, they will inherit a country very divided and broken. The current administration has damaged my country for generations to come and no die hard Republican will ever admit “their guy” has been the worst POTUS ever seen. I just pray the next POTUS has the conviction and does whatever it takes to heal my country.
Remember your opposition will lie, cheat and steal but nothing is stronger than the American spirit.
God Bless America!
yave begnet
Brava Hillary! And congrats Marisa–what a coup!
It is great to find spaces like this blog, where women from all backgrounds, and even from different countries, can gather to discuss the issues they care about and exchange ideas about how to change their lives and change our country.
Sadly, I’d wager the majority of commenters on this blog are, like me, men. There’s something about the combativeness of political blogs that alienates many women (like my wife).
This post seems to have triggered some harmonic restrictionist convergence–it’s as though you’ve discovered some pheremone or soundwave frequency that brings restrictionists over in droves. Hillary + immigration = irresistible!
I like her family-oriented policies–they are long overdue for overstretched families. But I wish she would talk about other more group-specific issues, like discrimination or the DREAM Act. And I keep waiting for her to meaningfully address her vote on the border wall (as well as her vote on Iraq in 2002).
Tomas
Marisa,
Congrats! I am just happy that a Latina blog has gotten such a big political name. Regardless of political leanings or rhetoric, this is a wonderful step forward for the Latino/Hispanic blogosphere. Keep up the good work. I will post about this manana or today depending on your timezone.
Tomas
holli
I’m not a huge fan of Hilary Clinton to say the LEAST, but I’ll admit to reading the comments first – then going back and reading what she had to say. I didn’t read what I expected – which would have been a bunch of spew from a socialist slant. I’m not Latino, but I was a single mother who raised a child on one income – and I had one hell of a time during my high-risk pregnancy. All of the above was just practical thinking if people want to raise healthy children. And honestly, it didn’t sound like a huge change from what we already have in place?? My question would be who is going to keep employers from acting like a-holes?
I came here to scoff, but this isn’t one of the times I could find anything wrong with her position. I am definitely not for a socialist society, but I do think one-income families need help if we want our children to grow up to be productive members of society, and not end up as the next wasted generation.
Horace
“Remember your opposition will lie, cheat and steal but nothing is stronger than the American spirit.”
I’m no friend of George Bush or the “K” Street gang, but I have no faith that the Dems are above such tactics as you accuse the Reps. Harry Reid and Hillary have already told a lot of whoppers.
Frank
I agree that the present administration has damaged this country but many Repubs do not support Bush or his administration. The Republican party has been quite divided in the past few years.
I would like to see a good conservative Repub in the White House next year. Nothing like Bush. My only concern is the Repubs putting us into another war. This time it will be Iran.
I can’t see myself voting for a Dem and I really don’t think Hillary will make a good president, IMO.
Yave, what is a restrictionist? How is the Dream Act, group specific? Do you really think it wise to play ethnic politics?
Amparker
I am shocked that the comments on a Latina website would be so conservative and unappreciative of Family Leave Laws. You do not have to be a Latino to know the despair of having conflicts about caring for a sick child and/or pregnancy leave!! I had to leave a job I had for 13 years because I have an Autistic child- I got little to no support and I worked at a prestigious University hospital as a professional(and there were a shortage of professionals in my job description). Don’t others on the website understand how important this is!! And I didn’t even have to deal with ethnic/racial discrimination. Hillary is the candidate with the most comprehensive plan to help parents work and care for their families — we desperately need this in America!
adriana
I have also been approached by Hillary’s people with information from her campaign. I am impressed that they make the effort to reach out to Latino bloggers. I haven’t heard anything from the other candidates, and I’m not really a big Hillary Clinton fan. I think that she would probably be a more effective senate majority leader, but that’s another comment for another time.
holli, I’m glad that you came here and realized that some of Hillary’s proposed ideas would benefit working families. Who doesn’t want American families to be productive and be able to spend quality time with loved ones? As more of my friends enter parenthood, I realize how inadequate our protections for young families really are.
yave begnet
Yave, what is a restrictionist?
I would define a restrictionist as someone who wants to basically halt and/or reverse immigration and possibly deport many or all of those currently here out of lawful status. A regular reader/commenter at VDare or Lone Wacko or other sites, a supporter of FAIR: these would fit the bill. What would you call such a person other than something rather general like “patriot,” “American,” etc.? For instance, I would call myself an “immigrant advocate”–someone with differing opinions might refer to me as an “open-border type.” I can see how you’d dispute someone else’s labeling of you, as I certainly would do.
How is the Dream Act, group specific?
It isn’t necessarily, but a large number of potential beneficiaries of the act are Latin@, and Latin@ bloggers have written about it extensively as an issue that affects their community.
Do you really think it wise to play ethnic politics?
That’s a pretty loaded question that I could just as easily ask you.
Perhaps Clinton’s strategy in this post was to address issues that women generally can agree on rather than hot button topics like the DREAM Act or the border wall. It’s been somewhat effective based on a few of the comments above, but may still leave immigrant advocates unsatisfied.
Horace
Amparker said…”Don’t others on the website understand how important this is!!”
I understand how important it is to you , but why as a taxpayer should it be my responsibilty to pay for your sad predicament?
I pay big dollars for health insurance for my family. Why should I pay additional taxes to take care of yours? There’s nothing in our Constitution our Founding Fathers wrote that would indicate that government provided welfare is a fundamental right of the people.
George
The federal government should not have the power to mandate how employers compensate their employees. If employers wish to give or contribute to health insurance for their employees, or give them paid leave (of any kind), then it should be at their discretion. This is socialism at its worst. Some people don’t even get vacation time, never mind compensated sick leave. What next, mandated paid leave?
Frank
yave, I just find the word “restrictionist” as an odd term to use. Is this some kind of word invented by the pro-illegals to demonize those of us for the rule of law? Should we add that one to the list of other slanders such as xenophobic, racist, etc.?
Oh well, anyway I don’t know of many Americans that want to stop immigration altogether. Some do just for awhile until we assimilate those already here and stabilize our population growth. Is that a bad thing? I don’t know of anyone who wants to end immigration forever.
We certainly want to end illegal immigration. Is that a bad thing? Those who support illegal immigration are not “immigrant advocates” but illegal alien sympathizers. By the way, our laws demand that anyone in our country illegally be deported.
Right, Hillary and some other candidates are trying to avoid topics such as the Dream Act and the border wall because if they speak out against them, they feel they would lose the Hispanic vote. Which brings us back to the question, why in order to gain the Hispanic vote do politicians have to favor illegal immigration and sacrifice border security with the wall or support the Dream Act? Perhaps it is Hispanics themselves that are creating this ethnic politics phenonenom. That is what is dividing our country.
Horace
I prefer “restrictionist” to “open borders”, which implies that the citizens surrender their sovereign right to define who should and shouldn’t be permitted to be given residency and ultimately citizenship. Professors Hing and Johnson at the ImmigrationProf blog define restrictionists as anyone who would defend present immigration policy. Most Americans belief that they, as stewards of this great nation should not surrender their right to govern immigration into this country. Illegal aliens and their proxies, advocacy groups dispute our right, as nutty as that sounds to the rest of us. They shall not prevail.
EYES OF TEXAS
Hitlery just loves the idea of millions of illegal aliens being subsidized by the many social services she wants to give them in exchange for their votes once she figures out how to legalize them all. Once the fix is in, she and hubby can take turns in the role of president for the rest of their lives. Her dream of a socialized America will create a nation of one political party, hers, that will tax the hell out of the working middle class to provide for her subservient voter base. At this point, some of the once middle class will become eligible for the many social services she will provide thus causing an overlap and blending which will be the demise of the middle class.
All the rich and powerful will rule at the top and the rest of us will be cared and provided for from the cradle to the grave by a government created by HITLERY and her band of demwits.
Only my opinion, but socialism is knocking at the door.
Liquidmicro
Everything you would want to know about The Family and Medical Leave Act through the Federal Gov’t. State laws vary according to state, but each state does have them on top of the Federal mandates.
http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/statutes/whd/fmla.htm
“My question would be who is going to keep employers from acting like a-holes?”
How can a business be faulted by giving what is granted by the Federal Mandate and the individual state mandate? Business’ are in business to make money/profit. There have been laws in place since 1993 (federal), some states have had them longer. Why should a business be held liable for your choices? You obviously choose to get pregnant after you already had your one job. What about the business owners Rights, to own/run/operate a profitable business? Working a job is not a RIGHT it is a privilege that someone would want to pay you as an employee and pay you fairly. So I ask again, Why should the business suffer for your personal situation?
Antonio Gonzalez
You believe that muy friend.
Yes. Then you are latina stupid and no latina lista.
EYES OF TEXAS
Hey, Andy G. who is stupid and who invited you to an intellectual conversation? You make a comment about someones post without giving a counter point. That to me is not stupid, just plain ole ignorant.
George
This is insanity, giving away the country, and who will pay for these 40,000 give away communist Hugo Chavez government Giveaways, unforunately if you speak Spanish, Hillary has taken so much money from the Chinese government you had better be boning up on your Chinese. Is the entire country blind she throws things in the air to every audience she focus grouped and you believe her? She is just full of bull–t, if any of her programs where in efect our tax rate would be 99%, god help us if anyone believes one thing that this c–t is saying we are in trouble!
Liquidmicro
Holli:
You have taken the entire context of what was asked and assumed something totally different. Sorry about your comprehension skills. By the way you also assume I don’t have children, I have 4 to be exact, 17 (daughter), 14 (son past away in 2002), 4 (daughter), 1 (daughter), so don’t whine about not getting time off from work.
You should have known what your state allows along with the Federal (The Family and Medical Leave Act) Its up to you to know your rights in this. With your response, you didn’t seem to like where you were working anyhow, so I ask again, why should the business cater or give special privileges to parents? Most people work 8 hours a day, sleep 8 hours a day, and have family time 8 hours a day, seems pretty equal to me.
“The only time my job suffered was when I quit, and I know that for a fact, because there was nobody who knew how to do my job, and my employer did not know how to find someone qualified to do my job.”
Maybe you should have negotiated a better contract? This is the exact attitude that most Americans have towards their jobs. Now, how did the business start/operate/function, prior to your arrival? After your departure? Are they still in Business? You may be missed, but if they are still in business they obviously figured out how to operate without YOU!!
Horace
If there wasn’t the stench of votes in the wind, Hillary wouldn’t have anything to do with the illegal immigration issue. This is one mercenary b*tch.
EYES OF TEXAS
There are many out there that can see through Hitlery and how she can change character depending on which group she is addressing. She also flip-flops on issues trying to satisfy everyone and comes off looking like a fool. If by some demonic chance she gets the White House, the U.S.A., as we know it today, will cease to exist and be replace with socialism. The middle class has always been a pain to the government and it is Hitlery that will make changes to burden the middle class with heavier taxation to support all the social services she wants to impliment.
Arelis Parra
Senator Hilary Clinton
Su Despacho.
Apreciado y respetada Senadora:
Tengo el agrado de dirigirme a usted, en ocasión de solicitar su colaboración con la comunidad domincana en Miami, quienes estamos reuniendo ayuda para llevar a nuestro pais, que ha sido salvajemente desvastado por la tormertanta Noel, algo que nos tiene muy triste y apenados, ya que los estragos son incontables, a parte de las pobres vidas que se han perdido, miles de familia han quedado sin hogar, sn medicnas y sin enceres, asi como alimentos. Le comvido a que nos acompane, dentro de su muy apretada agenda a llevar esta ayuda a nuestro paÃs, la Republica Dominicana, que tanto le admira y le quiere, y asi trataremos de hacer una actividad proselitista, con tienpo de con los hombres de empresas de nuestro pais, y los de Miami, a fin de recaudar fondos para cualquier donación que usted crea de lugar dentro de esta recaudación de fondos, Si esta usted de acuerdo, puede comunicarse con Arelis Parra o Ana Valladares a los emails: Arelisp56@hotmail, com o henryv5@msn.com (305) 225-4149 (Ana Valaldares habla perfectp inglés). Dios le bendiga y le de el triunfo en las elecciones vennideras.
EYES OF TEXAS
Notice how this issue has gone silent since the previous post. This should say something about a common language, spoken and written, so people can exchange ideas and communicate their thoughts and feelings. Bilingual, great and more power to you, but since not everyone is amd we are in America, English is, and will always be, the common language.
Comments are closed.