“I AM voting for Hillary because she has always stood up against inequality. She did that as President of her high school class . She has done that and continues to do so for children and families; she has pledged and will work with Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren to do that; and because she has experienced inequality profoundly as a woman , she will always remember what inequality is and will fight fiercely and firmly with more than half of the population of America — with and for — all of America.” — Cynthia Bonta
Laureen Lazarovici Narro said, “In [the] summer of 2000, my mother broke her leg. It was a presidential election year, and we had the opportunity to watch both parties’ political conventions on TV. She started to cry. Not get “choked up,” but really cry big, fat tears that streamed down her cheeks. I became alarmed. “You and your American friends don’t understand,” she said. “You get together and hand over power peacefully. Where I come from, governments change at the end of a gun.” The one time she saw government change hands in her native country of Egypt was a bloodless military coup against a monarchy. She does not take American democracy for granted. This is why I believe voting for Donald Trump is stabbing an ice pick into the heart of American democracy and democracy all over the world. I believe Trump has committed treason and that anyone who votes for him is an accomplice to that crime.”
Laureen and Cynthia both articulate what many Americans, particularly women, feel: a vote for Trump is a vote against America and its electoral process, and of a peaceful transition from one president to another.
Most were offended when Donald Trump quipped that he would not respect the results of the elections. He whipped up hysteria amongst his supporters that the election process is being rigged. The next day, under media scrutiny, he said he will respect the results, only if he wins. He seems to be rigging the elections towards his favor.
Each of these women sees America at different angles. One sees it inclusive of all who have experienced inequality and advocate justice for all. While another views America vis-à-vis other countries, yet no one supports Trump’s undermining of American democracy.
California now has a record-breaking 18.7 million registered voters, as reported by Secretary of State Alex Padilla, previously at 18.2 million. Throughout the U.S., 12.6 million voters have voted early, according to a CNN report just 10 days before Election Day.
Meanwhile, The Guardian has kept tabs on endorsements. Over 80 newspapers’ editorial boards around the United States have endorsed Hillary Clinton. These include: San Diego Union-Tribune, Houston Chronicle, Arizona Republic, Columbus Dispatch, New York Times, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, LA Times, Sacramento Bee, Baltimore Sun, Alabama Media Group, USA Today signified they are not for Trump, Denver Post, The Salt Lake Tribune, The Des Moines Register, The Omaha World-Herald, New York Daily News, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Cincinnati Enquirer, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Charlotte Observer, Tampa Bay Times, Hartford Courant, Akron Beacon Journal, Chicago Sun-Times.
Donald Trump got six media endorsements: the Las Vegas Review-Journal, National Enquirer, New York Post, Santa Barbara News-Press, St. Joseph News-Press, and a newspaper owned by his son in law, New York Observer.
Even Yale Record, which is not allowed by its 501(c) 3 status to endorse a candidate posted this, “The Yale Record believes both candidates to be equally un-endorsable, due to our faithful compliance with the tax code. In particular, we do not endorse Hillary Clinton’s exemplary leadership during her 30 years in the public eye. We do not support her impressive commitment to serving and improving this country—a commitment to which she has dedicated her entire professional career. Because of unambiguous tax law, we do not encourage you to support the most qualified presidential candidate in modern American history, nor do we encourage all citizens to shatter the glass ceiling once and for all by electing Secretary Clinton on November 8.”
Why are most print newspapers for Hillary Clinton? What are the components of the presidential platform of Hillary Clinton?
Picture a house with a roof and five pillars to hold the roof together. This is my way of organizing the multiple elements of her platform.
I call this America’s house of health, prosperity, and progress, inclusive enough of all its 300+ million citizens, including 4 million Filipino Americans in the U.S.
The roof has these policy elements, both to combat nature’s climate change and man-made disasters such as terrorism. It includes national security, veterans, military defense, and to combat man-made inhumanity, national service to promote volunteerism amongst Americans and give each of us a connection to one another, while we embrace our God-given talents to share with others, the national service component of her platform.
But, what about its five pillars?
The first pillar is what I call “hurdle pillars”
They are: Gun violence, Poverty, Campus Sexual Assault, Addiction and Substance Abuse, Wall Street and Criminal Justice Reform. We need to climb over these hurdles if we are to sustain a functioning democracy.
Why? Recall the recession of 2008 lasting to 2011? Wall Street was then gambling on mortgage securities, insuring the banks from homeowners who will default on their mortgages, while also earning from those who were responsibly paying their loans, while banks froze their assets and did not extend any loans to homeowners, small businesses, construction projects and more. Communities became ghost towns as houses upon houses on the same block got foreclosed on. The economy was in distress and about to be bankrupt. After it was inherited by Pres. Barack Obama, the economy grew again.
We have had 79 months under Pres. Obama, wherein 15.3 million jobs have been created but before that, jobs were lost. The economy grew with consistent policies of investing in alternative energies of solar and wind, geothermal energies, better cars running on hybrid sources of electricity and battery, improving trade, hiring veterans, investments in small businesses, innovation and retraining workers to code computers to get technology jobs.
One high schooler wrote to me, “The biggest challenge facing my generation is the epidemic of sexual assault, especially those occurring on college campuses. According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, for every 1,000 college women, there are 35 victims of rape or sexual harassment. Even with that high number, less than 5% of all completed or attempted rapes are reported to police. Although the victims seek justice and desire support after their assault, they are often scared and remain silent. They are scared that their attacker will not receive a punishment fit for their crime. The next president should address this issue because no one deserves to be hurt or abused in a school environment. Students have the right to a safe space to learn and grow without being afraid. The next president should take action by giving support to the victims of attacks and making sure the rapists are punished severely. There also must be more prevention and education before the attacks instead of reacting after the attack. The next president must encourage more sexual violence prevention education programs in college and high schools that’ll teach self-defense, consensual agreement, how to help a friend who is a victim and how to get involved as a bystander before or while it’s happening.”
It is why Hillary Clinton is addressing campus sexual assault, which includes comprehensive reporting, a fair process of obtaining justice and more prevention.
The second is what I call the foundational rights pillar.
It ensures rights and equality to all: women’s rights, children’s rights, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) rights, racial justice, disability rights, rural communities, voting rights; labor and workers’ rights and even protection of animals and wildlife. It is argued that the way we treat one another, including animals, reflects on the character of our nation.
The third is what I consider the anchor pillars to grow the economy.
When America has a Fair Tax system, all other aspects of its nation’s life are facilitated: the growth of small businesses, manufacturing, innovation , and even infrastructure repair.
Currently, corporations are able to determine how much taxes they have to pay, it can range from zero percent to 15 percent. Using inversion, they are able to transfer their corporate residence on paper, sometimes just a mailbox, to be citizens of Cayman Islands or Bermuda, which are tax havens. They can still operate their corporations in America, employ educated and well-trained American workers, and seek the protection of the American system of laws, patent protection, intellectual property protection, America’s transportation systems, and utilities to make their businesses run.
Currently, over $2.1 trillion are stashed in offshore accounts in countries that charge no taxes for business income, derived from America. Is that fair to all of us working families and small businesses who pay taxes and pay a fixed percentage of our tax bracket?
Another is that small businesses, with less than five employees, spend 150 hours and a $1,100 per employee on federal tax compliance, which is 20 times higher than the larger firms. That problem needs to be fixed.
The fourth is the lifelines pillar.
How many families need help in these areas of mental health, health care, autism, AIDs and HIV, social security, housing, paid medical and family leave, alzheimer’s care? Do we need time off to care for our sick family members, or to even enjoy taking care of our children when they are born into our families or to care for our elderly?
The fifth is the investments pillar.
These investments are from the cradle to first jobs: like early childhood education, K-12 education, making college tuition free, and after college, help in developing workforce skills and job training, and of course, immigration reform.
Eight components to Hillary’s platform on immigration reform are: reforms leading to pathway to citizenship, support immigrant integration and forming an Office of Immigrant Affairs, end family detention, enforce laws humanely, expand healthcare to all families by allowing them to buy into the health exchange, protect families of dreamers and parents of Americans, end the separation of families by removing the 3 and 10 year ban, and encourage naturalization.
These changes, if Hillary Clinton is elected, will allow some members of our community to get out of being marginalized shadows and be integrated into the mainstream and ultimately, as responsible American citizens.
Isn’t this our community’s collective American dream: to climb over hurdles, to have lifelines, to respect our foundational rights, to have an anchor to grow and to be able to make future and present investments, all five pillars under a strong roof of national security, climate change protections, and national service for our common humanity?
We cannot take American democracy for granted. Vote for the right leader for this country, as Laureen and Cynthia asserted we must!
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Prosy Abarquez-Delacruz, J.D. writes a weekly column for Asian Journal, called “Rhizomes.” She has been writing for AJ Press for 9 years now. She contributes to Balikbayan Magazine. Her training and experiences are in science, food technology, law and community volunteerism for 4 decades. She holds a B.S. degree from the University of the Philippines, a law degree from Whittier College School of Law in California and a certificate on 21st Century Leadership from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. She has been a participant in NVM Writing Workshops taught by Prof. Peter Bacho for 4 years and Prof. Russell Leong. She has travelled to France, Holland, Belgium, Japan, Mexico and 22 national parks in the US, in pursuit of her love for arts.