![Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks during a news conference during a visit to the Iowa State Fair, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2015, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)](http://images.dailykos.com/images/159715/large/HIllary_Clinton_Iowa_Press_Conference_August_15.jpg?1439892994)
Today's edition of Hillary News & Views kicks off with videos of #BLM activists meeting with Clinton earlier this month:
Shockwave has also flagged this additional video, which shows an earlier part of the exchange:
These videos have already been diaried, and I want to thank Sassine for flagging this article from Good:
Hillary Clinton is refreshingly honest and authentic at some moments, and sharply defensive at others. The most uncomfortable: The candidate responds to an activist’s assertion that “this is, and has always been, a white problem of violence,” by suggesting she could talk “only to white people about how we’re going to deal with the very real problems,” a suggestion both Clinton and the activist then acknowledge is not what either want.
When reached for comment, representatives from #BlackLivesMatter made clear their intention: Not to skewer Clinton or any individual politician, but to prompt all politicians to think about and directly address racial injustice in America. As noted in the organization’s recent press release, “Historically, all political parties have participated in the systematic disenfranchisement of Black people. Anti-black racism, especially that sanctioned by the state, has resulted in the loss of healthy and thriving Black life and well-being. Given that, we will continue to hold politicians and political parties accountable for their policies and platforms."
“You have been, in no uncertain way, partially responsible for this," they remind Clinton directly.
In a wide-ranging interview with Iowa Public Radio, Clinton went into greater detail on her thinking about some major issues. Here are some select quotes, but I recommend reading and listening to the whole interview for fuller context.
On Supporting $12 Federal Minimum Wage, which is lower than her primary opponents are proposing:
I support the bill...setting the federal minimum wage at 12 dollars. But I also strongly support cities and states looking at their own particular circumstances. The cost of living in New York is not the same as it is in Little Rock, Arkansas. And therefore, I supported a 15 dollar minimum wage in New York City. And similarly, Los Angeles has just voted for a 15 dollar wage, but I don’t think that is in any way enough to deal with the income stagnation that we face in our country...
I think it’s a good floor and that would mean that Iowa would have to go up. And I strongly support cities and localities, even states, that want to raise it beyond 12 dollars...
So let’s get to 12, that’s going to be hard enough with a Republican congress, and let’s encourage more states to look at themselves and see what more they could do to try to make it possible for people who work full-time and are paid minimum wage to actually bring home enough pay to support themselves and their family.
On Pipelines and Clean Energy:
I support the president’s Clean Power Plan and I would like to see us begin a transition away from fossil fuels. Now, the specifics of that are important, because some parts of the country are better able to make that transition than others...
I would like to say, as president, to every state, “Let’s have a clean energy plan, don’t be siting pipelines, don’t be siting anything having to do with coal or fossil fuel, until you’ve really looked at both the economic and the environmental necessity.”...
I’m not saying ‘No [new pipelines]' but I’m saying my heavy bias is in favor of moving away from fossil fuels, however they are delivered. I mean, if it’s not a pipeline, it’s going to be railroad cars or it’s gonna be trucks, and so it’s not like the pipeline’s the only way it can be delivered. And we should ask the bigger question, “How can we move more quickly to a clean energy future?”
On Federal Funding for Special Education:
I think that the federal government has a couple of very important roles to play. First, with special education, which is an increasing part of the budget of a lot of school districts. When special ed became the law of the land and children with disabilities were to be mainstreamed into classrooms, the federal government promised to pick up 40% of the cost. So far as I remember, the Feds have picked up no more than 17 or 18 % of the cost. I have as a senator, I would as a president, work to get that number up. We made a commitment which we have never fulfilled.
On When she is Planning on "Taking Out" Bernie Sanders:
I think it’s great that we’re having such a vigorous democratic primary, and I think what we’re talking about and the issues that we’re focused on are so different than what’s being talked about on the other side. So I’m now really concerned about the Republican debate...I’m really focused on laying out my policies and explaining them and drawing the contrast with Republicans.
Finally, Clinton has been going back and forth with Jeb! on Iraq and the presence of ISIS.
Huffington Post reports:
“I find it somewhat curious that Jeb Bush is doubling down on defending his brother’s actions in Iraq,” she told reporters on Saturday. “But if he’s going to do that, he should present the entire picture.”
“The entire picture includes the agreement George W. Bush made with the Maliki government in Iraq that set the end of 2011 as the date to withdraw American troops,” she said. “I can only wonder whether he either did not know that or thought that other people would not be reminded of that.”
“So for him to make whatever case he wishes on behalf of his own campaign,” Clinton continued, “there is clearly a very direct line between the agreement George W. Bush signed and the efforts that the Obama administration made, of which I was a part, to persuade the Maliki government to admit continued American support for the Iraqi army.”
For more on Hillary Clinton's campaign for the presidency, check out…
The Hillary 2016 Platform Series
Part 1: Criminal Justice Reform
Part 2: Immigration Reform
Part 3: Voting Rights
Unfiltered Hillary: The Transcripts
August 14, 2015: Iowa Wing Ding Dinner
July 31, 2015: National Urban League
July 20, 2015: Facebook Q&A
July 17, 2015: Iowa State Democratic Party Hall of Fame Dinner
April 23, 2015: Women in the World Summit
Crossposted at Hillary HQ.com, an independent, progressive blog committed to electing Hillary Clinton as the next President of the United States.