Let's Make a Deal.."The Basic Bargain of America."

“For more than three decades, she’s been fighting for you and for the basic bargain of America…if you work hard and do your part, you should be able to get ahead and to stay ahead,” said Baltimore's Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake in reference to two-time, presidential hopeful, Hillary Rodham Clinton. Baltimore's mayor was "honored" to introduce Clinton at this year’s Democratic Nation Committee Summer Meeting. It's not clear how many more decades before 1985 Clinton has been fighting for "the basic bargain of America" for Americans, but given the current condition of life among American workers, the “basic bargain of America” is no bargain at all, especially where Black lives are concerned.

“This election is about who best understands the pressures facing the families of America...and who has the skills and tenacity to tackle them,” Clinton said. Unfortunately, much of what followed the first two minutes of her speech was reminiscent of an ex promising to change, to do better, and to fight for "you," "with you" while never addressing how you got there in the first place.

Clinton gives a “shout out”

Clinton chuckled and gave a "shout out" to the "grassroots movements" working to help build her campaign. I chuckled, as I envisioned the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement whom Clinton dissed in New Hampshire and had recently dismissed in Cleveland. For sure, she did not include this grassroots movement in her shout out, for when Clinton began to speak about race while in Cleveland, representatives of the BLM movement started chanting and were escorted from the event. Clinton continued with her speech on race; "We've got to come to terms with some hard truths about race in America. We do have to stand up and loudly and clearly say black lives matter." This is true, but we cannot merely "say black lives matter." For no matter how loudly or clearly it was shouted at the event mere moments earlier, Clinton’s minions silenced those voices that, in their way, demanded Clinton  "…come to terms with some hard truths about" legislation enacted during Bill's tenure as president—legislation that has destroyed families and lives of many Americans, especially Black Americans. 

It is no secret that mass incarceration is more so the result of the privatization of prisons—a direct result of former Pres. Clinton's Violent Crime Control Act—than an increase in crime. Coincidentally, Clinton was quick to point the finger at the GOP, but she has yet to acknowledge her husband's contributions. Ohio State University’s, Michelle Alexander has already exposed the devastating numbers surrounding Black incarceration in her book, "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness," but this time, the net has widened to include the selling of children to private prisons for profit.

Selling Children for Profit

According to The Drug Policy Alliance, “Two-thirds of women doing time in federal prison are behind bars for nonviolent drug offenses, and the vast majority of them have children they can’t even see…Harsh mandatory minimum sentencing may keep them behind bars for 20 years, 30 years, or even life.” Although this is a devastating fact, nothing trumps the sale of countless children by Pennsylvania Judges Mark Ciavarella Jr. and Michael Conahan who pocketed more than $2 million selling children to private juvenile prisons?  Are Americans to forget and/or ignore the acts of those willing to sell our children into slavery to line their pockets? Can Americans honestly say that these are the only two judges in all of America who have profited from the sale of bodies to the private prison industry complex? Thus, when BLM questions Clinton about her role in the private prison industry complex, everyone should be concerned about her answer and/or unwillingness to answer because not just Black families and lives are affected.

Work harder…longer hours

Clinton continued, like any bad ex would, to do just what BLM had accused her of in New Hampshire: “victim blaming.” “If [we] work hard and do [our] part, [we] should be able to get ahead and to stay ahead.” Maybe Clinton’s campaign would do well to purchase a copy of David K. Shipler’s, The Working Poor: Invisible in America, a collection of narratives of hardworking Americans who can’t seem to get ahead, no matter how hard they try or work, which brings us to Bill’s “Minimum wage” legislation that did more to keep working Americans in poverty than lift them out. Ironically, Americans were outraged when, presidential hopeful, Jeb Bush suggested working longer hours. Where is the outrage at the subliminal suggestion that Americans are not working hard enough? Where does Clinton stand on minimum wage? She says she’s for equal pay, but minimum wage hasn’t been addressed.

Affordable tuition and Student loans

Making sure she hit every topic covered by her political rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Clinton also mentioned affordable college tuition and student loan debt. Like a scorned lover, I scoffed, and thought, “Now, there’s an oxymoron if ever I heard one: affordable and student loan in the same context. Consequently, Bill Clinton’s legislation denies working Americans the opportunity to discharge student loans in bankruptcy while offering methods of repayment that many cannot meet. That’s why students are strapped with insurmountable debt after college. Imagine, Donald Trump can fold on a multi-million dollar real estate deal by filing bankruptcy, but the average working class, college student with student loan debt has to struggle to repay loans with, often times, two or more low wage paying jobs. In addition, the affordable college plan Clinton hints at is a slap in the face compared to the plan proposed by Sen. Bernie Sanders.

In fact, much of what Clinton mentions in her speech echoes the issues addressed by Sen. Sanders in his 12 Step Agenda. Moreover, Clinton is merely willing to mention these issues “loudly” and “clearly,” thinking it will relieve her of addressing the issues or providing a clear plan for helping Americans who work hard, thus, expecting to get ahead and stay ahead. Unfortunately, Clinton can only hide for so long, but why wait for her to change her position on the issues, yet again? She began her speech by telling us that we need someone “who best understands the pressures facing the families of America...and who has the skills and tenacity to tackle them”; she’s right. Let's be done with basic, bargain basement, politics by supporting the one person in this race who is not bargaining with special interest groups: Sen. Bernie Sanders, the real deal.