Hillary Clinton Campaign Press Release - Hillary Clinton's Agenda to Create Good Paying Jobs in Pennsylvania and America

With our economy sliding into recession, American workers and families need a president who will stand up to corporate special interests and fight to help create good, high-paying jobs here in the U.S. Over the past three months, our economy has lost more than 140,000 private sector jobs. Pennsylvania has lost 12,000 manufacturing jobs in the past year; and nearly one-in-four manufacturing jobs since January 2001. At the same time, corporations have seen their profits grow at their fastest rate of any economic expansion on record. And unlike past expansions, these record profits have not been shared. Workers' wages have stagnated, and the typical household actually lost nearly $1000 in income between 2000 and 2006.

Hillary believes that we need to restore balance to our economy by cracking down on corporate special interests and putting the needs of working families first. Today, she laid out her plan to help working families secure good, high-paying jobs here in the U.S. that cannot be outsourced.

Her plan includes:

• Immediate Efforts to Jumpstart Near-Term Job Growth: Hillary believes that we need to help create jobs now to start addressing our economic challenges. That's why she has proposed $5 billion in immediate investments to jumpstart green collar job growth, including through green collar job training, home weatherization, and retrofitting of public buildings.
  
• Creating a $50 Billion Strategic Energy Fund That Will Help Create at Least 5 Million Green Collar Jobs. In 2007, many of the largest oil companies recorded record profits. Exxon-Mobil recorded an annual profit of $40.6 billion, making it the most profitable corporation in history. Together, the five largest U.S. oil companies—Exxon-Mobil, Chevron, Conoco-Phillips, Valero and Marathon Oil—earned more than $75 billion in 2007— about $2,500 per second. Hillary's energy plan would give large oil companies a choice: invest more in renewable energy technology or pay into a Strategic Energy Fund to jumpstart a clean energy research and the development and deployment of renewable energy technologies. These investments will lay the foundation for our economy to create at least 5 million high-paying green collar jobs over the next decade.
  
• Ending Tax Breaks for Companies that Ship Jobs Overseas, and Investing those Resources to Spark Innovation and Job Growth in the U.S. As president, Hillary will take away tax breaks from companies that are sending jobs and production overseas and use those tax dollars to encourage job creation in the U.S. She would permanently extend the R&D credit to help attract R&D facilities and high-paying research jobs to the U.S. She would establish a national broadband strategy to enhance the competitiveness of communities across Pennsylvania and America. And she would ensure that the U.S. continues to be an engine for innovation and cutting-edge technological breakthroughs by doubling the basic research budgets at the major federal agencies and tripling post-graduate research grants in math and science.
  
• Investing in Infrastructure to Create Good Jobs, Ensure our Safety, and Enhance our Economic Competitiveness. New Orleans and the Minnesota bridge collapse are stark reminders of our nation's failure to invest sufficiently in our infrastructure. Hillary's infrastructure plan would invest $10 billion in funding to help states review and repair their critical infrastructure; modernizing seaports; expanding funding for public transit and intercity rail; incentivizing environmentally sensitive land use policies; and a greater focus on reducing congestion. She is also a co-sponsor of bipartisan legislation to create a national infrastructure bank that would evaluate and finance large infrastructure projects.
  
• Providing New Support to Help Small Businesses Create Good Jobs. At this time of economic uncertainty, small businesses are more important than ever.  They have accounted for 80 percent of net new jobs since 1990 and employ more than half of all private sector workers. As president, Hillary will double funding for the Small Business Administration, which has been cut by 50% under the Bush Administration.  Hillary will also provide new tax credits to small businesses to make it easier for them to create new jobs with health care for their workers here in the U.S.
  
• Restoring a Strong, Vibrant Manufacturing Sector in America: Hillary believes that we cannot remain a great country with a strong economy if we don't make things in America. As co-chair of the Senate Manufacturing Caucus, Hillary knows and understands both the challenges and opportunities facing American manufacturing.  As president, she will invest in development of processes and products that could lower costs, improve efficiencies, and create more jobs in our manufacturing base and keep America competitive. She will provide $20 billion in Green Vehicle Bonds to help American auto companies retool the oldest auto plants to meet her strong efficiency standards. And she will expand the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, which for a $100 million investment yields $910 million in new investments and trains or retrains 50,000 workers.
  
• Making Trade Work for Working Families. Americans need a president who will fight for fair, pro-American trade policies that will not trap them in a race to the bottom. Low wages in other countries are costing America jobs and putting pressure on wages here at home. With approximately one quarter of our gross domestic product linked to international trade, we need trade policies that better manage globalization. As president, Hillary will make trade work for working families. She is the only candidate with a detailed plan to fix NAFTA: dramatically strengthening its labor and environmental provisions; changing its investment provisions that grant special rights to foreign companies; strengthening its enforcement mechanisms; and reviewing NAFTA regularly. Hillary will also demand strong labor and environmental provisions in all trade agreements; implement a trade "timeout" to formulate a genuinely pro-worker and pro-American trade policy; appoint a new trade prosecutor; crack down on China's currency manipulation; and strengthen support for workers adversely affected by trade.