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This newspaper is committed to providing balanced, in-depth coverage of the 2016 presidential election, as well as the Republican and Democratic national conventions in July.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Tuesday fired off dire warnings about what would happen if her main opponent, Republican Donald Trump, takes command of the American economy, and rebutted his claim that his business experience gives him special insight on how to run the country.
In a 44-minute speech, Clinton issued blistering criticism of Trump’s positions on trade, debt and tax cuts. She also took aim at his business practices that led to four bankruptcies and a trail of lawsuits and liens against his companies.
Leading a complex economy takes patience, clear thinking and caring about working families, she said. Trump’s ideas and policies will lead to millions of job losses, she predicted.
“We cannot put a person like this with all his empty promises in a position of power over our lives. We can’t let him bankrupt America like we are one of his failed casinos. We can’t let him roll the dice with our children’s futures,” Clinton said.
She criticized Trump for calling for a repeal of Wall Street reforms, an abolishment of the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and a $3 trillion tax cut for millionaires and a $2 trillion tax break for corporations over the coming decade. Clinton told supporters that Trump’s plans would add an additional $30 trillion to the national debt over the next 20 years.
“Even in this era of rising inequality, this is like nothing we have ever seen,” she said at Fort Hayes Metropolitan Education Center, a magnet alternative school within Columbus Public Schools.
No one knows how Trump would benefit from his own tax plan because — unlike every major presidential candidate over the past 40 years — he has not released his own tax returns.
Clinton blasted Trump’s plan to deport 11 million undocumented workers and build a wall along the border with Mexico, calling it a wrong-headed, costly policy that would shrink the economy and lead to a “Trump recession.”
The former secretary of state said in visiting 112 countries she found global envy for America’s strength — not a broad-scale laughing at weakness, as Trump says in his campaign speeches. She said that Trump has no real strategy for creating jobs — “just a string of empty promises, but then maybe we shouldn’t expect better from someone whose most famous words are ‘You’re fired.’ ”
The Trump campaign issued statements rebutting Clinton’s criticism of his trade policies, saying the U.S. has lost 4.5 million manufacturing jobs since Bill Clinton became president in 1993, and the North American Free Trade Agreement took effect in 1994.
The Trump campaign also said the U.S. trade deficit with China grew 40 percent while Hillary Clinton served as U.S. Secretary of State.
The Trump campaign also stated that Hillary Clinton fueled the mortgage meltdown, and that the national debt increased by $8.6 trillion “on the Obama-Clinton watch.”
The Trump team also quoted former U.S. Secret Service agent Gary Byrne, who wrote a book about protecting the Clintons: “She simply lacks the integrity and temperament to serve in the office,” Byrne wrote. He described her as erratic, impulsive and disdainful of rules.
Ohio Republican Party Chairman Matt Borges said in a written statement: “Hillary Clinton has promised to do two things that will worsen our economy: increase spending and increase taxes. It’s no surprise Ohio voters don’t trust her to create jobs. Hillary Clinton’s economic policies amount to nothing more than four more years of Obama’s failed tax-and-spend agenda, with tax increases that will not grow the economy or the take-home pay of the American people.”
Clinton delivered a major address in Cleveland on June 13 where she focused her remarks on the mass shooting in Orlando and promised to make identifying and stopping lone wolf attacks a priority. She also called for restrictions on assault weapons.
On May 3, she spoke at an independent brewery in Athens, pledging support for blue-collar workers and coal miners.
The nearly back-to-back visits to Ohio show the key role the state plays in the path for victory.
An independent poll released Tuesday by Quinnipiac University showed registered Ohio voters are evenly split between Clinton and Trump. But a month ago, the same poll found that Trump had a 4-point lead in the Buckeye State.
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