The Top 10 Reasons Why I’m With Her
By: Seffi Kogen
Tags: Politics, 2016 Election, Hillary Clinton

The Top 10 Reasons Why I’m With Her

1. Foreign policy

Israel is always at the forefront of my mind, so it should be no surprise that this is what occurs to me first. Hillary Clinton has a strong pro-Israel record that dates back decades, but the most instructive parts of that body are her presidential campaigns and her eight-year career in the U.S. Senate. Most recently, while her designees were negotiating with those of Senator Bernie Sanders over the final text of the Democratic platform, they were under clear instructions from Clinton to ensure that the party plank remained powerfully pro-Israel — and they succeeded. As a senator, Clinton voted in all the right ways to support Israel’s qualitative military edge in the region, ensuring the continued ability of the IDF to protect the Jewish state. She has consistently condemned Palestinian terror. She was an early supporter of the security barrier that ended the suicide bombing campaign of the Second Intifada. She is unwaveringly committed to the two-state solution.

Of course, Israel is not the only country in the world, or even the most important (though it may occasionally feel that way in some social circles). That’s why I’m glad that Secretary Clinton has such a sterling foreign affairs record. She is respected around the world. She possesses a vast knowledge of the intricacies of world history and international relations. She is a believer in the value of military intervention, a much-needed break from the hands-off approach to global leadership that has been the major failing of President Obama’s two terms. Everything that we know about Secretary Clinton suggests that she will reassert America’s power on the world stage, judiciously, of course, but unshrinkingly. At a time when Iran, Russia, and China are all flexing their muscles, with each country gobbling up new territory, America and our allies need a strong, wise commander in chief.

2. Gender equality

I’m under no delusions that the election of America’s first female president will end the sad history of gender discrimination that has marred our country. It will be, however, an undeniably historic event, and Hillary Clinton will be the best champion for women ever to occupy the White House. Hillary Clinton has always fought for women’s rights, like when she founded the Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship Fund in 1990, or when she took the stage in Beijing in 1995 and declared, to all the world, that “women’s rights are human rights.” I look forward to President Clinton fighting to close the pay gap that continues to retard women’s earning power, working to enshrine paid family leave in law to ensure that women aren’t forced back to work mere days after giving birth, and defending a woman’s right to reproductive choice.

Less tangible, but no less important, is the impact that seeing a woman serve as president will have on America’s young girls and boys. I’m excited to witness the dividends that milestone will pay in the way young women think of themselves, and the way young men think of — and speak of, and speak to — women.

3. Taxes

I’m no tax wonk, so if I get too into the weeds here, I’ll only embarrass myself, but, if I may bastardize the words of George HW Bush, “read my lips, we need new taxes.” I hate seeing part of my paycheck withheld as much as the next person, but if our country is to be the kind that cares for all of its citizens, then it’s going to need some cash. Two things can both be true: no one should be penalized for working hard and getting ahead and America’s wealthiest citizens should be paying more to lighten the burden borne by its poorest. For too long, the highest earners have paid much less than they can afford, allowing wealth inequality to become further entrenched in our country. Currently, loopholes, tricks, and shelters enable Americans making enough money to avoid paying their fair share (as has been an issue during this election). Meanwhile, though salaries can be taxed as high as (almost) 40%, investment income has a maximum rate of 20% — which obviously favors those Americans wealthy enough to have investments.

Hillary Clinton has made clear her plans to remedy this inequality in several key ways. Just one example: she’ll implement an additional 4% tax surcharge on the top 0.02% of American earners, bringing in billions of dollars of tax revenue to spend on those who need it most.

4. The Supreme Court

By the end of the next president’s first term, three of the current justices on the U.S. Supreme Court will be older than 80 (two of them, Kennedy and Bader Ginburg, already are). Counting the seat vacated when Antonin Scalia died earlier this year, the next president may appoint as many as four justices, shaping a generation of jurisprudence on crucial issues. Considering the partisan gridlock that gums up our country’s legislative gears, SCOTUS will likely be the most important government organ deciding the future of civil rights, gun control, campaign finance, women’s reproductive rights, and many, many other important topics that have yet to crop up. I want a president who I know will appoint intelligent, reasonable, progressive jurists to decide those cases.

5. Climate change

Though many Republican politicians are unsure about whether or not our climate is changing, the world’s scientists are not. Climate change is a grave threat to the future of our country and our planet, with ramifications rippling out from the shores of our rising seas to touch every inch of the earth. Within the next 100 years, the Pacific island country of Kiribati will disappear under the waves. As salt water from the rising oceans seeps into coastal aquifers, and fresh water becomes a rarer commodity, the world will see wars fought over water.

Hillary Clinton will make America a global leader in the fight against climate change. She has announced bold goals of creating enough renewable energy to power every home in America, making American manufacturing the most energy efficient in the world, and reducing American oil consumption by a third.

6. Infrastructure

As a resident of Manhattan, I am intimately aware of how precariously our island is connected to New York and New Jersey. Our bridges are old, our tunnels are failing, and replacements are not on their way. All across the country, the same story is unfolding. Without investment, it’s only a matter of time before a mass-casualty event claims many lives, turning the sad state of American infrastructure even more tragic.

While rust and age are dangerous enough, bad actors also seek to exploit American vulnerabilities. Earlier this year, Iranian hackers sought to take control of a tiny dam in New York State — thought to have been a dry run for hacking on a grander scale, as part of a cyberwar campaign against America’s dams and power grids.

In order to create the Interstate Highway system in 1956, President Eisenhower had to bring to bear his weighty reputation as a military hero and claim that connecting the country from coast to coast with reliable roads was a defense imperative. Today, it’s similarly necessary to invest in America’s infrastructure, improving our bridges and tunnels, our dams and electric grids, our airports and our internet. Hillary Clinton has pledged to do just that, spending $275 billion dollars over five years — creating thousands of new jobs — to overhaul our internal improvements.

7. Health care

Obamacare was the right idea, but the execution — due, in part, to the concessions Obama made to congressional Republicans in order to pass the Affordable Care Act in the first place — has obviously been less-than-perfect. But it doesn’t need to be repealed or stripped down (as the 20 million mostly low-income Americans who are covered by it know well), it needs to be better implemented, even expanded. Hillary will do this, and will take on rising prescription drug prices, expand Medicaid to ensure Americans have access to quality medical care regardless of their means, and guarantee access to reproductive health care.

8. Campaign finance reform

Super PACs have spent nearly $600 million in the 2016 election. That kind of spending was made possible by Citizens United, the 2010 Supreme Court decision that opened the floodgates to massive spending by corporations and special-interest groups seeking to buy elections with their financial resources. Hillary Clinton will work to overturn Citizens United and take steps to reinforce the power of small donors, establishing a matching system to give small donors greater influence in our federal elections.

9. Racial justice

America’s criminal justice system discriminates against African Americans in two ways: by working, and by not working.

When the system “works,” it is incarcerating African American men at an absurd rate for an absurd amount of time as punishment for absurdly minor crimes. That’s part of the reason why America, which accounts for just 5% of the world’s population, holds 25% of the world’s inmates. The answer to every crime, and especially to non-violent crime, cannot always be prison. And, even when prison is the right answer, we need to do a better job of rehabilitating inmates to reduce recidivism.

When the system doesn’t work, as we’ve seen happen so frequently, it fails with tragic consequences. The path to racial justice in this country is strewn with black bodies, and whether they were killed by vigilantes in the Jim Crow south determined to keep blacks down, or by cops charged with keeping all Americans safe who failed in their duty (whether due to confusion, or insufficient training, or racism), they are dead all the same.

Hillary has laid out plans to reform sentencing laws (for example by tackling mandatory minimums, focusing enforcement resources on violent crimes, and prioritizing treatment over incarceration for non-violent drug crime) and build trust between black communities and police. Beyond criminal justice reform, she will seek to undo the erosion of the Voting Rights Act and implement universal voter registration to ensure that the right to vote reaches all eligible Americans.

10. Gun control

For the Republicans in Congress, the death of ~30,000 Americans each year is an appropriate price to pay for unchecked gun ownership. Put another way: if the murder of 20 six- and seven-year olds at Sandy Hook Elementary wasn’t enough to move Congress to act, literally nothing will.

We need a fighter in the White House unafraid to take bold action to prevent guns from getting into the hands of Americans who would use them for evil. Hillary will take on the NRA, expand background checks, and take action to keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers.

#imwithher

These are ten of the reasons why I’m voting for Hillary. I’d encourage you to read more into each one and see whether her views match your own. Do you have other top reasons to vote for her? Tell your friends about them! Don’t shut up until we’ve put Hillary to work in the White House!

To my friends who feel that they can’t support Hillary because of her flaws (or because a hysterical media has allowed Republicans to pretend that her email server or the tragic death of Ambassador Chris Stevens in Benghazi are actual scandals that should preclude her from serving as President) — I’d encourage you to really consider what is at stake in this election. You’re all smart people; I’m sure you’ll see that Hillary is the candidate best suited to lead our country.

And, if you don’t, that’s okay too! Doubtless, a year into her first term you’ll insist that you voted for her. You see, America loves women like Hillary, except when they ask for a promotion.

Those dips in the graph? They correspond to elections. When she’s actually doing a job, most Americans can’t get enough of her. I, for one, am excited to see what she can do.

November 8 is fast approaching. Let’s make history.