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Questions for Hillary Clinton

Questions for Hillary Clinton is a web site to ask tough questions of the candidate with the requirement for direct and honest answers. Whether you are for Hillary Clinton for president or are against her for president, we should all be asking the tough questions that a presidential candidate should be required to answer. We the voter deserve no less than direct honest answers. No softball questions will be posted on this web site. Hopefully the following questions directed to Hillary Clinton will be thought provoking and educational.

Where Hillary Clinton is quoted, you can click on the blue text to take you to a link that discusses in more detail the statements the senator made. Note, Senator Clinton's statements are in black text and the web master's analysis are in red text.

Before we start with the questions -- if you would like more information and analysis on the budget and economy of the 1990's under Clinton and also the CBO budget and economic outlook January 2001, click here to go to reportcard2000.com.

If you would like to send tough, but cordial questions for possible posting to this web site or if you have comments please send E-MAIL to: questionsforhillaryclinton@q.com

Here are some You Tube Videos pertaining to Hillary Clinton:

Hillary Clinton on the $5.6 trillion projected budget surplus

Hillary Clinton on Economic Fairness in the 1990s

Clinton Economy of the 1990s

Hillary Clinton $5.6 trillion budget surplus deception

CBO $5.6 trillion budget surplus and Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton - 1990s economy and the budget surplus

Clinton Economy in 2000 -- peak and decline

Democratic Response to Bush Budget Anaylzed

Now the questions begin.

1.) Clinton quote from Democratic debate on Sat. Jan 5th 2008, "I am an agent of change. I embody change."

The following question is from one of our web site readers. Question : Ms. Clinton, you keep referring to the positive changes you've made to society during the past 35 years.  I'm sure they are many, but could you list them so that we have a better idea of your accomplishments?

2.) Clinton quote: May 29, 2007, “ Now, of course, we can't simply recycle the policies that worked in the 1990s.”

Question: Senator Clinton, what are the policies that worked in the 1990s that cannot be recycled?

3.) Hillary Clinton quote: November19, 2007, “What was President Bush’s answer to seniors who can’t afford to retire? Privatize Social Security.” Later in the same speech you said, “And we’re going to help families save for retirement with new retirement accounts.”

Question: Senator Clinton, is your recommendation the same as privatizing Social Security, except under a different name?

4.) Clinton quote: May 29, 2007, “ And no one should be surprised, human nature being what it is, people will go as far as they possibly can get away with.”

Question: Senator Clinton, to what extent does this apply to you?

5.) Hillary Clinton quote: November19, 2007 you said “When President Bush became president, he inherited a balanced budget and a surplus, a projected surplus of $5.6 trillion.

Fact: The 2001 CBO Budget and Economic report containing the $5.6 trillion budget projection is stated in the second sentence of a 190 page report with 11 pages of uncertainties surrounding the projection.

Question : Senator Clinton, did you choose to just read the first two sentences of this 190 page report or did you choose to ignore everything after the first two sentences?

6.) Clinton quote: February 7, 2005 , “ When President Bush took office, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) predicted that by 2011, we would have a budget surplus of $5.6 trillion.” In the same CBO report, the CBO said, “ the baseline projection is not a prediction of future outcomes but rather a reference point for assessing policy changes.”

Question: Senator Clinton, did the CBO predict a $5.6 trillion budget surplus by 2011?

7.) Clinton quote: November 19, 2007, “Think about that. When President Bush became president, he inherited a balanced budget and a surplus, a projected surplus of $5.6 trillion.”  

Fact: In 2001 the CBO in the budget report you reference, stated: “… the baseline projection is not a prediction of future outcomes…”.

Question: Senator Clinton, how do you inherit a projected surplus of $5.6 trillion when it was never predicted to occur?

8.) Senator, there are laws against a CEO presenting a forward-looking financial statement, also known as a projection, to the public without meaningful cautionary statements identifying important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statement. The penalty to the CEO includes prison. Senator Clinton, on November 19, 2007 you stated, “ When President Bush became president, he inherited … a surplus, a projected surplus of $5.6 trillion.” Your statement is based on a 2001 CBO report and did not include any cautionary statement addressing the 11 pages of uncertainties in the same CBO report.

Question: Senator Clinton, do you think it is acceptable for a politician to report the results of a CBO (Congressional Budget Office) financial projection in a manner that can send a CEO to prison?

9.) Hillary Clinton quote: November19, 2007 you said “Just 13 percent of Americans say that economic conditions in our country are positive.” “That is the lowest reading since the Gallup polling organization started asking the question back in 1991.” “And in 1991, it was the lowest that it had been in 40 years.”

Question : Senator Clinton, if Gallup polling only started asking the question in 1991, how can you then say “and in 1991, it was the lowest that it had been in 40 years?”

10.) On October 8, 2007 you said, “(My father) believed you should avoid being in debt at all costs and instilled in me the importance of being responsible with a budget at an early age.” In the same speech you also said, “families who financed their homes with non-traditional high risk loans saw their mortgage rates jump. Now many families (are) finally stuck with mortgages they can't pay and expenses they can't afford.”

Question: Senator Clinton, are these people irresponsible?

11.) Clinton quote: October 8, 2007 , “Well in the 1990s we… (had) the prospect of being debt free and having the resources to fund the retirement costs of the baby boom generation.” In January 2001 the CBO stated , “ Over the longer term, however, budgetary pressures linked to the aging and retirement of the baby-boom generation threaten to produce record deficits and unsustainable levels of federal debt.”

Question: Senator Clinton, have we ever had the prospect of having the resources to fund the retirement costs of the baby boom generation?

12.) 2001 CBO report, Revenue Section 15: Quote: “The surge in (tax) revenues in the late 1990s was fueled by phenomena that are only imperfectly understood.”

Question 1 : Senator Clinton, how clearly did you understand the phenomena that led to the surge in tax revenues in the late 1990s?

Question 2: Was there a Clinton administration policy that led to this surge in tax revenues and if so, can this policy be recycled?

13.) Hillary Clinton quote: November19, 2007, “We had an economic strategy that worked in the 1990s.  We believed that fiscal responsibility could spur economic growth, so we balanced the federal budget. ”

Fact: In January 2001 the CBO said , “From 1994 to 2000, however, the annual growth of those (tax) receipts surpassed that of the economy for reasons unrelated to new tax legislation.  In fact, in 1998 and 1999, receipts increased as a percentage of GDP despite new tax breaks concerning children and education.”

Question #1: Senator Clinton, was it part of your economic strategy to have tax receipt growth surpass that of the economy for reasons unrelated to new tax legislation?  If yes, what was the policy and can the policy be recycled?

 Question #2: Senator Clinton, how was it possible for tax revenues to increase despite new tax breaks concerning children and education?

  14.) Clinton quote: October 8, 2007, “Well in the 1990s we were on our way to creating good jobs….” In January 2001 the CBO said, “The primary negative risk is that the current slowdown might turn into a recession . Although forecasters widely anticipated that economic activity would slow, the deceleration has been surprisingly rapid.”

Question: Senator Clinton, were we on our way to creating good jobs in the 1990s when the deceleration was surprisingly rapid?

15.) Clinton quote: October 8, 2007, “ We have to develop a set of budget rules similar to those we had in the 90s that required us to fund new expenditures with new revenues or cut spending.”

Fact: As you know, Senator, those rules only apply to Discretionary Spending with Defense Spending being a sub-set of Discretionary Spending. In January 2001 the CBO reported, “Although total discretionary outlays were virtually unchanged from 1991 through 1996, defense spending declined 3.6 percent , while nondefense spending rose 4.7 percent. From 1996 through 2000, total discretionary outlays increased 3.7 percent, although defense spending grew more slowly than nondefense spending.” See graph below.

Question: Senator Clinton, in your attempt to return to the budget techniques of the 90s, do you plan similar cuts in Defense Spending?”

16.) Hillary Clinton quote: November19, 2007, “And American workers?” “We’re working harder than ever.” “We’re the hardest working people in the world.” “So even though American workers are increasing their productivity, their wages have remained flat.”

Question #1 : Senator Clinton, Who works harder and who is more productive, a farmer working 8 hours sitting in an air conditioned tractor plowing a field or a farmer working 8 hours behind a horse and plow?

 Question#2: Is it possible that an employer who has made significant investment in capital equipment could actually have an employee working less hard and being much more productive?

17.) Hillary Clinton quote: , November19, 2007 “the CEOs and the boards of these companies are not sharing the wealth. So companies are actually profiting off of keeping workers’ wages stagnant.”

Fact: according to the national average wage index from the Social Security Administration, shown on the graph above, wage rates post 2000 and adjusted for inflation, have increased at the same rate(shown by the pink line)as has been occurring from 1951 through 2006(shown by trend line in light blue).

Question: Senator Clinton, is the wage information provided by the Social Security Administration wrong, or is your statement on stagnant wages based on inadequate research?

18.) Clinton quote: November 19, 2007 “(In 2005) the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans held 22 percent of America's income.” (Actually it was 21.20%) “That's an astonishing figure, and it is the highest level of income inequality since the beginning of the Great Depression in 1929.” 

Fact: according to the IRS, in 2000, at the end of the Clinton administration, the wealthiest 1 percent held 20.81 percent of America’s income.  In the same speech you said you planned to restore “fairness” to our economy.

Question: Senator Clinton, is returning income concentration for the top 1 percent to 20.81% as occurred in the year 2000 under the Clinton administration from the 21.20% in the year 2005 under the Bush administration the difference between “astonishing” and “fairness”?

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