Clinton: Trump Hasn't Offered 'Credible Solutions' To Economic Challenges
DETROIT (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump both took to the stage at campaign events Thursday, as both candidates continued to outline their economic policies.
Speaking at an event in Michigan, Hillary Clinton criticized Trump, saying the GOP candidate spoke only of "failure, poverty and crime'' in his economic address on Monday.
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The Democratic presidential candidate said Trump is missing the economic revitalization that's happening in communities like Detroit. She also says he hasn't offered any "credible solutions'' to America's economic challenges.
"Based on what we know from the Trump campaign, he wants America to work for him and his friends, at the expense of everyone else," she said, at a manufacturing company.
Appearing in the county known for the so-called Reagan Democrats -- working-class Democrats who voted Republican in the 1980s -- Clinton tried to seize the opportunity to win back some of the blue collar voters who've formed the base of her rival's support, making the case that she offers a steadier roadmap for economic growth and prosperity.
"I can provide serious, steady leadership that can find common ground and build on it based on hard but respectful bargaining," she said. "I just don't think insults and bullying is how we're going to get things done."
Clinton says the country's best days are still ahead though she acknowledges the frustration felt by some middle class Americans.
"There is nothing America can't do if we do it together," Clinton said.
CBS2's Tony Aiello reported Clinton said her plan to grow jobs and the economy includes investing $275 billion to build infrastructure, rewriting the tax code to penalize companies that move jobs overseas, and new tax incentives for firms that share profits with employees.
However, Clinton, who frequently boasts about her numerous policy plans, didn't offer any new, major ideas to improve the country's economy in her afternoon address. She reiterated her strong opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, leaving herself little room for backtracking should she win the White House if it is taken up by the lame-duck Congress later this year.
"I oppose it now, I'll oppose it after the election, and I'll oppose it as President," she said, while also noting that the U.S. should not cut itself off from the rest of the world.
Clinton once called the TPP the "gold standard" of trade deals when she served as Obama's secretary of state but announced her opposition to the deal last year, saying it did not meet her standard for creating jobs, raising wages and protecting national security.
Clinton also promoted her plan to invest in infrastructure as a way to create more jobs by putting people to work updating roads and bridges. She also promised to improve schools and water systems, expand broadband access and invest in clean energy.
Clinton says that part of her plan "will be unleashing the power of the private sector to create more jobs at higher pay.''
Hoping to keep the pressure up on Trump, Clinton is also planning to release her 2015 tax returns in the coming days. Trump has said he won't release them until an IRS audit is complete, breaking traditional with every presidential candidate in recent history.
A source close to Clinton said she would soon release the return, supplementing the decades of filings she and her husband have already made public. Her running mate, Sen. Tim Kaine and his wife will also release the last 10 years of their taxes. The source spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the plans in advance.
Trump's Deputy National Policy Director Dan Kowalski said in a statement that: "Right now, the American economy is only working for the rigged system in Washington and on Wall Street, yet Hillary Clinton is running to keep things as they are.''
Clinton has proposed a surtax on the highest-earning Americans, while Trump has proposed a tax reduction that he acknowledges would add substantially to the debt.
Trump said Clinton has failed on the economy for years, pointing to her unfulfilled Senate promise to upstate New York to create 200,000 jobs.
"She'll make a speech today and she'll be talking about what she's going to do for the country. She doesn't have the talent to do it," the Republican presidential nominee said.
Trump also continued to develop a theme that Clinton lacks stamina and energy.
"Her speeches are so short, though, they don't last long. Ten minutes, let's get out of here. Go back home and sleep," Trump said.
Clinton, however, spoke for 40 minutes on Thursday and got in an Olympics zinger at Trump for playing on economic fears.
"If Team USA was as fearful as Trump, Michael Phelps and Simone Biles would be cowering in the locker room afraid to compete," Clinton said.
Trump spent Thursday campaigning in Florida, where he spoke to the National Association of Homebuilders about watching his father, Fred, a New York City developer, conduct business.
The Republican nominee recalled moments in his youth when he'd play with blocks near his father's desk while the elder Trump brokered deals. And he remembered Fred Trump's forays into home building.
Trump recalled that his "father would go and he'd pick up the saw dust and he'd pick up the nails.''
Trump also said that his father, a major influence on his life whom he rarely mentions on the campaign trail,"would be very proud to see that we're running for the presidency.''
The campaign also announced nine additional member of his economic advisory team on Thursday. Eight of them are women. The original 13-member group announced last week featured no women -- but did have six men named Steve.
Among those joining his team are former New York Lt. Gov. Betsy McCaughey; Brooke Rollins, the president and CEO of the Texas Public Policy Foundation think tank, who served as an aide to former Texas Gov. Rick Perry; Diane Hendricks, the chairwoman of ABC Supply Co., which distributes building products; and Darlene Jordan, who served as a national finance co-chair for Mitt Romney's presidential campaigns.
Also on the list is Anthony Scaramucci, the founder of SkyBridge Capital, who has helped raise money for Trump's campaign.
For the first time in a major poll, Clinton is now slightly ahead of Trump on the "who do you trust to handle the economy" question.
(TM and © Copyright 2016 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
