Apprenticeships for the jobless youth: after eight wasted years, it may at last be Clinton Part III. |
Being an admirer of the German apprenticeship system instead of the American university-jobless system as I have called it, you will not be surprised that I think much of Missus Clinton's pitch to give enterprises hiring young people for apprenticeships a $1,500 tax credit:
Hillary Clinton will on Wednesday call for a federal apprenticeship program as a path to reducing youth unemployment, aides said, her first new policy proposal since officially launching her campaign this week. Speaking at a technical college in Charleston, South Carolina, Clinton will propose rewarding businesses with a tax credit of $1,500 for every apprentice they hire. She will say that the program would encourage businesses to take on more young workers.Of course, there is also a vote-getting angle here appealing to younger people and minorities:
Apprenticeships are a major benefit for workers who see large annual earnings gains, Clinton will argue, as well as a boon for businesses that receive a tax credit.
But on some business issues she has moved away from the liberal line. She has not condemned the Trans-Pacific Partnership as her competition for the Democratic nomination has and she has called for reducing regulations on small banks and businesses. Linking apprenticeships with tax credits has received bipartisan support in Congress, Clinton’s aides pointed out, with Democratic Sens. Cory Booker and Maria Cantwell as well as Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Tim Scott supporting similar programs.With America going down the tubes and enterprises not daring to invest in America, I don't see why its electorate should keep delaying round 2 of the Clinton years. There's a chance they won't be able to revive America's fortunes, but if anyone has a track record doing so, then there are really few choices out there.
Clinton aides cited an unemployment rate among 18- to 34-year-olds of 7.8%, a rate that was nearly double among African-Americans. In order to win in a general election, Clinton will need to mobilize the black voters who overwhelmingly supported Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012.