Are You Glad Hillary Now Says She's Backing More Of The Progressive Agenda Bernie Has Been Formulating For 30 Years?

Last night I mentioned that a progressive Member of Congress who had just endorsed Hillary's very establishment campaign instead of Bernie's-- with which he is much more ideologically aligned-- had written that he believes "that Bernie has pushed her far enough to the left now that she is supporting more progressive policies that help regular people and the poor. (Keystone and the TPP were huge for me.)" OK, although I wonder what will happen if she becomes president and no longer cares what Bernie and progressives have to say. Will she revert back to her decidedly non-progressive self-- turning even more Democrats off to the political process? Meanwhile, though, political expediency has her adopting one Bernie position-- or a variation on it-- after another. This weekend she actually told South Carolina Democrats that she would break up the big banks if needed. Really? The people who have spent $36,621,366 on her political career since 2000? I guess "if needed" could always come in handy as an excuse down the road.

The Democratic primary front-runner told Democrats gathered at a rally in North Charleston that she has the "toughest" proposals for dealing with Wall Street. She says would "break up the big banks" if necessary and hold top financial executives accountable.

"I go after not just the banks," Clinton told the crowd, pledging a tough approach to regulating the industry despite receiving tens of millions in speaking fees, donations to the family foundation and campaign cash from Wall Street in her career. "I go after the hedge funds, big insurance companies, shadow banking."

You may recall that a couple weeks ago ole Hillary refused to commit to the progressive approach of expanding Social Security or to even refuse to take an unequivocal stand against future cuts that her Wall Street and New Dem allies are clamoring for.

Meanwhile, Bernie, speaking at a senior center in Manchester Saturday told voters that he and Hillary have a disagreement on Social Security. And, wouldn't you know it-- BOOM! She's got a proposal to roll out. It's not even a bad one-- though it's kind of sad seeing a good policy idea like caregiver credit being used to provide political cover for her refusal to agree to expand benefits across the board or to just come out and say she will not abide the future cuts to Social Security conservative are demanding. Politico was the first to break the story of her newest attempt to persuade voters she's almost as good as Bernie on something.

Clinton is proposing a new tax break for those caring for elderly or disabled family members.

At a campaign event in Iowa today, she will outline a plan to offer a $6,000 tax credit toward costs associated with providing long-term care to aging parents and grandparents, a campaign aide said.

She will also propose expanding Social Security benefits for caregivers, saying many see their benefits reduced when they must take time off from work to care for ailing relatives. That's because Social Security benefits are based on their top 35 years of annual earnings. The plan would provide a credit toward the benefits for caregivers who are out of the workforce.

" ... [A]s baby boomers age, more and more families will need to provide care for or will need care from loved ones," her campaign said. "Many family members, most often spouses and adult daughters, spend time out of the workforce, cut back on hours, or use personal days, vacation, and family time to provide needed care."

Another element of the plan would expand respite care, which provides substitute health care when the main caregiver needs a break from his or her duties. Clinton wants to invest $100 million in the initiative over 10 years. She also said she would launch a program to improve the wages of professional child care and health care workers.

The entire plan would cost $10 billion over a decade, the campaign estimates. It would not add to the debt, the campaign said, because it would be financed with payfors Clinton has previously proposed.

It is the latest in a series of narrowly targeted tax breaks Clinton has proposed, and comes as she battles rival Bernie Sanders over whether any taxes on the middle class should be increased.

She doesn't mention, as far as I can tell, how anyone is going to "prove" to the IRS that someone is meriting the tax break. A doctor's note? Serious about a progressive agenda? You can contribute to Bernie's grassroots campaign here or just click on the Bernie thermometer.