Hillary Clinton calls for higher wages for everyday Americans

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks at the New School in the Manhattan borough of New York City, July 13, 2015. Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton put the fight for higher wages for everyday Americans at the heart of her economic agenda on Monday, in the first major policy speech of her White House bid. [Photo/Agencies]

NEW YORK - Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Monday unveiled her economic agenda in New York, calling for greater income equality in the United States in her first major policy speech since launching her campaign to the White House in April.

While speaking at the New School University in Manhattan, Clinton, the favorite to win the Democratic Party's nomination for the November 2016 presidential election, proposed an agenda to raise incomes of everyday Americans.

"To get all incomes rising again, we need to strike a better balance. If you work hard, you ought to be paid fairly. So we have to raise the minimum wage and implement President Obama's new rules on overtime. And then we have to go further," said Clinton.

She promised to push for broader business tax reform to spur investment in America and to close loopholes that reward companies for sending jobs and profits overseas. She also called for establishing an infrastructure bank that can channel more public and private funds to finance world-class airports, railways, roads, bridges and ports, and stressed the importance to make greater investments in developing cleaner and renewable energy, and to fund the scientific and medical research that spawns those innovative companies.

The former US secretary of state also vowed to push for a broader reform of the US corporate tax code.

"Hard working Americans deserve to benefit from the record corporate earnings they help produce. So I will propose ways to encourage companies to share profits with their employees," said Clinton, who added she would soon be proposing a new plan to reform capital gains taxes to reward longer-term investments that create jobs more than just quick trades.