Behind the talk of trickle-down economics and big government's return, Republicans and Democrats used Hillary Rodham Clinton's economic policy speech Monday to fight over something relatively new: Uber. Here's my look at the political fight over the gig economy.

--Kathleen Hennessey

KANSAS CITY -- Hours after unveiling her detailed to economic agenda in New York Monday morning, Hillary Clinton was in Kansas City making the case that it would give a particular boost to Latinos, a group of voters key to her election effort.

At the National Council of La Raza conference here, Clinton emphasized how the widening income gap between the rich and poor she is targeting with her proposal for restructuring the economy is hurting the Latinos.

“How can it be that, on average, Latinas still make 56 cents on the dollar compared to white men?” she said. She referred to the immigrant farm workers toiling in Southern California and the dishwashers working their hands raw in the kitchens of Las Vegas hotels.

And Clinton tied her economic agenda to the issue that plays prominently for many Latino voters: immigration reform. She called it the “one issue that cuts across everything I have said” about the economy, arguing that creating a pathway to citizenship would increase economic output by hundreds of billions of dollars.

“The positive effects will ripple out across the economy benefiting everyone,” Clinton said. “This is an economic imperative. It is also a family imperative, and a moral imperative. It is an American imperative.”

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks at the National Council of La Raza conference in Kansas City, Mo.

(Charlie Riedel / Associated Press)

(Charlie Riedel / Associated Press)

Sen. Bernie Sanders, the son of a Polish immigrant, uses his personal story to appeal to Latinos, Evan Halper reports from a La Raza convention in Kansas City.

Donald Trump sat for an interview on his 757 with Washington Post's Robert Costa. Expletives and bluster ensued, as did a bit of news. He plans to file his financial disclosures with the Federal Election Commission this week, Trump said. Asked about the coming Republican debate, Trump was unimpressed: "Whatever. I don't look forward or not look forward. It is what it is."

The Times' Kurtis Lee delivered this view of Trump's appeal from the ground. Why do his supporters love him? "He speaks to me. He speaks to a lot of us, because he speaks the truth," one told Lee. "He says what politicians would never say, and that's refreshing."

The Times' Evan Halper is in Kansas City for the National Conference of La Raza convention. A few highlights from Sanders remarks:

Clinton's first big domestic policy speech had its share of wonkery about derivatives, the gig economy, profit-sharing and Dodd-Frank. (It also drew perhaps the wonkiest heckle ever: "Will you restore Glass-Steagall?!") But its political elements were arguably more potent.

Clinton took hard shots at three of her GOP rivals, and at least one at President Obama -- a triangulation likely to continue up to Election Day as she tries to make the case for another Democratic administration, just a different one.

The criticism of Republicans was somewhat obvious and expected. Clinton homed in on former Gov. Jeb Bush's elitism, Gov. Scott Walker's fight against labor and Sen. Marco Rubio's tax proposals. When it comes to Obama, her hits landed from the left, picking up the liberal complaint that Wall Street made off essentially scot-free after the banking crisis.

Clinton's strongest attacks:

• On Bush: "You may have heard Governor Bush say Americans just need to work longer hours. Well, he must not have met very many American workers. "They do not need a lecture. They need a raise."
• On Rubio: “Now, we hear Republican candidates talk a lot about tax reform. But take a good look at their plans. Senator Rubio's would cut taxes for households making around $3 million a year by almost $240,000, which is way more than three times the earnings of a typical family.”
• On Walker: “Republican governors like Scott Walker have made their names stomping on workers' rights, and practically all the Republican candidates hope to do the same as president. I will fight back against these mean-spirited, misguided attacks. Evidence shows that the decline of unions may be responsible for a third of the increase of inequality among men, so if we want to get serious about raising incomes, we have to get serious about supporting union workers.
• On Obama: “And while institutions have paid large fines and in some cases admitted guilt, too often it has seemed that the human beings responsible get off with limited consequences or none at all, even when they have already pocketed the gains. This is wrong, and on my watch it will change. ¿ We will ensure that no firm is too complex to manage or oversee. And we will also process individuals as well as firms when they commit fraud or other criminal wrongdoing.”

The Clinton campaign dribbled out a few details ahead of her speech at the New School this morning. The Times' Evan Halper reports that Clinton will propose "changes in the tax code that encourage companies to boost employee compensation when earnings are robust."

"We need new ideas," Clinton will say according to an excerpt of the speech.

Republicans are out with their early reaction. An RNC release declares that "the era of big government is back," playing off Bill Clinton's famous line from his 1996 State of the Union. (Surely the RNC has not suddenly decided the Obama era hasn't been marked by big government. That would be news.)

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton addresses supporters at an organizational rally at the home of Nancy and Danny Emanuel on July 7, 2015, in Ottumwa, Iowa.

(David Greedy / Getty Images)

(David Greedy / Getty Images)

In his preview of Clinton's economic speech, the Times' Evan Halper zeroed in on the Democratic front runner's challenge. As she tries to win over a skeptical left, Clinton has to sell her plan as distinct from her husband's dated economic policies, Obama's crisis management approach and even her own previous centrism. Wall Street has been warned:

"Clinton will target what the campaign calls a mind-set of 'quarterly capitalism' on Wall Street and elsewhere ¿ emphasizing making a quick return with little regard for how it is being generated ¿ that she says has pushed the economy too far away from creating things of real value," Halper writes.

Jeb Bush may be the candidate with the presidential pedigree, but Scott Walker is the most traditional Republican in the race. As the Times' Noah Bierman notes, Walker's path to victory runs through the familiar GOP coalition of white, religious and older voters. In an election where some Republicans are talking about a new, bigger tent for the GOP, Walker represents the old school.