Review: Hillary Clinton’s Presidential Platform

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speak during a town hall with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, Monday, April 25, 2016, at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Since launching her campaign last April, Hillary Clinton has outlined a number of major platform points in a series of speeches. Now that it it is clear that the Republican nominee will be Donald Trump, it is important that Clinton continue to deliver substantive speeches and combat a Trump platform that seems to offer no substance or foundation. Clinton’s platform is built on a career of public service and an understanding of domestic and foreign policies. While no every may agree with points of her platform, taken as a whole it is clear that she has put together a solid plan to more the country forward and ensure that everyone has an opportunity to live up to their full potential.

When Clinton has introduced a major platform topic, we add it to the Platform category of the website. Looking through Clinton’s speeches and policy proposals, a clear plan emerges. From Clinton’s kickoff rally in June 2015 to the announcement of the proposed cap on child care costs and expanded early childhood education earlier this month, a list of Clinton’s platform speech topics and announcement dates are below:

• June 13 – “Four Fights” of Campaign
• July 13 – Economic Agenda
• July 27 – Climate Change
• July 31 – Cuban Embargo
• August 10 – College Affordability
• August 18 – Drilling in the Arctic
• August 26 – Agriculture
• September 1 – Substance Abuse
• September 8 – Campaign Finance Reform
• September 9 – Nuclear Agreement with Iran
• September 14 – Sexual Assault
• September 22 – Prescription Drugs
• September 23 – Clean Energy
• October 5 – Gun Control
• October 7 – Trans-Pacific Partnership
• October 8 – Wall Street
• November 4 – US – Israeli Relations
• November 10 – Department of Veterans Affairs
• November 12 – Coal Communities
• November 19 – ISIS and Global Terrorism
• November 20 – Middle-Class Taxes
• November 22 – Caregiver Tax Credits
• November 29 – Infrastructure
• December 8 – Manufacturing (Part 1)
• December 15 – Immigration Reform
• December 15 – Anti-Terrorism
• December 16 – Buffett Rule
• December 20 – LGBT Rights
• December 22 – Alzheimer’s Disease
• January 5 – Autism
• January 11 – Fair Share Surcharge
• February 12 – “Breaking Every Barrier Agenda”
• March 4 – Jobs
• March 23 – Counterterrorism
• April 1 – Manufacturing (Part 2)
• April 13 – Department of Immigrant Affairs
• April 13 – Environmental and Climate Justice
• May 10 – Improved Child Care and Early Childhood Education
• May 25 – Infrastructure Revitalization in First 100 Days

For all the latest, follow our revamped Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Hillary Clinton Kicks Off Three Days of Campaigning in California

On Tuesday, Hillary Clinton attended three events in California with the first being a discussion on foster care in Los Angeles. During the small discussion event, she toured a foster care facility with Representative Karen Bass. She also spoke with a number of families. Clinton then traveled to Commerce where she attended a discussion with working families. The event was held at a local union hall and she criticized Republican nominee Donald Trump during the event for rooting for the housing crisis saying, “He actually said he was hoping for the crash that caused hardworking families in California and across America to lose their homes. All because he thought he could take advantage of it and make some money for himself.”

Clinton’s final event of the day was an organizing event in Riverside. She continued to criticize Trump for a number of his proposals and explained that it is important for everyone to be working together and not incite fear and divisiveness. She spoke about a number of her platform points including continuing to create new jobs, continuing to grow the economy, raising the minimum wage, and expanding health care so 100% of Americans are covered. She concluded by asking for voters’ support during the primary on June 7.

For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

News Source: KTLA, The Sacramento Bee, The Desert Sun

Hillary Clinton’s Presidential Platform

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks to supporters during a campaign rally at East Los Angeles College on Thursday, May 5, 2016 in East Los Angeles. (Photo by Keith Birmingham/ Pasadena Star-News)

Since launching her campaign in April, Hillary Clinton has outlined a number of major platform points in a series of speeches. Now that it seems the Republican nominee will be Donald Trump, it is important that Clinton continue to deliver substantive speeches and combat a Trump platform that seems to offer no substance or foundation. Clinton’s platform is built on a career of public service and an understanding of domestic and foreign policies. While no every may agree with points of her platform, taken as a whole it is clear that she has put together a solid plan to more the country forward and ensure that everyone has an opportunity to live up to their full potential.

When Clinton has introduced a major platform topic, we add it to the Platform category of the website. Looking through Clinton’s speeches and policy proposals, a clear plan emerges. From Clinton’s kickoff rally in June 2015 to the announcement of the proposed cap on child care costs and expanded early childhood education earlier this month, a list of Clinton’s platform speech topics and announcement dates are below:

• June 13 – “Four Fights” of Campaign
• July 13 – Economic Agenda
• July 27 – Climate Change
• July 31 – Cuban Embargo
• August 10 – College Affordability
• August 18 – Drilling in the Arctic
• August 26 – Agriculture
• September 1 – Substance Abuse
• September 8 – Campaign Finance Reform
• September 9 – Nuclear Agreement with Iran
• September 14 – Sexual Assault
• September 22 – Prescription Drugs
• September 23 – Clean Energy
• October 5 – Gun Control
• October 7 – Trans-Pacific Partnership
• October 8 – Wall Street
• November 4 – US – Israeli Relations
• November 10 – Department of Veterans Affairs
• November 12 – Coal Communities
• November 19 – ISIS and Global Terrorism
• November 20 – Middle-Class Taxes
• November 22 – Caregiver Tax Credits
• November 29 – Infrastructure
• December 8 – Manufacturing (Part 1)
• December 15 – Immigration Reform
• December 15 – Anti-Terrorism
• December 16 – Buffett Rule
• December 20 – LGBT Rights
• December 22 – Alzheimer’s Disease
• January 5 – Autism
• January 11 – Fair Share Surcharge
• February 12 – “Breaking Every Barrier Agenda”
• March 4 – Jobs
• March 23 – Counterterrorism
• April 1 – Manufacturing (Part 2)
• April 13 – Department of Immigrant Affairs
• April 13 – Environmental and Climate Justice
• May 10 – Improved Child Care and Early Childhood Education

For all the latest, follow our revamped Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Hillary Clinton Campaigns in Lexington and Louisville

On Tuesday, Hillary Clinton held three events in Kentucky while citizens of neighboring West Virginia voted in their Democratic primary. Clinton’s first event was in Lexington where she laid out a new plan to help parents with the rising costs of child care. Speaking at a roundtable event, Clinton outlined the plan and spoke with care providers and parents about the importance of child care and the struggle for many families to find and afford adequate care. The bullet points of the plan includes:

• Improve the quality of care by giving a RAISE (Respect And Increased Salaries for Early Childhood Educators) to America’s child care workforce
• Provide home visiting services for more than 2 million parents and children in the next 10 years
• Support young parents as the balance family responsibilities and their careers
• Award scholarships of up to $1,500 per year to as many as one million student parents
• Increase access to child care on college campuses by serving an additional 250,000 children
• Doubling federal investment in high quality early learning programs
• Making preschool universal for every 4-year old in America
• Proving working parents paid time off to care for a new baby

The full plan can be read on The Briefing and a video from the event is available below.

Clinton then traveled to Louisville where she spoke at a rally. During her speech, Clinton focused on the economy and her plans to raise incomes and create new jobs. She also spoke about a number of other platform points before turning her attention to local politics and her Republican opposition. She criticized Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin for his plans to scrap the state’s health insurance exchanges and the state’s expansion of medicaid, both of which were provided as a result of the Affordable Care Act. Clinton then turned her attention to Republicans and their endless attacks on her career saying, “The right wing never gives up attacking me. I think they are going to throw everything but the kitchen sink at me…I’ve got a message for them. They’ve done it for 25 years and I’m still standing.” A video from the event will be posted when/if available.

In the evening, Clinton spoke at a second organizing event in Louisville. During her speech at Louisville Slugger Field, Clinton took a number of shots at presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump and his disparaging comments about women and minorities. She said, “You could not imagine a more different vision for our country than the one between our side, of Democrats for progress, for prosperity, for fairness and opportunity than the presumptive nominee on the Republican side.” Clinton focused on her plans to continue the progress of President Barack Obama’s administration and ensure that people have access to health care and affordable higher education. A full video from the event is below.

For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

News Source: Courier-Journal, WKYT, WEKU, The Briefing, Courier-Journal

Bill Campaigns in New York, Chelsea in DC

On Monday, all three Clintons, Hillary Bill, and Chelsea, attended events across New York and in Washington, DC. Bill was in New York City where he spoke with residents at the Hebrew Home for the Aging in the Bronx with Congressman Eliot Engel. During the event, Bill spoke about Hillary’s plans to expand elderly care and protect Social Security benefits. He said, “So many vulnerable people. We are all living longer now. It means that we have to make the most of our elder years. That’s another thing she’s really interested in.”

Bill then went to an organizing event in Brooklyn. Speaking at St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church, Clinton spoke about Hillary’s platform and her experience. He also spoke about Sanders’ campaign tactics and his recent interest in running as a Democrat (Sanders is an Independent Senator from Vermont). He said, “Sometimes in this primary I get the feeling that the gentleman who’s running against Hillary is running harder against President Obama and me than he is against the legacy of the Bush administration. You know, after he’s been a Democrat a little while longer he’ll get used to it. He’ll realize, you know, our party is the best hope we got.” A video from today’s speeches will be added when/if available.

Chelsea focused her attention on Washington, DC where she attended two area fundraisers. In addition, two others campaigned on behalf of Hillary for America today. Campaign Chair John Podesta attended a fundraiser in Washington, DC. In New York City, Economic Policy Advisor Mike Schmidt attended a local fundraiser as well.

For all the latest, follow our revamped Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

News Source: New York Daily News, Observer

Hillary Clinton Strong in Fourth Debate

CHARLESTON, SC – JANUARY 17: Democratic presidential candidates Martin OMalley (L), Hillary Clinton (C) and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) participate in the Democratic Candidates Debate hosted by NBC News and YouTube on January 17, 2016 in Charleston, South Carolina. This is the final debate for the Democratic candidates before the Iowa caucuses. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

In tonight’s Democratic Debate on NBC, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders spent the evening debating three primary points of contention: gun control, heath care, and Wall Street. Clinton hit Sanders hard on his record on health care and gun control while she defended her plan to reign in Wall Street. While Clinton and Sanders debated, Martin O’Malley seemed hard pressed to get any time from the moderators, NBC News’ Lester Holt and Andrea Mitchell.

Where Clinton was clearly strongest was foreign policy. As former Secretary of State, Clinton understands the ins and outs of the global conflicts, including the civil war in Syria and the rise of ISIS. All three candidates made solid points tonight, and it was great to hear a real debate of ideas! But Clinton appears to be the most informed candidate on a variety of issues with her strong background in heath care, foreign policy, gun control, women’s issues, and a number of other domestic issues.

The candidates will return to the campaign trail, as this was the last debate before the primaries begin with the Iowa caucus on February 1. The next debate is scheduled for February 11 on PBS. Tonight’s debate was co-sponsored by YouTube, and the full debate can be watched on YouTube below.

Tomorrow, Clinton will remain in South Carolina and celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day at the “King Day at the Dome”rally in Columbia. For all the latest, follow our revamped Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

News Source: Time, ABC News

Clinton Proposes Caregiver Tax Credit

"I believe we need to start investing in the caring economy, and recognize the work that caregivers do." – Hillary pic.twitter.com/xDVMAnGEuH

— Hillary for Iowa (@HillaryforIA) November 23, 2015

Hillary Clinton just wrapped up a town hall event in Clinton, Iowa where she announced a plan to assist families providing care for their loved ones. She too the time to answer several questions from attendees at the local middle school on a variety of topics including health care, the VA, and renewable energy. But the focus of Clinton’s introductory speech was announcing her plan to provide relief for the millions of Americans who are the primary caregivers for parents and grandparents. The plan adds new tax credits and expands existing programs in an effort to lesson the burden on those trying to ensure their loved ones stay safe and healthy. Clinton’s campaign outlined the plan on The Briefing, and the primary points of the proposal include:

• Providing a tax credit, up to $5,000, to family members caring for ailing parents and grandparents
• Launching a Care Workers initiative to assist care workers in learning the skills they need
• Expanding Social Security by counting the work of caregivers toward their personal Social Security benefits
• Building on the Caregiver Respite program

Tomorrow, Clinton will travel to Nevada. For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

News Source: The Briefing, CBS News,

Clinton Unveils Plans for VA

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton greets audience members following a veterans roundtable discussion with the Truman National Security Project at the VFW Hall in Derry, New Hampshire November 10, 2015. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

On Tuesday, Hillary Rodham Clinton attended a round table event with the Truman National Security Project in Derry, New Hampshire. During the event, Clinton outlined her plans to overhaul the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), a department that has been heavily scrutinized for its outdated practices and massive backlog. Clinton said, “These problems are serious, systemic and unacceptable. They need to be fixed and they need to be fixed now.” She made it clear that the VA and its processes would not be privatized, but modernized in a way that honors the commitment of the veterans it serves. Clinton then spoke to veterans in attendance and answered to their questions while listening to their concerns. A video from the event will be posted when/if available.

Clinton’s plan is complex and contains multiple facets. The Clinton campaign released a full outline of the plan, and key points are below. CLICK HERE to read the full plan.

• Ensure that Veterans have access to timely and quality health care
• Create a new framework for heath care delivery by the VHA
  • Refocus as a veteran-centric provider of service-connected care
  • Synchronize and coordinate VHA benefits with other programs
  • Strategically purchase private-sector care
  • Establish a VHA Strategic Oversight and Governance Board
• Ensure better communication between the Department of Defense (DoD) and VA
  • Streamline the DoD-VA health care footprint
  • Synchronize procurement to find cost savings
  • Streamline VA and DoD IT Systems
• Improve healthcare for women at the VHA
  • New funding to ensure women equal and respectful access to health services
  • Requiring the provision of reproductive services
  • Broadening initiatives to provide childcare at VA medical facilities
• End the veteran suicide epidemic
  • Increase funding for metal health providers and training
  • Expand programs targeted at providing effective mental heath treatment
  • Promoter better prescriber and treatment practices
  • Ensure that Military Sexual Trauma is acknowledged as a valid form of PTS
  • Encourage state VA departments to include mental health programs
  • Provide proper legal assistance to review and upgrade other than honorable discharge categorizations for those separated from service due to service-connected mental health and cognitive issues, such as TBI, PTS, and addiction
• Continue to identify and treat invisible, latent, and toxic wounds of war
  • Maintain presumptions of service for latent and invisible connected wounds from the Vietnam War, Gulf War, Iraq war, and Afghanistan war
  • Expand the current VA burn pit registry
  • Dedication research funding and provide mechanisms for collaborative efforts to improve veteran treatments
• End disability benefits and appeals backlog
  • Streamline and simplify the claims process
  • Improve the VA’s partnership with the DoD
  • Launch an Innovation Initiative to develop innovative solutions for sustainably managing the claims and appeals process
• Bring sustained and focused White House leadership to attention
  • Create a standing President’s Council on Veterans
  • Conduct an end-to-end evaluation to optimize the full scope of benefits afforded to our veterans
  • Convene a White House Summit on Veterans
  • Continue to engage private and philanthropic sectors
• Support and broaden initiatives that provide educational benefits, job training, and support for veteran entrepreneurs.
  • Make the post-9/11 GI Bill part of the nation’s social contract with those who serve
  • Expand tax credit for veterans’ employment
  • Improve concurrent certification and credentialing programs
  • Strengthen veteran entrepreneurship programs
  • Create pathways and platforms for service member to enter growing career fields
• Protect veterans
  • Fight back against schools that prey on veterans and the GI Bill
  • Enforce zero tolerance for firms that overcharge service members and veterans
  • Strengthen non-discrimination laws
• Move decisively to end veteran homelessness
  • Increase funding for reducing homelessness while expanding public-private partnerships
  • Expand complementary programs and services
  • Address the needs of homeless women veterans and homeless veteran families
• Support Veterans Treatment Courts nationally
• Recognize the honorable service of LGBT veterans
• Create a culture of accountability, service, and excellence
  • Hold every employee accountable for their performance and conduct
  • Revamp the performance evaluation system
  • Bolster critical whistleblower protections
• Provide budgetary certainty
• Ensure our veterans are buried with the honor, distinction, and integrity they deserve
• Support smart compensation and benefits reform
  • Ensure reforms to military compensation and retirement benefits improve readiness for quality of life
  • Modernize the military health system
• Adopting modern and inclusive personnel policies
  • Attracting millennials to military service
  • Zero-tolerance for Military Sexual Assault and Harassment
  • Welcoming women to compete for all military positions
  • Supporting the DoD policy review on transgender service
• Promote family policies
  • Increase access to child care
  • Create flexibility around military moves
  • Expand military spouse employment initiatives
• Champion efforts to care for our military members and families
  • Ensure continued focus on mental health for military members and their families
  • Remain committed to extended leave policies
  • Continue to support Gold Star Families

For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

News Source: The Wall Street Journal, The Briefing

Clinton Attends California Events

On Thursday, Hillary Rodham Clinton attended an early morning fundraiser in Atherton, California. San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and former State Assemblywoman Fiona Ma hosted the breakfast event. Clinton was in San Francisco last night as well to begin her visit to California.

After leaving the San Francisco, Clinton traveled to southern California where she held a roundtable discussion with home health care workers at the Los Angeles Trade-Technical College. Following the roundtable, Clinton attended a fundraiser at the home of Scooter and Yael Braun. Braun is a record label executive and manager for Justin Bieber. The events were private and closed to the press.

UPDATE (8/6): Added video from the roundtable event.

News Source: The Washington Post, NBC 4, ABC 7

Clinton Talks Child Care in Chicago

"When we short-change childcare workers, we short-change kids and America’s future." –HRC with @SEIU in Chicago pic.twitter.com/k3v7SzpWbP

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) May 20, 2015

Hillary Rodham Clinton made a stop in Chicago today where she spoke with parents and childcare providers at an early childhood education center. In her opening address, Clinton stated the importance of early childhood eduction and the rising cost of child care. She criticized government policies and the Republican budget, which takes funding away from child care services. In the early stages of her campaign, she has focused heavily on family values, and that did not change today. Clinton said, “America cannot turn its back on our children and our working parents.” Following her opening statement, Clinton took part in a roundtable event with the parents and childcare providers, which was closed to the media.

Tonight, Clinton is expected to appear at two campaign fundraisers.

Clinton heads back to New Hampshire tomorrow and Friday. Follow all the updates from New Hampshire on Clinton’s Twitter and Facebook accounts as well as the Hillary for New Hampshire Twitter account. And don’t forget to donate to the campaign.

News Source: Chicago Sun Times