Worried about Gun Violence in the US?

If you're worried about gun violence in the US,

You are not alone.

The US gun debate still rages.

Both sides have their talking points and stick to them. And never the twain will meet.

Let's state clearly that the majority of you have your hearts in the right place, but your focus is a little tainted, and hearing the same shit over and over is getting a little grinding, to be frank.

We'll call the sides of the debate 'pro-gun' and 'anti-gun' solely for convenience. Not because they sum up any person with a title.

The anti-gun side wants some nebulous thing called 'common sense legislation', which ranges from small scale bans of particular firearms or their accessories, up to and including banning all firearms.

The pro-gun side wants their rights respected, whether those rights are real or imaginary. These range from the basic right of self defense all the way up to unlimited access to all possible forms of firepower, including military grade devices and vehicles.

The main divide here, at the most superficial level, between these two groups, is what the law can accomplish.

For you anti-gun folks, bans are expensive, hard to implement, and as your opponents are all too eager to point out, criminals ignore them. Think all that through a little better.

For you pro-gun folks, you've been mostly spun by people who profit off of the misinformation, whether that means getting you riled up enough to devour more media with the sole intention being to sell you more and more advertising or having you run out to the store to stockpile weapons or ammunition once the fear becomes strongly motivational. Pay better attention to what actions you take in response to these media 'friends' of yours. 

A good portion of you also seem to be living under the notion that if a solution isn't perfect, it isn't worth doing at all. Or worse, things can stay as bad as they are or get worse, so long as you don't have to give up a single thing. Understandable, but both of those are bad. You should rethink those.

And, while we're here, can those shit arguments about banning spoons for making people fat, or cars for what people can do with them. Those things aren't designed for the intended purposes of putting holes in people or destroying them in the same fashion as a gun, even though both can be used that way. It's not clever. It's annoying. Knock it off.

So, getting back on track, what can the law accomplish here?

Clearly, prohibitions against violence only go so far as the person who is about to commit some act of violence, is able to remember them in the heat of the moment, and also fears the penalty for it more than the want of committing the violence. As someone who has been a bit temperamental at times, I can speak at length on those moments when 'fuck it all' is the most tempting choice, even though it has never been the most healthy or beneficial in hindsight. 

If you're hoping for a reasonable response during highly emotionally charged moments, you're not being realistic. In essence, you're too late. Prohibitions against violence aren't nearly as effective as we'd like or prefer.

Yes, the mentally ill need to be considered. So do domestic abusers, but the causes for these conditions go deeper than the circumstances these spans of people find themselves in at the moment. These conditions have their causes as well.

Focusing on the mentally ill and domestic abusers is a type of scapegoating at a certain point, and won't get you much further than prohibitions on violence. Let's be honest.

That doesn't mean law can't do anything. Matter of fact, law has done plenty to make things bad. Law can also be used to make things good again. Bear with me.

What if, instead, we focus on the root causes of violence, and tend to them to stem the tide, or decrease the damages they cause, in whatever form they might present themselves?

THINK about attacking poverty as a root cause. A universal basic income could help here, or a universal reset on how education is done in this country. The poor, generally speaking, are more likely to resort to violence than people in better financial situations. Common sense, right?

THINK, while we're on the subject, of treating education, not as socialism, but as infrastructure and a basic human right, instead of streams of profit for a select few. The educated, generally speaking, are less likely to commit violence than the uneducated.

THINK, of treating healthcare in the same fashion as education. The well, generally speaking, have less reason to commit violence than the sick, if for no other reason than not having an illness drive them to desperate measures strictly because of financial stress.

THINK, of how our media is engaging in psychological warfare constantly, for profit. Constantly we are made to feel insecure or angry for someone else's benefit. Part of this battle is about education, and part of it is about treasure. Do you really need to be told that a person healthy in mind is less likely to be violent than any other sort?

THINK, of violence itself. Movies and video games and other entertainments are often scapegoated as desensitizing, which is no doubt true, but not necessarily a bridge to violence. Also, these media outlets, while doing so, may also be complicit in getting us to passively accept police militarization, and heinous militaristic events. Why are these types of desensitization never brought up in the same conversation?

THINK, of how we are consistently bred toward competition, consumption, and hate for 'the other'. Pledge to the flag, and respect the badge, not for what they are supposed to stand for, but because you're told to do so, for even as those things symbolize injustice and oppression to so many, we're told they mean justice and freedom. 

THINK about your neighbor. It's not just the powers that be, or the media, or the corporations that own the media, the judges, the politicians. It's these 'friends' on our social media, and around us in the corporeal plane that buy the bullshit they're sold, and take it upon themselves to help spread it around. Having us doubting our own instincts, our own values. These voices all around us, every day.

Your only defense to all of this, is to THINK. 

THINK about what those around you speak on.

THINK about what you hear and see in whatever version of the news you get. 

THINK about what actually matters to you, what things are worth in cost and value.

THINK every time the decision makers create a policy, about whether or not that policy will have a beneficial or detrimental affect for anyone anywhere, and what that might mean for you somewhere down the line. Go beyond the surface level narratives sold to you and communicate with anyone who will listen.

The law can do both good and evil, but it doesn't make a damned bit of difference which if you're not paying attention.

So, PAY ATTENTION.

Act like your life depends on it.

Arguing With Strangers

Arguing With Strangers

This was originally going to be called 'How Not To Be A Complete Asshole While Arguing With Strangers'. Sadly there are a lot of people that if they stopped being assholes altogether would suddenly vanish like a fart in the wind for lack of substance. A little less click-baity, and we're off.

There are a few reasons for this article. I like to argue. I appreciate when it's done properly. I've been told that I'm good at it. Maybe I'm longing for worthy challengers; I'll concede that one to ego.

This is dedicated to 'Felicia'. Felicias are going to serve as a cautionary tale for the bulk of this article.

Guide one: Don't tip your hand

Most poker players know about tells. Tells give away something one player doesn't want the other to know. Tells strip the advantage from one person and give it to the next. Tells are a form of self sabotage, and as it is with poker, it is with arguing online. Consider some examples.

Felicia tells me I'm closed minded for not accepting her position. Maybe. But if I have not given her any measurable reason to say that I am, then Felicia is letting me know that she's likely shut off any opposition to the idea she holds dear. It's pure projection. 

Next, Felicia tells me I'm delusional because of my position, even if she has to manufacture that position. Ok, once again, maybe. She offers no reason why, just 'I'm right, you're wrong' with nothing supporting either side of it. 

Next, Felicia goes for a haymaker by trying to diminish me with a label. The format is always the same, regardless of the label:

'You're just a ___________' 

Labels are handy things. Labels help define identity. They help us understand concepts, in relation to ourselves and other things. However, Felicia's use of a label in these instances isn't trying to create understanding so much as subvert it. 

Three instances of similar behavior. Three cases of attacking a person instead of their argument. There are others but that explains the general idea. When you happen upon your own Felicia, there is the slightest chance that she's just testing you in this way, and if you can find someone who comes out the gate like this but can also back up their bullshit with the actual topic, she's a keeper. You keep that one close, even if you never agree on anything, because all the other cases, and there will be a vast majority of them, are showing you they are just an asshole. They don't understand their position or they can't at least explain it. They just know you're wrong, but knowing isn't enough. They have to make you look and feel wrong. Their hand is likely all low cards, like a busted straight; they can't even scrape out a pair.

Attack the argument and don't attack the arguer, at least until they really deserve it. It's your best defense, by being less offensive.

Guide two: Know what you're talking about

Seems kinda obvious, right? Felicia knows every angle and avenue of the subject she's passionate about; at least she seems to think so. She's listened extensively to authorities on the subject and she has their lines down pat, and she is so absolutely certain the authority is completely infallible, she places the utmost faith in the declarations of the authority, and will probably defend those proclamations to the best of her ability. At least she'll be the best echo she can.

We must do better than Felicia.

Felicia knows that some thing or another is supposedly 'right', and another 'wrong', and one is better than the other, but she has no idea how or why. She never reasoned herself into or out of any of those positions.

It's not enough to know what you know, or take the word of authorities as gospel. You have to start picking up on spots where you might not know; the gaps in your knowledge, your awareness, and your experiences. You and I have biases and prejudices and understandings that are limited by the nature and nurture that we were developed in. We are not only the products of our environments, but often we are prisoners of them. Our consciousness is limited, but we can learn from others and expand our own awareness on anything that intrigues us, so long as we approach it honestly. No person is always wrong or always right, and as such, we can even learn things from a person like Felicia, as rare and special as those occasions are.

Feel sympathy for Felicia; she doesn't think she can learn anything new from anyone she doesn't already agree with.

We know better.

Guide three: Be willing and able to say 'I was wrong'

It always amazes me that people are terrified of being wrong, when most of us are wrong on many things in many ways on many occasions. Each of us buys into philosophies and common knowledge that are useful to us at some point in time, but some we outgrow and discard, and others we develop as new knowledge comes our way. It's fine because it means we're growing.  Our own memories betray us randomly, sometimes at the worst moments. We're made or coerced to believe in lies all the time. All of us are wrong at some things at least some of the time.

There's no point in being afraid of something you can't avoid.

Felicia can't admit that she is ever wrong. Felicia thinks admitting to being wrong is a display of weakness. Felicia suffers for these things even though she doesn't recognize it.

See, Felicia has to save face by defending a bad idea she might have an emotional attachment to, or she simply can't accept someone seeing her as wrong. She thinks holding her ground is less painful than the perceived temporary embarrassment of admitting a mistake, a miscommunication, a misjudgment, or a gap in knowledge.

We can do better than Felicia.

Imagine no longer having to carry on the weight and struggle of a losing battle like trying to defend the indefensible. Imagine no longer having to come up with excuses and semantic gymnastics to cover for an idea we can only demand is better or more reasonable simply based on our say-so, or the say-so of some other figure.

If presented with compelling enough evidence or a sound and reasonable argument, you must consider it even if it counters your most cherished beliefs. If you can do that, you will know a liberation that Felicia cannot even imagine, and you will grow while Felicia stays fixed in one place. This is where Felicias get left behind as an anachronism, as the world around them continues to surge forward no matter how they rail against it. Even though they win an occasional battle, they will lose their wars as they always have, either due to stagnation or attrition.

We win by continually moving forward and leaving Felicias behind until they finally relent and catch up to the rest of us, else fading into the dustbin of history.

Guide four: Be willing and able to say 'I'm sorry'

Felicia wouldn't dare, unless something backhanded followed it.

'I'm sorry you don't have a clue'. 'I'm sorry you're just an idiot'. 'I'm sorry your parents didn't raise you right'. 'I'm sorry you don't have common sense'. etc.

Felicia never feels the need to apologize honestly, even after insulting you, which is a natural extension of never having been able to admit they were wrong in the first place. It isn't that Felicia is necessarily a bad person or malevolent. She might have the best intentions. But a whole lot of Felicias find themselves in echo chambers of their own creation. Even worse, they might just be the walls of those chambers, where someone else's ideas and platform and philosophies just bounce off them cushioning the chamber from opposition and challenge. This doesn't make the Felicias of the world super-villains, this makes them useful idiots, and not useful to us. They're not even of use to themselves. Just pawns for someone else's benefit, more often than not.

Once again, we must be better than Felicia.

If you're arguing, it's probably better to be passionate about the subject, rather than not. There should be something more at stake for you than 'winning' the argument. If something is so vital and so life affirming as to need argument, it should become your duty to defend the good ideas and expand your understanding of them and promote them to others. To do that, you are going to likely provoke others to think outside the norms they are used to. You are going to test boundaries. You are going to risk offense. You are going to make mistakes. Things may get heated and emotional beyond your control. You may forget that the opposition is even a person should intense enough friction create enough light and sound to diminish that factor.

You will have things to apologize for. This is a part of growth, and learning and improvement. There should be no fear or shame in it. That doesn't mean to just go out and be a callous prick, and shock people just for the hell of it in every opportunity you're given. Just have your head and your heart in the right place and everything will flow from that.

Guide five: Listen

Don't just wait for your time to talk. That what the Felicias often do, when they're courteous enough to not just talk over you.

You may believe you've heard their spiel before, and you've probably heard something similar, but they might not have it memorized correctly, or don't understand it very well, or have an interesting take on it.

This is another good reason to not just label someone and dismiss them. You never know what that stranger is bringing to the conversation, even if they look and sound like some majority of a familiar group. You deal with that person as an individual, and you attack their arguments or their position, not them. This is partly why Felicias should always lose actual arguments; they don't have listening as a part of their skill set.

Guide six: Be yourself

If you're clever, be clever. If you're funny, be funny. If you're a salesperson, be that. If you're a diplomat or a strategist or a preacher, be those. If you're just an asshole, then be something else.

Felicias like to parrot other people they admire. They can quote them, and sometimes accurately. They use terms that seem to be popular even if they have no idea what the proper meaning and usage are, and sometimes they pronounce them accurately. Occasionally when their logic and reasoning have abandoned them utterly, they'll still have a valid point.

The one thing that Felicias who are the biggest assholes love to do? Tell you they're winning.

You don't have to pretend anything. Maybe you are there to win an argument. Actually win the thing, instead of proclaiming yourself victorious. The audience one or both of you are trying to impress? They see through the bullshit, even if Felicia can't. Now this doesn't mean Felicia is necessarily losing just yet, even though they're putting on this 'winning' display. When she does however? Be absolutely ruthless is pointing out every flaw, every misquote, every leap in logic, every contradiction and every lie. She asked for it; let her have it.

Remember, you know when to say you're wrong and you know when to say you're sorry. Felicias always are in sore need of discipline. Give them loving but firm justice as only you know how, as their parents should have, and you will develop a strong pimp hand in no time. Yes ladies, you too.

Guide seven: Be bold

You and I and Felicia and the general masses of humanity that are within a digital arm's length away from us; we are the media. We write articles and share things and make videos and reddit and instagram and tweet and generate pics and memes. This doesn't make the lot of us journalists. This makes the lot of us noise generators, because that is what this informational tsunami we find ourselves immersed in daily is. Put simply, it's a lot of noise, but we have the choice of what our particular noise is. We can try and rise above the low wattage hum of that crashing wave of information.

Sadly what people like Felicia are responsible for in that low wattage hum, is just passing on the same sounds someone else has generated. It isn't original or interesting, but it usually serves the purpose of 'Look how right I was'. Another reason to never expect a semblance of apology from this lot. 

They don't take chances. They don't provoke thought. They paint a picture of consensus by repetition. Everyone says it so it must be true. Unwitting parrots; the indoctrinated.

Be a trend setter instead of a trend follower. Create an orchestra instead of a feedback loop.

Take new information and process it through for yourself and take it to whatever limits you can muster, and then present that to whoever will listen. Good ideas should be the death of bad ones, even if it takes a creative presentation or arrangement or sheer amount of volume and repetition to do it. We can beat them at their game.

Bad ideas deserve very public executions. Become the executioner.

Here the idea isn't to battle or defeat Felicia. No. You and I must create an alternative so compelling to her that she has no choice but to willingly and freely join us.

Guide eight: Have situational awareness

It is not always the time to argue, and it is not always your job to correct every mistake you come across, or to battle every notion you disagree with. Pick your battles. make sure it's the right time and place, and it must be said, not only to that person, but by you.

Check your approach while you're at it.

I've seen people poor gasoline on a fire by launching insults at people, when the fire could have been extinguished thoroughly just by asking the other person 'Why do you believe that?'.

The right question can shut a Felicia down like a lighting bolt.

Guide nine: Do whatever it takes to improve

Do you really understand your subject? Are all your facts in order?

Do you understand Felicia's position as well as your own?

How well do you communicate, not just what you mean to say, but what the other person hears?

How skillful are you in the ways of persuasion?

How well do you utilize logic and reasoning? Can you recognize poor reasoning or logical fallacies in others? How about when you do them?

Do you sound genuine?

Are you an asshole?

Every one of us has room for improvement. Remember the thing about stones and glass houses if you start weighing who might be inferior or superior in any type of exchange; strive for humility.

Understanding, like life, is a journey, not a destination.(as the song goes)

Guide ten: Know your enemy

Felicia, for all her faults and annoyances, is NOT our enemy. If you and her are sharing a space, you have something in common. Maybe it's just the platform. Maybe it's the topic you both have an interest in. Maybe you have a similar concern about the stakes or outcome of a situation. Maybe your backgrounds are similar, or families, or spouses and children. Maybe your bosses or customers both suck. The common ground is there, somewhere. Find it.

The enemy are the people who craft the platforms, and the narratives and the salesmanship that rope Felicias in in the first place. The story tellers that trap people through spectacle to use them for personal gain. The fear merchants. The war mongers. Televangelists. The corporate media hook-ups that view the rest of us as just so much cattle.

Remember what I said about labels before? Let's try one for this crowd: Divisioneers. Divide, conquer and prosper.

The point is not defeating Felicia so much as convincing her she belongs on your side. The point is also letting go of the bad ideas you have and letting Felicia convince you if she can. When both sides slip free of their programming, the Divisioneers lose. That's the battle. That's the point.

It's a two way street. Travel it wisely.

9-11, Never Forget

9-11, Never Forget

When people say 'Never Forget' about 9-11, I wonder what things they specifically mean. You have your own thoughts about that day, as do I, as do anyone who might think about it at all. I think that perhaps it would not be terrible if we all found a few common thoughts in regards to that day, so in that spirit I am going to offer a short list to start this off, a few things I consider simple truths, and I invite others to add to it if you have something of merit. Don't be shy.

Never Forget that vengeance is not justice and that hate does not defeat hate.

Never Forget that there is no shame in not knowing. But it is a dark path in refusing to acknowledge those gaps in our knowledge to cling to the idea of being learned, or to avoid being corrected. Acknowledging our mistakes allows us to throw off the weight and burden of them and bring us toward a lighter path.

Never Forget that philosophies are tools, be they spiritual or political or purely mechanical sequences of orders. In the proper respective hands they become forces of creation or forces of destruction. It is up to us to foster the forces of creation and subdue the forces of destruction without becoming forces of destruction doing so. We can keep moving forward together or we can keep pushing each other back collectively. One benefits us. One costs us but benefits others. Decide.

Never Forget that the reasons for countries to go to war and the reasons that soldiers fight in wars do not overlap. They are worlds apart. If someone tells you they are the same reasons, they are despicable or misguided. Be wary of anything they tell you.

Never Forget that if a country or organization does something evil or illegal or in any way ethically dubious, it does not stop being any of those things because you belong to that country or organization. If you don't want another country to do something to your country, your country doing that something to another country is unforgivable. Do not abide by such things. Do not accept them quietly, however tempted you might be.

Never Forget that casualties occur on both sides of a war. If you'e going to remember the dead, remember to count all of them. If that number becomes large enough, close enough, personal enough, you'll doubtless never want to have to count those numbers again.

Never Forget that even if a symbol is destroyed, the things it symbolized survive it and another symbol can contain those ideas again. Do not mourn the loss of a symbol. A loss of life for a symbol is a waste of a life, regardless of when shills say otherwise, no matter how loud, how often or with how much mustered conviction.

Never Forget that anger and sorrow are gifts. Yours is unique to you. Yours has the singular purpose of making you uncomfortable enough to fix or change or cope with some wrong in the world. If utilized properly you emerge as a better person because of it. Do not squander these precious gifts on people who seek to draw them out of you solely for their gain. Do not allow them to prostitute you by eliciting rage or grief from you in order to sell you on a policy that doesn't benefit you, a politician that doesn't represent you or a war that costs us all. And never allow those gifts to use you; seize the opportunity whenever and wherever it arises.

Never Forget to communicate. If it ain't hurting anyone, including you, say or do whatever you are moved to. This is freedom. Always, always embrace it.

Guide to the 2016 US Presidential Election

History & Campaign Promises:

All information in history sections selected and hand-picked from www.ontheissues.org. That means you are still responsible for getting all information you are interested in, on your own, whether on this site or from as many other sources as you desire. The purpose is not to tell you which person or position is better or worse than another. It is merely for you to be better informed in your decision making.

The campaign promise data points are specific policy points taken from the relevant sections of each of the candidates' campaign sites. If at any point specific positions affect multiple topics, then the position is placed in each topic, according to my discretion. I tried to narrow them to as pragmatic terms as I could find.

In any case of 'N/A', it doesn't mean the candidate does not have plans or a stance on the topic; it simply means that nothing specific enough was provided to comment on from the source pages. For the reasoning or the problems being addressed, and any methodology or ideology or rhetoric involved, please consult the actual sites to your own satisfaction.

They are as follows:
Hillary Clinton: https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/
Donald Trump: https://www.donaldjtrump.com/positions
Gary Johnson: https://www.johnsonweld.com/issues
Jill Stein: http://www.jill2016.com/platform

These are the top candidates available for the 2016 Presidential election and information based on interviews, debates and public appearances up to this point, as well as their individual platforms. As with all politicians, these positions and platforms may change at some point in the future, but the past cannot be erased. These are not your only choices, just four of them that happen to be polling at this moment in time.

It's your vote, choose wisely.

Budget and Economy:

• Clinton:

History

Committed to reducing corporate power not only Wall St. (Feb 2016)
Go after shadow banking industry, like Lehman Brothers. (Nov 2015)
We need bankruptcy reform, but we need the right kind. (Aug 2014)
1998: Personally lobbied Congress against bankruptcy bill. (Apr 2014)
The economy is not working for middle class families. (Jan 2008)
Look back to 1990s to see how I’d be fiscally responsible. (Dec 2007)
Balanced budget replaced with rising costs & falling wages. (Jun 2007)
2000: Eight years of a great economy is not enough. (Jan 2007)
Co-sponsored bills totaling $502B in spending thru 2005. (Oct 2006)
Use tax dollars to upgrade infrastructure, not for stadium. (Oct 2000)
Pay down debt & cut taxes within balanced budget. (Sep 2000)
Protect next generation by paying off national debt. (Aug 2000)
We have outlived the usefulness of Bretton Woods. (Jun 1999)
The economy creates consumers but cannot create citizens. (Jun 1999)
Invest in people instead of “smokestack chasing”. (Feb 1997)

-Voted to limit credit card interest to 30%. (Jan 2008)
-Voted YES on $60B stimulus package for jobs, infrastructure, & energy. (Sep 2008)
-Voted NO on paying down federal debt by rating programs' effectiveness. (Mar 2007)
-Voted NO on $40B in reduced federal overall spending. (Dec 2005)

Campaign

• $125 billion in targeted investments to create jobs, rebuild infrastructure, and connect housing to opportunity.
• Double funding for primary-care at community health centers over the next decade. Near tripling of the size of the National Health Service Corps. Invest $2 billion per year in research for Alzheimer’s and related disorders, reauthorize the Missing Alzheimer’s Disease Patient Alert Program. Increase our investment in the Global Equality Fund. Student Parents in America Raising Kids (SPARK) program. Double our investment in home visiting programs such as the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program. Respect and Increased Salaries for Early Childhood Educators (RAISE) initiative. Launch a $60 billion Clean Energy Challenge. A $25 billion fund will support historically black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, and other minority-serving institutions. Increase our investment in the Global Equality Fund. Provide $2 billion in support to schools to reform overly punitive disciplinary policies. Adequate funding for shelter for homeless youths. Double the Obama administration's Build America Bonds subsidy. $10 billion “Make it in America” plan. Increase global funding for HIV and AIDS treatment and prevention. $1 billion to find and fund training programs and research into bias. Federal matching funds to make body cameras available to every police department. Double funding for U.S. DOJ “Collaborative Reform” program.National infrastructure bank to improve rural transportation and broadband access. Invest so no family pays more than 10% of its income for quality child care. Double investment in Early Head Start, double the number of children served by Early Head Start, ensure every 4-year-old has access to high-quality preschool.
• Defend and expand the ACA. Support for telemedicine. Make enrollment through Medicaid and the ACA easier. Empower Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices. Allow families to buy insurance on health exchanges regardless of immigration status.
• Say no to trade deals like TPP. End the sequester for both defense and non-defense spending. End subsidies drug companies get for direct-to-consumer advertising. Cut billions in tax subsidies for oil and gas companies. Apply the Volcker Rule to hedge funds.
• Raise federal minimum wage to $12. Support local efforts like “Fight for $15.”
• Fix the family visa backlog and bring millions of people into the formal economy. End the three and ten year bars.---------------]

• Trump: 

History

Keep mortgage interest deduction; knock out carried interest. (Nov 2015)
Make economy dynamic; bring back jobs from China & Mexico. (Oct 2015)
Use increasing debt ceiling as bargaining chip. (Oct 2015)
Grow the economy at 6% annually by ending inversions. (Oct 2015)
Cut defense budget, & entire EPA &Dept. of Education. (Oct 2015)
Optimistic about future of Atlantic City. (Jul 1990)
Rent control only benefits a privileged minority. (Jul 1987)

Campaign

• Simplify the income tax from 7 brackets to 3 brackets.
• Block-grant Medicaid to the states.
• Label China a currency manipulator. Force China to uphold intellectual property laws and stop forcing U.S. companies to share proprietary technology with Chinese competitors as a condition of entry to China’s market. Put an end to China’s illegal export subsidies and lax labor and environmental standards.
• Renegotiate NAFTA, Withdraw from the TPP.
• Cancel the Paris Climate Agreement (limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius) and stop all payments of U.S. tax dollars to U.N. global warming programs.
• Save the coal industry.---------------]

• Johnson: 

History

National debt, approaching $20 trillion, is bankrupting us. (Jan 2016)
National debt of $20 trillion is obscene & unsustainable. (Jan 2016)
No bank bailout; no farm subsidies; no stimulus. (May 2012)
Cut federal budget by 43% to bring it into balance. (Feb 2012)
Our debt is greatest threat to our national security. (Jul 2011)
Opposed TARP, stimulus & Fannie Mae bailout. (Jul 2011)
End the Fed; they've devalued the dollar by printing money. (May 2011)
Balance budget by cutting entitlements AND Defense. (Apr 2011)

Campaign

• Eliminate special interest tax loopholes and get rid of the double-taxation on small businesses, to ultimately replace all income and payroll taxes with a single consumption tax.
• Create a more efficient system of providing work visas, conducting background checks, and incentivizing non-citizens to pay their taxes, obtain proof of employment, and otherwise assimilate.
• Cut spending by 20%, or whatever it takes to submit a balanced budget to Congress.Veto any legislation that will result in deficit spending.
• End the failed war on drugs. Legalize and regulate marijuana.---------------]

• Stein: 

History

We're again bailing out Wall Street with quantitative easing. (Oct 2012)
Still no end in sight to economic crisis: focus on jobs. (Oct 2012)
Stimulus plan was not big enough. (May 2012)
Top 1% are rolling in dough; the rest are in crisis. (Feb 2012)
2011 debt ceiling debacle spurred candidacy. (Jan 2012)
Austerity policies: harsh on YOU but easy for establishment. (Jan 2012)
90% tax on bonuses for bailed out bankers. (Jan 2012)
End the Bush-Obama recession; ask wealthy to pay share. (Dec 2011)
Reduce spending via military cuts & preventive health. (Dec 2011)

Campaign

• Green New Deal, a four part vast program including an economic bill of rights, a transition from an oil based economy to one based on green energy, financial reform and a functional democracy 
• Cut military spending by at least 50% and close 700+ foreign military bases. Ensure a just transition from military jobs to jobs in renewable energy, transportation and green infrastructure development. Stop U.S. financial and military support to human rights abusers. This would include Saudi Arabia, Israel and Egypt. Freeze the bank accounts of countries that are funding terrorism.
• Nationalize the Federal Reserve Banks placing them under a Federal Monetary Authority. Introduce federal, state, and municipal publicly-owned banks that function as non-profit utilities. Offer capital grants to non-profit developers of affordable housing until all people can obtain decent housing at no more than 25% of their income. Restore Glass-Steagall separation of depository banks from speculative investment banks. Regulate all financial derivatives and require them to be traded on open exchanges. 
• Rewrite the entire tax code to be truly progressive. Full disclosure of corporate subsidies in the budget and stop hiding subsidies in complicated tax code. 
• Set a $15/hour federal minimum wage, with indexing.
• Create 20 million green jobs in sustainable energy, mass transit, sustainable organic agriculture, clean manufacturing and improved infrastructure. Ensure that any worker displaced by the shift away from fossil fuels will receive full income and benefits as they transition to alternative work. Increase grants and low-interest loans to green businesses and cooperatives. Redirect research funds from fossil fuels into renewable energy and conservation.
• Invest in community health infrastructure such as local organic food systems, pollution-free renewable energy, phasing out toxic chemicals, and active transportation such as bike paths and safe sidewalks that dovetail with public transit.
• Replace unemployment offices with employment offices. Create direct public employment, as the Works Progress Administration did.---------------]

Civil Rights:

• Clinton:

History

Fight systemic racism in education & employment. (Feb 2016)
No Ceilings: worldwide full equal education for girls. (Apr 2015)
Women in Public Service Project: 50% of officials by 2050. (Nov 2013)
Pushing for privacy bill of rights. (Jun 2006)
Crack down on sex trafficking of women and girls. (Jan 2000)
Support National Endowment for the Arts. (Feb 1997)
Sex selection, prostitution & war rape: human rights issues. (Sep 1995)
Will fight for minorities, immigrants, & women's rights. (Feb 2016)
We need a New Deal for Communities of Color. (Oct 2015)
Equal pay is not yet equal. (Jan 2008)
Compiled “Handbook on Legal Rights for Arkansas Women”. (Nov 2007)
Founded Vital Voices Initiative with Madeleine Albright. (Sep 2007)
1965: brought black classmates to all-white church. (Jul 2007)
1988: Instituted gender diversity Report Card within ABA. (Jun 2007)
1972: Worked with Edelman on school desegregation in South. (Nov 2003)
Apologize for slavery, but concentrate on civil rights now. (Oct 2000)
First chair of ABA Commission on Women and the Profession. (Aug 1999)
Raised issues of gender compensation gap at 1970s Rose Law. (Nov 1997)
LGBT people now married on Saturday & fired on Monday. (Feb 2016)
Pledged to sign Employment Non-Discrimination Act. (Apr 2015)
I re-evaluated & changed my mind on gay marriage. (Jun 2014)
DOMA discrimination holds us back from a more perfect union. (Jun 2013)
I support gay marriage personally and as law. (Mar 2013)
Positive about civil unions, with full equality of benefits. (Aug 2007)
Let states decide gay marriage; they’re ahead of feds. (Aug 2007)
Supports DOMA, which Bill Clinton signed. (Jul 2007)
Don’t ask don’t tell was an important transition step. (Jun 2007)
2004:defended traditional marriage; 2006:voted for same-sex. (May 2007)
Federal Marriage Amendment would be terrible step backwards. (Oct 2006)
Military service based on conduct, not sexual orientation. (Dec 1999)

-Co-sponsored bill to criminalize flag-burning. (Jan 2010)

-Voted NO on recommending Constitutional ban on flag desecration. (Jun 2006)
-Voted NO on constitutional ban of same-sex marriage. (Jun 2006)
-Voted YES on adding sexual orientation to definition of hate crimes. (Jun 2002)
-Voted YES on loosening restrictions on cell phone wiretapping. (Oct 2001)
-Rated 60% by the ACLU, indicating a mixed civil rights voting record. (Dec 2002)
-Rated 89% by the HRC, indicating a pro-gay-rights stance. (Dec 2006)
-Rated 96% by the NAACP, indicating a pro-affirmative-action stance. (Dec 2006)

Campaign

• Equal pay for women and guaranteed paid leave. Ensure all women have access to preventive care, affordable contraception, and safe and legal abortion.
• Restore collective bargaining rights for unions.
• End the privatization of prisons.
• Repair the Voting Rights Act and implement universal, automatic voter registration, unless they opt out. Make sure that voter registration rolls are accurate and secure.
• Restore voting rights to individuals who have served their sentences, Invest $5 billion in re-entry job programs for formerly incarcerated “Ban the Box” for federal employers and contractors; a reference to the box on applications asking about criminal history.
• Comprehensive immigration reform. End family and private detention centers.
• Work with Puerto Rico on their political status.
• National guidelines on the use of force by police. $1 billion to find and fund training programs and research into bias. End racial profiling by federal, state, and local law enforcement. Federal matching funds to make body cameras available to every police department. Double funding for U.S. DOJ “Collaborative Reform” program.
• Work with Congress on the Equality Act. End so-called “conversion therapy” for minors. End discriminatory treatment of LGBT families in adoption. Make it easier for transgender Americans to change their gender marker on documents. Increase our investment in the Global Equality Fund.---------------]

• Trump: 

History

Promoted gender equality in a male-dominated industry. (Nov 2015)
I'm "fine" with affirmative action, for now. (Oct 2015)
Well-educated blacks have advantage over whites. (Sep 2015)
I'm no misogynist; I put women in charge of construction. (Aug 2015)
Disinvited from RedState gathering for misogynistic comments. (Aug 2015)
Obama's presidency has done nothing for African Americans. (Aug 2015)
Same-sex marriage is a state issue. (Jun 2015)
No gay marriage; no same-sex partner benefits. (Mar 2011)
Tolerate diversity; prosecute hate crimes against gays. (Jul 2000)

Campaign

• End birthright citizenship.
• Put an end to China’s illegal export subsidies and lax labor and environmental standards.---------------]

• Johnson: 

History

Supports separation of religion and state. (Aug 2011)
Prostitution is safer when legal and regulated. (Jun 2011)
I support gay unions; government out of marriage business. (Apr 2011)
Support principles embodied in the Equal Rights Amendment. (Feb 2001)

Campaign

• Stop the government from engaging in social and economic engineering.
• Support internet freedom and right to privacy.---------------]

• Stein: 

History

No discrimination based on orientation whether it's LGB or T. (Jul 2015)
"Religious Freedom" is surrogate for patriarchal domination. (Jul 2015)
After marriage equality comes workplace equality. (Jul 2015)
Black Lives Matter: fix the system of racism. (Mar 2015)
All people entitled to full civil rights, including gays. (Nov 2012)
Pay equity for women remains critical, despite some programs. (Oct 2012)
First pro-gay-marriage candidate in first gay marriage state. (Dec 2011)
Legalize gay marriage. (Nov 2001)

Campaign

• Protect the free Internet. Oppose the Stop Online Piracy Act(SOPA).
• Reduce the flow of immigrant refugees, in part by repealing NAFTA, ending the failed drug wars, and halting CIA and military interventions against democratically elected governments
• Abolish the Electoral College. Full public election financing, ranked-choice voting, proportional representation, open debates and non-partisan election commissions. Remove ballot access barriers. Restore Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act. Restore voting rights to offenders, including while in prison. Enact simplified same-day voter registration. Make Election Day a national holiday.
• Eliminate the doctrine of corporate person-hood.
• Abolish the death penalty.
• Demilitarize police. Establish police review boards so communities control their police. Require independent outside legal representatives to investigate and prosecute any killing or brutality by the police. Prohibit Federal agencies from conspiring with local police to infringe upon right of assembly and peaceful protest. Demilitarize border crossings throughout North America.
• Repeal the Patriot Act. Terminate unconstitutional surveillance and unwarranted spying, close Guantanamo and repeal indefinite detention without charge or trial. Repeal provisions of the NDAA that give the power to indefinitely imprison and assassinate without due process. 
• Stop U.S. financial and military support to human rights abusers. This would include Saudi Arabia, Israel and Egypt. Freeze the bank accounts of countries that are funding terrorism. US policy regarding Israel and Palestine must be revised to prioritize international law, peace and human rights for all people
• Federal law to prohibit firing without just cause. Outlaw scabbing on striking workers.
• Guarantee access to food, water, housing, and utilities, with effective anti-poverty programs. Establish right to a living wage job
• Employee Free Choice Act. Repeal the Taft-Hartley Act.---------------]

Corporations:

• Clinton: 

History

Agrees that Wall Street and banks cannot get too powerful. (Feb 2016)
It's not just Wall Street; it's Big Pharma too. (Feb 2016)
AIG & Lehman were not big banks; we needed to bail them out. (Nov 2015)
Let bank regulators send bank executives to jail. (Oct 2015)
Investigate "shadow banks" and break up big banks. (Oct 2015)
World Bank should impose rules on sovereign wealth funds. (Jan 2008)
Stop bankruptcies to get rid of pension responsibilities. (Aug 2007)
Enough with corporate welfare; enough with golden parachutes. (Jun 2007)
Close lobbyists’ revolving door; end no-bid contracts. (Jun 2007)
Corporate elite treat working-class America as invisible. (Apr 2007)
1970s: Potential conflict of interest when GM sued Arkansas. (Nov 1997)
Family-friendly work policies are good for business. (Sep 1996)
-Voted YES on repealing tax subsidy for companies which move US jobs offshore. (Mar 2005)
-Voted YES on restricting rules on personal bankruptcy. (Jul 2001)
-Rated 35% by the US COC, indicating a mixed business voting record. (Dec 2003)

Campaign

• Give regulators more authority to force overly complex or risky firms to reorganize, downsize, or break apart. SEC rule requiring publicly traded companies to disclose political spending to shareholders. Ease unnecessary regulatory burdens on community banks. Cut billions in tax subsidies for oil and gas companies. End subsidies drug companies get for direct-to-consumer advertising and instead invest that money in research. Equal pay for women and guaranteed paid leave.
• Expand the New Markets Tax Credit. Tax credit for businesses of $1,500 per hired apprentice, extra bonuses for hiring young people.
• Crack down on companies that move profits overseas to avoid paying U.S. taxes. Charge an “exit tax” for companies leaving the U.S. and make companies that export jobs give back the tax breaks they’ve received in America. Give small businesses recourse to fight back against big businesses that stiff them. Hold executives accountable, when liable,  for subordinates’ misconduct.
• Overturn Citizens United
• Revitalize coal communities by supporting locally driven priorities.
• End the privatization of prisons.---------------]

• Trump: 

History

Get U.S. money back into U.S.: address corporate inversion. (Nov 2015)
I've used bankruptcy laws to do a great job for my companies. (Aug 2015)
0% corporate tax would create millions of jobs. (Dec 2011)
Fight crony capitalism with a level playing field. (Dec 2011)
Wealthy move assets around globally based on tax incentives. (Apr 2011)

Campaign

• Require federal agencies to list all regulations on American business, and rank them most to least critical. Least critical will receive priority for repeal.
• Remove barriers to entry into free markets for drug providers that offer safe, reliable and cheaper products.
• Force China to uphold intellectual property laws and stop their practice of forcing U.S. companies to share proprietary technology as a condition of entry to China’s market. Put an end to China’s illegal export subsidies and lax labor and environmental standards
• Lift restrictions on American energy
• Make land in the Outer Continental Shelf available to produce oil and natural gas.
• Ask Trans Canada to renew its permit application for the Keystone Pipeline
• Save the coal industry.---------------]

• Johnson:

History

Eliminate double taxation embodied in business income taxes. (Jan 2016)
Built Big J Enterprises into leading construction company. (Aug 2012)
Started a one-man handyman business; grew it to 1,000 people. (Sep 2011)
Eliminate corporate income tax as real way to create jobs. (Jun 2011)

Campaign

• Eliminate special interest tax loopholes and get rid of the double-taxation on small businesses, to ultimately replace all income and payroll taxes with a single consumption tax.
• Get the Environmental Protection Agency to focus on its true mission
• Rid laws and taxes that syphon the resources businesses use to create jobs. Stop the government from engaging in social and economic engineering. Question whether political efforts to regulate, tax and manipulate the private sector are effective at all.---------------]

• Stein: 

History

Privatization is an enormous step backwards. (Jul 2015)
Break up "too-big-to-fail" banks. (Jun 2015)
Transaction tax of .03% on every Wall Street transaction. (Nov 2012)
Corporate elite richer than ever, but pay less tax than ever. (Jan 2012)
Record profits-with politicians' help--caused the recession. (Jan 2012)
Make all corporate tax subsidies transparent. (Jan 2012)

Campaign

• Create 20 million green jobs in sustainable energy, mass transit, sustainable organic agriculture, clean manufacturing and improved infrastructure. Ensure that any worker displaced by the shift away from fossil fuels will receive full income and benefits as they transition to alternative work.
• Eliminate the doctrine of corporate person-hood.
• Product labeling requirements for country of origin, GMO content, toxic chemical ingredients, and fair trade practices. Impose greenhouse gas tax on polluters. Increase grants and low-interest loans to green businesses and cooperatives. Redirect research funds from fossil fuels into renewable energy and conservation.
• Employee Free Choice Act, Repeal the Taft-Hartley Act. End persecution of government, corporate  and media whistle-blowers. Federal law to prohibit firing without just cause. Outlaw scabbing on striking workers. Pension funds to be managed by worker controlled boards. Full disclosure of corporate subsidies in the budget and stop hiding subsidies in complicated tax code.
• Eliminate health insurance. Establish “Medicare for All” single-payer public health program.---------------]

Crime:

• Clinton: 

History

Death penalty appropriate for Oklahoma City bombing. (Feb 2016)
Address systemic racism in our criminal justice system. (Jan 2016)
Rebuild trust between communities and police. (Dec 2015)
Get body cameras on police; tackle mass incarceration. (Oct 2015)
Black lives matter: inequality is not inevitable. (Apr 2015)
Longtime advocate of death penalty, with restrictions. (Jan 2008)
Address the unacceptable increase in incarceration. (Dec 2007)
Mandatory sentences have been too widely used. (Jun 2007)
Pushed to expand AMBER alerts & for stricter sex penalties. (Dec 2006)
2000: NYPD needs higher pay and better minority relations. (Nov 2003)
Led early crusade for rape evidence and crisis centers. (Aug 1999)
Supports “Three Strikes” and more prison. (Aug 1994)
Voted YES on reinstating $1.15 billion funding for the COPS Program. (Mar 2007)
More funding and stricter sentencing for hate crimes. (Apr 2001)
Require DNA testing for all federal executions. (Mar 2001)

Campaign

• Allow the FBI to stop gun sales to suspected terrorists. Fight jihadist propaganda online, intercept ISIS communications, and track and analyze social media posts to stop attacks. Identify and go after enablers who help jihadists forge documents and travel undetected.
• End the privatization of prisons. Restore voting rights to individuals who have served their sentences. Invest $5 billion in re-entry job programs for formerly incarcerated. “Ban the Box” for federal employers and contractors; a reference to the box on applications asking about criminal history.
• Eliminate sentencing disparity for crack and powder cocaine. Cut mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenses in half. Reschedule marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule II substance. Nonviolent drug offenses no longer count as a “strike”.
• National guidelines on the use of force by police. $1 billion to find and fund training programs and research into bias. End racial profiling by federal, state, and local law enforcement. Federal matching funds to make body cameras available to every police department. Double funding for U.S. DOJ “Collaborative Reform” program. Limit transfer of military equipment to local law enforcement. Eliminate the one-year use requirement. Require transparency from agencies that purchase equipment using federal funds.
• Hold senior bankers accountable when a large bank suffers major losses. Hold executives accountable, when liable, for subordinates’ misconduct. Give small businesses recourse to fight back against big businesses that stiff them.
• Support the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act. Strengthen regulations of “puppy mills” and other commercial breeding facilities. Crack down on the practice of horse soring. Shut down the U.S. market for illegal wildlife products. Combat international animal trafficking and poaching.
• Review and reform federal HIV criminalization laws.---------------]

• Trump: 

History

Police can't act due to disrespect; but weed out bad ones. (Feb 2016)
Black lives matter, but we need strong police presence. (Aug 2015)
Capital punishment isn’t uncivilized; murderers living is. (Jul 2000)
Death penalty deters like violent TV leads kids astray. (Jul 2000)
Hold judges accountable; don’t reduce sentences. (Jul 2000)

Campaign

• Enhanced penalties for overstaying a visa, Defund sanctuary cities, Mandatory return of all criminal aliens.
• Triple the number of ICE officers, having them cooperate with local gang task forces.
• Force China to uphold intellectual property laws and stop their practice of forcing U.S. companies to share proprietary technology as a condition of entry to China’s market. Put an end to China’s illegal export subsidies and lax labor and environmental standards
• Apply tariffs and duties to countries that cheat.---------------]

• Johnson: 

History

Too many unnecessary laws leads to too many in prison. (Jan 2016)
Vetoed early release of prisoners due to overcrowding. (Aug 2012)
Vetoed hate crime legislation as thought-crime. (Aug 2012)
Built private prisons to replace out-of-state prisoners. (Aug 2012)
Private prisons cost $20 less/day than public control. (Aug 2012)
1994: Proponent of death penalty, but willing to debate it. (Jan 2012)
Death penalty as a public policy is flawed. (Jan 2012)
Don't risk putting innocent to death. (Aug 2011)
Half of crime is drug-related; legalizing drugs cuts crime. (Jan 2001)
Supports flexible federal block grants for crime programs. (Sep 2001)
Zero tolerance for violence against government employees. (Aug 2001)

Campaign

• Create a more efficient system of providing work visas, conducting background checks, and incentivizing non-citizens to pay their taxes, obtain proof of employment, and otherwise assimilate.
• Stop the government from engaging in social and economic engineering.
• End the failed war on drugs. Legalize and regulate marijuana.
• End mandatory minimum sentences.---------------]

• Stein: 

History

Black Lives Matter: end racism & police militarization. (Feb 2015)
Judicial system makes mistakes & kills innocent people. (Nov 2012)
Stop dumping resources into the prison-industrial complex. (Nov 2012)
Incarcerating poor & minorities has become big business. (Jan 2012)
Death penalty is ineffective, and also barbaric. (Dec 2011)
Mandatory sentencing: ineffective & racially discriminatory. (Dec 2011)

Campaign

• Repeal the Patriot Act. Terminate unconstitutional surveillance and unwarranted spying. Close Guantanamo and repeal indefinite detention without charge or trial. Repeal provisions of the NDAA that give the power to indefinitely imprison and assassinate without due process. 
• Reduce the flow of immigrant refugees, in part by repealing NAFTA, ending the failed drug wars, and halting CIA and military interventions against democratically elected governments. Stop U.S. financial and military support to human rights abusers. This would include Saudi Arabia, Israel and Egypt. Freeze the bank accounts of countries that are funding terrorism.
• End the failed war on drugs. Replace drug prohibition with harm reduction. Legalize marijuana/hemp. Treat substance abuse as a health problem, not a criminal offense. Release nonviolent drug offenders from prison, removing such offenses from their records, and provide them with both pre- and post-release support.
• Demilitarize police, Establish police review boards so communities control their police. Require independent outside legal representatives to investigate and prosecute any killing or brutality by the police.
• Federal law to prohibit firing without just cause. Outlaw scabbing on striking workers.
• End persecution of government, corporate  and media whistle-blowers.
• End discrimination against former offenders who have paid for their crimes
• Eliminate mandatory minimum sentencing. 
• Abolish the death penalty.---------------]

Drugs:

• Clinton: 

History

$1B per year to help states with opioid epidemic. (Jan 2016)
$10B plan for opiate addiction over 10 years. (Dec 2015)
Stop imprisoning marijuana users. (Oct 2015)
Medical marijuana now; wait-and-see on recreational pot. (Jul 2014)
Medical marijuana maybe ok; states decide recreational use. (Jun 2014)
Reduce sentencing disparity for crack, but not retroactively. (Dec 2007)
Divert non-violent drug offenders away from prison. (Jun 2007)
Address drug problem with treatment and special drug courts. (Oct 2000)
Involved parents most influential in reducing teen drug use. (Sep 1996)
End harsher sentencing for crack vs. powder cocaine. (Jun 2007)
Require chemical resellers to certify against meth use. (Sep 2007)

Campaign

• Defend and expand the ACA, support for telemedicine, make enrollment through Medicaid and the ACA easier, empower Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices, allow families to buy insurance on health exchanges regardless of immigration status. Ensure all women have access to preventive care, affordable contraception, and safe and legal abortion.
• Reschedule marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule II substance, nonviolent drug offenses no longer count as a “strike”. Cut mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenses in half. Eliminate the sentencing disparity for crack and powder cocaine.
• End subsidies drug companies get for direct-to-consumer advertising and instead invest that money in research.
• Give all first responders access to naloxone.---------------]

• Trump: 

History

Brother died of alcoholism; so Donald never touched alcohol. (Jan 2016)
Study legalization, but don't legalize now. (Nov 2015)
Yes to medical marijuana; otherwise, decide state by state. (Oct 2015)
1991: Illicit drugs should be decriminalized. (Sep 2015)
Legalize drugs and use tax revenue to fund drug education. (Apr 2011)
Never drinks, smokes, nor does drugs. (Feb 2011)
Never touched drugs, nor alcohol, tobacco, or coffee. (Jul 2000)

Campaign

• Remove barriers to entry for drug providers that offer safe, reliable and cheaper products.---------------]

• Johnson: 

History

States are finally seeing the failure of the War on Drugs. (Jan 2016)
Why do we tell adults what they can put in their bodies? (Jan 2016)
People 95% positive on legalizing; incumbents 100% negative. (Aug 2012)
75% of border violence with Mexico is due to drugs. (Jun 2011)
Marijuana is safer than alcohol. (Jun 2011)
Legalize marijuana instead of 1.8 million arrests and $70B. (May 2011)
Drug policy today parallels Prohibition in the 1920's. (May 2011)
War on Drugs is a miserable failure; $6M for treatment. (Apr 2001)
Drug use is up despite $30B spending on War on Drugs. (Jan 2001)
Prescriptions for heroin & methadone at local pharmacy. (Jan 2001)
Allow medical marijuana and needle exchanges. (Jan 2001)
More federal funding for all aspects of Drug War. (Aug 2000)
States should make drug policy, not feds. (Aug 2001)

Campaign

• Stop the government from engaging in social and economic engineering. Question whether political efforts to regulate, tax and manipulate the private sector are effective at all.
• -End the failed war on drugs. Legalize and regulate marijuana.---------------]

• Stein: 

History

End the racist war on drugs and school-to-prison pipeline. (Feb 2015)
Transform from criminal drug system to public health system. (Nov 2012)
I support legalization of marijuana. (Jan 2012)
Marijuana is dangerous because it's illegal, not vice-versa. (Dec 2011)
Bring marijuana sales under a legal regulatory framework. (Sep 2010)

Campaign

• Adopt the Precautionary Principle. When an activity poses threats of harm to human health or the environment, in the absence of objective scientific consensus that it is safe, precautionary measures should be taken. The proponent of an activity, rather than the public, should bear the burden of proof.
• Product labeling requirements for country of origin, GMO content, toxic chemical ingredients, and fair trade practices, and put a moratorium on GMOs and pesticides until they are proven safe.
• Eliminate health insurance. Establish “Medicare for All” single-payer public health program. Free universal child care.
• End the failed war on drugs. Replace drug prohibition with harm reduction. Legalize marijuana/hemp. Treat substance abuse as a health problem, not a criminal offense. Release nonviolent drug offenders from prison, removing such offenses from their records, and provide them with both pre- and post-release support. Eliminate mandatory minimum sentencing.---------------]

Education:

• Clinton:

History

Teach discipline, self-control & patience in schools. (Apr 2015)
Teach Bible as history & literature; not science or religion. (Apr 2015)
It takes a village; American village has failed our children. (Jun 2007)
Establish right to education from pre-school thru college. (Jun 2007)
Early education affects things from IQ to lifelong earnings. (Dec 2006)
2001: Proposed and passed National Teacher Corps. (Dec 2006)
Teacher testing only for new teachers. (Oct 2000)
Testing only new teachers respects professionalism. (Oct 2000)
Teachers need more peer consulting & more recognition. (Jul 1999)
Social promotion cheats our children. (Jul 1999)
Entire school staff should focus on school safety. (Jul 1999)
Metal detectors at school are not much of an intrusion. (Jun 1999)
Arts education is needed in our schools. (Sep 1998)
Give kids after-school activities to prevent gangs. (Apr 1998)
Allow student prayer, but no religious instruction. (Sep 1996)
Supports structured inner-city schools, with uniforms. (May 1996)
AR Reform plan pushed mandatory teacher testing. (Nov 2003)
Pushed teacher testing in Arkansas. (Dec 1999)
AR ed reform: mandate kindergarten, no social promotion. (Dec 1999)
HIPPY: Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youngsters. (Aug 1993)
Passing illiterate students is educational fraud. (Sep 1983)

My plan is debt-free college for young people. (Feb 2016)

New College Compact: federal match for state investment. (Dec 2015)
Make community college free, but not free college for all. (Nov 2015)
Refinance all college debt to help 40 million new grads. (Oct 2015)
End predatory student college loan rates over 20%. (Apr 2008)
Transfer tax cuts from rich & corporations to student aid. (Jun 2006)
Incentive pay for school wide performance. (Aug 2007)
Reforms: teacher corps; more federal funding; modernize. (Sep 2000)
Opposes merit pay for individual teachers. (Apr 2000)
Supports merit pay for entire schools. (Apr 2000)
Scholarships for teachers who go to urban schools. (Mar 2000)
Address teacher shortage with salary increases. (Jul 1999)
Supports public school system: charters but not vouchers. (Apr 2015)
Vouchers aren't constitutional; charter schools are ok. (Apr 2015)
Vouchers would take money from public schools. (Oct 2000)
Vouchers drain money from public schools. (Sep 2000)
Vouchers will not improve our public schools. (Jul 1999)
Vouchers siphon off much-needed resources. (Aug 1998)
-Voted YES on $52M for "21st century community learning centers". (Oct 2005)
-Voted YES on $5B for grants to local educational agencies. (Oct 2005)
-Voted YES on shifting $11B from corporate tax loopholes to education. (Mar 2005)
-Voted YES on funding smaller classes instead of private tutors. (May 2001)
-Voted YES on funding student testing instead of private tutors. (May 2001)
-Voted YES on spending $448B of tax cut on education & debt reduction. (Apr 2001)
-Rated 82% by the NEA, indicating pro-public education votes. (Dec 2003)

Campaign

• Make debt free public college available to all Americans.
• Offer a three-month moratorium on student loan payments to all federal loan borrowers. Borrowers will be able to refinance loans at current rates, payroll deduction portal for employers and employees to simplify the repayment process. Aspiring entrepreneurs will be able to defer their loans with no payments or interest for up to three years. Social entrepreneurs and those starting new enterprises in distressed communities will be eligible for up to $17,500 in loan forgiveness. A $25 billion fund will support historically black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, and other minority-serving institutions. Provide incubators, mentoring, and training to 50,000 entrepreneurs and small-business owners in under-served communities.
• Student Parents in America Raising Kids (SPARK) program. Respect and Increased Salaries for Early Childhood Educators (RAISE) initiative. Double investment in Early Head Start, double the number of children served by Early Head Start, ensure every 4-year-old has access to high-quality preschool. Double our investment in home visiting programs such as the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program.
• Make the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill permanent. Expand tax credits for veterans’ employment. Improve certification and credentialing programs. Strengthen veteran entrepreneurship programs and create pathways for service members to enter growing career fields.
• Provide $2 billion in support to schools to reform overly punitive disciplinary policies.---------------]

• Trump: 

History

No federal government profit from student loans. (Nov 2015)
Let schools compete: charters, vouchers, and magnets. (Nov 2015)
Cut Department of Education and Common Core. (Oct 2015)
Common Core is a disaster. (Jun 2015)
Founded Trump University to teach the art of deal-making. (Jun 2015)
Opposes Common Core. (Feb 2015)
Teach citizenship; stop “dumbing down”. (Jul 2000)
School choice will improve public schools. (Jul 2000)

Campaign

• End Common Core. ---------------]

• Johnson: 

History

Public education system needs major reform. (Aug 2012)
Vouchers OK for church childcare & church schools. (Aug 2012)
$3,500 voucher for every K-12 student. (Aug 2012)
Vouchers are as constitutional as pre-school and day-care. (Aug 2012)
No student loans; they cause higher tuition. (Nov 2011)
Education Dept. takes 16 cents for every 11 cents it gives. (Sep 2011)
Abolish Departments of Education and HUD. (Aug 2011)
Give every student in New Mexico vouchers worth $3,500. (Jul 2011)
Put educational funds in the hands of the people who use it. (May 2011)
End the Department of Education. (May 2011)

Campaign

• -Eliminate the federal Department of Education, End Common Core and other national standards and requirements on local schools.---------------]

• Stein: 

History

Cancel college debt: it's now $35,000 per student. (Jan 2016)
Make public college education free. (Jan 2016)
Repeal incentives for privatization/charters in NCLB. (Jan 2016)
Call for an end to school privatization. (Oct 2015)
Common Core empowers contractors over teachers. (Jul 2015)
Charter schools assault the treasure of our public schools. (Jul 2015)
End high stakes testing. (Jun 2015)
Supports evolution; supports sex education. (May 2012)
Establish basic right to free college education. (Jan 2012)
Right to a tuition-free public education, pre-K thru college. (Jan 2012)
Move school decisions from national to grassroots level. (Dec 2011)
Charter school siphon resources from public schools. (Dec 2011)
Opposes teacher-led prayer in public schools. (Dec 2011)
Stop blaming teachers for "underperforming schools". (Sep 2010)
Standardized tests are misused; they hurt students. (Sep 2010)
No economic barriers to quality college education. (Sep 2010)

Campaign

• Tuition-free, world-class public education from pre-school through university. Abolish student debt. Offer grants and funding to encourage metropolitan desegregation plans. Protect public school systems from privatization. Restore arts, music and recreation to school curricula.
• Replace Common Core with curriculum developed by educators, not corporations.---------------]

Energy and Oil:

• Clinton: 

History

Half a billion solar panels in first 4 years. (Feb 2016)
I now oppose Keystone, but I withheld opinion at first. (Oct 2015)
Get tough with energy speculators and with OPEC cartel. (May 2008)
Gas tax holiday, paid for by windfall oil tax. (May 2008)
Investigate gas price manipulation; add windfall profits tax. (Apr 2008)
$650 for help with energy bills to those who can’t afford it. (Jan 2008)
Invest in alternative energy; jobs that won’t be outsourced. (Aug 2007)
End Big Oil tax break; $50 billion for strategic energy fund. (Jul 2007)
Energy Independence 2020: $50B for Strategic Energy Fund. (Jun 2007)
Will make big oil fund alternative energy research. (Feb 2007)
Remove energy dependence on countries who would harm us. (Jun 2006)
Supports oil reserve release & fund conservation. (Oct 2000)
Take opportunity of climate change to raise our economy. (Oct 2015)
Chinese participation is essential to climate change. (Oct 2015)
$100B per year by 2020 for climate change mitigation. (Jun 2014)
Cap-and-trade as president; compact fluorescents at home. (Apr 2008)
Ratify Kyoto; more mass transit. (Sep 2000)
Designate sensitive ANWR area as protected wilderness. (Nov 2007)
Set goal of 25% renewable energy by 2025. (Jan 2007)
Let states define stricter-than-federal emission standards. (Jan 2008)
Supports tradable emissions permits for greenhouse gases. (Aug 2000)
Keep efficient air conditioner rule to conserve energy. (Mar 2004)
Establish greenhouse gas tradeable allowances. (Feb 2005)
Require public notification when nuclear releases occur. (Mar 2006)
-Voted YES on removing oil & gas exploration subsidies. (Jun 2007)
-Voted YES on making oil-producing and exporting cartels illegal. (Jun 2007)
-Voted YES on factoring global warming into federal project planning. (May 2007)
-Voted YES on disallowing an oil leasing program in Alaska's ANWR. (Nov 2005)
-Voted YES on $3.1B for emergency oil assistance for hurricane-hit areas. (Oct 2005)
-Voted YES on reducing oil usage by 40% by 2025 (instead of 5%). (Jun 2005)
-Voted YES on banning drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. (Mar 2005)
-Voted NO on Bush Administration Energy Policy. (Jul 2003)
-Voted YES on targeting 100,000 hydrogen-powered vehicles by 2010. (Jun 2003)
-Voted YES on removing consideration of drilling ANWR from budget bill. (Mar 2003)
-Voted NO on drilling ANWR on national security grounds. (Apr 2002)
-Voted NO on terminating CAFE standards within 15 months. (Mar 2002)
-Rated 100% by the CAF, indicating support for energy independence. (Dec 2006)

Campaign

• $10 billion “Make it in America” plan. Launch a $60 billion Clean Energy Challenge. Cut billions in tax subsidies for oil and gas companies. Strengthen the Renewable Fuel Standard and double loans that help support the bio-based economy. Reform leasing and expand clean energy production on public lands and waters. Eliminate lead poisoning within five years, clean up the more than 450,000 toxic brownfield sites across the country. Expand solar and energy efficiency solutions in low-income communities and create an Environmental and Climate Justice Task Force. Revitalize coal communities by supporting locally driven priorities. Half a billion solar panels installed by end of first term.
• Say no to trade deals like TPP
• Step up support for local Arab and Kurdish forces, resolve Syria’s civil war and Iraq’s sectarian conflict.---------------]

• Trump: 

History

Green energy is just an expensive feel-good for tree-huggers. (Nov 2015)
Offered to oversee response to 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. (Sep 2015)
Windmills are destroying shorelines all over the world. (Aug 2015)
Solar hasn't caught on because it has a 32-year payback. (Aug 2015)
Maybe some climate change is manmade, but not all. (Jun 2015)
Climate change is a hoax. (Jun 2015)
No Cap-and-Tax: oil is this country's lifeblood. (Dec 2011)
Jobs will slump until our lifeblood--oil--is cheap again. (Dec 2011)
Enough natural gas in Marcellus Shale for 110 year supply. (Dec 2011)
Libya: No oil, no support; no exceptions. (Dec 2011)
We need nuclear energy, and we need a lot of it fast. (Mar 2011)
Oil is the lifeblood of all economies. (Apr 2010)

Campaign

• Rescind all the job-destroying Obama executive actions including the Climate Action Plan and the Waters of the U.S. rule. Cancel the Paris Climate Agreement (limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius) and stop all payments of U.S. tax dollars to U.N. global warming programs.
• Make land in the Outer Continental Shelf available to produce oil and natural gas. Lift restrictions on American energy. Save the coal industry.
• Ask Trans Canada to renew its permit application for the Keystone Pipeline.---------------]

• Johnson: 

History

Cap-&-trade imposes costs with no environmental improvement. (Aug 2012)
Alternative energy good; ethanol subsidies bad. (Nov 2011)
Supports nuclear power. (Aug 2011)
No cap-and-trade; no taxing carbon emissions. (Jul 2011)
I accept global warming but not cap-and-trade. (Jun 2011)
Voluntary partnerships reduce greenhouse gases economically. (Aug 2000)
Kyoto Treaty must include reductions by all countries. (Aug 2000)

Campaign

• Get the Environmental Protection Agency to focus on its true mission.
• Rid laws and taxes that syphon the resources businesses use to create jobs. Stop the government from engaging in social and economic engineering. Question whether political efforts to regulate, tax and manipulate the private sector are effective at all.---------------]

• Stein: 

History

"All of the above" policy puts fossil fuels above all. (Jan 2016)
Immediate halt in all new fossil fuel exploration. (Oct 2015)
Completely zero out climate emissions, as fast as possible. (Jun 2015)
Make wars for oil obsolete: 100% renewables by 2030. (Feb 2015)
Fight against climate change instead of fighting for oil. (Oct 2012)
Weatherizing homes creates jobs & addresses climate change. (Oct 2012)
National ban on fracking; natural gas is not clean. (Jan 2012)
No evidence that carbon sequestration solves climate crisis. (Jan 2012)
Let states prevent nuclear power plants. (Jan 2012)
Renewable energy is win-win for economy & national security. (Dec 2011)
Nuclear energy is dirty, dangerous and expensive. (Dec 2011)
Logging wood for electricity is neither clean nor green. (Sep 2010)

Campaign

• Green New Deal, a four part vast program including an economic bill of rights, a transition from an oil based economy to one based on green energy, financial reform and a functional democracy
• Adopt the Precautionary Principle. When an activity poses threats of harm to human health or the environment, in the absence of objective scientific consensus that it is safe, precautionary measures should be taken. The proponent of an activity, rather than the public, should bear the burden of proof.
• Create 20 million green jobs in sustainable energy, mass transit, sustainable organic agriculture, clean manufacturing and improved infrastructure. Ensure that any worker displaced by the shift away from fossil fuels will receive full income and benefits as they transition to alternative work. End fracking, tar sands, offshore drilling, oil trains, mountaintop removal, natural gas pipelines, and uranium mines, phase out all fossil fuel power plants. Phase out nuclear power and end nuclear subsidies. Build a nationwide smart electricity grid that can pool and store power from a diversity of renewable sources. Enact energy democracy based on public, community and worker ownership of our energy system. Redirect research funds from fossil fuels into renewable energy and conservation. Increase grants and low-interest loans to green businesses and cooperatives. Impose greenhouse gas tax on polluters.
• Global climate treaty that limits global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius and provides just financial compensation to developing countries.---------------]

Environment:

• Clinton: 

History

Federal takeover of Flint water supply if state can't fix it. (Feb 2016)
$5B for green-collar jobs in economic stimulus package. (Jan 2008)
Voted against and consistently opposed to Yucca Mountain. (Jan 2008)
Advocate a cap and trade system. (Dec 2007)
Better track kids’ products for exposures to toxic materials. (Dec 2007)
Support green-collar job training. (Aug 2007)
Stands for clean air and funding the EPA. (Sep 2000)
Reduce air pollution to improve children’s health. (Jun 1998)
Sponsored bill for tax credit to remove lead-based paint. (Nov 2005)
Sponsored bill for commission to examine Katrina response. (Sep 2005)
Sponsored health impact bill for environmental health. (Apr 2006)
Strengthen prohibitions against animal fighting. (Jan 2007)
-Voted YES on including oil & gas smokestacks in mercury regulations. (Sep 2005)
-Voted NO on confirming Gale Norton as Secretary of Interior. (Jan 2001)
-Rated 89% by the LCV, indicating pro-environment votes. (Dec 2003)
-Scored 100% on Humane Society Scorecard on animal protection. (Jan 2007)

Campaign

• Launch a $60 billion Clean Energy Challenge. $10 billion “Make it in America” plan. Reform leasing and expand clean energy production on public lands and waters. Half a billion solar panels installed by end of first term. Keep public lands public—not auctioning them off to the highest bidder. Cut billions in tax subsidies for oil and gas companies.  Revitalize coal communities by supporting locally driven priorities. Eliminate lead poisoning within five years. Clean up the more than 450,000 toxic brownfield sites across the country, expand solar and energy efficiency solutions in low-income communities, and create an Environmental and Climate Justice Task Force
• -support the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act, strengthening regulations of “puppy mills” and other harmful commercial breeding facilities, crack down on the practice of horse soring, shut down the U.S. market for illegal wildlife products and combat international animal trafficking and poaching, eliminate the use of antibiotics in farm animals for non-therapeutic reasons.
• Create a national infrastructure bank to improve rural transportation and broadband access.---------------]

• Trump: 

History

Eminent domain is something you need very strongly. (Feb 2016)
Cut the EPA; what they do is a disgrace. (Oct 2015)
Won't go to circuses that cut elephants due to animal rights. (Mar 2015)
Good development enhances the environment. (Jan 2008)

Campaign

• -Lift restrictions on American energy. Make land in the Outer Continental Shelf available to produce oil and natural gas. Save the coal industry
• -Rescind all the 'job-destroying' Obama executive actions including the Climate Action Plan and the Waters of the U.S. rule. Cancel the Paris Climate Agreement (limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius) and stop all payments of U.S. tax dollars to U.N. global warming programs.---------------]

• Johnson: 

History

No compromise on clean air, but no cap-and-trade. (Oct 2011)
More state autonomy on brownfields & Superfund cleanups. (Aug 2001)
Support State Revolving Loan Fund for flexible Clean Water. (Aug 2001)
Focus on prevention and states for Endangered Species. (Aug 2001)
Apply "Good Samaritan" rules to abandoned mine cleanup. (Aug 2001)
State primacy over water quantity & quality issues. (Aug 2001)

Campaign

• Get the Environmental Protection Agency to focus on its true mission.
• Stop the government from engaging in social and economic engineering. Question whether political efforts to regulate, tax and manipulate the private sector are effective at all.---------------]

• Stein: 

History

Moratorium on GMOs until they are proven safe. (Jun 2015)
Restore shorelines, deltas, forests, and grazing systems. (Jun 2015)
Promote sustainable agriculture & freedom from toxic threats. (Apr 2015)
Filthy Five: clean up coal plants in Massachusetts. (Mar 2015)
Current food subsidies drive system towards FrankenFood. (Nov 2012)
Connect the dots between super hurricanes and oil burning. (Oct 2012)
EPA should apply science, free from polluters' influence. (Oct 2012)
Green Transition Program: convert gray economy to green. (Jan 2012)
Sustainable transportation plus sustainable food supply. (Dec 2011)
$200M for 50,000 green jobs: address both supply demand. (Sep 2010)
Sustainable development; and ban genetically modified food. (Nov 2001)

Campaign

• Green New Deal, a four part vast program including an economic bill of rights, a transition from an oil based economy to one based on green energy, financial reform and a functional democracy
• Adopt the Precautionary Principle. When an activity poses threats of harm to human health or the environment, in the absence of objective scientific consensus that it is safe, precautionary measures should be taken. The proponent of an activity, rather than the public, should bear the burden of proof.
• Global climate treaty that limits global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius and provides just financial compensation to developing countries. Product labeling requirements for country of origin, GMO content, toxic chemical ingredients, and fair trade practices, and a moratorium on GMOs and pesticides until they are proven safe.
• Create 20 million green jobs in sustainable energy, mass transit, sustainable organic agriculture, clean manufacturing and improved infrastructure. Ensure that any worker displaced by the shift away from fossil fuels will receive full income and benefits as they transition to alternative work. End fracking, tar sands, offshore drilling, oil trains, mountaintop removal, natural gas pipelines, and uranium mines, phase out all fossil fuel power plants. Phase out nuclear power and end nuclear subsidies. Build a nationwide smart electricity grid that can pool and store power from a diversity of renewable sources. Enact energy democracy based on public, community and worker ownership of our energy system. Invest in community health infrastructure such as local organic food systems, pollution-free renewable energy, phasing out toxic chemicals, and active transportation such as bike paths and safe sidewalks that dovetail with public transit.
• Redirect research funds from fossil fuels into renewable energy and conservation. Increase grants and low-interest loans to green businesses and cooperatives. Impose greenhouse gas tax on polluters.
• Cut military spending by at least 50% and close 700+ foreign military bases. Ensure a just transition from military jobs to jobs in renewable energy, transportation and green infrastructure development.---------------]

Families and Children:

• Clinton: 

History

Design paid-leave system that doesn't burden small business. (Oct 2015)
Family planning & child spacing is international human right. (Jul 2007)
Teen abstinence is the right thing to do. (Oct 2005)
Even welfare children are better off with their parents. (Nov 2003)
Caution in treating preschoolers with psychiatric drugs. (Mar 2000)
Boycott violent media and products. (Aug 1999)
Help “sandwiched” parents care for elderly plus kids. (Jan 1999)
More funds for after-school programs. (Nov 1998)
Keep kids busy from 2PM to 8 PM to avoid trouble. (Nov 1998)
Teens not ready for sex; provide havens for alternatives. (Sep 1996)
Change what kids see in the media. (Jun 1995)
Men should be full participants in child-raising. (May 1994)
Improving women's lives improves children's lives. (Sep 1993)
Served as chairman of the Children's Defense Fund. (Oct 2007)
Governments can’t love child; but it can help families. (Apr 2000)
Treat kids as “child citizens” not “minors” under the law. (Dec 1999)
Expand Family and Medical Leave Act. (Aug 1998)
Family Leave Act is a good start; paid leave better. (Sep 1996)
Against social service agency interference in families. (Aug 1993)
1970s: Learned child law theory at CDF and at Yale. (Aug 1993)
Community support is key to valuing families. (Dec 1999)
Society is responsible for alienation that causes violence. (Jun 1999)
Children are not rugged individualists. (Sep 1996)
Give parents tools to balance work and family. (Aug 2000)
Ban high lead levels in children's toys. (Nov 2005)
-Rated 0% by the Christian Coalition: an anti-Family-Value voting record. (Dec 2003)
-Sponsored bill against renting violent video games to kids. (Dec 2005)

Campaign

• Defend and expand the ACA. Support for telemedicine. Make enrollment through Medicaid and the ACA easier. Empower Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices. Allow families to buy insurance on health exchanges regardless of immigration status. Double funding for primary-care services at community health centers over the next decade. and near tripling of the size of the National Health Service Corps. Double investment in Early Head Start, double the number of children served by Early Head Start, ensure every 4-year-old has access to high-quality preschool. Invest so no family pays more than 10% of its income for quality child care. Double our investment in home visiting programs such as the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program.
• Comprehensive immigration reform. End to family and private detention centers. Fix the family visa backlog, and bring millions of hardworking people into the formal economy. End the three and ten year bars.
• Student Parents in America Raising Kids (SPARK) program. Increase funding for campus-based child care centers. Respect and Increased Salaries for Early Childhood Educators (RAISE) initiative.
• Work with Congress on the Equality Act. End so-called “conversion therapy” for minors. End discriminatory treatment of LGBT families in adoption. Make it easier for transgender Americans to change their gender marker on documents. Adequate funding for shelter for homeless youths.
• Provide $2 billion in support to schools to reform overly punitive disciplinary policies.---------------]

• Trump: 

History

Happiest people have great families & God in their lives. (Nov 2015)
Stress importance of a strong family, & a culture of Life. (Jun 2015)

Campaign

• End birthright citizenship.
• Health Savings Accounts (HSAs): should be tax-free and allowed to accumulate, and passed on to heirs without any death penalty, can be used by any family member without penalty.
• End the death tax.
• Allow families to exclude childcare costs from taxes.---------------]

• Johnson: 

History

Refused 'Marriage Vow' pledge; it condemns gays & singles. (Nov 2011)
Encourage fathers' participation in child-raising. (Sep 2001)
Federal funds & state involvement in fatherhood initiatives. (Aug 2001)

Campaign

• N/A---------------]

• Stein: 

History

Half-million in foster care means system is dysfunctional. (Jul 2015)
Don't assume that mothers should always get custody. (Jul 2015)
Family planning is 1st principle of reproductive healthcare. (Dec 2011)
Fund community youth programs for at-risk youth. (Sep 2010)

Campaign

• Eliminate health insurance. Establish “Medicare for All” single-payer public health program. Free universal child care.
• Tuition-free, world-class public education from pre-school through university. Abolish student debt. Offer grants and funding to encourage metropolitan desegregation plans. Protect public school systems from privatization. Restore arts, music and recreation to school curricula.
• Guarantee access to food, water, housing, and utilities, with effective anti-poverty programs. Establish right to a living wage job.---------------]

Foreign Policy:

• Clinton: 

History

Need more European contribution to defending against Russia. (Feb 2016)
2009: Regrets US not part of International Criminal Court. (May 2010)
Commit to helping people abroad before committing troops. (Apr 2008)
Establish leadership & moral authority via multilateralism. (Dec 2007)
Operate from a position of strength, but not confrontation. (Dec 2007)
Should not telegraph our adversaries about preconditions. (Aug 2007)
Diplomacy yes; propaganda no; when meeting enemy leaders. (Jul 2007)
Supports USAID projects in developing world. (Nov 2003)
Focus on women's rights in international policy. (Nov 2003)
Smartest strategic choice is peace. (Nov 1999)
Foreign aid spending is only 1%; lead by remaining engaged. (Feb 1997)
Supports micro-loans to third-world women. (Sep 1995)
China never fits neatly into category like friend or rival. (Jun 2014)
Balance American interests between China & Korea. (Jun 2014)
Freedom of navigation & open access in South China Sea. (Jun 2012)
End the Cuban embargo; that will shift onus to Castros. (Jun 2014)
We should accept 65,000 Syrian refugees, vetted and screened. (Nov 2015)
Stand up to Putin's bullying in Syria and elsewhere. (Oct 2015)
Political restraint against Iran's Ahmadinejad was a mistake. (Jun 2014)
2011: we abandoned Egypt's Mubarak too readily. (Jun 2014)
2001 speech to AIPAC pledges money for Israeli military. (Nov 2007)
Allegedly pro-PLO in 1960; but pro-Israel by 1981. (Jul 2007)
Supported Palestine in 1998, before Bill officially did. (May 2007)
Obligation to support Israel with more than foreign aid. (Oct 2005)
Post-Gadhafi Libya replaced dictator with democracy. (Feb 2016)
2012: Take a harder line with Russia's Putin. (Jun 2014)
1998: organized women's peace conference in Northern Ireland. (Jun 2014)
Russian reset: Pushed Obama to keep Putin at a distance. (Jun 2014)
Increase aid to avert humanitarian crisis in Congo. (Dec 2005)
Implement Darfur Peace Agreement with UN peacekeeping force. (Feb 2008)
Urge Venezuela to re-open dissident radio & TV stations. (May 2007)
Call for Burma's junta to release political prisoners. (Jun 2007)
Pressure friendly Arab states to end Israeli boycott. (Oct 2007)
-Voted YES on cooperating with India as a nuclear power. (Oct 2008)
-Voted YES on enlarging NATO to include Eastern Europe. (May 2002)

Campaign

• Stand up to Vladimir Putin and Hold China accountable. Step up support for local Arab and Kurdish forces, resolve Syria’s civil war and Iraq’s sectarian conflict, take out ISIS’s stronghold in Iraq and Syria. Prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. Maintain diplomatic relations with Cuba and a call on Congress to lift the embargo. Fight jihadist propaganda online, intercept ISIS communications, and track and analyze social media posts to stop attacks. Identify and go after enablers who help jihadists forge documents and travel undetected.
• Increase our investment in the Global Equality Fund. Increase global funding for HIV and AIDS treatment and prevention.
• Shut down the U.S. market for illegal wildlife products and combat international animal trafficking and poaching.---------------]

• Trump: 

History

China should make Kim Jong Un disappear. (Feb 2016)
China totally controls North Korea; they're just taunting us. (Jan 2016)
Putin has no respect for America; I will get along with him. (Sep 2015)
We must deal with the maniac in North Korea with nukes. (Sep 2015)
Cuban embargo: 50 years is enough. (Sep 2015)
Support NATO, but it's not us against Russia. (Aug 2015)
China is our enemy; they're bilking us for billions. (Dec 2011)
By 2027, tsunami as China overtakes US as largest economy. (Dec 2011)
Criticized Buchanan’s view on Hitler as appeasement. (Jul 2000)
Support Russia, but with strings attached. (Jul 2000)
China: lack of human rights prevents consumer development. (Jul 2000)
Be tougher on China-we’re too eager to please. (Jul 2000)
Don't take sides with Israel, so we can lead negotiations. (Feb 2016)
I could negotiate a deal with Israel and Palestinians. (Feb 2016)
Iran deal is one of the worst I've ever seen. (Feb 2016)
Let Russia bash ISIS; let Germany defend Ukraine. (Nov 2015)
Provide economic assistance to create a safe zone in Syria. (Oct 2015)
US should not train rebels it does not know or control. (Oct 2015)
Good that Russia is involved in Syria. (Oct 2015)
More sanctions on Iran; more support of Israel. (Jun 2015)

Campaign

• Ask Trans Canada to renew its permit application for the Keystone Pipeline
• Label China a currency manipulator, force China to uphold intellectual property laws and stop their unfair and unlawful practice of forcing U.S. companies to share proprietary technology with Chinese competitors as a condition of entry to China’s market, put an end to China’s illegal export subsidies and lax labor and environmental standards,
• Apply tariffs and duties to countries that cheat.
• Decision for Mexico: make a one-time payment of $5-10 billion for the wall, or face trade tariffs and an increase in visa fees or cancellation of visas outright.---------------]

• Johnson: 

History

We can no longer afford to shell out billions in foreign aid. (Feb 2012)
No foreign aid spending unless it protects U.S. interests. (Nov 2011)
Flights to Cuba ok; trade promotes friendship. (Sep 2011)
Act in US self-interest, but wary of unintended consequences. (Aug 2011)

Campaign

• Only send soldiers to war when clearly authorized by Congress.
• Cut off funding and finance which violent extremist armies rely upon.---------------]

• Stein: 

History

Work towards neutral Ukraine; don't arm them against Russia. (Jul 2015)
China provides less heavy-handed foreign aid than does US. (Jul 2015)
Lifting the Cuban embargo was long overdue. (Jul 2015)
Expanding NATO threatens Russia and breaks our promise. (Jul 2015)
Focus on human rights, international law, and diplomacy. (Jul 2015)
End Israeli apartheid occupations and illegal settlements. (Oct 2012)
Get tough policy has opposite effect of what was intended. (Oct 2012)
Start holding all parties accountable in Israel/Palestine. (Jan 2012)
US should behave as member of world community, no world cop. (Dec 2011)

Campaign

• Green New Deal, a four part vast program including an economic bill of rights, a transition from an oil based economy to one based on green energy, financial reform and a functional democracy.
• Sign the Ottawa treaty banning the use of anti-personnel land mines. Ban use of drone aircraft. Rejoin the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. Jointly reduce US and Russian nuclear arsenals to 1,000 nuclear weapons each. Remove US nuclear weapons in Germany, Belgium, Turkey, Italy and the Netherlands. Negotiate treaty for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons, open negotiations on a treaty to ban weapons in space, create a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East region and require all nations in the area to join. End the US’ role as the world’s arm supplier. End US economic and military intervention in the affairs of sovereign nations. End the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Stop U.S. financial and military support to human rights abusers. This would include Saudi Arabia, Israel and Egypt. Freeze the bank accounts of countries that are funding terrorism. US policy regarding Israel and Palestine must be revised to prioritize international law, peace and human rights for all people.
• Repeal the Patriot Act. Terminate unconstitutional surveillance and unwarranted spying, close Guantanamo and repeal indefinite detention without charge or trial. Repeal provisions of the NDAA that give the power to indefinitely imprison and assassinate without due process. 
• Global climate treaty that limits global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius and provides just financial compensation to developing countries.
• Reduce the flow of immigrant refugees, in part by repealing NAFTA, ending the failed drug wars, and halting CIA and military interventions against democratically elected governments. Enact fair trade laws that benefits local workers and communities.
• Product labeling requirements for country of origin, GMO content, toxic chemical ingredients, and fair trade practices.
• Demilitarize border crossings throughout North America.---------------]

Free Trade:

• Clinton: 

History

I oppose CAFTA & TPP, but global economy needs trade. (Feb 2016)
I absorbed new info and changed my mind to oppose TPP. (Oct 2015)
Chief advocate for Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). (Aug 2014)
China benefits from WTO and should play by WTO rules. (Jun 2014)
Have a trade prosecutor to enforce the trade agreements. (Feb 2008)
AdWatch: Supported NAFTA in 1998; opposed CAFTA since 2005. (Jan 2008)
Export from big agribusiness, but also from small farmers. (Aug 2007)
Smart, pro-American trade: NAFTA has hurt workers. (Aug 2007)
End tax breaks for outsourcing jobs. (Jun 2007)
Defended outsourcing of US jobs to India. (Oct 2005)
Globalization should not substitute for humanization. (Jun 1999)
Supports MFN for China, despite concerns over human rights. (Oct 2000)
Though Bill supported it, Hillary opposed NAFTA. (Oct 2007)
Build a rule-based global trading system. (Aug 2000)
-Voted against CAFTA despite Bill Clinton’s pushing NAFTA. (Oct 2005)
-Voted YES on free trade agreement with Oman. (Jun 2006)
-Voted NO on implementing CAFTA for Central America free-trade. (Jul 2005)
-Voted YES on establishing free trade between US & Singapore. (Jul 2003)
-Voted YES on establishing free trade between the US and Chile. (Jul 2003)
-Voted NO on extending free trade to Andean nations. (May 2002)
-Voted YES on granting normal trade relations status to Vietnam. (Oct 2001)
-Voted YES on removing common goods from national security export rules. (Sep 2001)
-Rated 17% by CATO, indicating a pro-fair trade voting record. (Dec 2002)

Campaign

• Shut down the U.S. market for illegal wildlife products and combat international animal trafficking and poaching,
• Crack down on companies that move profits overseas to avoid paying U.S. taxes.
• Give regulators more authority to force overly complex or risky firms to reorganize, downsize, or break apart.
• Apply the Volcker Rule to hedge funds.
• Impose a risk fee on the largest financial institutions.
• Say no to trade deals like TPP.---------------]

• Trump: 

History

I take advantage of devalued Chinese currency; but stop them. (Mar 2016)
I've been moving clothing-making from China to U.S. (Mar 2016)
With a $58 billion trade deficit, Mexico will pay for wall. (Feb 2016)
Trade pacts are no good for us and no good for our workers. (Feb 2016)
TPP is a horrible deal; no one has read its 5,600 pages. (Nov 2015)
Restrict free trade to keep jobs in US. (Oct 2015)
China and Japan are beating us; I can beat China. (Jun 2015)
35% import tax on Mexican border. (Jun 2015)
20% tax on all imported goods. (Dec 2011)
Fair trade instead of embarrassing deal with South Korea. (Dec 2011)
Repatriate jobs that China has been stealing. (Dec 2011)
Embrace globalization and international markets. (Jan 2008)

Campaign

• Require federal agencies to list all regulations on American business, and rank them most to least critical. Least critical will receive priority for repeal.
• Decision for Mexico: make a one-time payment of $5-10 billion for the wall, or face trade tariffs and an increase in visa fees or cancellation of visas outright
• Apply tariffs and duties to countries that cheat.
• Renegotiate NAFTA. Withdraw from the TPP.
• Label China a currency manipulator. Force China to uphold intellectual property laws and stop their practice of forcing U.S. companies to share proprietary technology with Chinese competitors as a condition of entry to China’s market. Put an end to China’s illegal export subsidies and lax labor and environmental standards.
• Remove barriers to entry into free markets for drug providers that offer safe, reliable and cheaper products.---------------]

• Johnson: 

History

No tariffs, no restrictions; but no corporatism. (Jul 2011)
Eliminate needless barriers to free trade. (May 2011)
NAFTA benefits New Mexico; jobs lost are those we don't want. (Jan 2001)

Campaign

• Rid laws and taxes that syphon the resources businesses use to create jobs. Stop the government from engaging in social and economic engineering. Question whether political efforts to regulate, tax and manipulate the private sector are effective at all.---------------]

• Stein: 

History

Oppose bipartisan job-killing corporate trade agreements. (Jan 2016)
Fight global trade deals' "investor-state" court system. (Jan 2016)
TPP attacks our basic national sovereignty. (Jul 2015)
Opposes Fast Track and executive action. (Jul 2015)
TPP is like NAFTA on steroids. (Jul 2015)
International trade boards compromise American sovereignty. (Oct 2012)
NAFTA caused the wave of undocumented immigrants. (Dec 2011)

Campaign

• Rewrite the entire tax code to be truly progressive.
• Protect the free Internet. Oppose the Stop Online Piracy Act(SOPA).
• Replace NAFTA, Enact fair trade laws that benefits local workers and communities.
• Product labeling requirements for country of origin, GMO content, toxic chemical ingredients, and fair trade practices.---------------]

Government Reform:

• Clinton: 

History

I am not beholden to Super PACs or Wall Street. (Feb 2016)
I will streamline wasteful and redundant programs. (Feb 2016)
Expand executive action on immigration, guns, & corporations. (Dec 2015)
Wall Street donates to me because I rebuilt them after 9/11. (Nov 2015)
Never abuse the purpose of signing statements. (Dec 2007)
Change system from the inside, not from the outside. (Nov 2007)
End no-bid contracts, end revolving door in government. (Aug 2007)
Cut gov’t contractors and end privatization of government. (Feb 2007)
Whitewater investigation ends; Hillary questions $52M spent. (Sep 2000)
Only explicit felonies should trigger impeachment. (Feb 2004)
Consider Constitutional Amendment against Citizen's United. (Jul 2014)
Fight obstacles to voting disguised as election fraud claims. (Aug 2013)
Get D.C. full voting rights, plus more direct federal funds. (Feb 2008)
Stand for public financing and getting money out of politics. (Jan 2008)
HILL-PAC is one of politics biggest money-raisers. (Nov 2007)
Public financing would fix campaign donor problems. (Sep 2007)
Move to public election financing, not banning lobbyists. (Aug 2007)
Same-day voter registration; no oppressive ID requirements. (Jul 2007)
Verified paper ballot for every electronic voting machines. (Nov 2006)
Right to vote is precious & needs protection. (Sep 2005)
Soft money ban & independent ad ban for Senate campaign. (Feb 2000)
Count Every Vote Act: end voting discrimination by race. (Jun 2007)
Voluntary public financing for all general elections. (Aug 2000)
Criminalize false or deceptive info about elections. (Nov 2005)
Reject photo ID requirements for voting. (Sep 2005)
Post earmarks on the Internet before voting on them. (Jan 2006)
Establish the United States Public Service Academy. (Mar 2007)
-Voted YES on granting the District of Columbia a seat in Congress. (Sep 2007)
-Voted NO on requiring photo ID to vote in federal elections. (Jul 2007)
-Voted NO on allowing some lobbyist gifts to Congress. (Mar 2006)
-Voted NO on establishing the Senate Office of Public Integrity. (Mar 2006)
-Voted YES on banning "soft money" contributions and restricting issue ads. (Mar 2002)
-Voted NO on require photo ID (not just signature) for voter registration. (Feb 2002)
-Voted YES on banning campaign donations from unions & corporations. (Apr 2001)

Campaign

• Overturn Citizens United.
• End the privatization of prisons.
• Reschedule marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule II substance, nonviolent drug offenses no longer count as a “strike”.  Cut mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenses in half.
• Limit transfer of military equipment to local law enforcement. Eliminate the one-year use requirement. Require transparency from agencies that purchase equipment using federal funds.
• National guidelines on the use of force by police. $1 billion to find and fund training programs and research into bias. End racial profiling by federal, state, and local law enforcement. Federal matching funds to make body cameras available to every police department, Double funding for U.S. DOJ “Collaborative Reform” program.
• Work with Puerto Rico on their political status.
• Repair the Voting Rights Act and implement universal, automatic voter registration, unless they opt out. Make sure that voter registration rolls are accurate and secure. Establish a small-donor matching system for presidential and congressional elections. Giving voters at least 20 days to vote in the evenings or on weekends before election day.
• Give regulators more authority to force overly complex or risky firms to reorganize, downsize, or break apart.---------------]

• Trump: 

History

Get rid of waste, fraud, & abuse in every single agency. (Mar 2016)
I would build consensus, not use Executive Orders. (Feb 2016)
Hug 'em & kiss 'em & make deals, instead of executive orders. (Feb 2016)
SuperPACs are a disaster and cause dishonesty. (Oct 2015)
Candidates should disavow PACs. (Oct 2015)
Two-term limit on NYC mayor is a terrible idea. (Sep 2010)
Government scrutiny is greatest threat to American Dream. (Jul 2000)
Ban soft money; but allow unlimited personal contributions. (Jul 2000)
Government should do public works & safety & little else. (Jul 2000)

Campaign

• Block-grant Medicaid to the states.
• Rescind all the 'job-destroying' Obama executive actions including the Climate Action Plan and the Waters of the U.S. rule.
• Require federal agencies to list all regulations on American business, and rank them most to least critical. Least critical will receive priority for repeal.---------------]

• Johnson: 

History

Strong advocate of term limits for governors & Congress. (Jan 2016)
New SuperPAC, "Our America PAC", for principled candidates. (Dec 2013)
Should government be doing this policy in the first place? (Aug 2012)
750 vetoes & contentious relationship with legislature. (Aug 2012)
Vetoed more bills than all other governors combined. (Sep 2011)
Government creates jobs by reducing its role, not expanding. (Jul 2011)
Unlimited campaign contributions by corporations. (Jul 2011)
Cost benefit analysis on all government spending. (May 2011)
Full disclosure, but no limits on campaign donations. (Jan 2001)
Term limits let politicians focus on issues, not re-election. (Jan 2001)
Reforms must respect state's rights to select electors. (Aug 2001)

Campaign

• Only send soldiers to war when clearly authorized by Congress.
• The replacement of all income and payroll taxes with a single consumption tax.
• Create a more efficient system of providing work visas, conducting background checks, and incentivizing non-citizens to pay their taxes, obtain proof of employment, and otherwise assimilate.
• Rid laws and taxes that syphon the resources businesses use to create jobs. Stop the government from engaging in social and economic engineering. Question whether political efforts to regulate, tax and manipulate the private sector are effective at all.
• Get the Environmental Protection Agency to focus on its true mission.
• Eliminate the federal Department of Education. End Common Core and other national standards and requirements on local schools.
• End the failed war on drugs. End mandatory minimum sentences.
• Support internet freedom and right to privacy.
• Term limits for all politicians.---------------]

• Stein: 

History

Term limits end guaranteed re-election & lifetime incumbency. (Jul 2015)
Confederate flag should be removed from all public locations. (Jul 2015)
Earmarks grease the skids for corruption. (Jul 2015)
Establish a constitutional right to vote. (Jun 2015)
No corporate nor lobbyist donations; just small donors. (Jun 2015)
2002 Clean Elections repeal meant "throw the bums out". (Jan 2012)
Voter Bill of Rights: full public financing; paper ballots. (Jan 2012)
PACs connect campaigns with rich donors, & disconnect public. (Dec 2011)
Re-establish Clean Elections Law: end "pay-to-play". (Sep 2010)

Campaign

• Green New Deal, a four part vast program including an economic bill of rights, a transition from an oil based economy to one based on green energy, financial reform and a functional democracy
• Adopt the Precautionary Principle. When an activity poses threats of harm to human health or the environment, in the absence of objective scientific consensus that it is safe, precautionary measures should be taken. The proponent of an activity, rather than the public, should bear the burden of proof.
• Cut military spending by at least 50% and close 700+ foreign military bases. Ensure a just transition from military jobs to jobs in renewable energy, transportation and green infrastructure development.
• Sign the Ottawa treaty banning the use of anti-personnel land mines. Ban use of drone aircraft. Rejoin the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. Jointly reduce US and Russian nuclear arsenals to 1,000 nuclear weapons each. Remove US nuclear weapons in Germany, Belgium, Turkey, Italy and the Netherlands. Negotiate treaty for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons, open negotiations on a treaty to ban weapons in space, create a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East region and require all nations in the area to join. End the US’ role as the world’s arm supplier. End US economic and military intervention in the affairs of sovereign nations. End the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
• Rewrite the entire tax code to be truly progressive.
• Replace unemployment offices with employment offices. Create direct public employment, as the Works Progress Administration did.
• Strengthen rather than cut Medicare and Social Security. Remove the cap on social security taxes above a certain level of income.
• Replace NAFTA, Enact fair trade laws that benefits local workers and communities
• Reduce the flow of immigrant refugees, in part by repealing NAFTA, ending the failed drug wars, and halting CIA and military interventions against democratically elected governments
• Eliminate health insurance. Establish “Medicare for All” single-payer public health program. Free universal child care.
• End fracking, tar sands, offshore drilling, oil trains, mountaintop removal, natural gas pipelines, and uranium mines, phase out all fossil fuel power plants. Phase out nuclear power and end nuclear subsidies. Build a nationwide smart electricity grid that can pool and store power from a diversity of renewable sources. Enact energy democracy based on public, community and worker ownership of our energy system
• End persecution of government, corporate  and media whistle-blowers.
• Abolish the death penalty.
• Eliminate mandatory minimum sentencing.
• Demilitarize police, Establish police review boards so communities control their police. Require independent outside legal representatives to investigate and prosecute any killing or brutality by the police
• End the failed war on drugs. Replace drug prohibition with harm reduction. Legalize marijuana/hemp. Treat substance abuse as a health problem, not a criminal offense. Release nonviolent drug offenders from prison, removing such offenses from their records, and provide them with both pre- and post-release support
• Full disclosure of corporate subsidies in the budget and stop hiding subsidies in complicated tax code.
• Prohibit Federal agencies from conspiring with local police to infringe upon right of assembly and peaceful protest
• Repeal the Patriot Act. Terminate unconstitutional surveillance and unwarranted spying, close Guantanamo and repeal indefinite detention without charge or trial. Repeal provisions of the NDAA that give the power to indefinitely imprison and assassinate without due process. 
• Demilitarize border crossings throughout North America.
• Nationalize the Federal Reserve Banks placing them under a Federal Monetary Authority. Introduce federal, state, and municipal publicly-owned banks that function as non-profit utilities
• Eliminate the doctrine of corporate person-hood.
• Abolish the Electoral College. Full public election financing, ranked-choice voting, proportional representation, and open debates, non-partisan election commissions. Remove ballot access barriers. Restore Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act. Restore voting rights to offenders, including while in prison. Enact simplified same-day voter registration. Make Election Day a national holiday.
• Enact statehood for the District of Columbia.---------------]

Gun Control:

• Clinton: 

History

I support Brady Bill and closing the Charleston loophole. (Dec 2015)
Arming more people is not appropriate response to terrorism. (Dec 2015)
Reverse gun manufacturer immunity; let them get sued. (Nov 2015)
Don't shield gun manufacturers from lawsuits:I vote that way. (Oct 2015)
Gun control advocates see Clinton as an ally. (Jun 2015)
Rein in idea that anybody can have a gun anywhere, anytime. (May 2014)
2000: advocate for national gun registry; 2008: backed off. (May 2014)
Give local police access to federal gun tracking info. (Apr 2008)
Let states & cities determine local gun laws. (Apr 2008)
Backed off a national licensing registration plan on guns. (Jan 2008)
Get assault weapons & guns off the street. (Jul 2007)
Background check system could prevent Virginia Tech massacre. (Apr 2007)
Limit access to weapons; look for early warning signs. (Sep 2000)
License and register all handgun sales. (Jun 2000)
Lock up guns; store ammo separately. (Jun 1999)
Ban kids’ unsupervised access to guns. (Jun 1999)
Get weapons off the streets; zero tolerance for weapons. (Sep 1996)
Prevent unauthorized firearm use with "smart gun" technology. (Aug 2000)
-Voted NO on prohibiting lawsuits against gun manufacturers. (Jul 2005)
-Voted NO on banning lawsuits against gun manufacturers for gun violence. (Mar 2004)

Campaign

• Allow the FBI to stop gun sales to suspected terrorists.
• Enact comprehensive background checks, and keeping military-style assault weapons off our streets.
• Get rid of the “Charleston Loophole.”.
• Stop domestic abusers from buying and owning guns.
• Make it a federal crime to buy a gun intentionally for a person prohibited from owning one.
• Limit transfer of military equipment to local law enforcement. Eliminate the one-year use requirement. Require transparency from agencies that purchase equipment using federal funds.---------------]

• Trump: 

History

Mass shootings are due to a huge mental health problem. (Jan 2016)
No limits on guns; they save lives. (Jan 2016)
Keep enemies of the state away from guns. (Nov 2015)
Gun-free zones are target practice for sickos. (Oct 2015)
Mental health more important than gun control. (Oct 2015)
Laws are ineffective in preventing gun violence. (Oct 2015)
Protect the Second Amendment, but address mental health. (Sep 2015)
A very strong person on the Second Amendment. (Jun 2015)
I am against gun control. (Feb 2011)
Dems and Reps are both wrong on guns. (Jul 2000)
For assault weapon ban, waiting period, & background check. (Jul 2000)

Campaign

• Fix the existing background check system.
• Concealed carry permit would work in every state.
• Allow military to carry firearms on bases and at recruiting centers.---------------]

• Johnson: 

History

Supports gun ownership rights. (Aug 2012)
Laws regarding guns are ineffective. (May 2011)

Campaign

• Stop the government from engaging in social and economic engineering.---------------]

• Stein: 

History

Gun ownership should be appropriately regulated. (Nov 2012)
More local regulations; more background checks. (Oct 2012)
Reduce culture of violence via mental health & legal drugs. (Oct 2012)
Address community violence with more mental health services. (Oct 2012)
Gun at home more likely to cause injury than to defend home. (Dec 2011)

Campaign

• Stop U.S. financial and military support to human rights abusers. This would include Saudi Arabia, Israel and Egypt. US policy regarding Israel and Palestine must be revised to prioritize international law, peace and human rights for all people.---------------]

Healthcare:

• Clinton: 

History

Medicare-for-all is not economically feasible. (Feb 2016)
The science is clear: vaccines work. (Feb 2015)
Don’t legitimize end-of-life decision, but ok to help decide. (Apr 2008)
Decrease generic drug costs for developing countries. (Apr 2008)
Taxpayers pay for drug R&D, not drug companies. (Jan 2008)
Universal health care is a core Democratic principle. (Jan 2008)
Pledges to support $50B for AIDS relief in US and world. (Dec 2007)
No parent should be told ‘no’ for healthcare for their kids. (Sep 2007)
Local smoking bans ok, but no national ban. (Sep 2007)
Outcry if AIDS were leading disease of young whites. (Jun 2007)
Electronic medical records save $120 billion in health care. (Jun 2007)
Insurers must fund prevention without preexisting conditions. (Mar 2007)
Require electronic medical record for all federal healthcare. (Mar 2007)
FDA should compare drug effectiveness--not just safety. (Oct 2006)
Fought for pediatric rule: new drugs tested for child safety. (Oct 2005)
Low-tech low-cost water treatment for developing world. (Nov 2003)
Millions uninsured is source of America's healthcare crisis. (Nov 2003)
Recommended "managed competition"; not single-payer system. (Nov 2003)
Fund teaching hospitals federally because market fails. (Sep 2000)
Regulate tobacco; fine of $3000 for every underage smoker. (Apr 2000)
Medicare should be strengthened today. (Sep 1999)
2006: If I can't do universal coverage, why run? (Aug 2009)

Include everyone, to avoid cherry-picking and its hidden tax. (Feb 2008)
Healthcare without mandate is like voluntary Social Security. (Feb 2008)
Make it illegal to discriminate against sick people. (Feb 2008)
Tired of health insurance companies deciding who live or die. (Feb 2008)
Universal health care will not work if it is voluntary. (Feb 2008)
Mandate insurance AND make it affordable for all. (Jan 2008)
Health care tax credit ensures affordability. (Nov 2007)
Insurance companies cannot deny people coverage. (Oct 2007)
Condemns insurers as motivated by greed. (Oct 2007)
Pay for health plan by $52B tax repeal & $77B efficiencies. (Sep 2007)
I have the expertise to achieve universal healthcare for all. (Feb 2007)
Go from 90% coverage under ObamaCare to 100% coverage. (Feb 2016)

The Affordable Care Act has had successes. (Dec 2015)
States that didn't extend Medicaid drive up costs still. (Dec 2015)
Non-employer system better; but don't turn back ObamaCare. (Mar 2014)
Establish "report cards" on HMO quality of care. (Aug 2000)
Let states make bulk Rx purchases, and other innovations. (May 2003)

-Voted YES on overriding veto on expansion of Medicare. (Jul 2008)
-Voted NO on means-testing to determine Medicare Part D premium. (Mar 2008)
-Voted YES on requiring negotiated Rx prices for Medicare part D. (Apr 2007)
-Voted NO on limiting medical liability lawsuits to $250,000. (May 2006)
-Voted YES on expanding enrollment period for Medicare Part D. (Feb 2006)
-Voted YES on increasing Medicaid rebate for producing generics. (Nov 2005)
-Voted YES on negotiating bulk purchases for Medicare prescription drug. (Mar 2005)
-Voted NO on $40 billion per year for limited Medicare prescription drug benefit. (Jun 2003)
-Voted YES on allowing reimportation of Rx drugs from Canada. (Jul 2002)
-Voted YES on allowing patients to sue HMOs & collect punitive damages. (Jun 2001)
-Voted NO on funding GOP version of Medicare prescription drug benefit. (Apr 2001)
-Rated 100% by APHA, indicating a pro-public health record. (Dec 2003)

Campaign

• Defend and expand the ACA. Support for telemedicine. Make enrollment through Medicaid and the ACA easier. Empower Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices. Allow families to buy insurance on health exchanges regardless of immigration status. Double funding for primary-care services at community health centers over the next decade. and near tripling of the size of the National Health Service Corps. Double investment in Early Head Start, double the number of children served by Early Head Start, ensure every 4-year-old has access to high-quality preschool. Invest so no family pays more than 10% of its income for quality child care. Double our investment in home visiting programs such as the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program. Ensure all women have access to preventive care, affordable contraception, and safe and legal abortion.
• Reschedule marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule II substance.
• Give all first responders access to naloxone.
• Increase global funding for HIV and AIDS treatment and prevention.
• Review and reform federal HIV criminalization laws.
• Invest $2 billion per year in research for Alzheimer’s and related disorders, reauthorize the Missing Alzheimer’s Disease Patient Alert Program.
• End subsidies drug companies get for direct-to-consumer advertising and instead invest that money in research.
• Expand insurance coverage for autism services,  Autism Works Initiative.---------------]

• Trump: 

History

Keep pre-existing condition coverage; not individual mandate. (Feb 2016)
Removing cross-state barriers solves many insurance issues. (Feb 2016)
Taking care of poor sick people isn't single-payer. (Feb 2016)
Replace Obamacare with Health Savings Accounts. (Oct 2015)
Stockpile treatments against future pandemics & bioterrorism. (Sep 2015)
I'm for vaccines, but in smaller quantities to avoid autism. (Sep 2015)
The insurance companies have total control over politicians. (Aug 2015)
We didn't have a free market before ObamaCare. (Jun 2015)
ObamaCare is a catastrophe that must be repealed & replaced. (Jun 2015)
Don't cut Medicare; grow the economy to keep benefits. (Jun 2015)
Save Medicare & Medicaid without cutting them to the bone. (Jan 2015)
We must have universal health care. (Jul 2000)

Campaign

• Obamacare repeal and replacement. Eliminate the individual mandate. Block-grant Medicaid to the states.
• Require price transparency from all healthcare providers. Remove barriers to entry into free markets for drug providers that offer safe, reliable and cheaper products. Modify existing law that inhibits the sale of health insurance across state lines.
• Allow families to exclude childcare costs from income. Fully deduct health insurance premium payments from their tax returns.
• Health Savings Accounts (HSAs): should be tax-free and allowed to accumulate, and passed on to heirs without any death penalty, can be used by any family member without penalty
• All veterans eligible for VA health care can use their veteran’s ID card at any care facility that accepts Medicare. Increase funding for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury and suicide prevention services. Every VA hospital will be fully equipped with OBGYN and other women’s health services. Embed satellite VA clinics in rural and other under-served areas within hospitals and other care facilities.---------------]

• Johnson:  

History

ObamaCare's promise of lower cost simply isn't happening. (Jan 2016)
Government-managed healthcare is insanity. (Aug 2012)
Block grant Medicare; carte blanche to the states. (Aug 2011)
ObamaCare is unconstitutional; so is Bush's Medicare Rx plan. (Aug 2011)
Cut Medicare/Medicaid by 43%, as part of $1.675 trillion cut. (May 2011)
Repeal ObamaCare & failed Medicare prescription drug benefit. (May 2011)

Campaign

• Legalize and regulate marijuana.
• A woman's right to choose must be defended.---------------]

• Stein: 

History

Tort reform becomes unneeded under Medicare-for-All. (Jul 2015)
Threats like Ebola are threats to public health worldwide. (Jul 2015)
Healthy People, Healthy Planet: link environment & health. (Mar 2015)
Health insurance wastes 30%; Medicare only wastes only 3%. (Oct 2012)
75% of expenditures are sick care system, not healthcare. (Oct 2012)
Medicare Part D is a giveaway for pharmaceutical companies. (Oct 2012)
Affordable Care Act is neither Affordable nor Caring. (Oct 2012)
ObamaCare took single-payer & public option off the table. (Feb 2012)
ObamaCare was step backward for goal of single payer. (Jan 2012)
30% of healthcare costs squandered on ads & CEO salaries. (Dec 2011)
Single-payer Medicare-for-all system. (Sep 2010)
Implement universal health care. (Nov 2001)

Campaign

• Adopt the Precautionary Principle. When an activity poses threats of harm to human health or the environment, in the absence of objective scientific consensus that it is safe, precautionary measures should be taken. The proponent of an activity, rather than the public, should bear the burden of proof.
• Eliminate health insurance. Establish “Medicare for All” single-payer public health program. Free universal child care. Expand women's access to "morning after" contraception by lifting ban. Strengthen rather than cut Medicare and Social Security. Remove the cap on social security taxes above a certain level of income.
• End the failed war on drugs. Replace drug prohibition with harm reduction. Legalize marijuana/hemp. Treat substance abuse as a health problem, not a criminal offense. Release nonviolent drug offenders from prison, removing such offenses from their records, and provide them with both pre- and post-release support
• Invest in community health infrastructure such as local organic food systems, pollution-free renewable energy, phasing out toxic chemicals, and active transportation such as bike paths and safe sidewalks that dovetail with public transit. Guarantee access to food, water, housing, and utilities, with effective anti-poverty programs. Establish right to a living wage job.---------------]

Homeland Security:

• Clinton: 

History

Support our NATO allies and take vetted Syrian refugees. (Feb 2016)
Promise to never privatize V.A. (Feb 2016)
Keep Syrian refugees; we're a nation of resolve, not of fear. (Dec 2015)
PATRIOT Act was needed, but Bush chipped away at warrants. (Oct 2015)
Snowden should face the music; he broke the law. (Oct 2015)
NATO essential for evolving threats of the 21st century. (Jun 2014)
Smart Power: blend of military power and soft power. (Jun 2012)
National security is more important than human rights. (Nov 2007)
Forgive student loans for universal national service. (Jul 2007)
Fund first responders with extra $1.7 billion. (Mar 2007)
Our troops are stretched; so increase size of military. (Sep 2005)
Send 70% of homeland security funding to cities & counties. (Feb 2004)
A safe world needs the nuclear test ban treaty. (Sep 1999)
Benghazi security was simply inadequate in a dangerous city. (May 2014)
Torture cannot be American policy, period. (Sep 2007)
There is no safe haven for the terrorists. (Jan 2006)
Passed legislation to treat veterans’ traumatic brain injury. (Jan 2008)
Sponsored bill maintaining role of women in armed forces. (May 2005)
Sponsored bill for increased security of radiation sources. (May 2005)
Extend reserve retirement pay parity back to 9/11. (Dec 2007)
Improve mental health care benefits for returning veterans. (Jun 2008)
Restore habeas corpus for detainees in the War on Terror. (Jun 2007)
Establish global strategy to defeat al Qaeda. (Feb 2008)
-Voted NO on cutting $221M in benefits to Filipinos who served in WWII US Army. (Apr 2008)
-Voted NO on removing need for FISA warrant for wiretapping abroad. (Aug 2007)
-Voted YES on limiting soldiers' deployment to 12 months. (Jul 2007)
-Voted YES on implementing the 9/11 Commission report. (Mar 2007)
-Voted YES on preserving habeas corpus for Guantanamo detainees. (Sep 2006)
-Voted YES on requiring CIA reports on detainees & interrogation methods. (Sep 2006)
-Voted YES on reauthorizing the PATRIOT Act. (Mar 2006)
-Voted NO on extending the PATRIOT Act's wiretap provision. (Dec 2005)
-Voted YES on restricting business with entities linked to terrorism. (Jul 2005)
-Voted YES on restoring $565M for states' and ports' first responders. (Mar 2005)
-Rated 100% by SANE, indicating a pro-peace voting record. (Dec 2003)

Campaign

• Limit transfer of military equipment to local law enforcement. Eliminate the one-year use requirement. Require transparency from agencies that purchase equipment using federal funds
• Allow the FBI to stop gun sales to suspected terrorists. Identify and go after enablers who help jihadists forge documents and travel undetected. Fight jihadist propaganda online, intercept ISIS communications, and track and analyze social media posts to stop attacks.---------------]

• Trump: 

History

I don't want to be politically correct: Islam hates us. (Mar 2016)
Snowden was a spy; if Russia respected us, they'd deport him. (Mar 2016)
Charge rich countries like Germany more to defend them. (Feb 2016)
How did W keep us safe? WTC came down during his watch. (Feb 2016)
Bring back waterboarding and a hell of a lot worse. (Feb 2016)
Benghazi was a disaster; Gadhafi couldn't have been worse. (Dec 2015)
People saw New Jersey Muslims celebrating after 9/11. (Nov 2015)
Bring back waterboarding and other interrogation methods. (Nov 2015)
Surveil mosques but don't close mosques. (Nov 2015)
We worry about Iranian nukes but why not North Korean nukes? (Nov 2015)
Fix veteran's hospitals, and pay private doctors for them. (Sep 2015)
Enhanced interrogation a non-issue, compared to terrorism. (Aug 2015)
1964: Deferred Vietnam draft for four years while in college. (Jul 2015)
1968: Classified 1-Y, medically disqualified for Vietnam. (Jul 2015)
Our nuclear arsenal doesn't work; it's 30 years old. (Jun 2015)
All freedoms flow from national security. (Dec 2011)
3% of GNP for military is too low. (Jul 2000)
Prepare for bio-terrorism attack. (Jul 2000)

Campaign

• Decision for Mexico: Make a one-time payment of $5-10 billion for the wall, or face trade tariffs and an increase in visa fees or cancellation of visas outright.---------------]

• Johnson: 

History

Spying on U.S. citizens dismantles the 4th Amendment. (Jan 2016)
Founding Fathers would be disgusted about spying on citizens. (Jan 2016)
Overturn simplistic, chaotic, reactive military policies. (Jan 2016)
Should we have 100,000 troops on the ground in Europe? (Aug 2012)
Patriot Act is a direct assault on privacy & due process. (Aug 2012)
Torture has created millions of enemies we wouldn't have had. (Aug 2012)
Let the PATRIOT Act expire; respect habeas corpus. (Jan 2012)
Due process at Guantanamo; no torture of terrorist suspects. (Jan 2012)
43% reduction in military spending; cut foreign aid too. (Sep 2011)
No physical or psychological torture of terrorist suspects. (Aug 2011)
Abolish the TSA; let Patriot Act expire. (Aug 2011)
No waterboarding under any circumstances. (May 2011)
Deal with terrorism as a joint federal-state responsibility. (Feb 2001)
Include states in anti-terrorism planning. (Sep 2001)
Study terrorist threats against nuclear waste repositories. (Aug 2001)

Campaign

• Create a more efficient system of providing work visas, conducting background checks, and incentivizing non-citizens to pay their taxes, obtain proof of employment, and otherwise assimilate
• Cut off funding and finance which violent extremist armies rely upon.---------------]

• Stein: 

History

Immediate weapons embargo to the Middle East. (Oct 2015)
Military-industrial complex shows woes of privatization. (Jul 2015)
Disarm North Korea as part of worldwide nuclear disarmament. (Jul 2015)
Edward Snowden is a hero for exposing mass spying. (Jul 2015)
Bring troops home from 800 bases abroad. (Jul 2015)
End persecution of government and media whistleblowers. (Jun 2015)
Eliminate nuclear weapons in Middle East & whole world. (Oct 2012)
Switch from bloated military to spending at home. (Oct 2012)
Patriot Act ends the right to judicial review. (Jan 2012)
Bloated military budget enables knee-jerk military solutions. (Jan 2012)
End Patriot Act; it surrenders freedoms in name of security. (Jan 2012)
PATRIOT Act is a flagrant violation of 4th Amendment. (Dec 2011)
Repeal National Defense Authorization; keep right to trial. (Dec 2011)
Cut military 50%; spend that $500B on economy. (Dec 2011)

Campaign

• Sign the Ottawa treaty banning the use of anti-personnel land mines. Ban use of drone aircraft. Rejoin the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. Jointly reduce US and Russian nuclear arsenals to 1,000 nuclear weapons each. Remove US nuclear weapons in Germany, Belgium, Turkey, Italy and the Netherlands. Negotiate treaty for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons, open negotiations on a treaty to ban weapons in space, create a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East region and require all nations in the area to join. End the US’ role as the world’s arm supplier. End US economic and military intervention in the affairs of sovereign nations. End the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
• Reduce the flow of immigrant refugees, in part by repealing NAFTA, ending the failed drug wars, and halting CIA and military interventions against democratically elected governments
• Repeal the Patriot Act. Terminate unconstitutional surveillance and unwarranted spying, close Guantanamo and repeal indefinite detention without charge or trial. Repeal provisions of the NDAA that give the power to indefinitely imprison and assassinate without due process. 
• Demilitarize border crossings throughout North America
• Stop U.S. financial and military support to human rights abusers. This would include Saudi Arabia, Israel and Egypt. Freeze the bank accounts of countries that are funding terrorism.---------------]

Immigration:

• Clinton: 

History

Preventing Muslims from immigrating is un-American. (Mar 2016)
Consider halting certain raids on illegal immigrant families. (Feb 2008)
Deploy technology & personnel, not a border fence. (Feb 2008)
Guest workers only for farms, to address labor shortage. (Feb 2008)
Exploitation of undocumented workers drives down wages. (Jan 2008)
English unifies us; teach ESL but support other languages. (Dec 2007)
Crack down on employers who exploit undocumented workers. (Dec 2007)
More border patrolling on both Mexican AND Canadian borders. (Sep 2007)
Sanctuary cities ok; local police can’t enforce immigration. (Sep 2007)
Keep New York-Ontario border passport-free for tourism. (Oct 2006)
Adamantly against illegal immigrants. (Sep 2005)
Include undocumented immigrant kids in state college tuition. (Oct 2015)
Include undocumented immigrant kids in healthcare coverage. (Oct 2015)
Allow driver's licenses for illegals until we get reform. (Jan 2010)
Introduce a path to earn citizenship in the first 100 days. (Feb 2008)
Deporting all illegal immigrants is unrealistic. (Jan 2008)
Immigration reform needs family unification as one goal. (Sep 2007)
-Voted YES on continuing federal funds for declared "sanctuary cities". (Mar 2008)
-Voted YES on comprehensive immigration reform. (Jun 2007)
-Voted NO on declaring English as the official language of the US government. (Jun 2007)
-Voted YES on eliminating the "Y" nonimmigrant guestworker program. (May 2007)
-Voted YES on building a fence along the Mexican border. (Sep 2006)
-Voted YES on establishing a Guest Worker program. (May 2006)
-Voted YES on allowing illegal aliens to participate in Social Security. (May 2006)
-Voted YES on giving Guest Workers a path to citizenship. (May 2006)
-Sponsored bill covering child resident aliens under Medicaid. (May 2005)
-Sponsored bill funding social services for noncitizens. (May 2006)
-Rated 8% by USBC, indicating an open-border stance. (Dec 2006)

Campaign

• Identify and go after enablers who help jihadists forge documents and travel undetected.
• Allow families to buy insurance on health exchanges regardless of immigration status.
• Comprehensive immigration reform. End to family and private detention centers. Fix the family visa backlog, and bring millions of hardworking people into the formal economy, End the three- and 10-year bars.
• Defend President Obama’s executive actions—known as DACA and DAPA—against partisan attacks
• Expand fee waivers to alleviate naturalization costs. Increase access to language programs to encourage English proficiency. Increase outreach and education to help more people navigate the process.---------------]

• Trump: 

History

I take advantage of H1-B visas; but stop them. (Mar 2016)
Let the good ones come back in; that's not amnesty. (Feb 2016)
No apology for banning Muslims from entering America. (Jan 2016)
Need to keep database of Muslim refugees. (Nov 2015)
We must stop illegal immigration; it hurts us economically. (Nov 2015)
Syrian refugees are a Trojan Horse. (Oct 2015)
Syrian refugee crisis partly our fault; but don't take any. (Oct 2015)
This is a country where we speak English, not Spanish. (Sep 2015)
Half of the undocumented residents in America are criminals. (Jun 2015)
We need strong borders; we need a wall. (Feb 2015)
351,000 illegal aliens are in our prisons; costing $1.1B. (Dec 2011)
Anchor babies were NEVER the intent of the 14th Amendment. (Dec 2011)
Invite foreigners graduating from college to stay in US. (Dec 2011)
Control borders; even legal immigration should be difficult. (Jul 2000)
Ship millions back to Mexico, like Eisenhower did. (Nov 2015)
Walls on borders work; just ask Israel. (Nov 2015)
Mexico will pay for wall, but not through tariffs. (Nov 2015)
Mexican government is sending criminals across the border. (Aug 2015)
Mexico & Latin America send us drugs, crime, and rapists. (Jun 2015)

Campaign

• Decision for Mexico: Make a one-time payment of $5-10 billion for the wall, or face trade tariffs and an increase in visa fees or cancellation of visas outright
• Triple the number of ICE officers, having them cooperate with local gang task forces. Nationwide e-verify
• Increase wages for H-1Bs, but requirement to hire American workers first.
• End birthright citizenship.
• Applicants for entry to the United States must certify that they can pay for housing, healthcare and other needs before coming 
• Enhanced penalties for overstaying a visa. Defund sanctuary cities, Mandatory return of all criminal aliens.
• No alien may wire money outside the US without documents establishing their lawful presence.---------------]

• Johnson: 

History

Bigger border fence will only produce taller ladders. (Jan 2016)
Arizona anti-immigrant law leads to racial profiling. (Aug 2012)
A 10-foot wall just requires an 11-foot ladder. (Aug 2012)
2 year grace period for illegals to get work visas. (Nov 2011)
1 strike & you're out for legal immigrants who violate terms. (Nov 2011)
Let some, but not all, illegal immigrants stay in US. (Nov 2011)
Open the border; flood of Mexicans would become taxpayers. (Jan 2001)
Mexican immigrants are pursuing same dreams we all have. (Jan 2001)
Share costs of legal immigration between states & federal. (Feb 2001)
Federal government should deal with criminal repatriation. (Feb 2001)

Campaign

• Create a more efficient system of providing work visas, conducting background checks, and incentivizing non-citizens to pay their taxes, obtain proof of employment, and otherwise assimilate.---------------]

• Stein: 

History

We're deporting more immigrants than ever, 2.5M under Obama. (Jan 2016)
Deportation of vulnerable refugees is morally abhorrent. (Jan 2016)
Undocumented immigration massively spiked after NAFTA. (Oct 2012)
Extend DREAM Act beyond age 30. (Oct 2012)
Provide a legal path to citizenship for immigrant residents. (Feb 2012)
End the war on immigrants; end "secure communities" cruelty. (Jan 2012)
Undocumented immigrants are critical component of economy. (Dec 2011)
No pathway to citizenship for criminals; open to all others. (Dec 2011)

Campaign

• Reduce the flow of immigrant refugees, in part by repealing NAFTA, ending the failed drug wars, and halting CIA and military interventions against democratically elected governments
• Halt deportations and detentions of law-abiding undocumented immigrants.
• Demilitarize border crossings throughout North America.---------------]

Infrastructure & Technology:

• Clinton: 

History

Invest $250B in public transit and NextGen aviation. (Feb 2016)

Retroactive classification can make any email problematic. (Feb 2016)

Work with Silicon Valley: security consistent with privacy. (Jan 2016)

Partner with tech community on terrorist encryption. (Dec 2015)

Make sure surveillance doesn't go too far, like Snowden did. (Aug 2014)

Developing world cell phones open up education & opportunity. (Jun 2014)

Condemned China's use of Internet to monitor dissidents. (Jun 2012)

Infrastructure investment creates jobs AND improves security. (Aug 2007)

Fight for interoperable communications for first responders. (Mar 2007)

Introduced CAMRA to study how sex in media affects teens. (Dec 2006)

Balance Internet freedom of speech against defamation. (Oct 2006)

$90M grant for Children and Media Research. (Apr 2006)

Increase spending for libraries. (Mar 2000)

Ensure net neutrality: no corporate-tiered Internet. (Jan 2007)

Overturn FCC approval of media consolidation. (Mar 2008)

-Voted NO on restoring $550M in funding for Amtrak for 2007. (Mar 2006)

-Voted YES on disallowing FCC approval of larger media conglomerates. (Sep 2003)

Campaign

• $125 billion in targeted investments to create jobs, rebuild infrastructure, and connect housing to opportunity. Create a national infrastructure bank to improve rural transportation and broadband access. Half a billion solar panels installed by end of first term.
• Eliminate lead poisoning within five years. Clean up the more than 450,000 toxic brownfield sites across the country. Expand solar and energy efficiency solutions in low-income communities. Create an Environmental and Climate Justice Task Force.
• Revitalize coal communities by supporting locally driven priorities
• Reform leasing and expand clean energy production on public lands and waters 
• Double the Obama administration's Build America Bonds subsidy
• By 2020, 100 percent access to affordable broadband.
• Ensure copyright system that protects creative content, while unlocking access to orphan works.
• Slash the “pothole tax”.---------------]

• Trump: 

History

Close our Internet up, to fight ISIS terrorist recruitment. (Dec 2015)

Net neutrality is top down power grab of the Internet. (Sep 2015)

Rebuild our infrastructure on time & on budget. (Jun 2015)

China threatens US with cyber warfare & industrial espionage. (Dec 2011)

Campaign

• Rescind all the 'job-destroying' Obama executive actions including the Climate Action Plan and the Waters of the U.S. rule. 
• Lift restrictions on American energy.  Save the coal industry Make land in the Outer Continental Shelf available to produce oil and natural gas.
• Ask Trans Canada to renew its permit application for the Keystone Pipeline.---------------]

• Johnson: 

History

No government "back doors" into encrypted, private info. (Jan 2016)

Oversaw construction of 500 miles of new highway. (Aug 2012)

Highway 44: Private alternatives to infrastructure spending. (Jul 2011)

Opposes Net Neutrality; no government regulation of Internet. (Jul 2011)

NM building twice as many 4-lane highways with no tax raise. (Jan 2001)

Level playing field for Main Street vs. Internet sales tax. (Aug 2001)

Campaign

• Rid laws and taxes that syphon the resources businesses use to create jobs. Stop the government from engaging in social and economic engineering. Question whether political efforts to regulate, tax and manipulate the private sector are effective at all.
• Get the Environmental Protection Agency to focus on its true mission.
• Support internet freedom and right to privacy.---------------]

• Stein: 

History

Green New Deal for efficient public transportation. (Jan 2016)

Renew our infrastructure and assure everyone has a job. (Jun 2015)

4 million people wrote to FCC to preserve net neutrality. (Feb 2015)

No government policing of the internet. (May 2012)

Campaign

• Green New Deal, a four part vast program including an economic bill of rights, a transition from an oil based economy to one based on green energy, financial reform and a functional democracy
• Adopt the Precautionary Principle. When an activity poses threats of harm to human health or the environment, in the absence of objective scientific consensus that it is safe, precautionary measures should be taken. The proponent of an activity, rather than the public, should bear the burden of proof.
• Create 20 million green jobs in sustainable energy, mass transit, sustainable organic agriculture, clean manufacturing and improved infrastructure. Ensure that any worker displaced by the shift away from fossil fuels will receive full income and benefits as they transition to alternative work. End fracking, tar sands, offshore drilling, oil trains, mountaintop removal, natural gas pipelines, and uranium mines, phase out all fossil fuel power plants. Phase out nuclear power and end nuclear subsidies. Build a nationwide smart electricity grid that can pool and store power from a diversity of renewable sources. Enact energy democracy based on public, community and worker ownership of our energy system
• Invest in community health infrastructure such as local organic food systems, pollution-free renewable energy, phasing out toxic chemicals, and active transportation such as bike paths and safe sidewalks that dovetail with public transit
• Protect the free Internet. Oppose the Stop Online Piracy Act(SOPA).
• Cut military spending by at least 50% and close 700+ foreign military bases. Ensure a just transition from military jobs to jobs in renewable energy, transportation and green infrastructure development.---------------]

Jobs:

• Clinton: 

History

$12 minimum wage, indexed for the future. (Nov 2015)
No salary increase for Congress until minimum wage increased. (Jul 2007)
Would accept minimum wage as president. (Jul 2007)
Stand up for unions; organize for fair wages. (Jun 2007)
Get tough with China and bring jobs back home. (Feb 2007)
Minimum wage should be tied to congressional salaries. (Jun 2006)
Pushed for extension of unemployment insurance. (Feb 2004)
The working poor deserve a living wage. (Oct 1999)
Extend unemployment compensation during recession. (Jan 2008)
Ban discriminatory compensation; allow 2 years to sue. (Jan 2009)
-Voted YES on extending unemployment benefits from 39 weeks to 59 weeks. (Nov 2008)
-Voted NO on terminating legal challenges to English-only job rules. (Mar 2008)
-Voted YES on restricting employer interference in union organizing. (Jun 2007)
-Voted YES on increasing minimum wage to $7.25. (Feb 2007)
-Voted YES on raising the minimum wage to $7.25 rather than $6.25. (Mar 2005)
-Voted NO on repealing Clinton's ergonomic rules on repetitive stress. (Mar 2001)
-Rated 85% by the AFL-CIO, indicating a pro-union voting record. (Dec 2003)
-Sponsored bill linking minimum wage to Congress' pay raises. (May 2006)
-Sponsored bill enforcing against gender pay discrimination. (Jan 2009)

Campaign

• $125 billion in targeted investments to create jobs, rebuild infrastructure, and connect housing to opportunity.
• Make the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill permanent. Expand tax credits for veterans’ employment. Improve certification and credentialing programs. Strengthen veteran entrepreneurship programs. Create pathways for service members to enter growing career fields
• Make companies that export jobs give back the tax breaks they’ve received in America
• Autism Works Initiative
• Half a billion solar panels installed by end of first term.
• Revitalize coal communities by supporting locally driven priorities.
• Reform leasing and expand clean energy production on public lands and waters. 
• Invest $5 billion in re-entry job programs for formerly incarcerated, “Ban the Box” for federal employers and contractors; a reference to the box on applications asking about criminal history.
• Provide incubators, mentoring, and training to 50,000 entrepreneurs and small-business owners in under-served communities.
• Restore collective bargaining rights for unions.
• Raise federal minimum wage to $12. Support state and local efforts like “Fight for $15”.
• Equal pay for women and guaranteed paid leave.
• Tax credit for businesses of $1,500 per hired apprentice with extra bonuses for hiring young people.---------------]

• Trump: 

History

Bring jobs back from China, Mexico, Japan, and Vietnam. (Feb 2016)
Don't raise minimum wage; it makes us non-competitive. (Nov 2015)
Teachers unions are obstacles to improving schools. (Nov 2015)
Rebuilding America will create 13 million jobs. (Nov 2015)
Don't raise minimum wage, but create more opportunities. (Aug 2015)
Take jobs back from foreign countries to lower unemployment. (Aug 2015)
Raising business tax causes businesses to move jobs overseas. (Dec 2011)
Unions fight for pay; managers fight for less; consumers win. (Jul 2000)

Campaign

• Rescind all the 'job-destroying' Obama executive actions including the Climate Action Plan and the Waters of the U.S. rule. Lift restrictions on American energy. Save the coal industry. Make land in the Outer Continental Shelf available to produce oil and natural gas.
• Increase wages for H-1Bs, but Requirement to hire American workers first.
• Jobs program for inner city youth.---------------]

• Johnson: 

History

Governments don't create jobs--businesses do. (Feb 2012)
Oppose NLRB recent actions against Boeing in SC. (Jul 2011)
1999: Vetoed raising minimum wage from $4.25/hour to $5.65. (Jul 2011)
Long unemployment benefits postpones dealing with problem. (May 2011)
Create block grants for Agricultural Stewardship. (Aug 2001)

Campaign

• Rid laws and taxes that syphon the resources businesses use to create jobs. Stop the government from engaging in social and economic engineering. Question whether political efforts to regulate, tax and manipulate the private sector are effective at all.
• Create a more efficient system of providing work visas, conducting background checks, and incentivizing non-citizens to pay their taxes, obtain proof of employment, and otherwise assimilate.
• Legalize and regulate marijuana.---------------]

• Stein: 

History

Guaranteed jobs for all who need work. (Oct 2015)
Focus on pink jobs: the jobs of meeting human needs. (Jun 2015)
Pay liveable wages, not just minimum wage. (Mar 2013)
Directly create jobs, not via tax breaks. (Oct 2012)
Stimulus spent $220K per job; I propose $20K per green job. (Jan 2012)
Economic Bill of Rights: unionize; fair taxation; fair trade. (Jan 2012)
Full Employment Program: green jobs and community needs. (Jan 2012)
Green New Deal: emergency program for 25M jobs. (Dec 2011)

Campaign

• Green New Deal, a four part vast program including an economic bill of rights, a transition from an oil based economy to one based on green energy, financial reform and a functional democracy
• Create 20 million green jobs in sustainable energy, mass transit, sustainable organic agriculture, clean manufacturing and improved infrastructure. Ensure that any worker displaced by the shift away from fossil fuels will receive full income and benefits as they transition to alternative work.
• Cut military spending by at least 50% and close 700+ foreign military bases. Ensure a just transition from military jobs to jobs in renewable energy, transportation and green infrastructure development.
• Replace unemployment offices with employment offices. Create direct public employment, as the Works Progress Administration did.
• Establish right to a living wage job
• Federal law to prohibit firing without just cause. Outlaw scabbing on striking workers.
• -Set a $15/hour federal minimum wage, with indexing.---------------]

Social Security:

• Clinton: 

History

Raising retirement age off the table; laborers need it at 65. (Feb 2016)
Privatization off the table; but maybe payroll cap increase. (Aug 2014)
No lifting cap on payroll tax; that taxes middle class. (Apr 2008)
$1000 matching tax credit for first $1000 in 401(k) deposit. (Oct 2007)
Solvent until 2055 under Bill Clinton; now has lost 14 years. (Sep 2007)
Soc.Sec. one of greatest inventions in American democracy. (Oct 2006)
Create Retirement Savings Accounts. (Aug 2000)
Elderly poor are hit hardest by delays in COLA increases. (Jun 1994)
-Voted NO on establishing reserve funds & pre-funding for Social Security. (Mar 2007)
-Rated 100% by the ARA, indicating a pro-senior voting record. (Dec 2003)

Campaign

• Enhance—not privatize—Social Security
• Direct the Social Security Administration to raise awareness about benefits covered by Medicare.---------------]

• Trump: 

History

I will save Social Security with more jobs, less waste. (Feb 2016)
Social Security isn't an "entitlement"; it's honoring a deal. (Dec 2011)
Disability Racket: $25B in fraudulent disability filings. (Dec 2011)
No government investment of retirement funds. (Jul 2000)

Campaign

• Leave it alone.---------------]

• Johnson: 

History

Raise the retirement age to 70 or 72. (Aug 2012)
A portion of Social Security ought to be privatized. (Aug 2012)
Replace the payroll tax with FairTax. (Feb 2012)
Raise the retirement age; plus means testing. (Aug 2011)
Open to personal accounts for Social Security. (Jul 2011)
Change escalator from wage-based to inflation-based. (May 2011)
Maintain long-term solvency of Social Security and Medicare. (Aug 2001)

Campaign

• Retirement age needs to be raised to 70 or 72, and institute common sense means testing for viability of the system.---------------]

• Stein: 

History

Save Social Security and Medicare from assault by the right. (Nov 2015)
Privatizing would lead to huge losses for retirees. (Nov 2012)
Don't turn over retirement to private corporations. (Nov 2012)
System perfectly solvent when rich pay their fair share. (Oct 2012)
Social Security is not in crisis; and it's not a handout. (Dec 2011)

Campaign

• Strengthen rather than cut Medicare and Social Security. Remove the cap on social security taxes above a certain level of income.---------------]

Taxes:

• Clinton: 

History

Single-payer care & free college will mean high taxes. (Dec 2015)
Millionaires should pay 30% tax rate instead of 0%-10%. (Dec 2015)
Pledge for no increase in middle tax taxes. (Dec 2015)
Perhaps raise capital gains tax, but at most to 20%. (Apr 2008)
Rescind tax cuts for those making more than $250,000 a year. (Feb 2008)
Wealthy should go back to paying pre-Bush tax rates. (Jan 2008)
Want to restore the tax rates we had in the ‘90s. (Dec 2007)
Freeze estate tax at 2009 level of $7 million per couple. (Oct 2007)
Cut alternative minimum tax, not billionaire tax cuts. (Mar 2007)
Expand child tax credit for child’s first year. (Dec 2006)
End Bush tax cuts;take things away from rich for common good. (Oct 2006)
NY share of federal taxes is too high. (Feb 2000)
-Voted YES on increasing tax rate for people earning over $1 million. (Mar 2008)
-Voted NO on allowing AMT reduction without budget offset. (Mar 2008)
-Voted NO on raising the Death Tax exemption to $5M from $1M. (Feb 2008)
-Voted NO on repealing the Alternative Minimum Tax. (Mar 2007)
-Voted NO on raising estate tax exemption to $5 million. (Mar 2007)
-Voted NO on supporting permanence of estate tax cuts. (Aug 2006)
-Voted NO on permanently repealing the `death tax`. (Jun 2006)
-Voted YES on $47B for military by repealing capital gains tax cut. (Feb 2006)
-Voted YES on retaining reduced taxes on capital gains & dividends. (Feb 2006)
-Voted YES on extending the tax cuts on capital gains and dividends. (Nov 2005)
-Voted NO on $350 billion in tax breaks over 11 years. (May 2003)
-Voted YES on reducing marriage penalty instead of cutting top tax rates. (May 2001)
-Voted YES on increasing tax deductions for college tuition. (May 2001)
-Rated 21% by NTU, indicating a "Big Spender" on tax votes. (Dec 2003)
-Rated 80% by the CTJ, indicating support of progressive taxation. (Dec 2006)

Campaign

• Close loopholes, like inversions and carried interest.  End subsidies drug companies get for direct-to-consumer advertising. Cut billions in tax subsidies for oil and gas companies. End subsidies drug companies get for direct-to-consumer advertising and instead invest that money in research. Impose a tax on high-frequency trading.. Crack down on companies that move profits overseas to avoid paying U.S. taxes. Impose a risk fee on the largest financial institutions.  “Fair Share surcharge” on multi-millionaires and billionaires. Charge an “exit tax” for companies leaving the U.S. and make companies that export jobs give back the tax breaks they’ve received in America.Expand tax credits for veterans’ employment. Tax credit for businesses of $1,500 per hired apprentice, extra bonuses for hiring young people.
• Tax credits of up to $2,500 for an individual or $5,000 for a family to those with substantial out-of-pocket health care costs.
• Slash the “pothole tax”
• Expand the New Markets Tax Credit.---------------]

• Trump: 

History

Cut taxes by $10T but don't increase deficit. (Oct 2015)
Repeal estate tax; it's double taxation. (Oct 2015)
Do away with carried interest; it's unfair. (Oct 2015)
No net increase in taxes, but increases on wealthy. (Sep 2015)
Raise graduated taxes on hedge fund managers. (Sep 2015)
One-time 14% tax on wealthy to pay down national debt. (Jun 2015)
4 brackets; 1-5-10-15%; kill death tax & corporate tax. (Dec 2011)
Previously supported wealth tax; now supports Bush tax cuts. (Apr 2011)
Simplify tax code; end marriage penalty & other hidden taxes. (Jul 2000)
Opposes flat tax; benefits wealthy too much. (Jul 2000)
Personally avoids sales tax, but knows many people like it. (Dec 1999)
One-time 14.25% tax on wealth, to erase national debt. (Nov 1999)
Tax assets over $10 million, paid over 10 years. (Nov 1999)

Campaign

• Obamacare repeal and replacement, eliminate the individual mandate. Health Savings Accounts (HSAs): should be tax-free and allowed to accumulate, and passed on to heirs without any death penalty, can be used by any family member without penalty
• Allow families to exclude childcare costs from taxes, fully deduct health insurance premium payments from their tax returns. End the death tax.
• Simplify the income tax from 7 brackets to 3 brackets. Taxation of business income to 15% for every business.---------------]

• Johnson: 

History

Current tax code penalizes productivity & investment. (Jan 2016)
23% national sales tax while eliminating the IRS. (May 2012)
Get rid of income tax and capital-gains tax. (Feb 2012)
FairTax on all new goods & services, with prebates for poor. (Feb 2012)
FairTax would absolutely reboot the American economy. (Sep 2011)
Replace tax system with a FairTax. (Sep 2011)
Replace job-killing tax code with FairTax. (Sep 2011)
Reduce state personal income tax from 8.5% to 8%. (Jul 2011)
No national sales tax or VAT. (Feb 2000)

Campaign

• Elimination of special interest tax loopholes. Get rid of the double-taxation on small businesses. Ultimately, the replacement of all income and payroll taxes with a single consumption tax.
• Create a more efficient system of providing work visas, conducting background checks, and incentivizing non-citizens to pay their taxes, obtain proof of employment, and otherwise assimilate.
• Rid laws and taxes that syphon the resources businesses use to create jobs. Stop the government from engaging in social and economic engineering. Question whether political efforts to regulate, tax and manipulate the private sector are effective at all.
• Legalize and regulate marijuana.---------------]

• Stein: 

History

Increase inheritance taxes; use it as "Aristocracy Tax". (Jul 2015)
Incomes rise for wealthiest 1% but their taxes have fallen. (Dec 2011)
Fees and sales taxes hit lower and middle income hardest. (Sep 2010)
Close tax loopholes & stop corporate welfare. (Oct 2002)
Replace “trickle down” with 50% tax cuts on lower incomes. (Oct 2002)

Campaign

• Rewrite the entire tax code to be truly progressive. 
• Eliminate health insurance. Establish “Medicare for All” single-payer public health program. Free universal child care. Strengthen rather than cut Medicare and Social Security. Remove the cap on social security taxes above a certain level of income.
• Full disclosure of corporate subsidies in the budget and stop hiding subsidies in complicated tax code.
• Prohibit use of Low Income Housing Tax Credits to increase low income housing in already segregated neighborhoods.
• Impose a greenhouse gas fee on polluters.---------------]

War & Peace:

• Clinton: 

History

Continue anti-ISIS actions in Libya, with Europe & Arabs. (Feb 2016)
Policy of prevention, not containment, on Iranian nukes. (Jan 2013)
Trust but verify Iran: goal is diplomacy & open inspections. (Jan 2013)
Massive retaliation from US if Iran attacks Israel. (Apr 2008)
Pledge that Iran will not develop a nuclear bomb. (Oct 2007)
I got it wrong on 2002 Iraq War vote. (Jun 2014)
Up to the Iraqis to decide the future they will have. (Feb 2008)
Voted against precedent of US subordinate to UN in Iraq. (Jan 2008)
Leave combat troops in Iraq only for conterterrorism. (Sep 2007)
Do not negotiate with Iran about Syria. (Feb 2016)
Don't normalize relations with Iran; we need leverage. (Feb 2016)
3-part plan to go after ISIS: territory; network; safety. (Dec 2015)
Support Sunni Arab and Kurdish forces against ISIS in Syria. (Dec 2015)
No-fly zone in Syria, but no American troops on the ground. (Oct 2015)
We're already involved in Syria; deal with Russia there. (Oct 2015)
Not helping Free Syrian Army left vacuum for ISIS to fill. (Aug 2014)
Invested in Israel: negotiate a ceasefire in Gaza. (Jun 2014)
I wanted to arm Syrian rebels, along with regional partners. (Jun 2014)
Supports border security fence in Israel. (Oct 2006)
Cut off US aid if Palestine declares a state unilaterally. (Oct 2000)
Focuses on increasing relationship between US and Israel. (Oct 2000)
Extend peace treaties to Palestinians, Syrians & Lebanese. (Nov 1999)
Putin's annexing Crimea plays outdated zero-sum game. (Jun 2014)
Contain Russia or Putin will expand beyond Crimea. (Apr 2014)
-Voted against Levin Amendment: it gave UN veto over US. (Jan 2008)
-Voted for Iraq war based on available info; now would not. (Apr 2007)
-Voted YES on designating Iran's Revolutionary Guards as terrorists. (Sep 2007)
-Voted YES on redeploying US troops out of Iraq by March 2008. (Mar 2007)
-Voted NO on redeploying troops out of Iraq by July 2007. (Jun 2006)
-Voted YES on investigating contract awards in Iraq & Afghanistan. (Nov 2005)
-Voted YES on requiring on-budget funding for Iraq, not emergency funding. (Apr 2005)
-Voted YES on $86 billion for military operations in Iraq & Afghanistan. (Oct 2003)
-Voted YES on authorizing use of military force against Iraq. (Oct 2002)

Campaign

• Allow the FBI to stop gun sales to suspected terrorists. Identify and go after enablers who help jihadists forge documents and travel undetected. Fight jihadist propaganda online, intercept ISIS communications, and track and analyze social media posts to stop attacks.Step up support for local Arab and Kurdish forces. Resolve Syria’s civil war and Iraq’s sectarian conflict. Take out ISIS’s stronghold in Iraq and Syria.
• Prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. Maintain diplomatic relations with Cuba and call on Congress to lift the embargo. Stand up to Vladimir Putin and Hold China accountable.
• Limit transfer of military equipment to local law enforcement. Eliminate the one-year use requirement. Require transparency from agencies that purchase equipment using federal funds
• End the sequester for both defense and non-defense spending.
• Make the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill permanent. Expand tax credits for veterans’ employment. Improve certification and credentialing programs. Strengthen veteran entrepreneurship programs. Create pathways for service members to enter growing career fields.
• Increase our investment in the Global Equality Fund.---------------]

• Trump:

History

Cease-fire in Syria only if all parties involved. (Feb 2016)
We've spent $5T in the Mideast and gotten nothing. (Feb 2016)
Get rid of ISIS, quickly: dry up their oil & their money. (Feb 2016)
Assad is a bad guy, but his replacement could be worse. (Nov 2015)
Let Russia make moves in Syria; it's a quagmire. (Nov 2015)
We should have demanded a deal with Kuwait to liberate them. (Nov 2015)
Afghanistan war made a mess, but troops need to stay. (Oct 2015)
Radical violent Islam that must be feared, not Islam itself. (Sep 2015)
If Obama had attacked Syria, we wouldn't have refugees now. (Sep 2015)
Disgraceful deal gives Iran a lot & gets nothing for us. (Aug 2015)
Bomb the oil fields in Iraq to take on ISIS. (Jun 2015)
Boots on the ground to fight ISIS. (Jun 2015)
Take $1.5T in oil from Iraq to pay for US victims. (Mar 2013)
Iraq should pick up the tab for their own liberation. (Dec 2011)
Stop Iran's nuclear programs by any & all means necessary. (Dec 2011)
Use force to stop North Korean nuke development. (Jul 2000)
Support Israel, our unsinkable Mideast aircraft carrier. (Jul 2000)
No humanitarian intervention; only to direct threats. (Jul 2000)

Campaign

• Bolster the U.S. military presence in the East and South China Seas to discourage Chinese adventurism. Label China a currency manipulator. Force China to uphold intellectual property laws and stop their unfair and unlawful practice of forcing U.S. companies to share proprietary technology with Chinese competitors as a condition of entry to China’s market,.Put an end to China’s illegal export subsidies and lax labor and environmental standards.
• Decision for Mexico: Make a one-time payment of $5-10 billion for the wall, or face trade tariffs and an increase in visa fees or cancellation of visas outright.
• All veterans eligible for VA health care can use their veteran’s ID card at any care facility that accepts Medicare. Increase funding for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury and suicide prevention services. Every VA hospital will be fully equipped with OBGYN and other women’s health services. Embed satellite VA clinics in rural and other under-served areas within hospitals and other care facilities.
• Allow military to carry firearms on bases and at recruiting centers.---------------]

• Johnson: 

History

We are no safer after years of failed nation-building abroad. (Jan 2016)
Afghan nation-building will fail; withdraw immediately. (Aug 2012)
Cut all support and aid to Israel. (May 2012)
No military threat from Iraq, Afghanistan, nor Libya. (Aug 2011)
Iran is not currently a military threat. (Aug 2011)
Let Israel deal with Iranian nukes; not US role to tell them. (Aug 2011)
Absolutely would not have gone into Libya; get out now. (Jul 2011)
We wiped out al Qaeda 10 years ago; leave Afghanistan. (Jun 2011)
No threat from Libya; so no authority to topple dictator. (Jun 2011)
Afghan War initially warranted, but not for 10 years. (May 2011)
Military surveillance should discover WMD before invasion. (May 2011)
I opposed the Iraq War from the beginning. (May 2011)
No Afghan timetable; start tomorrow & finish in a few months. (May 2011)
Eliminate ineffective interventions in Iraq & Afghanistan. (May 2011)

Campaign

• Cut off funding and finance which violent extremist armies rely upon.
• Only send soldiers to war when clearly authorized by Congress.---------------]

• Stein: 

History

ISIS grows out of chaos that we created in Iraq. (Jan 2015)
Stop economic sanctions and cyber-attacks against Iran. (Nov 2012)
Blowback across Middle East due to our immoral war policy. (Oct 2012)
Stop the flow of arms to Syria on both sides. (Oct 2012)
Iran does not threaten our national security. (May 2012)
We're not safer internationally with drone wars. (Feb 2012)
End the Oil Wars. (Feb 2012)
Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were illegal. (Jan 2012)
We never should have been in Iraq; we're still not out. (Dec 2011)
We should not be in Afghanistan; no military solution. (Dec 2011)
Humanitarian aims in Libya ok; but not regime change. (Dec 2011)
End our military misadventures in Iraq and Afghanistan. (Sep 2010)

Campaign

• Green New Deal, a four part vast program including an economic bill of rights, a transition from an oil based economy to one based on green energy, financial reform and a functional democracy
• Adopt the Precautionary Principle. When an activity poses threats of harm to human health or the environment, in the absence of objective scientific consensus that it is safe, precautionary measures should be taken. The proponent of an activity, rather than the public, should bear the burden of proof.
• Sign the Ottawa treaty banning the use of anti-personnel land mines. Ban use of drone aircraft. Rejoin the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. Jointly reduce US and Russian nuclear arsenals to 1,000 nuclear weapons each. Remove US nuclear weapons in Germany, Belgium, Turkey, Italy and the Netherlands. Negotiate treaty for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons, open negotiations on a treaty to ban weapons in space, create a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East region and require all nations in the area to join. End the US’ role as the world’s arm supplier. End US economic and military intervention in the affairs of sovereign nations. End the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
• Cut military spending by at least 50% and close 700+ foreign military bases. Ensure a just transition from military jobs to jobs in renewable energy, transportation and green infrastructure development.
• Stop U.S. financial and military support to human rights abusers. This would include Saudi Arabia, Israel and Egypt. Freeze the bank accounts of countries that are funding terrorism.
• Repeal the Patriot Act. Terminate unconstitutional surveillance and unwarranted spying, close Guantanamo and repeal indefinite detention without charge or trial. Repeal provisions of the NDAA that give the power to indefinitely imprison and assassinate without due process. 
• US policy regarding Israel and Palestine must be revised to prioritize international law, peace and human rights for all people.
• Reduce the flow of immigrant refugees, in part by repealing NAFTA, ending the failed drug wars, and halting CIA and military interventions against democratically elected governments.
• Demilitarize border crossings throughout North America.
• Demilitarize police, Establish police review boards so communities control their police. Require independent outside legal representatives to investigate and prosecute any killing or brutality by the police.
• Prohibit Federal agencies from conspiring with local police to infringe upon right of assembly and peaceful protest.
• End persecution of government, corporate and media whistle-blowers.---------------]

Welfare and Poverty:

• Clinton:  

History

Make sure the economy works for everybody. (Jan 2008)         Partner with faith based community in empowerment zones. (Dec 2007) Considered idea of $5000 at birth to pay for future college. (Oct 2007) Hedge funds incentivize risk, but need regulation. (Apr 2007) Working should mean no poverty. (Jan 2000) Don’t criminalize the homeless. (Dec 1999) Microcredit is an invaluable tool in alleviating poverty. (Feb 1997) Link payments to good parenting behavior. (Feb 1997) Finish welfare reform by moving able recipients into jobs. (Aug 2000) Establish a National Affordable Housing Trust Fund. (Jul 2003) Tax credits to promote home ownership in distressed areas. (Apr 2003) Fully fund AmeriCorps. (Jun 2003) Campaign $125 billion in targeted investments to create jobs, rebuild infrastructure, and connect housing to opportunity. Expand the New Markets Tax Credit. Raise federal minimum wage to $12. Support state and local efforts like “Fight for $15”.  By 2020, 100 percent access to affordable broadband. Ensure all women have access to preventive care, affordable contraception, and safe and legal abortion. Adequate funding for shelter for homeless youths. Social entrepreneurs and those starting new enterprises in distressed communities will be eligible for up to $17,500 in loan forgiveness. Make debt free public college available to all Americans. Invest $5 billion in re-entry job programs for formerly incarcerated. Provide incubators, mentoring, and training to 50,000 entrepreneurs and small-business owners in under-served communities.---------------]

• Trump: 

History

Sought to exclude welfare recipients from his residences. (Sep 2015)
Food stamps should be temporary; not a decade on the dole. (Dec 2011)
Apply welfare-to-work to 76 other welfare programs. (Dec 2011)
Let “saints” help teen moms; restrict public assistance. (Jul 2000)

Campaign

• Jobs program for inner city youth.
• Obamacare repeal and replacement. Eliminate the individual mandate. Block-grant Medicaid to the states.---------------]

• Johnson:

History

Impose gross income cap on welfare recipients. (Jul 2011)
Maintain federal Social Services Block Grant funding. (Sep 2001)
Maintain flexibility & funding levels for TANF block grants. (Sep 2001)

Campaign

• Create a more efficient system of providing work visas, conducting background checks, and incentivizing non-citizens to pay their taxes, obtain proof of employment, and otherwise assimilate.
• Rid laws and taxes that syphon the resources businesses use to create jobs. Stop the government from engaging in social and economic engineering. 
• End the failed war on drugs.---------------]

• Stein:

History

Millions thrown off food stamps because they can't find work. (Jan 2016)
Economic human rights: food, water, & housing. (Jun 2015)
Right to affordable housing: expand rental & home assistance. (Jan 2012)
Don't prevent church-based welfare, but not as substitute. (Dec 2011)
Affordable housing & community development. (Nov 2001)

Campaign

• -Green New Deal, a four part vast program including an economic bill of rights, a transition from an oil based economy to one based on green energy, financial reform and a functional democracy
• Create 20 million green jobs in sustainable energy, mass transit, sustainable organic agriculture, clean manufacturing and improved infrastructure.
• Set a $15/hour federal minimum wage, with indexing.
• Rewrite the entire tax code to be truly progressive.
• Replace unemployment offices with employment offices. Create direct public employment, as the Works Progress Administration did
• Eliminate health insurance. Establish “Medicare for All” single-payer public health program. Free universal child care.
• Demilitarize police, Establish police review boards so communities control their police. Require independent outside legal representatives to investigate and prosecute any killing or brutality by the police.
• Tuition-free, world-class public education from pre-school through university. Abolish student debt. Offer grants and funding to encourage metropolitan desegregation plans. 
• End the failed war on drugs. Replace drug prohibition with harm reduction. Legalize marijuana/hemp. Treat substance abuse as a health problem, not a criminal offense. Release nonviolent drug offenders from prison, removing such offenses from their records, and provide them with both pre- and post-release support
• Guarantee access to food, water, housing, and utilities, with effective anti-poverty programs. Establish right to a living wage job.
• Desegregate housing. End zoning laws that prohibit multi-family housing. Prohibit landlords from refusing Section 8 vouchers. Increase Section 8 voucher amounts. Prohibit use of Low Income Housing Tax Credits to increase low income housing in already segregated neighborhoods. Build new public housing in middle income communities. Offer capital grants to non-profit developers of affordable housing until all people can obtain decent housing at no more than 25% of their income. Immediate moratorium on foreclosures and evictions. Take over distressed mortgages, and either restructure loans or rent to the current occupants.
• Nationalize the Federal Reserve Banks placing them under a Federal Monetary Authority. Introduce federal, state, and municipal publicly-owned banks that function as non-profit utilities.---------------]