Hillary Clinton

"Don't let anybody tell you that, ah, you know, it's corporations and businesses that create jobs," she preached, to loud applause. "You know that old theory, trickle-down economics. That has been tried, that has failed. It has failed rather spectacularly."

"We know we’ve got to maintain programs that are there to help people in need, but look at what’s happened over the space of the last seven years. The average African American family has lost $2,600 in income. Compare that to the prior 8 years, the typical African American family went up $7,600 during the 1990s. We know we’ve got to attack poverty by making sure the economy works for everybody." ; Hillary’s work and interviews led her to conclude she had been too idealistic and simplistic in her expectations and that the programs would not make a lasting difference unless large infusions of outside funding and expertise, particularly by the federal government, were utilized. When in the White House, Hillary said, “I argued that Alinsky was right. Even at that early stage I was against all these people who came up with these big government programs that were more supportive of bureaucracies than actually helpful to people.”

Clinton, who had tried and failed to push through a single payer healthcare system as First Lady, has defended the Affordable Care Act before, even while acknowledging some of its faults. “I think we are on the right track in many respects but I would be the first to say if things aren’t working then we need people of good faith to come together and make evidence-based changes,” Clinton said at a healthcare event in Orlando, Fla.

Hillary Clinton, the secretary of state, signals shift by the US in favor of the International Criminal Court but was strenuously opposed by the Bush administration. Clinton, speaking at a public meeting in Kenya indicated she hoped this would come sooner rather than later: "This is a great regret that we are not a signatory. I think we could have worked out some of the challenges that are raised concerning our membership. But that has not yet come to pass."

In 2009 Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that the U.S. was prepared to provide a global missile “defense umbrella."

"I do favor much more border patrolling and much more technology on both of our borders, and in certain areas, even a physical barrier, because I think we’ve got to secure our borders. That has to be part of comprehensive immigration reform. … We want to work in a bipartisan way to have comprehensive reform--employer verification, more help for local communities so that they can pay for schooling and hospital and other expenses that they have to bear because of the immigration crisis." Source: 2007 Democratic primary debate on Univision in Spanish , Sep 9, 2007; When questioned on allowing sanctuary cities to disobey the federal law: "Well, I don’t think there is any choice. The local police chief trying to solve a crime might know people from the immigrant community have information about it, but they may not talk to you if they think you’re also going to be enforcing the immigration laws. Local law enforcement has a different job than federal immigration enforcement. The problem is the federal government has totally abdicated its responsibility." Source: 2007 Democratic primary debate at Dartmouth College , Sep 6, 2007

Clinton called for universal and automatic voter registration and a 20-day (or more) period of early voting in every state, before every election. Clinton's speech identified the work of protecting and expanding voting rights as a critical part of her campaign... Clinton talked about the fact that African Americans consistently rank among the most deeply affected by the contours of Voter ID laws, must wait in the longest lines on Election Day and cast ballots at polling sites that very often house fewer machines and poll workers than other sites. That, Clinton told the crowd, “is no accident.”

In September 2010, while meeting with Netanyahu, Clinton said the US has an obligation to do all it can to “protect and defend the State of Israel and provide security to the Israeli people.” She condemned Palestinian terrorism and advocated for Israel’s right to defend itself.

“I would do everything possible under the law to go even further — there are more people, like many parents of DREAMers, and others with deep ties and contributions to our communities who deserve a chance to stay, and I would fight for them,” Clinton said Tuesday; If Congress does not pass legislation that would deem those who sell significant numbers of guns at gun shows and online to be required to operate under the same laws that apply to gun stores, Clinton would take executive action to do that under her plan.

Citing a number of shootings that arose from minor arguments over loud music or texting, she drew a comparison: "That's what happens in the countries I've visited where there is no rule of law and no self-control." She added: "That is something that we cannot just let go without paying attention." "We've got to rein in what has become an almost article of faith that anybody can have a gun anywhere, anytime," she said. "And I don't believe that is in the best interest of the vast majority of people."

2013: “L.G.B.T. Americans are our colleagues, our teachers, our soldiers, our friends, our loved ones, and they are full and equal citizens and deserve the rights of citizenship. That includes marriage,” Mrs. Clinton said in a video released by Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights advocacy group. 2014: “For me, marriage had always been a matter left to the states. And in many of the conversations that I and my colleagues and supporters had I fully endorsed the efforts by activists to work state by state. And in fact that is what is working,” Mrs. Clinton said in an interview with NPR. 2015: "Hillary Clinton supports marriage equality and hopes the Supreme Court will come down on the side of same-sex couples being guaranteed that constitutional right," said Adrienne Elrod, a Clinton spokeswoman.

Hillary Rodham Clinton pressed Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson to veto a religious objections bill in her former home state, warning it would allow "unfair discrimination" against gays and lesbians.

Clinton initially responded to the question about how to fix the U.S. educational system by praising Common Core. She then said that families today are too “negative” about the current system, a system Clinton described as “the most important non-family enterprise” in the country. After noting what she described as “unfortunate” opposition to Common Core, Hillary Clinton also dismissed the concerns of Common Core opponents by saying they just “do not understand the value” of the controversial top-down curriculum.

Hillary Clinton does not like voucher programs. While she does support school choice as it exists as a form of public education, Clinton has always been opposed to allowing public funds to be used toward private and religious schools. As a New York Senator, Hillary Clinton voted against voucher programs in the state in 2001.

In Mrs. Clinton's Senate race in 2000, Mrs. Clinton stated that the posting of the Ten Commandments in public schools is a violation the Constitutional separation between church and state.

Voted NO on banning partial birth abortions except for maternal life. Reference: Bill S.3 ; vote number 2003-51 on Mar 12, 2003 ; Voted NO on criminal penalty for harming unborn fetus during other crime. Reference: Unborn Victims of Violence Act; Bill S.1019/HR.1997 ; vote number 2004-63 on Mar 25, 2004 ; Voted NO on notifying parents of minors who get out-of-state abortions. Reference: Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act; Bill S.403 ; vote number 2006-216 on Jul 25, 2006

“Rights have to exist in practice — not just on paper,” Clinton argued. “Laws have to be backed up with resources and political will. And deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed,:

Hillary Rodham Clinton is denouncing legislative efforts in Indiana and Arkansas that supporters say protect religious expression and opponents say discriminate against gay people…Clinton called it "sad" that Indiana would approve the law, which like the 1993 version is called the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is warning members of the U.S. House that she will personally urge pro-abortion President Barack Obama to veto a State Department funding bill over cuts to groups that perform and promote abortions.; CLINTON: "I have seen excerpts from them(the videos). And I have certainly read about them. And what I am troubled by are the misleading, inaccurate allegations about them that we heard from Republicans at their debate. This is really an attack on Planned Parenthood, which provides a lot of health services, from cancer screenings , to contraceptive services, to so many other of the needs women have."

Clinton: “I’m a big believer in acquiring evidence, and I think we should see what kind of results we get, both from medical marijuana and from recreational marijuana before we make any far-reaching conclusions,” Clinton said. “We need more studies. We need more evidence. And then we can proceed.”

Senate Voting Record Snapshot: YES on the CLEAN Energy Act of 2007, YES on the amendment to prevent export of oil and gas produced in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in 2005, YES on an amendment to ban drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, NO on the Energy Policy Act of 2003, YES on the Cantwell amendment to the Energy Policy Act of 2003 to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil imports by 40 percent by 2025; Energy Policy as Secretary of State: Clinton’s State Department took steps to try and facilitate the export of hydraulic fracturing technology, to enable allies with promising shale geologies to replicate the U.S. oil and gas production boom; referred to natural gas as a “bridge fuel” as part of the transition from coal to renewable energy; Her energy diplomacy platform included vocal concern about geopolitical and economic risks driven by climate change.

Clinton was raised in the First United Methodist Church in Park Ridge, Illinois, and wrote in her book It Takes a Village and Other Lessons Children Teach Us that "religion figures in my earliest memories of my family. Our spiritual life as a family was spirited and constant. We talked with God, walked with God, ate, studied and argued with God. Each night, we knelt by our beds to pray before we went to sleep." "The Church was a critical part of my growing up, and in preparing for this event, I almost couldn't even list all the ways it influenced me, and helped me develop as a person, not only on my own faith journey, but with a sense of obligations to others," she said at the 1996 United Methodist Convention.