Hillary Clinton: Campaign Issues

Updated February 21, 2017 | Factmonster Staff

Where she stands

2016 Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton
Source: Mathew Sumner for Associated Press

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Economy/Budget/Deficit/Taxes

  • Would focus on creating an economy of tomorrow, not yesterday
  • Believes that income inequality is slowing economic growth so the focus should be on creating jobs
  • Wants to strengthen families, focusing on early childhood education, equal pay opportunities for women, and economic development using private/public partnerships
  • Supports the estate tax and making the wealthiest American pay more estate tax by capping the per-person exemption at $3.5 million and setting the top rate at 45%.
  • Would work to change campaign financing
  • Supports free trade agreements, which she believes are more important than defense to maintain global leadership

Immigration

  • Believes immigrants keep America young and dynamic
  • Wants to introduce a path to earn citizenship in the first 100 days
  • Would focus on comprehensive reform, the bigger picture, not driver's licenses

Energy/Environment

  • Supports funding the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
  • Prioritizes reducing air pollution to improve children's health
  • Supports green-collar job training
  • Advocates a cap and trade system
  • Pushed to launch an EPA study of air quality at Ground Zero

Foreign Policy

  • Focused on women's rights in international policy, including supporting micro-loans to third world women
  • Supports end to Cuban embargo
  • Regrets that the U.S. is not part of International Criminal Court
  • Has said that China never fits neatly into a category like friend or rival
  • Supported Palestine in 1998, before Bill Clinton officially did
  • Believes the U.S. should take a harder line with Russia and Putin

Domestic Issues

  • Officially endorsed same-sex marriage in a 2013 Human Rights Campaign video, in which she said, "LGBT 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."
  • Consistently uses Democratic Party line on abortion, saying that it should be "safe, legal, and rare"
—Jennie Wood
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