What are the political positions of the Clinton-Kaine ticket?

What are the political positions of the US presidential candidates on some the main campaign issues?

Hillary Clinton

• - Lawyer
• - 68 years old
• - Democrat candidate for US presidency

• - Secretary of State 2009-2013
• - New York Senator 2001-2009
• - US First Lady 1993-2001

Economy

For:

• - raising the federal minimum wage
• - tax breaks for companies that improve employee profit-sharing or have apprenticeship programs
• - raising tax on higher-incomes
• - encouraging long-term investment by increasing capital gains for assets held between one and six years
• - was formerly in favour of TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) but no longer supports it

Health

• - will protect and expand social security
• - wants paid leave for families and medical leave
• - supports all health programs (Obamacare, Medicare, Medicaid…) and wants to expand some parts of them
• - will reduce the price of prescription drugs
• - will allow access to health insurance regardless of immigration status

Foreign policy

• - strong supporter of Israel
• - for a nuclear deal with Iran
• - for coalition air campaign and an intelligence war against ISIS
• - for investing in reform and innovation in military
• - for Iraq war in 2003 but now expresses regret

Education

• - for access to a public university in own state without taking on any student debt
• - wants all community colleges to offer free tuition
• - creation of a fund to help minority-serving institutions
• - for helping student parents
• - for a national plan to modernise the teaching profession
• - for making computer science available to all students
• - Wants to rebuild old, damaged schools
• - for universal pre-school and increased access to child care

Immigration

• - creation of a “pathway to full and equal citizenship”
• - against family detention
• - for closing private immigration detention centers
• - for promoting naturalisation
• - against the three and 10-year bars

Climate

• - sees climate change as an urgent threat
• - for boosting the production and use of renewable energy, natural gas and nuclear energy
• - for energy waste cuts
• - for oil consumption cuts and for cutting tax subsidies to oil and gas companies
• - for extending the Clean Power Plan (Barack Obama)

Religion

• - Methodist (Protestant)

Abortion

• - for safe and legal abortion
• - for protecting access to contraception and reproductive healthcare for women

LGBT

• - for full equality for LGBT Americans, including marriage
• - will upgrade service records of Americans in the military who were dismissed due to their sexual orientation
• - vows to make it easier for transgender Americans to change their gender marker on identification documents
• - will end so-called conversion therapy for minors, combat youth homelessness by ensuring adequate funding for shelters

Tobacco and cannabis

• - for medical marijuana and for allowing medical research on the medical benefits of cannabis
• - for focusing “federal enforcement resources on violent crime, not simple marijuana possession”
• - will allow any States who have legalised marijuana to keep on doing so

Guns

• - for expanding background checks to more gun sales
• - wants to take on the gun lobby by removing legal protection for illegal and irresponsible actions
• - against gun sales to terrorists, criminals, domestic abusers, the severely mentally ill

Tim Kaine

• - 58 years old
• - Virginia Senator since 2013
• - Governor of Virginia from 2006 to 2010
• - Democratic vice-president candidate
• - He endorsed Barack Obama in the 2008 campaign, announcing his support as early as February 2007
• - A fluent Spanish speaker, he is the first US senator to deliver a speech in Spanish in front of the Senate

Economy

• - in favour of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TTP) until recently, but then changed his stance and declared that he could not support the agreement in its current form
• - for a nuclear deal with Iran
• - for the regulation of the financial industry, notably through the Consumer Protection Act and the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform
• - defended the extension of emergency unemployment insurance benefits in Virginia

Health

• - in favour of Medicare and Medicaid
• - puts particular emphasis on preventive care: “maybe we should be a little more focused on health and a little less on the hospitals”

Foreign policy

• - pro-Israel but boycotted Netanyahu’s 2015 speech to congress over the Iran nuclear deal
• - for the normalisation of US-Cuban relations
• - called for the creation of safe zones to protect Syrian civilians in the war against the Islamic State
• - for the international nuclear agreement with Iran

Education

• - supported the Every Student Succeeds Act, which is aimed at giving states more flexibility to set education policies and at de-emphasising standardised testing without taking on any student debt
• - for making college “debt-free for everybody”
• - for all children starting school at age four

Immigration

• - for the expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, offering temporary relief from deportation to children immigrants
• - defends a comprehensive immigration reform, allowing persons illegally living in the US to obtain legal status by paying taxes and a fine
• - wishes to promote the immigration of foreign students by making it easier for them to obtain Green Cards

Climate

• - acknowledges the scientific consensus on climate change
• - condemns those who claim that there is an opposition between economic and environmental concerns, arguing that “protecting the environment is good for the economy”
• - for the development of offshore wind turbines and solar energy
• - for the use of fracking to harvest natural gas

Religion

• - raised catholic and educated by Jesuits
• - speaks openly about his faith: “My faith is central to everything I do”
• - believes women should be allowed to become priests

Abortion

• - personally against abortion but does not believe it should be outlawed
• - for legal restrictions on abortion, such as requiring parental consent for minors

LGBT

• - for gay marriage: “I believe all people, regardless of sexual orientation, should be guaranteed equal rights, including the legal benefits and responsibilities of marriage”
• - co-sponsored the Employment Non-Discrimination Act in the Senate, aiming at barring employment discrimination on sexual orientation grounds
• - for homosexual couples being allowed to adopt children, providing a “judge deems it is in the best interests of the child”

Tobacco and cannabis

• - against the decriminalisation or legalisation of marijuana: “I wouldn’t vote for a law at the federal or state level that would decriminalise marijuana”
• - received an “F” in the grades given to members of congress by the National Organization for Reforming Marijuana Laws (NORML)

Guns

• - supporter of the right to bear arms guaranteed by the Second Amendment
• - believes nonetheless that concrete steps should be taken to reduce gun violence, such as mental health services and background record checks prior to gun purchases