The LuLac Edition #3306, September 25th, 2016

7 SUNDAYS

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(This is a 7 part series on the major issues in this Presidential election and where the candidates stand. The information is directly from each candidate’s website. The order of appearance will vary from week to week because we will use a coin toss to determine what candidate’s views will appear first).

09/25/16

NATIONAL SECURITY

CLINTON

As secretary of state, Hillary Clinton worked to restore America’s leadership in the world after it was badly eroded by eight years of the Bush administration’s go-it-alone foreign policy. She oversaw significant accomplishments, from building a global coalition to impose cripplingsanctions against Iran, to brokering a ceasefire in Gaza and protecting Israel, to supporting President Obama’s decision to bring Osama bin Laden to justice, and much more. Defending America and our core values is one of the cornerstones of Hillary’s campaign.
As president, Hillary will:
Ensure we are stronger at home. We are strongest overseas when we are strongest at home. That means investing in our infrastructure, education, and innovation—the fundamentals of a strong economy. She will also work to reduce income inequality, because our country can’t lead effectively when so many are struggling to provide the basics for their families. Read more here.
Stick with our allies. From the Middle East and Asia to Europe and our own hemisphere, Hillary will strengthen the essential partnerships that are a unique source of America’s strength. Hillary knows that NATO is one of the best investments that America has ever made. And she’ll continue to support Israel’s ability to defend itself, including by ensuring its Qualitative Military Edge, and oppose efforts to marginalize Israel on the world stage while supporting efforts to bring about a two-state solution. Read more here. Hillary also will invest in partnerships in Latin America, Africa, and Asia with people and nations who share our values and vision for the future.
Embrace all the tools of American power, especially diplomacy and development, to be on the front lines solving problems before they threaten us at home. Diplomacy is often the only way to avoid a conflict that could end up exacting a much greater cost. It takes patience, persistence, and an eye on the long game—but it’s worth it. This includes:
Preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. Hillary will vigorously enforce the nuclear agreement with Iran and implement a broader strategy to confront Iran’s bad behavior in the region, particularly the threat it poses to Israel. Read more here.
Building stronger ties between Cubans and Americans. Hillary supports President Obama’s initiative to re-establish diplomatic relations with Cuba and calls on Congress to lift the embargo, while continuing to press for reforms. Read more here.
Be firm but wise with our rivals. Countries like Russia and China often work against us. Hillary has gone toe-to-toe with Russia and China and many other different leaders around the world. She knows we have to be able to both stand our ground when we must, and find common ground when we can.
Stand up to Vladimir Putin. Hillary has gone toe-to-toe with Putin before, and she’ll do it again. She’ll stand shoulder to shoulder with our European allies and push back on and deter Russian aggression in Europe and beyond, and increase the costs to Putin for his actions.
Hold China accountable. Hillary will work with allies to promote strong rules of the road and institutions in Asia, and press China to play by the rules—including in cyberspace, on currency, human rights, trade, territorial disputes, and climate change—and hold it accountable if it does not, while working with China where it is in our interest. Read morehere.
Have a real plan for confronting terrorists. The threat we face from terrorism is real, urgent, and knows no boundaries. Hillary has laid out a comprehensive plan to defeat ISIS by: taking out ISIS’s stronghold in Iraq and Syria, working with our allies to dismantle global terror networks, and hardening our defenses at home. Read more here.
Hillary has a record of defending America and our core values:
She built the toughest sanctions regime in history on Iran—twisting arms in China, Russia, and dozens of other countries—to force Iran to the negotiating table. And when pressure started working, she sent her closest aides to explore a deal that would cut off Iran’s path to a nuclear weapon.
She personally negotiated an end to Hamas rockets raining down on Israel in 2012 and worked to build stronger defense programs for Israel, including upgrading the Iron Dome rocket defense system, which has saved the lives of so many Israelis.
She fought to make women’s rights a priority in international relations. She stood up against sex trafficking of women and children, intervened in Saudi Arabia to stop child marriage, and led the fight for a U.N. Security Council resolution to combat sexual violence against women and children around the world that passed unanimously.

NATIONAL SECURITY

TRUMP

Trump supports increasing military spending, opposes the Iran nuclear arms deal, and believes that illegal immigration is a serious national security concern.
“I just wanna say that we're gonna come out with some plans in a very short time. We're gonna be building up our military, we're gonna make our military so big and so strong and so great and it will be so powerful that I don't think we're ever going to have to use it. Nobody's gonna mess with us, that I can tell you, and we're going to have a president who's respected by Putin, who's respected by Iran, y'know?
Let's talk about, for two seconds, let's talk about the Iran deal. Now, Obama, Obama and his people call him the Supreme Leader, of Iran. Obama talks about the Supreme Leader. Well, I'm not calling him a supreme leader, but he said the other day that after this rip-off deal is completed he will never touch, do business with, the United States again. “We're finished with the United States.” They're taking a hundred and fifty billion dollars, they're getting a deal that's gonna need - it's gonna go right into nuclear weapons, much sooner than you think. They're gonna self police, think of that one, they are going to go and self police. They got the twenty-four - they have twenty-four day provisions - and by the way, what people don't understand, the twenty-four day provision doesn't start, you know this right? It doesn't start for a long time before you get to it. The clock is ticking, it can take forever, we may never get in there. It is one of the dumbest deals and one of the weakest contracts I've ever seen of any kind. So, we are gonna do things in this country right! We're not gonna sign deals where we have four prisoners over there, and they're still there, and we don't even ask if one of them is there because he's a Christian. We have a writer, we have - the whole thing is absolutely insane. You know they asked the President, and they asked Secretary of State Kerry, who may be - you know I've been saying Hillary Clinton is the worst Secretary of State in the history of this country, right? Alright, I've been saying it, but it's possible - the world blew up around her, it blew up, the whole world is like a different place. It's possible that because of this deal, made by Secretary Kerry, who has absolutely no clue how to negotiate, it may be that he's going to supersede, and I understand that he may wanna run for President. He has no chance like she has no chance, so we're gonna see what happens.
We have many problems in our country, one of them is immigration. Now, I took a tremendous hit when I brought up illegal immigration when I announced I was running for president. And for two weeks I said - you know Rush Limbaugh, who's a great guy, he said - he has suffered more incoming, meaning the press, than anybody I have ever seen. So what happened is you have now found out what illegal immigration is all about, and I am so happy that I'm the one that brought it to the fore, because believe me it's a big problem. It is a big problem.”