Iraq
“I heard Senator Clinton say on Sunday that she wants to continue combat missions in Iraq. To me, that`s a continuation of the war. I do not think we should continue combat missions in Iraq. And when I`m on a stage with the Republican Nominee, come the fall of 2008, I`m going to make it clear that I`m for ending the war. And the debate will be between a Democrat who wants to bring the war to an end, get all the American combat troops out of Iraq and a Republican who wants to continue the war.”
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“I would have our combat troops out of Iraq over a period of several months and I would not continue combat missions in Iraq. Combat missions mean that the war is continuing. I believe this war needs to be brought to an end.”
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“What I have been saying for months, we ought to be right now withdrawing at least 40,000 troops so that we can send a clear signal, the Iraqis, to that part of the world, that we're not going to keep doing this for them and they're going to actually have to do it for themselves.”
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“And it's very important for the Congress to stand their ground. No timetable, no funding. That's exactly what the Congress should do.”
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"Congress should use its funding authority to force President Bush to end the war and start immediately bringing troops home from Iraq."
Other Foreign Policy Issues
“We ought to engage the Iranians and the Syrians directly into help stabilizing Iraq.”
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“I think that it's a very bad thing for Iran to get a nuclear weapon. I think we have many steps in front of us that have not been used. We ought to negotiate directly with the Iranians, which has not been done.”
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“Despite its importance to our national security, the United States still lacks a comprehensive strategy to fight global poverty. Our current effort has plenty of bureaucracy – over 50 separate U.S agencies are involved in the delivery of foreign assistance. What it lacks is efficiency and accountability. As President, I'll change that.”
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“The Israeli people not only have the right to defend themselves, they should defend themselves. They have an obligation to defend themselves.”
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“Cheney talks about there being a member, or someone associated with Al Qaida, in Iraq. There are 60 countries who have members of Al Qaida in them. How many of those countries are we going to invade? Not only that, he talks about Iran. The reality is that Iran has moved forward with their nuclear weapons program on their watch. They ceded responsibility to dealing with it to the Europeans. We need to strengthen the sanctions on Iran, including closing the loophole that allows companies to do business with Iran.”
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“To eliminate the threat from weapons of mass destruction, we must ensure countries such as Iraq and North Korea abide by their international obligations. That is why I supported authorizing the use of force to disarm Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and why I was so dismayed by the administration’s muddled response to the recent North Korea crisis.”
Climate Change/Energy
“People ought to have to pay that want to generate greenhouse gases.”
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“I also don't believe we should liquefy coal. The last thing we need is another carbon-based fuel in America. We need to find fuels that are in fact renewable, clean, and will allow us to address directly the question that has been raised, which is the issue of global warming, which I believe is a crisis.”
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“I've laid out a specific set of ideas about how to do that, reducing greenhouse gases by 80 percent by 2050 and transforming the way we use and produce energy in this country. . . . I do think we need a president who actually says to America, you have to be willing to sacrifice, who calls on Americans to sacrifice. Instead of making a bunch of promises about what the president is going to do, who says to America if you love your country, you need to be patriotic about something other than war. You need to say I'm willing to drive a more fuel-efficient vehicle and I'm willing to conserve in my home and workplace, because all of us have to do this together. That's real patriotism to say if we're going make America better and bigger and stronger and more independent and if we don't want to be driven by the addiction to oil and we want to actually preserve the planet, we have to do it together.”
Healthcare
“I have a very strong view about why we don't have universal health care. I think America doesn't have universal health care because of drug companies, insurance companies and their lobbyists in Washington, D.C. They stand between America and the universal health care that we need.”
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“Well, basically what I decided was, first, the only way to have universal coverage was to actually mandate it, in other words, to have a legal requirement that every man, woman, and child in America be covered.”
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“I've introduced a true universal health care plan to cover every man, woman and child in America – by the end of my first term as President. . . . My plan sets up health care markets around the country to give people a choice of good health care plans, including a choice between private and government plans. It provides access to preventive care. It creates efficiencies that don't exist today by dramatically lowering administrative costs. Under my plan, if you don't have health care, you will. If you have health care, your costs will go down.”
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“My proposal actually saves $120 billion to $130 billion a year by doing all those things. It has preventive care, chronic care, long- term care covered; requires electronic record keeping; requires the use of technology; puts limits on what insurance companies can charge for profit and overhead at 15 percent.”
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“You have to find the money to pay for universal health care. And I'll be the first to tell you, I pay for my plan by eliminating George Bush's tax cut for people who make over $200,000 a year.”
Education
“We should think of education as a birth-to-death experience in America. That means we get the kids as early as we possibly can, we head start basically 3- to 4-year-olds. That's not young enough. We can start much earlier, much more intensely but particularly focus on at-risk kids.”
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“I think that there's some very specific things we should do in K through 12 such as provide bonus pay—raise teacher pay, generally. Provide bonus pay to teachers that will go to the most difficult places. And we've got to I think dramatically change No Child Left Behind.”
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“The idea is for any young person in America who graduates from high school, qualifies to go to college, and commits to work while they're there, a minimum of 10 hours a week, we pay for their tuition and books. So the notion is knock down the barriers, don't give it away, make sure that young people who want to go to college and are committed to go to college are willing to work for it.”
Homeland Security
“…On the first day that I'm sworn in as president of the United States, I will close Guantanamo.”
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“The war on terror is a slogan designed only for politics, not a strategy to make America safe. It's a bumper sticker, not a plan. It has damaged our alliances and weakened our standing in the world. As a political "frame," it's been used to justify everything from the Iraq War to Guantanamo to illegal spying on the American people. It's even been used by this White House as a partisan weapon to bludgeon their political opponents. Whether by manipulating threat levels leading up to elections, or by deeming opponents "weak on terror," they have shown no hesitation whatsoever about using fear to divide.”
Family
“But we do believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman.”
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“But I believe that this is an issue that ought to be decided in the states. I think the federal government should honor whatever decision is made by the states. I would not support the Defense of Marriage Act today, if there were a vote today.”
Taxes/Fiscal Policy
“A few years ago, there was a registration fee put in place for veterans. Veterans were required to pay a $250 registration fee to get the healthcare they were entitled to. Men and women who have served this country, who have worn the uniform of the United States of America, asked to pay a registration fee to get healthcare? Let me tell you my view: they paid their registration fee when they put on the uniform of the United States of America.”
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“In other words, you make $80,000 a year, you're paying Social Security tax on every dime on your income. If you work on Wall Street, and you make $50 million a year, you pay Social Security tax on the first $97,000, no Social Security tax on the rest of it.
This is not right. And it's not fair. And what we need to do, in my judgment -- I don't -- to the point that Bill just made, I do think we need to have a bubble above that $97,000, probably up to about $200,000, so we don't raise taxes on middle-class families. But, above the $200,000, these millionaires on Wall Street ought to be paying their Social Security taxes.”
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“I have proposed a national predatory lending law, and it has a provision in it that at least I haven't heard from the other candidates, which is a cap on interest at 36 percent for payday lenders. Most of them charge far more than 36 percent. They charge 300, 400, 500 percent. They're preying on our most vulnerable families in this country. They need to be stopped. And we need to be willing to stand up to them. And also we need a home rescue fund. We're talking about mortgage foreclosures. We actually need a national home rescue fund to help people who've spent their entire lives investing in their home. For the vast majority of them it is the only real asset that they have. And they shouldn't lose that asset because they're being taken advantage of.”
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“The AMT was originally designed, the alternative minimum tax, to hit at high- income taxpayers who were using big tax loopholes to their advantage. Because they had accountants, they could take advantage of these things. So the notion actually was a very good one when it was originally enacted.
The problem is it's now hitting many middle class families. I think we are going to have to change it, number one. It's part from my perspective of a broader, comprehensive tax reform that is needed in America. I have spoken about some of it already -- getting rid of Bush's tax cuts for people who make over $200,000; not eliminating the estate tax, creating a $4 million exemption for all Americans from the estate tax, doing something about the capital gains rate.
I think it's all these things in combination that have to be looked at. The problem with asking just about the AMT alone is it's part of a bigger problem. We need serious comprehensive tax reform in America.”
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“I think we need tax cuts for the middle class. I, myself, have proposed tax cuts for the middle class, simple things like expansion of the child care tax credit, help with people being able to save.”
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“But I think we -- what we need to do is make sure that the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share and give additional tax relief to the middle class that's struggling every single day in the United States of America. And, last, low-income families, who also need additional tax relief, with expansion of the earned income tax credit.”
Illegal Immigration
"I believe that, first of all we have to have comprehensive immigration reform and for anybody in this country who is making an effort and on the path to obtaining American citizenship, yes, they should have a driver's license. If they're not making any effort to become an American citizen, and we have a system for doing that, my own personal view is, no, I would not give them a driver's license."
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“We’re going to ensure that every single person living in the United States of America has a completely achievable path to American citizenship so that they don’t live in the shadows.”
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