Hillary Clinton on Social Issues- Ava B.

      Hillary Clinton is one of the candidate's most in touch with the needs of everyday people. One issue she has been consistently fighting for in the history of her career is the establishment of affordable health care for all. As her website states, "affordable health care is a basic human right" and every person- rich, middle class, or poorest of the poor- should have the opportunity to access it without trouble (https://www.hillaryclinton.com). While Clinton was First Lady of the United States some of the ways she worked to achieve affordable health care include being a driving force behind the foundation of the Children's Health Insurance Program that provides coverage to eight billion kids, as well as by pushing the Bush Administration to grant $20 billion in funds for meeting the medical care needs of first responders to the 9/11 terrorist attacks (www.hillaryclinton.com) . Through her proactivity, Clinton demonstrates the understanding of the problems Americans can encounter based off of socio-economic status and the need to ease those problems with affordable health care.

     Another continuous stance Hillary Clinton has taken to meet the needs of our society by doing what she believes would improve safety is having the government tighten up on gun control. Back in 2008 when she was running for President first she stated: "I respect the Second Amendment. I respect the rights of lawful gun owners to own guns, to use their guns, but I also believe that most lawful gun owners whom I have spoken with for many years across our country also want to be sure that we keep those guns out of the wrong hands. And as president, I will work to try to bridge this divide, which I think has been polarizing and, frankly, doesn’t reflect the common sense of the American people. We will strike the right balance to protect the constitutional right but to give people the feeling & the reality that they will be protected from guns in the wrong hands" (2008 Philadelphia primary debate). Today she still feels the same; the goal is to let the government set in place more restrictions to get gun licenses and buy guns so that law abiding, good citizens can possess guns but crazy or violent people will not. All in all Hillary's stance on both of these issues show her connection to the general public that does not compare to the other candidates in the race.

Social Issues- Chelsea Filippi

Issue #1- College Tuition

a. Hillary Clinton feels that colleges and universities should be accountable to control tuition so everyone can afford it and leave college with some type of degree. Another view is that she wants to make community colleges free. She also will encourage families who have issues affording the tuition to come up with some kind of contribution in order to pay.
b. I do agree with Hillary's ideas about college tuition because there are families who have issues affording college tuition for their kids. By working with colleges and universities all across the country, Hillary could help make all colleges and universities affordable for all citizens who want to go to college and earn a degree.
c. I feel like this factor would not be a deciding factor for my vote, but I feel that this is a very good idea for people in the United States who can't afford to go to college and want a degree.

Issue #2- Healthcare

a. Hillary wants to spread affordable healthcare all across America for everyone. She kept fighting for a healthcare reform when Congress denied it. Without her, the Children's Healthcare Insurance Program would not be around. Also, according to hillaryclinton.com, after 9/11, Hillary pushed "for $20 billion for recovery and to address health care needs of first responders who suffered lasting health effects from their time at Ground Zero." She wants to lower the cost of prescription drugs and out-of-pocket costs like copays.
b. I agree with this idea because I feel that healthcare is a serious issue in the United States and I feel that it is crucial to lower important things such as prescription drugs because it is sometimes difficult for people to afford them.
c. I feel like this is a factor that would be a deciding factor because healthcare is a serious issue that affects millions of people across the United States, and that some sort of action should be taken to enhance this issue.

Source: https://www.hillaryclinton.com/ 

Social Issues-Chris Ortiz

College Tuition
Hillary Clinton is offering a plan for paying for college without needing loans. She is advocating for a virtually debt-free college experience. Her proposal would cost $350 billion over a 10 year span and it would allow students to go through college without the fear of overwhelming college debt. As stated by Robert Shireman, “The compact proposed by Hillary Clinton is a strong starting point for a discussion that zeros in on the issues that are in the public mind and have been raised by leaders in both parties: accountability, outcomes, college costs, and manageable loan repayment.”

Education
Hillary Clinton wants families to be more involved in their children's lives in addition to a better school system. She once said, "I want a partnership among families and students, schools and teachers and our government. Our families have to be their child’s first school & every parent has to understand they are their child’s first teacher. And we need to help parents do that job. That’s why I started Early Head Start. That’s why I expanded Head Start when I was first lady. That’s why I want to have universal free kindergarten for every single four-year-old, because if we give that opportunity, they will stay in school longer & they will do better." (http://www.ontheissues.org/Archive/2007_NAACP_Primary_Hillary_Clinton.htm) She also wants more teachers to be hired for the betterment of learning, as stated, "We’re facing a critical teacher shortage-we’re going to have to recruit more teachers. But I agree with the NEA president that there’s not only a teacher shortage, there’s a respect shortage and a salary shortage as well. There is no way in today’s complicated, information-overdrive world that we’re going to get and keep those in the teaching profession to carry on the tradition of public education, unless [they] receive the salaries that [their] important work deserves. We’re going to have to recruit more teachers. I agree with the President’s proposal that we expand the already successful Troops to Teachers program." (http://www.ontheissues.org/Archive/2007_NAACP_Primary_Hillary_Clinton.htm) Clinton advocates for a school environment where students are given all the resources they need to have a good future.

Social Issues-Noah S.

Hillary Clinton wants families to not be in debt due to college tuition. Loans as we all know are extremely expensive. Clinton does not propose to end all of college tuition costs, but wishes to lower them. Families might still have to take out loans, however over the next ten years, according to the New York Times Clinton says "the government needs to spend at least 350 billion dollars in taxes towards costs."  Mrs. Clinton believes these taxes should go to the upper class. On top of this, 175 million dollars will go out to states for colleges grants. This sounds like a good plan, but does not seem like a fair and efficient way to pay for colleges. I may want free college tuition, but wealthy should not be taxed because of it.

Hillary Clinton on Groups and their Rights- Ava B.

     One of the major groups in American society that is taking a stand to make demands known is our vast Latino population: they are calling for immigration reform. They want to be able to come to the United States for better work and a better life without having to feel like they are "second-class status" as Hillary Clinton called it. With that being said, clearly Clinton does wish to meet their needs with immigration reform in which a "pathway to citizenship" is established for law abiding immigrant families and "extend protections against deportation to the parents of Dreamers, the young undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children" (huffingtonpost.com). Hillary and the Latino population here in America have long had a relationship of mutual support. Latino voters are happy that she is a candidate recognizing their struggle and fighting against the harsh ideas of deporting all 11 million undocumented immigrants (customary of Donald Trump) and creating a way to become legal citizens of the country or at least keep loved ones in the United States, whether it be the voters' parents, grandparents, or even children. I agree with Hillary Clinton's plan to help Latinos through immigration reform because I think that the Latino population works hard in jobs that do not generally make a lot of money but fuel major moneymaking industries in our society and economy so they should be able to eventually become citizens, too.

LGBTQ- Clinton (Chelsea)

1) The LGBTQ is a group that believes in equal rights for lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders and queers. LGBTQ works hard to fight for rights for equal rights for people who tend to be different based on sexuality. Even though the Supreme Court passed a law that states that gay marriage is equal throughout the United States, people who are gay are still being criticized and abused for being who they are. They are trying to advocate laws that will protect everyone's rights and dignity.

2) Hillary Clinton does have plan for the LGBTQ. She plans on continuing to fight for equality for all. She helped push for the Supreme Court to rule for gay marriage all over the country, but knows that she must continue to fight to eradicate discrimination that the LGBTQ faces everyday. She also supports the Equality Act, which would provide federal equality for every LGBTQ American.

3) I agree with my candidate's plan because I feel that everyone should have equal rights no matter what one's sexuality is. No one should be discriminated because they like someone who is the same sex or if they are trangender.

Muslims-Hillary (iman)

Islam is known to be the world fastest growing religion. It will leap from 1.6 billion (in 2010) to 2.76 billion by 2050, according to the Pew study. At that time, Muslims will make up nearly one-third of the world's total population of about 9 billion people. Although this is the world's fastest growing faith, it is discriminated against, especially in America, post 9/11/ 2001. Due to the terrorist attack of 9/11 in New York City, a specific hatred had spread for Muslims all around the world. Till this very day, Muslim-Americans of all ages and races report about experiencing suspicion and discrimination such as my family, my friends, and myself. Muslims are being stopped at airports, they are closely watched by the FBI and CIA, and experience many hardships of discrimination. This is an issue that is under-looked and awareness needs to be made. Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton does not have any perspective on this issue.