Candidates on the issues

Candidates on the issues

MARCO RUBIO:

student debt: “I think we should create alternatives to student loans to let employers pay for education and graduates…pay back a percentage of earnings.”

immigration: “I am the son and the grandson of immigrants, and I know that securing our borders is not anti-immigrant, and we will do it…We will finish the 700 miles of fencing and walls our nation needs…We are not going to round up and deport 12 million people, but we’re not going around handing out citizenship cards either.”

health care: “Instead of relying on an outdated, big-government approach, I will utilize modern, consumer-centered reforms that lower costs, embrace innovation in health-care and actually increase choices and improve quality of care.”

women’s rights: “It’s not because I want to tell anybody what to do with their bodies or their lives, but because I believe that one of the fundamental rights given to us by our creator is the right to live.”

jobs: “The jobs that once sustained our middle class, they either don’t pay enough or they are gone, and we need someone that understands that as our nominee.”

diversity: “(The Republican Party is) the party of diversity, not the Democratic party.”

Supreme Court justice: “There should not be Supreme Court nominees put into lifetime positions for a president that you’re not going to be able to hold accountable at the ballot box.”

JOHN KASICH: 

student debt: “For those that have these big high costs, I think we can seriously look at an idea of what you can do…legitimate public service and begin to pay off some of that debt through the public service that you do.”

immigration: “The 14th Amendment makes it clear that when you’re born here, you become a citizen…We do need to build the fence to protect our border, have reasonable guest worker programs so people can come in and out…lawbreakers go to prison or are deported, and the rest of the people pay a fine. (Immigrants) wait and they can be legalized.”

health care: “I don’t support Obamacare; I want to repeal it. But I did expand Medicaid because I was able to bring Ohio money back home to treat the mentally ill, the drug-addicted and help the working poor get health care.”

women’s rights: “How did I get elected? I didn’t have anybody for me. I just got an army of people and many women who left their kitchens to go out and go door to door and to put yard signs up for me.”

jobs: “We had enormous job growth. And as governor of Ohio, we went from 350,000 lost jobs to a gain of 347,000 jobs. I’ll do it in Washington. I’ve done it twice; I’ll do it thrice for the United States of America.”

diversity: “I don’t look at things from the standpoint of any of these sort of metrics that people tend to focus on: race, or age, or any of those things. It’s not the way I look at things.”

Supreme Court justice: “That’s (the Senate’s) decision. As the governor of Ohio, I have to deal with legislators and their decisions, and I don’t try to tell them what to do.”

TED CRUZ: 

student debt: “(I) took over $100,000 in school loans, loans I suspect a lot of y’all can relate to, loans that I’ll point out I just paid off a few years ago.”

immigration: “I will halt any increase in legal immigration so long as American unemployment remains unacceptably high.”

health care: “I don’t think it’s government’s job to find health care for people. I think it’s the individual’s job to find health care.”

women’s rights: “I have been proud to fight and stand for religious liberty, to stand against Planned Parenthood, to defend life for my entire career.”

jobs: “Young people coming out of school, with student loans up to their eyeballs, will find instead of no jobs — two, three, four, five job opportunities. How will that happen? Through tax reform.”

diversity: “Today’s Democratic party has become so radicalized for legalizing gay marriage in all 50 states that there is no longer any room for religious liberty.”

Supreme Court justice: “It has been 80 years since a Supreme Court vacancy was nominated and confirmed in an election year. There is a long tradition that you don’t do this in an election year.”

HILLARY CLINTON: 

student debt: “We should have debt-free college if you go to a public college or university. You should not have to borrow a dime to pay tuition. I disagree with free college for everybody. I don’t think taxpayers should be paying to send Donald Trump’s kids to college.”

immigration: “I will stand up against any effort to deport dreamers. Immigrants are vital to our economy.”

health care: “As president, I’ll defend the Affordable Care Act, build on its successes and go even further to reduce costs. My plan will crack down on drug companies charging excessive prices, slow the growth of out-of-pocket costs, and provide a new credit to those facing high health expenses.”

women’s rights: “If fighting for equal pay and women’s rights is playing the gender card, then deal me in.”

jobs: “We need to raise pay, create good-paying jobs and build an economy that works for everyone — not just those at the top.”

diversity: “We are a country built by immigrants, and our diversity makes us stronger as a nation — it’s something to be proud of, celebrate and defend.”

Supreme Court justice: “The president has a responsibility to nominate a new justice, and the Senate has a responsibility to vote.”

Bernie Sanders:

Student debt: “When we talk about free public education in America, it shouldn’t mean just K through 12. It should mean free tuition to public universities and colleges all over the nation.”

Immigration: “The growth of the immigrant detention, deportation machine and the expansion of broader militarization has perpetuated unjust policies and resulted in the separation of hundreds of thousands of immigrant families. The goal is to bring families together, not to separate them.”

Health care: “What the United States should do is join every other major nation and recognize that health care is a right of citizenship. A Medicare-for-all, single-payer system would provide better care at less cost for more Americans.”

Women’s rights: “The current attempt to discredit Planned Parenthood is part of a long-term smear campaign by people who want to deny women in this country the right to control their own bodies. Let’s be clear: Federal funding for Planned Parenthood does not pay for abortions. The vast majority of government funding that Planned Parenthood receives is through Medicaid reimbursements.”

Jobs: “One trillion dollars in investment over five years will create 13 million decent-paying jobs, and that is what I plan to do.”

Diversity: “Black lives, of course, matter. I spent 50 years of my life fighting for civil rights and for dignity.”

Supreme Court justice: “I very much hope that President Obama will bring forth a strong nominee, and that we can get that nominee confirmed as soon as possible.”

Donald Trump: 

Health care: “I would end Obamacare and replace it with something terrific, for far less money for the country and for the people.”

Immigration: “I will build a great wall — and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me — and I’ll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words.”

Women’s rights: “I cherish women.”

Abortion: “I’m very pro-choice. I hate the concept of abortion. I hate it. I hate everything it stands for. I cringe when I listen to people debating the subject.”

Student debt: “I’m going to solve the problem, OK?”

Jobs: “I will be the greatest jobs president that God has ever created.”

Supreme Court justice: Would appoint “pro-life” justices who are “very conservative” and “like Judge Scalia.”

Diversity: “I have a great relationship with the blacks.”