Topics in the News: HIV-AIDS
John Delaney on Health Care
: Jul 30, 2019
Medicare-for-All creates a two-tier market for healthcare
Sen. Bernie SANDERS: Medicare-for-all is comprehensive -- it covers all healthcare needs. For senior citizens it will finally include dental care, hearing aids and eyeglasses.DELANEY: The bill that Senator Sanders drafted, by definition will lower
quality in healthcare, because it says specifically that the rates will be the same as current Medicare rates. And the data is clear, Medicare does not cover the cost of healthcare, it covers 80% of the costs of healthcare in this country.
And private insurance covers 120%, so if you start underpaying all the healthcare providers, you're going to create a two tier market where wealthy people buy their healthcare with cash, and the union people will have that healthcare plan taken away;
they will be forced into an underfunded system.
SANDERS: Hospitals will save substantial sums of money because they're not going to be spending a fortune doing billing and other bureaucratic things.
DELANEY: I've done the math, it doesn't add up.
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Source: July Democratic Primary debate (first night in Detroit)
Bernie Sanders on Health Care
: Jul 30, 2019
Comprehensive care including dental, hearing aids, & eyecare
Rep. Tim RYAN: This Medicare-for-All plan that's being offered by Senator Sanders will tell Union members that they're going to lose their healthcare because Washington's going to come in and tell them they got a better plan.SANDERS: It will be
better because Medicare-for-all is comprehensive -- it covers all healthcare needs. For senior citizens it will finally include dental care, hearing aids and eyeglasses.
Rep. Tim RYAN: But you don't know that, Bernie.
SANDERS: I do know it;
I wrote the damn bill. And many of our union brothers and sisters are now paying high deductibles and copayments when we do Medicare for all, instead of having the company putting money in to healthcare, they can get decent wage increases, which
they're not getting today.
RYAN: Senator Sanders does not know all of the union contracts--the only thing they have is possibly really good healthcare. And the Democratic message is going to be, "we're going to take it and we're going to do better."
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Source: July Democratic Primary debate (first night in Detroit)
Joe Sestak on Abortion
: Jun 23, 2019
Enshrine a woman's right to choose, in case Roe overturned
[My priorities include securing] reproductive rights and reproductive health services for all women. - As a Congressman, I voted to make contraception a free preventive service for women.
- I co-sponsored legislation to fund family-planning
programs and help teenagers and rape survivors access emergency contraception.
- I also co-sponsored legislation attempting to reduce adolescent pregnancy, HIV rates, and other sexually transmitted diseases through better sex education programs.
As President, I will urge Congress to finally pass a law enshrining a woman's right to choose an abortion, for that is a decision that should be between a woman and her doctor, and regardless of whether or not the
Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, all women across the country must have access to safe and affordable reproductive health care.
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Source: 2020 presidential campaign website JoeSestak.com
Kamala Harris on Health Care
: May 12, 2019
Supports Medicare for All, even undocumented aliens
Q: What about Medicare-for-All?A: I support Medicare-for-All, and the vision of what it will be includes an expansion of coverage. Medicare-for-All will include vision. It will include dental. It will include hearing aids.
Q: You support giving universal health care to people in this country illegally?
A: I'm opposed to any policy that would deny in our country any human being from access to public safety, public education, or public health, period.
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Source: CNN SOTU 2019 interview of presidential hopefuls
Bernie Sanders on Health Care
: Apr 22, 2019
Single payer will transform health care for the better
Over a four-year period we're going to transform our health care system. First year, we go from 65 years of age for eligibility to Medicare down to 55, and we cover all of the kids in the country. And, despite what President Trump says, we expand
benefits for senior citizens. Medicare doesn't cover dental care. It doesn't cover eyeglasses. It doesn't cover hearing aids. We do that. Health care is a human right, not a privilege, and the best way is through a single-payer program.
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Source: CNN Town Hall 2020: 5 candidates back-to-back
Bernie Sanders on Health Care
: Feb 25, 2019
Elective procedures can be covered by private insurance
[My proposed] Medicare card will allow them to go to any doctor that they want, to any hospital they want. If they are seniors, we are going to expand Medicare benefits to cover dental care, which is not covered for seniors, hearing aids and eyeglasses.
There will be comprehensive health care. Our bill covers all health care needs. All. If people want cosmetic surgery, for example, yes, of course, they can get private insurance. But our bill covers all comprehensive health care needs.
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Source: CNN Town Hall on 2020 Democratic presidential primary
Donald Trump on Health Care
: Feb 5, 2019
Eliminate HIV/AIDS epidemic within 10 years
No force in history has done more to advance the human condition than American freedom. In recent years we have made remarkable progress in the fight against HIV and AIDS. Scientific breakthroughs have brought a once-distant dream within reach.
My budget will ask Democrats and Republicans to make the needed commitment to eliminate the HIV epidemic in the United States within 10 years. Together, we will defeat AIDS in America.
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Source: 2019 State of the Union address to United States Congress
Mike Pence on Principles & Values
: Oct 4, 2016
Clinton Foundation is platform for Clintons' world travel
PENCE: The Trump Foundation is non-profit. The Trump Foundation is a private family foundation. They give virtually every cent in the Trump Foundation to charitable causes. Less than ten cents on the dollar in the
Clinton Foundation has gone to charitable causes. It has been a platform for the Clintons to travel the world, to have staff. KAINE: The Clinton Foundation provides AIDS drugs to 11.5 million people.
Hillary as secretary of state took no action to benefit the foundation. But let's compare this with the Trump organization. His sons have said that the organization has a lot of business dealings in Russia.
And the Trump organization is not a non-profit. It's putting money into Donald Trump's pockets, whereas the Clinton Foundation is a non- profit and no Clinton family member draws any salary.
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Source: 2016 Vice-Presidential Debate at Longwood University
Donald Trump on Civil Rights
: Aug 23, 2016
1980s: personal lawyer gay & closeted & Trump kept secret
In the Fall of 1984, Roy Cohn fell ill, maintaining that he had liver cancer. But he was suffering from the effects of HIV infection. Trump had always known that Cohn was gay. Cohn was "invariably with some very good-looking young man,"
Trump wrote in his first book. "But Roy never talked about it. He just didn't like the image. He felt that to the average person, being gay was almost synonymous with being a wimp." If someone brought up gay rights,
Trump noted, "Roy was always the first one to speak out against them."As Cohn's health deteriorated, his unethical behavior as a lawyer caught up to him. A host of luminaries rose to defend Cohn's good character, including
Trump, returning to his friend's side and inviting him to visit Mar-a-Lago.
In 1986, Cohn was disbarred. He was fifty-nine. His friends held a memorial service for him. Trump attended, standing silently in the back.
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Source: Trump Revealed, by Michael Kranish & Mark Fisher, p.111-2
Mike Pence on Drugs
: Sep 24, 2015
Signed legislation allowing needle exchange
Officials report the HIV outbreak has mainly been fueled by individuals sharing needles used to inject prescription painkillers. John Gregg finds Gov. Pence's initial hesitation to address the issue troublesome. Pence signed legislation in May which
allowed the installation of a needle-exchange program, but by that time, the number of infected people already had reached 150."You know, that's asinine," Gregg said. "I mean, we've got to realize there's a drug problem.
And to say that we would not do a needle exchange, that's irresponsible. They're going to be using the drugs, and we might as well see to it that that's a great way to stop the HIV virus.
His attitude on that is akin to people who don't want to talk about sex education because if we don't talk about it, then, you know, the kids won't be procreating. I mean, how do you think we all got here?"
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Source: Kokomo Tribune on 2016 Indiana Gubernatorial race
Cory Booker on Foreign Policy
: Nov 3, 2013
Development funds via international organizations for Africa
The story of Africa is one of transformation: local populations, partnered with international organizations and American international development funds, have done enormous good increasing standards of living and improving public health.
In few areas has this been truer than the fight against HIV/AIDS, where millions of lives have been saved. Of course, much work remains to be done, particularly when it comes to helping governments drive out corruption and enforce the rule of law.
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Source: 2013-2014 New Jersey Senate campaign web CoryBooker.com
Barack Obama on Health Care
: Feb 12, 2013
An AIDS-free generation is within our reach
Progress in the most impoverished parts of our world enriches us all. In many places, people live on little more than a dollar a day. So the US will join with our allies to eradicate such extreme poverty in the next two decades: by connecting more
people to the global economy and empowering women; by helping communities to feed, power, and educate themselves; by saving the world's children from preventable deaths; and by realizing the promise of an AIDS-free generation.
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Source: 2013 State of the Union Address
Barack Obama on Civil Rights
: Jan 11, 2010
2008 speech on race expedited by Rev. Wright fiasco
On March 13, ABC News aired a story about his pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, using [controversial] excerpts from videotapes of Wright's sermons that were for sale at his parish, Trinity United Church of Christ. Obama's initial attraction to the parson
sprang from its commitment to the social gospel: day care programs; encouragement of HIV testing--all appealed to a young community organizer. He had lifted the title of "The Audacity of Hope" from one of Wright's sermons. And although Obama considered
the words that were causing the current controversy beyond the pale, he well understood the context--generational, cultural, and social--by which Wright had come to the views that animated them.The idea of doing a big race speech had been on Obama's
mind for months. Convinced that he would be the nominee, Obama wanted to start dealing with issues he was destined to confront in the general election, of which race was plainly one. The Wright fiasco has simply sped up the timetable on the speech.
Click for Barack Obama on other issues.
Source: Game Change, by Heilemann & Halpern, p.234-237
Barack Obama on Health Care
: Jan 11, 2010
Advocated condom use to avoid AIDS at Saddleback Church
In Dec. 2006 Obama took part in an event at the Saddleback megachurch. It was World AIDS Day, and Obama appeared alongside Sen. Sam Brownback (R, KS). Brownback remarked, "Welcome to my house," prompting peals from the crowd. When Obama's turn came, he
remarked, "There is one thing I've gotta say: This is my house, too. This is God's house." He quoted Corinthians and advocated the use of condoms to prevent the spread of HIV. The huge crowd of conservative Evangelists awarded him a standing ovation.
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Source: Game Change, by Heilemann & Halpern, p. 69
Barack Obama on Health Care
: Aug 1, 2008
CDC estimate: a half million would follow Obama's AIDS test
In a staged public event at the Kenya Medical Research Institute in Kisian, Obama and his wife took an AIDS test, to demonstrate to the local people in a public forum that the test was safe. At the door of a mobile AIDS testing facility provided by the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Obama was photographed with a microphone, speaking to the assembled crowd. The primary message of the AIDS event was a universal message, namely, that AIDS testing is safe: "One of the reasons we are here today is becaus
HIV/AIDS has ravaged the community," Obama told the assembled crowd. "Too many people, too many children have gotten sick. So one of the things we're going to do here in front of this van today is that my wife and I are going to get tested for
HIV/AIDS, because if you know your status, you can prevent illness." The Centers for Disease Control suggested to Obama that as many as a half-million Kenyans would take the HIV/AIDS test after they saw him and his wife safely do it themselves.
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Source: Obama Nation, by Jerome Corsi, p. 95
Mike Pence on Foreign Policy
: Jul 30, 2008
$48B to Africa for AIDS program is a moral calling
In a rare display of bipartisanship in an overheated election-year, members of both parties and the White House joined forces to enact a five-year, $48 billion reauthorization and expansion of Pres. Bush's global AIDS program.
The measure was signed into law July 30. "We have people who can't take care of their own health needs and are at risk of losing their homes, and we are going to spend $50 billion in Africa?" asked Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA).
Pence, a fiscal conservative who supported the bill, saw it differently. "I believe
it's possible to be responsible to our fiscal constraints while being obedient to our moral calling," he said.
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Source: CQ Almanac 2008, "Global AIDS Programs Expanded"
Barack Obama on Health Care
: Apr 13, 2008
Use whatever works with AIDS, including teaching abstinence
Q: The ministry called True Love Waits, has been credited with lowering the AIDS infection rate in Uganda dramatically from 30% to 6%. It is an abstinence-based program--what is your opinion?A: When Michelle and I were traveling in Kenya, we took an
AIDS test. I compliment George Bush on the PEPFAR program [President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief]. My view is that we should use whatever the best approaches are, the scientifically sound approaches are, to reduce this devastating disease. Part of
that should be a strong education component and I think abstinence education is important. I also think that contraception is important; I also think that treatment is important; I also think that we have to do more to make antiviral drugs available to
people who are in extreme poverty. So I don’t want to pluck out one facet of it. Now, that doesn’t mean that non-for-profit groups can’t focus on one thing while the government focuses on other things. I think we want to have a comprehensive approach.
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Source: 2008 Democratic Compassion Forum at Messiah College
Hillary Clinton on Health Care
: Apr 13, 2008
Decrease generic drug costs for developing countries
Q: Current US trade policies toward developing countries make it sometimes extremely difficult for poor people to access inexpensive, generic drugs for the treatment of AIDS and other sicknesses. How would you shape this policy?A: I believe that our
government must do so much more to get generic drugs and low-cost drugs to people suffering. Not only from HIV/AIDS, but the range of diseases that affect disproportionately the poor. Our great pharmaceutical companies invent the compounds and put them
together that the generics then are able to copy. But we need to do much more to get our pharmaceutical companies to work with us to get the drug costs down and to open the pathway for generic drugs. And that’s going to take presidential leadership.
I commend Pres. Bush for his PEPFAR initiative [President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief]. It was a bold & important commitment, but it didn’t go far enough in opening up the door to generics and getting the costs down. And as president, I will do that
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Source: 2008 Democratic Compassion Forum at Messiah College
Barack Obama on Drugs
: Feb 11, 2008
Look at needle exchange; and expand treatment
Q: D.C. has the highest infection rate. How can we address that?A: I think it is important that we are targeting HIV/AIDS resources into the communities where we’re seeing the highest growth rates.
That means education and prevention, particularly with young people. It means that we have to look at drastic measure, potentially like needle exchange in order to insure that drug users are not transmitting the disease to each other.
And we’ve got to expand on treatment programs. And all of that is going to cost some money and some time. But again, if we think about the enormous costs of homelessness, or the enormous cost of
HIV/AIDS, over the long term, as people visit emergency rooms, etc. The more we are investing in that ounce of prevention the better off we’re going to be.
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Source: 2008 Politico pre-Potomac Primary interview
Hillary Clinton on Government Reform
: Feb 11, 2008
Get D.C. full voting rights, plus more direct federal funds
Q: The District of Columbia--it’s the nation’s capital, but a lot of residents here feel quite disconnected and alienated from the national government. How can you improve the lives of the residents of DC?A: When I was first lady,
I fought to increase their Medicaid match so that they would get more money in the district. It is the epicenter of the AIDS epidemic, unfortunately, right here in D.C. I worked to make sure that the adoption and foster care system was improved so that
we could get more kids into permanent homes. When I helped to pass the Children’s Health Insurance Program, we made sure that D.C. would be well taken care of. So I’ve already produced results for the people of this district, and I intend to do a lot
more as president. I want to get full voting rights for D.C. I think it is an injustice that has to be remedied. I want to be a better partner in working with the district on everything from its transportation challenges to its health care problems.
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Source: 2008 Politico pre-Potomac Primary interview
Hillary Clinton on Health Care
: Dec 1, 2007
Pledges to support $50B for AIDS relief in US and world
Today is World AIDS Day. All of us have committed to supporting $50 billion for global AIDS relief, which I am very excited about. But let’s not forget that AIDS now is growing again in our own country, particularly among African American and
Latino women. The leading cause of death for African American women between the ages of 25 and 34 is AIDS. So I want to ask all of my fellow candidates here if they would join me, not only in a pledge for what we’re going to do globally to address the
AIDS pandemic in Africa and Asia and elsewhere, but will you join me in a pledge that we’re going to do everything we can once again to address the AIDS pandemic right here in the US, and to put the money in that will provide the services and the
treatment and the prevention that our own people deserve to have. Because frankly we have turned our backs, we have frozen the amount of money, and I am very worried about what is happening to countless numbers of Americans when it comes to HIV and AIDS.
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Source: 2007 Iowa Brown & Black Presidential Forum
Mike Gravel on Health Care
: Aug 9, 2007
Need to do better job on treating Americans with HIV
Q: Nearly 50% black, gay and bisexual men in some of America ‘s urban cities may already be infected with HIV. I’m wondering what can we be doing a better job of to tackle this problem.
A: The obvious answer is that we need to do a better job on health care. We need to do a better job with respect to how we treat Americans. I feel very deeply.
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Source: 2007 HRC/LOGO debate on gay issues
Barack Obama on Health Care
: Aug 9, 2007
We need condom distribution to deal with the scourge of AIDS
I’m somebody who is willing to talk about these issues, even when it’s hard, in front of black ministers. I’m willing to talk about AIDS at Saddleback Church to evangelicals and talk about why we need to have condom distribution to
deal with the scourge of AIDS. So that’s the kind of political courage that I hope all of you recognize is going to be necessary in order for us to create the kind of America that we all want.
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Source: 2007 HRC/LOGO debate on gay issues
Joe Biden on Health Care
: Jun 28, 2007
Got tested for AIDS after blood transfusion; no shame in it
Q: African-Americans, though 17% of all American teenagers, are 69% of the population of teenagers diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. What is the plan to protect these young people from this scourge?BIDEN: You’re asking, how do we prevent these 17-year-olds from
getting HIV? All the things that were said here [by the other candidates] are good ideas; but they don’t prevent that. There’s neglect on the part of the medical and the white community focusing on educating the minority community out there. I spent last
summer going through the black sections of my town, trying to get black men to understand it is not unmanly to wear a condom, getting women to understand they can say no, getting people in the position where testing matters. I got tested for AIDS.
I know Barack got tested for AIDS. There’s no shame in being tested for AIDS.
OBAMA: I got tested with my wife Michelle, in public, when we were in Kenya.
BIDEN: And I got tested to save my life, because I had 13 pints of blood transfusion.
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Source: 2007 Democratic Primary Debate at Howard University
Barack Obama on Health Care
: Jun 28, 2007
Homophobia prevents talking about HIV/AIDS
One of the things we’ve got to overcome is a stigma that still exists in our communities. We don’t talk about HIV/AIDS. We don’t talk about it in the schools.
Sometimes we don’t talk about it in the churches. It has been an aspect of sometimes homophobia that we don’t address this issue as clearly as it needs to be.
Click for Barack Obama on other issues.
Source: 2007 Democratic Primary Debate at Howard University
Barack Obama on Health Care
: Jun 28, 2007
Got tested for AIDS, with wife, in public, in Kenya
Q: African-Americans, though 17% of all American teenagers, are 69% of the population of teenagers diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. What is the plan to protect these young people from this scourge?BIDEN: You’re asking, how do we prevent these 17-year-olds from
getting HIV? All the things that were said here [by other candidates] are good ideas; but they don’t prevent that. I spent last summer going through the black sections of my town, trying to get black men to understand it is not unmanly to wear a condom,
getting women to understand they can say no, getting people in the position where testing matters. I got tested for AIDS. I know Barack got tested for AIDS. There’s no shame in being tested for AIDS.
OBAMA: I just got to make clear--I got tested with
Michelle, when we were in Kenya in Africa. I don’t want any confusion here about what’s going on.
BIDEN: And I got tested to save my life, because I had 13 pints of blood transfusion.
OBAMA: I was tested with my wife. In public.
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Source: 2007 Democratic Primary Debate at Howard University
Hillary Clinton on Health Care
: Jun 28, 2007
Outcry if AIDS were leading disease of young whites
Q: African-Americans, though 17% of all American teenagers, are 69% of the population of teenagers diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. What is the plan to stop and to protect these young people from this scourge? A: Let me just put this in perspective. If
HIV/AIDS were the leading cause of death of white women between the ages of 25 and 34, there would be an outraged outcry in this country.
I’m working to get Medicaid to cover treatment. I’m working to raise the budget for Ryan White, which the Bush
administration has kept flat, disgracefully so, because there are a lot of women, particularly, who are becoming infected in poor rural areas as well as underserved urban areas in states where, frankly, their state governments won’t give them medical
care.
So this is a multiple dimension problem. But if we don’t begin to take it seriously and address it the way we did back in the ‘90s, when it was primarily a gay men’s disease, we will never get the services and the public education that we need.
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Source: 2007 Democratic Primary Debate at Howard University
Mike Bloomberg on Health Care
: May 2, 2007
Prioritize city healthcare on HIV, diabetes & hypertension
Bloomberg is passionately interested in public health. He has donated millions of dollars to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Under Bloomberg, the city Health Department has made HIV, diabetes and hypertension priorities.
Bloomberg extended New York City’s smoking ban to all commercial establishments, including bars and nightclubs. In Dec. 2006, New York became the first city in the US to ban trans-fat from all restaurants. It will go into effect in July of 2008.
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Source: Wikipedia.org entry, “Michael_Bloomberg”
Barack Obama on Health Care
: Mar 27, 2007
Curing AIDS must be all-hands-on-deck effort
We are all sick because of AIDS and we are all tested by the crisis. Neither philanthropist nor scientist; neither government nor church can solve this problem on their own.
AIDS must be an all hands on deck effort.
I don’t think we can deny that there is a moral and spiritual component to prevention--I heard stories of men and women contracting HIV because sex was no longer part of a sacred covenant but a mechanical physical act. Having said that,
I also believe that we cannot ignore that abstinence--may not be the reality. If condoms and potentially microbicides can prevent millions of deaths, they should be made more widely available.
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Source: In His Own Words, edited by Lisa Rogak, p. 10
Hillary Clinton on Health Care
: Nov 17, 2006
Increase America’s commitment against Global AIDS
Sen. Clinton continues to work to increase access to health care. She authored legislation that has been enacted to improve recruitment and retention of nurses, to improve quality and lower the cost of prescription drugs, and to protect our food supply
from bioterrorism. She sponsored legislation to increase America’s commitment against Global AIDS, and is now leading the fight for expanded use of information technology in the health care system to decrease administrative costs & reduce medical errors.
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Source: PAC website, www.hillpac.com, “Biography”
Barack Obama on Foreign Policy
: Oct 17, 2006
Visited Africa in 2006; encouraged HIV testing & research
Pro’s and Con’s: Obama visited African in 2006 and went to South Africa, Chad, and Kenya. Pro: He is a mensch. Here on a few things he did on his summer vacation:
- Attended a ceremony for the 200 people who died in the 1988 bombing of the
US Embassy.
- Encouraged the South African government to respond more effectively to HIV.
- Urged Kenya’s government to end corruption.
- Along with his wife, took a public HIV test.
-
Visited a malaria research institute.
- Visited a program helping children orphaned by AIDS.
- Visited his grandmother.
Con: Who cares? It is Africa. If we are going to go with a
President from a non-European background, let’s go with one whose relatives are from a country whose friendship will help us, like China or India.
Pro: Kenyans love him.
Con: Who cares? It’s Kenya.
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Source: Should Barack Obama be President, by F. Zimmerman, p. 27-28
Hillary Clinton on Abortion
: Apr 30, 2006
Partial birth exceptions for life-threatening abnormalities
In 2003, Sen. Hillary Clinton [commented] about the anatomically correct drawings I used to demonstrate the partial birth abortion procedure:CLINTON: The visual aids show a perfectly formed fetus, and that is misleading. We should have a chart that
demonstrates the tragic abnormalities that confront women forced with this excruciatingly difficult decision.
SANTORUM: Do we consider a child who may have an abnormality to be less of a child?
CLINTON: Does the Senator's legislation make exceptions
for serious life-threatening abnormalities or babies who are in such serious physical condition that they will not live outside the womb?
SANTORUM: No, if--
CLINTON: That is the point.
SANTORUM: Do you want to create a separation in the law between
those children who are perfect and those children who are not? The Americans with Disabilities Act says we treat all of God's children the same.
CLINTON: I value every single life and every single person.
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Source: It Takes A Family, by Sen. Rick Santorum, p.258-261
Barack Obama on Health Care
: Jul 12, 2004
Lead global fight against AIDS
[The US should] lead the global fight against the AIDS virus. The US must give its fair share to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to avoid both a humanitarian and economic crisis. President Bush’s budget this year actually cuts the
U.S. contribution to the Global Fund by 65 percent. As Senator, I will hold President Bush to his word and fully fund our commitment to the war on AIDS. We must also increase the availability of generic drugs to AIDS victims around the world.
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Source: Press Release, “Renewal of American Leadership ”
Hillary Clinton on Education
: Jul 5, 1999
Entire school staff should focus on school safety
Too many children bring guns to school, too many children believe that violence & aggression is the way to solve problems. Teachers & principals need help. Everyone who works in a school-from the custodians, or the counselors, or the teacher’s aids-
everyone needs help in knowing how to target those children who need extra help & make sure they get it; to diffuse difficult situations; to provide cooling off periods; and to remove from schools those students who are disrupting the learning of others.
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Source: Remarks to NEA in Orlando, Florida
Howard Schultz on Civil Rights
: Jan 6, 1999
Support AIDS programs and employee AIDS walks
Community events and sponsorships became an ongoing part of our marketing work, in part to build awareness but also because we believe it's the right thing to do. In addition to our support of CARE, we try to be sensitive to local issues, with our main
emphasis on supporting AIDS programs; children's causes, especially children's hospitals; the environment (clean water); and the arts. For the past several years, 300 to 400 Starbucks partners and customers have marched in Seattle's annual AIDS walk.
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Source: Pour Your Heart Into It, by Howard Schultz, p.255-256
Howard Schultz on Health Care
: Jan 6, 1999
Offer employee coverage for terminal illnesses
The true value of our health-care program struck me most deeply in 1991, when we lost one of our earliest & most devoted partners, Jim Kerrigan, to AIDS. Jim started as a barista in 1986 and rose to the position of store manager.Then one day, Jim came
into my office and told me he had AIDS. It took incredible courage. I had known he was gay but had no idea he was sick. His disease had entered a new phase, he explained, and he wouldn't be able to work any longer.
Starbucks had no provision for
employees with AIDS. We had to make a policy decision. Because of Jim, we decided to offer health-care coverage to all employees who have terminal illness, paying medical costs in full from the time they are not able to work until they are covered by
government programs, usually 29 months.
After his visit to me, I spoke with Jim often and visited him at the hospice. Within a year, he was gone. I received a letter from his family afterward, telling me how much they appreciated our benefit plan.
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Source: Pour Your Heart Into It, by Howard Schultz, p.128-129
Howard Schultz on Welfare & Poverty
: Jan 6, 1999
Donates 8-day-old coffee beans to food banks
Starbucks managers have the power to allocate donations to local causes like ballet and opera companies, AIDS organizations, food banks, schools, and PTA's. In every city, all eight day old coffee beans are donated to food banks.
Store managers also provide coffee for fund-raisers. One store in Seattle gives half its profits to the Zion Preparatory Academy, an African-American-run school for inner-city children. In fiscal 1996, we gave away more than
$1.5 million in cash and kind, equaling about 4 percent of our net earnings. Since we don't exploit these actions for public relations, a lot of our customers don't even know about them.
Community giving is a policy to which we've been committed since we began in business. We do it because it's right and because it makes Starbucks partners proud to work here.
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Source: Pour Your Heart Into It, by Howard Schultz, p.281
Barack Obama on Government Reform
: Aug 1, 1996
Campaign race baiting works in both directions
Black politicians discovered what white politicians had known for a very long time: that race-baiting could make up for a host of limitations. Younger leaders, eager to make a name for themselves, upped the ante, peddling conspiracy theories all over tow
-the Koreans were funding the Klan, Jewish doctors were injecting black babies with AIDS. It was a shortcut to fame, if not always fortune; like sex or violence on TV, black rage always found a ready market. Nobody I spoke with in the neighborhood seemed
to take such talk very seriously. As it was, many had already given up the hope that politics could actually improve their lives, much less make demands on them. To them, a ballot, if cast at all, was simply a ticket to a good show. Black had no real
power to act on the occasional slips into anti-Semitism or Asian-bashing, people would tell me; and anyway, black folks needed a chance to let off a little steam every once in a while-what do you think those folks say about us behind our backs?
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Source: Dreams from My Father, by Barack Obama, p.186
Page last updated: Aug 01, 2019