Speeches at the National Press Club


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OnTheIssues.org excerpts:  (click on issues for details)

Budget & Economy     Gary Johnson: Cut taxes; cut spending; level the playing field.     Thomas Perez: The stimulus worked, despite the Eeyore caucus.     Ralph Nader: 47 million full-time workers make less than $10 an hour.     Ralph Nader: Top priorities: Infrastructure; poverty; preventive health.

Civil Rights     Ben Carson: I have nothing against gay people, but no marriage.     Tom Vilsack: Religion is important, but no one religion should dominate.     Ross Perot: Affirmative action is “squishy” - education is key.

Corporations     Dennis Kucinich: Rescued Cleveland Electric from profitable utility.

Crime     Ralph Nader: Some executed by death penalty were innocent.

Drugs     Bill Weld: 100 million Americans who've smoked dope are not criminals.     Rick Perry: Too many Texans imprisoned for nonviolent drug offenses.     Ross Perot: Can’t overstate the damage that drugs are doing.

Education     Rick Perry: Too many black students are trapped in failing schools.

Energy & Oil     Tom Vilsack: Bio-based energy for greater independence and flexibility.

Environment     Thomas Perez: Took 70 years to get silica dust protections in place.

Foreign Policy     Ben Sasse: Putin leads a thugocracy; runs disinformation everywhere.     Ben Sasse: Authoritarianism vs. democracy is struggle of our time.     John McCain: Urge Japan to open economy to ensure Asian recovery.

Free Trade     John McCain: Free trade with any country except security risks.     John McCain: Free trade is indispensable to our prosperity.     John McCain: Retaliatory protectionism is a “murder-suicide pact”.     John McCain: Chile in NAFTA is good, but Fast Track isn’t.     John McCain: Admit China to WTO based on their concessions.

Government Reform     Stacey Abrams: The electoral college is racist and classist.     Rick Perry: Tort reform savings get passed down to low-income consumers.     Tom Vilsack: No more cherished right than the right to vote.     Jesse Ventura: Will not actively fund-raise for re-election: “No strings”.     Ralph Nader: Justices need sense of justice & sense of history.

Gun Control     Chris Murphy: Sandy Hook opened my eyes to catastrophe of gun violence.     Chris Murphy: The NRA created a fantasy world where stockpiles are needed.

Health Care     Stacey Abrams: His personal debt was from caring for father with cancer.     Ben Carson: ObamaCare flies in the face of principles of America.

Homeland Security     George W. Bush: SDI needed for defense against rogue states & terrorists.

Immigration     Gary Johnson: Mexicans are looking for work, not murder & rape.

Jobs     Thomas Perez: Fight for 15: raise federal AND state minimum wage.

Principles & Values     Stacey Abrams: Run for the job you want; I'm best on executive side.     Ben Sasse: Idea that there's no truth is corrosive to democracy.     Bill Weld: Republicans and Democrats both perpetuate their own duopoly.     Tom Vilsack: Surprised young people don't think US is greatest nation.

Tax Reform     Gary Johnson: Taxes means government decides rather than people deciding.

Technology     Ben Sasse: Digital consumption is rewiring parts of teenagers' brains.     Tom Vilsack: Bio-based products reduce rural American unemployment.     Ben Carson: Beef up cyber capabilities; reinvigorate space program.

War & Peace     Ben Sasse: Withdrawal from Iran deal problematic on many levels.     Bill Weld: Presumption of non-intervention on foreign soil.     Gary Johnson: Exit Afghanistan now; same consequences as exiting later.     Gary Johnson: Our involvement with ISIS wasn't intentional but it happened.

Welfare & Poverty     Rick Perry: Democratic anti-poverty policies have failed black families.

Click for quotations from other sources by: Ben Carson HUD Secretary Ben Sasse Republican Jr Senator Nebraska Bill Weld Massachusetts Republican presidential primary challenger Chris Murphy Democratic Challenger Connecticut Dennis Kucinich Ohio Democratic candidate for Governor Gary Johnson New Mexico Libertarian Gubernatorial Challenger George W. Bush Republican Jesse Ventura Minnesota Former Minnesota Independent Governor John McCain Republican Ralph Nader Green Rick Perry Texas Former Secretary of Energy Ross Perot Stacey Abrams Georgia Democratic nominee for Georgia Governor Thomas Perez Cabinet Tom Vilsack Iowa USDA Secretary