Faith, Family and Values

Friday, May 16, 2008

For such a time as this in our nation’s history we are for Hillary Clinton for President because she is for us.

The people of Kentucky will go to the polls this Tuesday, May 20 to mark their ballots in the Democratic Primary for President. This is an historic election. The future of our nation is at stake.

We know Kentuckians take their votes seriously; you are playing a crucial role in who will be the next leader, commander-n-chief, of our country.

Hillary is the choice of middle class and working families because she puts middle class and working families first. Her heart is full of concern, understanding and vision for our families and communities. She understands and she will bring us the solutions and helping hand we need to prosper.

Hillary is guided by a strong faith. You will see in the links and story below that her story is very much like ours: Sunday School, church youth groups and picnics. She understands the value and power of faith-led families and communities and shares our values and faith in God.

For such a time as this in our nation’s history we need Hillary Clinton as our President.

Visit this link to hear Hillary speaking to the “Purpose Driven Life” author Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church: Hillary's speech about AIDS policy at Rick Warren's Saddleback Church

Visit this link to hear Hillary discussing her faith and values in an interview with the New York Times: Hillary's interview with the New York Times

Senator Clinton and Chelsea, both lifelong United Methodists, recently worshiping at First United Methodist Church in Huntington, WV:

Hillary Clinton: Faith, Family. and Values

Hillary Clinton grew up in middle-America in a strong Methodist family, going to church every Sunday, attending Sunday School, and learning about the world through the youth group at her church. Her family’s church was First United Methodist Church of Park Ridge, IL.

The teachings of her faith, the principles of the Methodist church, and the examples of her family have been the guiding light throughout her life: “I first learned about social and personal responsibility as a young girl growing up. I learned it from my parents; I learned it from my church.”

She learned the value and power of prayer at an early age: “Someone asked me some years ago if I were a praying person, and I said I was fortunate to have been raised by parents who prayed, and grew up in a church that from the earliest years emphasized the importance of prayer. I remember seeing my late father on his knees every night by the side of his bed as well as him watching me by the side of mine.”

Hillary Clinton remained active throughout her teen years. In fact, it was a church youth trip to hear Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speak that had a life changing impact on her life. She continued to grow in her faith through college at Wellesley and into adulthood.

During her years as First Lady of Arkansas, Hillary Clinton hosted church picnics on the grounds of the Governor’s Mansion, taught Sunday School, often attended the Southern Baptist Church of her husband, and always remained active as a member in a local Methodist Church. Chelsea grew up, like her mother, grounded in church activity.

During her years as First Lady of the United States and a Senator from New York, Hillary Clinton’s faith has been the driving force in her work and vision to build a society where families grow and prosper, communities are whole and full of opportunity, and all people have a strong education, excellent health care, and the ability to achieve their dreams.

Hillary Clinton’s faith is deeply personal and real. It is from her works that we see the fruits of a generous and faithful spirit: “I often read from the Book of James and find inspiration from scripture such as ‘faith without works is dead.’ Well work without faith is very hard – faith keeps you going, keeps you moored to your values.”

Hillary Clinton’s Vision for Faith Based Organizations: Active, Growing and Living Out Their God-Given Callings

Faith Based Initiatives - Hillary Clinton supports the funding of faith-based programs that promote the common good – feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, bringing hope to those who hurt. Our tax dollars come from a great and diverse nation and we have a sacred trust to use those funds to help the least fortunate in our society in the best and most cost-effective way possible.

Senator Clinton believes that we cannot and should not use tax dollars to promote one religion over another and that our government should work with faith-based organizations in ways that are consistent with our Constitution.

An example of how we can do this well is Hillary Clinton’s Kinship Caregiver Support Act, which included support for faith-based partnerships that assist the growing number of grandparents and other relatives raising children.

Religious Freedom in the Workplace - Hillary Clinton stands with all major denominations in the United States in supporting efforts to ensure people are not discriminated against for religious expression in the workplace. She co-sponsored the bipartisan Workplace Religious Freedom Act, which protects workers from being discriminated against based on their religious beliefs or the requirements of their religion.

Tax Deductions for Religious and Charitable Giving - Hillary Clinton believes taxpayers should be able to deduct their charitable contributions (non-itemizers included) from their taxable income.  It is in the interest of government for its citizens to give to charities that support the common good and remind us all that we have a responsibility outside ourselves. 

To this end, she co-sponsored the CARE Act, which would allow all taxpayers to deduct their charitable contributions from their taxable income.  Several provisions in this legislation became law last year, including one to allow individuals to rollover $100,000 in their IRAs tax free to charity and another to allow businesses to deduct the cost of food donations from their tax liability. 

Hillary Clinton’s Vision for Our World: Peace and Hope

Ending the War and Creating Peace - Senator Clinton has put forth a comprehensive plan for ending the war in Iraq and introduced legislation to end the President's authorization to wage this ill-advised war. 

In addition to capping troop levels, she has proposed removing the troops from Iraq and requiring the Secretary of Defense to certify that all troops sent to Iraq have the training and equipment they need to end the war before the next president takes the oath of office. But she has also been clear: if George Bush refuses to end the war, when she is president, she will.

Ending the Violence in Darfur - For over two years, Senator Clinton has called repeatedly for action in Darfur. Most recently, a resolution she co-sponsored to press for the deployment of U.N. peacekeepers to Darfur unanimously passed the Senate. Senator Clinton also has encouraged the Arab League and African leaders to continue their efforts to increase engagement in Darfur.

Protecting God's Creation - Senator Clinton believes that we have a moral responsibility to be good stewards of God’s Creation.  We hold this world in trust for our children and our children’s children, and we need to make sure that the planet we leave them is at least as healthy as the one we inherited from our parents.  That is why Senator Clinton has called for aggressive steps to halt global warming. 

She supports the “gold standard” approach of capping global warming pollution, increasing fuel efficiency standards and requiring 20% of electricity to come from renewable sources by 2020. 

Hillary Clinton also has called for a $50 billion Strategic Energy Fund to jumpstart research and investment in clean energy technologies that will promote job growth and energy independence and create a cleaner environment. In addition, she celebrated Earth Day by announcing that her campaign office was going carbon neutral.

Hillary Clinton’s Vision for Our Families: Shared Prosperity

Families Come First - Hillary Clinton’s progressive vision for strengthening families calls Americans to return to a society of shared prosperity and tax fairness, while expanding access to quality education and healthcare for all Americans.

Hillary Clinton believes that one of the most crucial jobs of the next president is to define a new vision of economic fairness and prosperity for the 21st century – a vision for how we ensure greater opportunity for our next generation.  She believes we can grow our economy in a way that benefits all American families.  She believes we can curb the excesses of the marketplace and provide more opportunities that strengthen families.

While worker productivity increased 18% over the last six years, family incomes have gone down $1,300.  Last year, the share of national income going to corporate profits was the highest since 1929, while the amount going to the salaries of American workers was the lowest since that time. Hillary Clinton believes that our government can once again work for all Americans – that it can promote the great American tradition of opportunity for all and special privileges for none – the common good.

Fighting the Culture of Sex and Violence - Senator Clinton has spoken out against the culture of violence and sex in the media, comparing this growing problem to a disease that, if left untreated, will become an epidemic.  Parents need all the support they can get to help them control what their children are exposed to and understand the effects of such exposure.  Senator Clinton has worked to increase parental controls and shield our children from exposure to inappropriate and dangerous material in the media and on the internet.  She also has worked with Senators on both sides of the aisle to better understand the risks associated with media exposure by championing the Children and Media Research Advancement Act.

Protecting God’s Children from Illness and Disease – Senator Clinton believes that one of our greatest assets is our children.  Along with providing parents with tools to ensure they can instill good values in their children, Senator Clinton has spent her public career working toward a time when no mother or father will ever have to face the soul crushing realization that their lack of insurance or resources will keep their child from getting well.  To that end, she fought to create the State Children's Health Insurance Program, which represented the single largest expansion of children's health care in American history. SCHIP provides coverage for more than six million low-income children. 

She also passed legislation to require drug companies to make sure treatments marketed towards children are safe. And she created the Vaccines for Children program, which ensured that 90 percent of children under two were vaccinated – an all-time high in the U.S. In the Senate, Hillary Clinton has continued her work to expand access to health insurance to all Americans and has stood up for children against drastic cuts proposed by the Bush Administration.  

Hillary Clinton’s Vision for the Common Good: Shared Responsibility and Opportunity

Health Care for All Americans – When Hillary Clinton is president, she will make universal health care a reality.  This is a battle Hillary has fought before—and as she says, she has the scars to prove it.  As First Lady, Hillary Clinton introduced a plan to provide full coverage for all Americans, which was defeated after aggressive opposition from large corporations. But she did not allow that defeat to lessen her desire to expand coverage for those most in need.  She refocused her energy on expanding health care for children, fending off Republican efforts to slash funding for the most vulnerable, and lowering costs, reducing medical errors, and improving patient care by modernizing our health care infrastructure.

Improving Education – Hillary Clinton believes that one of the highest callings of government is to enable all Americans to reach their God-given potential.  In Arkansas, Hillary chaired the Educational Standards Commission to reform Arkansas' education system.  As First Lady, she worked to dramatically expand access to after school care so all children will be safe in the after school hours. In the Senate, she cosponsored legislation to ensure that every child, regardless of race, ethnicity or parents' income, will have access to an adequate and equitable public school education. Since 2002, she has spoken out about the need to reform No Child Left Behind by focusing more resources on children from low income communities.  She also created the Transition to Teaching Program, which has provided more than $200 million to help recruit, train, and support outstanding teachers, and the School Leadership Program to support school districts as they provide additional training and support to school principals. As president, Hillary Clinton will make it a priority to expand opportunity by reforming our schools.

Head Start – Hillary Clinton believes that there are few responsibilities greater than the ones we have to our children. That is why as First Lady and Senator, she has championed the Head Start program, which provides comprehensive school readiness services to low income families. As First Lady, she helped create Early Head Start and more than doubled the number of children served by it. Then as Senator, she fended off a White House proposal to dismantle Head Start by making it into a block grant. As a presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton has promised to invest $10 billion in pre-kindergarten and Head Start.

HIV/AIDS – Hillary Clinton knows that it is our moral obligation to confront HIV/AIDS, which devastates families and communities both at home and abroad. We need to take bold steps to confront and eradicate AIDS and support those living with HIV. Hillary has introduced the Early Treatment for HIV Act, which would allow states to expand Medicaid eligibility to low-income individuals, prolonging their health rather than forcing them to wait until they are disabled by the disease. This legislation would allow patients access to life saving, life extending treatment immediately. It is also time to take full and complete action to address the growth of AIDS in Africa.

Federal Spending has Moral Implications - Senator Clinton believes the budget is a moral document that reflects the priorities of the country, for where our treasure is, there our heart is also. Our values are revealed through our funding priorities, and Senator Clinton believes the budget ought to prioritize creating jobs, making communities safe, helping families thrive, educating our children, and serving the least of these among us.  

posted by rena silverman

Paid for by Hillary Clinton for President