RALEIGH--Senator Hillary Clinton has been running for President pretty much since she was first elected to the Senate.  But after all of that time, after all of the trips, press conferences, debates, and ads, what do we really know about Clinton’s plans?  On issue after issue, she has avoided taking strong positions, has contradicted herself, or has simply refused to answer any questions.  Despite the almost constant news coverage, the only thing we really know for sure about Senator Clinton’s plans is that she plans to live in the White House. 

Senator Clinton may have many policy plans – but if she does, she hasn’t been eager to talk about them. For example, consider the issue of health care.  Senator Clinton tried this once before in 1993, with a plan to have the government take over our health care system, with accountants and bureaucrats in Washington making decisions about care instead of patients and doctors.  Her new plan isn’t quite identical, but the guiding philosophies behind it are the same: more government, higher taxes, and less choice.  It will increase the power bureaucrats exercise over the health care system, instead of doctors and patients.  And though Senator Clinton insists the plan would create “no new bureaucracy,” it manages to spend plenty of money: $110 billion per year just to start.  That’s a lot of money, and Senator Clinton admits that she will raise taxes in order to pay for it, but even by her own calculations, that would only cover part of the cost.  Where will the rest come from?  She won’t say.   

On national security issues, Senator Clinton seems more interested in appealing to Democrat primary voters than in offering serious answers to issues that directly affect to our safety and security.  It wasn’t long ago that she was telling audiences she opposed setting a deadline for troop withdrawal from Iraq.  Now, she not only supports a deadline, but she says she always did.  In spring of 2006, she said that she would ‘of course’ support funding for the troops.  But less than three weeks later, she joined only 13 other Senators to vote against funding our troops.  Three weeks was all it took to change her mind. 

A presidential campaign is not just about whether the American people agree with candidates on specific issues. It’s about trust and leadership.  If Senator Clinton does not want to tell us what she would do in the White House, if she will not tell us what her real plans are, how can we trust her to lead our nation? 

Chairman Linda Daves, North Carolina Republican Party, made the following statement: 

“Senator Clinton won’t give straight answers on where she stands on the most important issues facing our country.  How someone can claim to one audience that she will ‘of course’ support our troops, then turn around and vote against the funding they need to complete their mission and return home?  How can someone claim she wants to improve our health care, but propose a plan that would cost $110 billion a year, increase the bureaucracy, and take health care choices away from individuals?  How can someone talk about fiscal responsibility in front of one audience, and propose $800 billion in new spending in front of another?  How can we trust a Presidential candidate who refuses to tell us the truth?  Senator Clinton will soon learn that there’s more to running for President than just pandering to whichever audience you happen to be speaking to at the moment.  The American people will not support a candidate they can’t trust.” 

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