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Fact Check: Trump says Clinton lacks policies

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  • ASSOCIATED PRESS

    Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump spoke during a campaign rally, Tuesday, in Clive, Iowa.

WASHINGTON » Republican Donald Trump has rolled out a new attack line against Hillary Clinton as they enter the final stretch of the presidential race, and it’s a head-turner. His claim: that his Democratic rival has been running a policy-free campaign, lacking specific proposals.

It’s actually Trump who’s the newcomer to policy specifics. While some of Clinton’s positions have been criticized for vagueness, her campaign has produced so many pages of policy that they’ve been turned into a book.

Trump at a rally Tuesday in Clive, Iowa: “In recent days, we’ve rolled out one new policy idea after another … By contrast, Hillary Clinton is running a policy-free campaign. She offers no ideas, no solutions.”

THE FACTS: By any measure, Clinton has released far more specific plans on far more topics than her GOP rival. Trump’s website currently lays out eight policy positions, including spelling out his “economic vision,” his plans for child care and immigration reform and his plan to “pay for the wall.” Clinton’s offers positions on 38 issues for potential voters to read.

They cover, for example, efforts to cure Alzheimer’s disease and autism, a prescription for reining in Wall Street, a plan for tuition-free in-state college, and a menu of initiatives to combat climate change.

She even outlines an initiative to protect zoo animals in the event of a disaster.

While Trump’s proposals have grown more detailed in recent weeks, throughout most of his campaign he mocked Clinton for putting out so many proposals — while his aides derided reporters for pressing for specifics, insisting that voters didn’t care.

“She’s got people that sit in cubicles writing policy all day,” Trump told Time magazine in June. “Nothing’s ever going to happen. It’s just a waste of paper.”

As for specifics, “My voters don’t care and the public doesn’t care,” he said. “They know you’re going to do a good job once you’re there.”

Meanwhile Clinton’s campaign has pointed to the pages it has produced as a source of pride. Earlier this month, she and her running mate Tim Kaine released a 256-page book detailing their policy proposals, including ideas for economic growth, national unity and foreign policy.

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      • Chaffetz committee uncovers yet another apparent crime related to Hillary’s email server
        By Thomas Lifson
        How does one keep track of all the ways in which negligence has compromised national security in the course of Hillary Clinton’s private email server follies? Not that anything she did would pass James Comey’s muster for “criminal intent,” even though negligence specified in the statute is a crime that does not require intent.

        So blasé have the media become that no special notice accompanied a revelation yesterday that yet another serious violation of the law took place when Hillary Clinton’s email server passed into the hands of a low-ranking technician at Platte River Networks, a man who had no security clearance of any sort. Streiff explains at RedState:

        The real news, in my opinion, comes from the testimony of a guy named Justin Cooper. Cooper was paid by both the Clinton Foundation and the Clinton family to assist a State Department employee, Brian Pagliano, in managing Clinton’s server. Why no one has focused on the blatant illegality of using a federal employee for personal chores is one of those decisions that I really don’t understand. But up until July I was always under the misapprehension that failing to safeguard Top Secret documents was a punishable offense.

        In this clip, Cooper makes some startling admissions.

        First, he admits he does not have a security clearance. Of any kind. Whatsoever. Second, he had unfettered access to Hillary Clinton’s email. This email included a lot of classified information because virtually all of her official communications would be classified at least at the lowest levels. This is demonstrated by the amount of redacted and declassified information that has been released. He was also responsible for destroying Hillary Clinton’s discarded cell phones. We know that there was no accounting for those cell phones, no evidence that they were actually destroyed and not simply resold, and we also know those phones contained classified information.

        Low-level staff are typical targets of espionage. But rarely do they have the unfettered access to secrets that Cooper had. If a Republican presidential nominee had committed negligent crimes of this nature, he or she would be on every front page in the nation today.

        How does one keep track of all the ways in which negligence has compromised national security in the course of Hillary Clinton’s private email server follies? Not that anything she did would pass James Comey’s muster for “criminal intent,” even though negligence specified in the statute is a crime that does not require intent.

        So blasé have the media become that no special notice accompanied a revelation yesterday that yet another serious violation of the law took place when Hillary Clinton’s email server passed into the hands of a low-ranking technician at Platte River Networks, a man who had no security clearance of any sort. Streiff explains at RedState:
        http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2016/09/chaffetz_committee_uncovers_yet_another_apparent_crime_related_to_hillarys_email_server.html#ixzz4KGCXhG2i
        Follow us: @AmericanThinker on Twitter | AmericanThinker on Facebook

        • Sarge22 go read the non-fiction book by Gary Aldrich called Unlimited Access, he was the FBI agent in the Clinton white house who does background checks on all employees in the white house. none of the employees would give him any information on there background, Clinton’s orders. so all top secret stuff was floating around the white house for anybody to see or read. also no one could look at Hillary in the face when she walked by, they had to keep there heads down an even could not say one word to her. like morning first lady. also her and Chelsea would put boiled eggs in the microwave on high until they popped and making the secret service come running in with there guns drawn because they thought they were gun shots, hillary and Chelsea got there kicks out of that. Hillary was sick then and she is still sick. does not deserve to be president.

        • all you commenters go read the book, you will even like when the Clinton’s would decorate the white house Christmas tree, they would use condoms and sex things for decorations, that’s how mentally disturb they were and still are now.

      • Still waiting for someone (lib mostly) to answer this question…”What has hiLIARy accomplished that benefits a MAJORITY of Americans?” (Not only in her disastrous SOS stint but including her 30+ years in public service to make it easier for them libs)
        Maybe boots can answer with his patented “lol” and hopefully not insert “republican” or Trump” in his rant.

        • “My accomplishments as Secretary of State? Well, I’m glad you asked. My proudest accomplishment in which I take the most pride, mostly because of the opposition it faced early on, you know. The remnants of prior situations and mindsets that were too narrowly focused in a manner whereby they may have overlooked the bigger picture and we didn’t do that. Very proud. I would say that’s a major accomplishment.” -Hillary Clinton

        • And what has Trump done for the majority of Americans? NADA. He has never served in public office. He has only served his maniacal mega ego. Four star General Powell and Secretary of State under President Bush, sure got it right about Trump. Trump is a national disgrace, and an international pariah.

        • Vector..”And what has Trump done for the majority of Americans? NADA. He has never served in public office.”
          You do realize you embarrassed yourself don’t you.
          The Donald is a PRIVATE citizen…hiLIARy worked for us, WeThePeople.

        • CHIP b*tch. What has Trump done for anyone except himself? What he admires most about Putin is creating a new kleptocracy. Look it up.

    • Fair enough that is your opinion. Question, propaganda or not, do you disagree? Can you provide counter arguments related to which candidate has provided more policy related details?

  • Rick Perry, another Gopher is on Dancing with the Stars. Lol. These candidates and “reality” tv. “Apprentice”. “Palin Alaska” Bristol on Dancing with the Stars. What’s with these Hollywood types?

    • Not in the eyes of the Star-Advertiser, they call this “Fact Check”. What a joke. If they read their own article out loud, they might hear how misleading the title is.

  • Finally! A presidential candidate who has an initiative to protect zoo animals in the event of a disaster. Well, that’s enough for me by gosh. She gets my vote on that alone. Who writes this junk, a 6 year old? A prescription for reigning in Wall Street? Almost spit my coffee out on that one. She is Wall Street for all intents and purposes. Tuition free in-state college tuition? C’mon we have been all through this before. Somebody has to pay for free tuition unless professors, administrators and other staff will work for free. Then there’s the obligatory climate change line to pacify the enviro bed-wetters. And the final insult: Ideas for economic growth, national unity and foreign policy. Well she needs to make a sharp u-turn from Barry Hussein and herself if she is going to change anything about those. There are 93 million people out of work and wages are stagnant. The country has never been more sharply divided thanks to her boss. Foreign policy is an unmitigated disaster mainly due to her time as Sec’y of State. Once again the AP and SA have embarrassed themselves by picking Hillary up, dusting her off, putting cheap makeup on her and sending her back into the ring to get knocked down again. Sad and pathetic.

    • Who is going to pay for Trump’s 6-week child care benefits? He had to roll this one out, after his tax credit plan was revealed to help only wealthy mothers like his daughter. But he never mentioned HOW he will pay for it.

      Clinton is pushing for a 12-week child care plan, and, like a great strong leader, said she’ll tax the wealthy (like the Trumps, not you).

      Which is better, 12 weeks of well-planned assistance, or 6 weeks of unplanned promises from a guy who HAD to come up with a nicer-sounding plan than his original unfair plan?

      • You’re right. He was vague on how the new tax credit would be paid for. Trump ruffled the feathers of a lot of conservatives with the child care plan. His goal should be across the board tax cuts so people can keep more of the money they earn. That would enable moms to stay home with the kids instead of paying a stranger to raise them, which is what most women want anyway. Hillary’s plan to tax the rich to fund child care is a page right out of the class envy playbook. I’m surprised you couldn’t see that as intelligent and enlightened as you seem to be.

  • Funny. This is a reasonably written article about FACTS. The facts presented indicate Trump is wrong. READ it, if you can.

    And yet, people are posting here about what a great leader that Donald guy is. I wonder if those people can—without mentioning his opponent—present FACTS and logic proving Trump’s great policy-making skills.

  • Wow, just because they title this “Fact Check” doesn’t mean that there are any facts in it. This is pure propaganda. Trump has 8 policies on his website, Clinton offers positions on 38 issues for potential voter’s to read. So this doesn’t say that she has any specific policies, but rather offers positions on 38 issues. I guess you can read it, give her money and she will make a policy for whatever you pay for. Same old Clinton way, but this is pure propaganda and misleading title.

  • It’s hard to imagine why Trump continues to tell lies when he knows he’s going to get caught. He denies saying things as if video of those statements doesn’t exist. To say that Clinton has no childcare policies when they’ve been on her website since June 2015 is part of a pathological pattern.

    Paul Krugman has written an apt description of this phenomenon:

    “Long ago, you-know-who suggested that propagandists should apply the “big lie” technique: make their falsehoods so huge, so egregious, that they would be widely accepted because nobody would believe they were lying on that grand a scale. And the technique has worked well for despots and would-be despots ever since.

    “But Donald Trump has come up with something new, which we can call the “big liar” technique. Taken one at a time, his lies are medium-size — not trivial, but mostly not rising to the level of blood libel. But the lies are constant, coming in a steady torrent, and are never acknowledged, simply repeated. He evidently believes that this strategy will keep the news media flummoxed, unable to believe, or at least say openly, that the candidate of a major party lies that much.”

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