Subject: 10.17.14 CTR Weekend TPs
From: Burns Strider <[email-masked]>
To: CTRFriendsFamily <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2014 14:59:54 -0400
List-Id: <CTRFriendsFamily.americanbridge.org>

Hi all,

Please find Correct The Record's weekend talking points package both below
and attached. Have a good one! Enjoy the weather!

*10.17.14 Weekend Package*

*1.      **Harkin Steak Fry Travel Expenses TPs*
<https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#1491f3b4be66da7a_steak>

*2.      **ICYMI:  CTR Response to MSNBC re: Travel Expenses*
<https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#1491f3b4be66da7a_expenses>

*3.      **11 Things to Know About Hillary*
<https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#1491f3b4be66da7a_eleven>

*TALKING POINTS: HARKIN STEAK FRY TRAVEL EXPENSES*

*BACKGROUND: **The right wing launched another desperate attack, this time
about the Clintons’ travel expenses to the Harkin Steak Fry in Iowa last
month. They forgot to mention that this year’s event was a huge success,
reportedly netting $100,000 and with the most attendees since the last time
Hillary Clinton was there.*

*TALKING POINTS:*

·         Hillary and Bill Clinton attended the 37th Harkin Steak Fry to
honor retiring 5-term Senator Tom Harkin and celebrate his legacy.

·         This year’s event was enormously successful – reportedly netting
$100,000 – due to the Clintons’ attendance.

·         In fact, the 2014 Steak Fry had 6,200 people – the most attendees
since the last time Hillary Clinton appeared in 2007.

·         The Harkin Steak Fry raises money for Democratic candidates
running in Iowa – including Representative Bruce Braley, who is running for
Harkin’s seat in the Senate against tea party-backed Joni Ernst – to help
move the state, and our country, in the right direction.

·         Hillary and Bill Clinton are appearing across the country at
events for Democratic candidates to energize the party and help get
Democrats elected this November.

·         Republicans are only launching these baseless attacks on the
Clintons to divert attention from their abuse of taxpayer funds for
excessive travel.

o   After all, Republican Governor and potential GOP presidential
candidate, Chris Christie, has frequently used state police helicopters for
his own personal travel, including the time he used a state police
helicopter to get to a baseball game.

o   Marco Rubio, another potential Republican presidential contender,
charged non-work travel expenses on the state party’s credit card and
double-billed taxpayers and the state party for multiple plane tickets.

*ICYMI:  CTR Response to MSNBC re: Travel Expenses*

“The Harkin Streak Fry reportedly netted $100,000 and was enormously
successful due to the Clintons’ attendance. This right-wing attack is
ironic coming from the Party where one potential presidential candidate
used a state police helicopter to get to a baseball game while another
double-billed taxpayers and the state party for multiple plane tickets,”
said Correct the Record’s Adrienne Elrod, referring to New Jersey Gov.
Chris Christie
<http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/06/chris_christie_comes_under_attack_for_use_of_state_helicopter_by_group_with_ties_to_hillary_clinton.html>
 and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio
<http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/legislature/marco-rubio-says-double-billing-of-nearly-3000-for-flights-was-mistake/1076068>.

ELEVEN THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT HILLARY

*Secretary Clinton helped restore America’s leadership and standing in the
world during a time of global challenges and changes.* Secretary Clinton
worked tirelessly to revitalize American diplomacy and strengthen alliances
by traveling nearly a million miles for hundreds of meetings with foreign
leaders in 112 countries. As America’s lead diplomat, Secretary Clinton
understood the importance of engaging the public and took diplomacy
directly to people around the world. Just as she was as a senator,
Secretary Clinton was a workhorse, often taking on difficult challenges and
addressing them directly around the world.

*Secretary Clinton built and maintained a coalition to enact the toughest
sanctions in Iran’s history.*Secretary Clinton helped impose the toughest
sanctions in Iran’s history by getting Russia and China on board. Even the Wall
Street Journal
<http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748703957904575252600443502256?KEYWORDS=HILLARY+clinton>
 editorial board noted that, “Clinton surely pulled out every stop to get
Russia and particularly China…on board.” And as Howard Dean recently told
CNN <http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1311/25/cg.02.html>, “Hillary
Clinton cranked up the sanctions for the first time under President Obama
that actually made the Iranians come to the table.”

*Secretary Clinton played an integral role in the New START Treaty with
Russia. *Secretary Clinton played an active role in reaching a missile
reduction agreement with Russia, working to push it through the Senate
<http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/08/11/clinton.start.treaty/> and securing
more than the necessary two-thirds majority. She entered the treaty into
force <http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2011/02/156037.htm> in Munich with
her Russian counterpart. As a result of the treaty’s passage, there
will be fewer
nuclear missile launchers
<http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2011/02/156037.htm>. Simply put, the
world is safer.

*Secretary Clinton supported the raid that brought Osama bin Laden to
justice.* As NBC’s Brian Williams reported
<http://rockcenter.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/05/02/11493919-president-obama-bin-laden-raid-is-most-important-single-day-of-my-presidency>
 on his website, “Secretary of Defense Robert Gates recommended an air
strike with no forces on the ground.  CIA Director Panetta supported a raid
by Special Forces and so did Secretary of State Clinton.”

*Secretary Clinton helped avert all-out war in Gaza by negotiating a
cease-fire between Israelis and Palestinians. *In November 2012, after
eight days of violence, Secretary Clinton negotiated a Gaza cease-fire with
Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi. In an article titled “Hillary Clinton
scores Gaza cease fire success,” Politico noted
<http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1112/84145.html> that, “Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton got a Gaza cease-fire right at the moment hope seemed
dead for a rapid end to the violence…”

*Secretary Clinton played a role in bringing one war to an end and planning
for the end of another.*Working closely with Department of Defense
colleagues and as part of the President’s national security team, Secretary
Clinton played a role in the end of war in Iraq and in beginning a
transition in Afghanistan, with all NATO allies having agreed to stand-up a
post withdrawal support plan. As President Obama told 60 Minutes
<http://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-and-clinton-the-60-minutes-interview/3/>,
it was “all a consequence of the great work that Hillary did and her team
did and the State Department did in conjunction with our national security
team.”

*Secretary Clinton was critical in America’s “pivot to Asia” strategy.* As
Martin Indyk of the Brookings Institute wrote in Foreign Policy
<http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/06/20/debating_hillary#sthash.tKnaZMYq.dpbs>,
“The ‘pivot’ to East Asia will probably be Obama’s most lasting strategic
achievement… [but] it is Clinton’s too. She laid the groundwork, built the
relationships, and developed the complex architecture of the new strategy —
and she turned up at that pivotal moment in Vietnam in July 2010 to declare
the U.S. commitment to the region.” Secretary Clinton earned praise
<http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/editorials/hard-diplomatic-work-pays-off-in-myanmar/1262961>
 for her work in opening up Burma, a place that had not been visited by a
Secretary of State in 50 years.

*Secretary Clinton worked to build the coalition to oust Qadhafi and stop
massacres in Libya. *As the Washington Post reported
<http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2011-10-30/world/35277483_1_brega-misurata-benghazi>
 upon the end of NATO operations in Libya, “U.S. officials and key allies
are offering a detailed new defense of the approach and Clinton’s pivotal
role – both within a divided Cabinet and a fragile, assembled-on-the-fly
international alliance. What emerges from these accounts is a picture of
Clinton using her mixture of political pragmatism and tenacity to referee
spats among NATO partners, secure crucial backing from Arab countries and
tutor rebels on the fine points of message management.”

*Secretary Clinton engaged in economic statecraft.* Secretary Clinton’s
focus on economic engagement resulted in increased investment
<http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-10/how-hillary-clinton-created-a-u-s-business-promotion-machine.html>
 through three new free trade agreements
<http://www.state.gov/e/eb/tpp/bta/fta/c26474.htm> (Colombia
<http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2011/01/155566.htm>,Panama
<http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2011/10/175348.htm> and South Korea
<http://translations.state.gov/st/english/texttrans/2011/04/20110417130630tegdirb5.767465e-02.html#axzz2nwkRuZel>)
and 15 Open Skies agreements
<http://www.state.gov/e/eb/rls/othr/ata/114805.htm> including with Japan,
Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Israel.

*Secretary Clinton brought the State Department into the 21st Century.
*Secretary
Clinton helped the State Department adapt to emerging issues such as cyber
security by creating the Center for Strategic Counterterrorism
Communications <http://www.state.gov/r/cscc/> to combat Al-Qaeda’s growing
influence online. She recognized the important role of energy in U.S.
foreign policy and helped create the Bureau of Energy Resources
<http://blogs.state.gov/stories/2011/11/18/us-department-state-establishes-new-bureau-energy-resources>
 to protect our energy infrastructure and influence how nations move to
cleaner fuel.

*Secretary Clinton elevated the cause of women’s rights to new heights*.
Secretary Clinton recognized women’s rights as a major foreign policy
issue. It is, according to Newsweek, the area of “hardships faced by women
and girls across the world–that her impact has been most profound.” Hillary
convinced the White House to allow her to create a new position at the
State Department: Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues. Newsweek
continued, “Across the world, in diverse and deeply reactionary cultures,
Clinton and [Ambassador-at-Large] Verveer have spoken and fought to
liberalize attitudes on women’s role in the economy, girls’ schooling,
women’s health, domestic violence, issues arising from war and conflict,
and myriad other concerns.”