This election season has been deemed one of the worst in the history of the United States due to the fact that the majority of the American population detests both candidates. Here are some facts about both candidates that might help you make up your mind, as taken from their own websites, to clarify both their plans and possible short sightings.
DONALD TRUMP POSITIONS ON PAPER:
Donald trump first made his political debut as a “Birther”, which is someone who believed that Obama wasn’t born in the United States and forged his birth certificate, vehemently protesting against him. Today, Trump is most famously known for his plan to build a wall along the border of Mexico, stating that it was important to keep undocumented immigrants out of the country because they could be bad people and “rapists”. While this is commonly a deal breaker for most voters, this is a huge selling point for the majority of his fanbase.
-
INFRASTRUCTURE: Trump wants to invest somebody’s money into rebuilding the 60,000+ bridges that are considered “structurally insufficient”. He states on his website that he wants to build job growth in the United States by using American steel to rebuild said bridges, however, Trump never states where the money to rebuild our roads, bridges, planes, and trains will come from or how much it will cost. While his plan is idealistic (stating that it will be cost effective and deficit neutral) there are no real numbers behind his plan.
-
TAX PLAN: Trump wants to decrease taxes for all income groups, including the wealthy and middle class. He states, however, that the rich will pay their fair share, but not so much that it undermines businesses or “our ability to compete”. The question is, if Donald Trump is planning on cutting taxes, where will the money for the rest of his plans come from? How will the country pay for the “needed protection” against terrorist threats or keeping undocumented workers from coming into the United States? Trump has also caused an upstir by being the first presidential nominee to refuse to release his tax returns and has admitted to not paying his taxes.
-
IMMIGRATION: Trump apparently has a 10 point system on how to keep undocumented immigrants out of the country (which I’ve never heard of after a year and a half of listening to his speeches, debates, and ramblings) that includes getting rid of “catch and release” and keeping anyone one who illegally crossed the border detained until they’re deported. He also states that he’s going to triple the number of ICE agents, which begs the question, who’s going to pay for that? If our taxes are being cut, how are we going to pay for the tripled number of ICE agents and the jail time undocumented people will be forced to endure?
-
EDUCATION: Trump wants to add an additional $20 billion of federal funds to school choice by redirecting pre-existing existing federal money. He also apparently supports making college affordable and easier to pay off. My question is: Where is the $20 billion coming from? And, how is Trump going to fix the serious issue of the price of public higher education? It sounds so simple, but to fix the tuition crisis a generation of university attendees is going to have to suffer.
-
ECONOMY: Trump promises to create 25 million jobs over ten years while putting a pro-growth tax plan into use and an America-first trade plan.
SLIP UPS:
Donald Trump’s website is the squeakiest and best version of his policies. What he says during debates and speeches paints a very different picture than what his website states. Again, most famously, Trump stated that he planned to build a wall along the southern border of the United States and Mexico to keep undocumented peoples out of the US, but the plan has flaws. Trump’s sexism has also recently been highlighted with the release of a video where he talks about hypothetically sexually assaulting a woman, later calling it “locker room talk” in his defense. Trump has 3 outstanding accusations of rape, mostly in the 90’s; one alleged incident was with a 13 year old who claimed Trump drugged and raped her at a party in 1994. The lawsuit has a status conference in December of 2016. These aren’t the end of Trump’s misogynist endeavours, however, he also recently interrupted Clinton during the final presidential debate, saying she was a “nasty woman” after a snide comment about Trump’s taxes. He’s already shown signs of dictator leadership claiming he’ll put Clinton in jail as soon as he’s elected and repeal Roe v. Wade, a case that was tried in the supreme court. While he doesn’t declare any positions on LGBTQ+ rights, his running mate Mike Pence supports electro-shock therapy as a tool for parents to convert their underage children away from gayness.
HILLARY CLINTON POSITIONS ON PAPER:
Hillary Clinton has been in politics for quite some time, officially becoming a senator in 2001 under President George W. Bush, and throughout the years she’s become known to change policies over time. One of the unappealing things about Clinton is her longstanding indecisiveness on policies, often changing what she advocates to appeal to specific voters. There’s also the issues of Benghazi and her email scandal, which the FBI is still currently investigating.
-
INFRASTRUCTURE: Clinton, like Trump, wants to invest more federal money into fixing roads and bridges. Her five year plan includes $275 billion dollars towards rebuilding infrastructure, putting Americans to work in the process, all the while getting it passed within her first 100 days in office. Part of this plan includes converting infrastructures like dams and wastewater systems to produce clean energy and clean drinking water. However, is it realistic for Clinton to pass this bill within her first 100 days if the senate is still majority Republican?
-
TAX PLAN: Clinton wants to restore fairness to the tax-code by implementing a “fair share surcharge” that will close loopholes that create a private tax system for wealthy Americans. She states that she supports cutting taxes on small businesses to create a simplified environment where they can hire and grow their business while closing corporate tax loopholes. Clinton, however, has been known to take money from several corporate businesses including JP Morgan, Time Warner, Morgan Stanley and more; will they be held accountable too?
-
IMMIGRATION: Clinton’s approach to immigration reform is the complete opposite of Trump’s. She wants to introduce a pathway to citizenship for undocumented workers as a way to stimulate the economy all within her first 100 days in office. She also stands by President Obama’s executive action known as DACA and DAPA (which Trump wants to repeal) (define what this is). Most importantly, Clinton wants to expand the Affordable Healthcare Act to include all families — regardless of their immigration status.
-
EDUCATION: In reference to K-12, Clinton wants to raise teachers’ salaries to reflect the hard work they put into teaching the children of our countries. She wants to make an equal learning space for all children, including low-income students, non-native English speakers, and children with disabilities, by launching a campaign for educators to be better supported by the government. As for higher education, she’s stated that she wants to make in-state college debt-free for all students by the year 2021, while all community colleges will offer free tuition. This plan is mostly up to state governments and is a bit too idealistic, since state governments benefit off of tuition gained by four year universities. Clinton has also stated that she wants to end campus sexual assault in three steps, mostly through advocacy and support to survivors.
-
ECONOMY: Clinton says she’s going to break through the Washington gridlock to make an investment in jobs, once again, in the first 100 days of her being in office. She reiterates that she wants to make the United States use clean energy, and she’ll do so by installing half a billion solar panels by the end of her first term. She states again that she’ll make corporate America and the wealthy pay their fare share of taxes, which will help stimulate the economy, apparently.
SLIP UPS:
Everybody and their mother knows about the Benghazi incident that Hillary Clinton was a part of back in 2012 and it’s the main reason that makes her so unliked. If you want to read more about Clinton’s involvement with Benghazi and her email scandal, click here. Related to that, the FBI is currently investigating 30,500 emails that Clinton sent on a private server (the previous Secretary of State, Colin Powell, also used a private email server during his time in office). Many people believe that the way Clinton handled the Benghazi attack was criminal, but the FBI disagreed and closed the case in July, saying that there was no criminal activity relating to her email server.
Voting begins on November 8th (not November 28th, Mr. Trump!). As a final thought, I’d just like to include a fact checker for both candidates: Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump. (Spoiler alert! 71% of what Donald Trump says has been marked mostly false all the way to completely false while Hillary Clinton only ranks at 26%. I think that statistic speaks for itself).