By Haylee Dilugi
As the election day closes in, the party nominees continue to push forth their stances on key issues. The November 3rd election between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden will present voters with a choice between two candidates with drastically different views.
Donald Trump’s website boasts his “promises kept” during his current four-year term he is serving, along with issues he plans to tackle if voted for a second term come election day. Trump’s accomplishments during his first term in office range from repealing Obamacare, protecting “the American homeland by enforcing immigration laws", and fighting against opioid abuse and abortion. His site also lists further proposed policies he hopes to tackle if reelected including opposing unions, cutting taxes, and increasing military spending for national security (https://www.promiseskept.com/).
On a very different beat, Joe Biden encourages unions and the rights of the worker by encouraging collective bargaining and ensuring workers with the pay, protections, and benefits they deserve. Biden also plans to modernize the immigration system. He plans to continue to support the DACA and DAPA, programs he championed while Vice President under Obama. Furthermore, he urgently wants to reverse the Trump administration’s policies that separate parents and children at the border, as well as the asylum policies. Biden also believes that the current tax cuts from the Trump administration exacerbate inequality, and rather he wants to institute a fifteen percent minimum corporate tax (https://joebiden.com/joes-vision/).
On top of the regular contention over economic and social policies between candidates, whoever is elected this November faces the daunting task of managing the economic recovery from the global pandemic, setting precedent on how to handle the virus, and responding to massive anti-racism protests. The economic agendas of the candidates are more important than ever. It is possible the person with a more comprehensive economic plan will win the election just as FDR won promising a new deal to pull Americans out of the Great Depression.
Both candidates support promoting diversity and inclusion. However, their responses for calls to defund the police differ. Biden promises a $300 million investment to a program to hire more diverse officers as well as training to avoid adversarial relationships with the community. Trump first responded to the BLM protests with law and order as well as a militaristic approach. He encourages police departments to employ the latest standards for the use of force, as well as to add social workers to law enforcement to respond to nonviolent cases (https://graphics.reuters.com/USA-ELECTION/POLICY/ygdpzwarjvw/).
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