President Donald Trump is running for a second term as the Republican candidate alongside Vice President Mike Pence. They are going up against Democratic candidate former Vice President Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris.
Trump has a list of policies that he wants to put into effect if he wins the election. He has promised to create ten million jobs in ten months and create one million new small businesses. He wants to cut down on income tax and provide companies with tax credits to them to keep jobs in the United States.
As for health care, Trumps looks to repeal the Affordable Care Act link that was passed by former President Barack Obama, which increased the federal government’s regulation of the private health insurance system, including making it illegal to deny coverage to people with pre-existing medical conditions. He also looks to lower drug prices by importing cheaper ones abroad.
For foreign policy, Trump continues to make alliances with international countries and maintain trade tariffs with China. Trump’s tariff policy aims to encourage consumers to buy American products by making imported goods more expensive.
Trump doesn’t believe racism is a systemic problem within U.S. police forces. He has positioned himself as a firm promoter of law enforcement but has opposed chokehold methods and offered grants for improved practices within law enforcement.
Trump looks to protect the Second Amendment which allows Americans the right to bear arms. He proposed tightening background checks on gun buyers after mass shootings in 2019, but nothing came of the plan and no further legislation has been acted upon.
President Trump says it’s his constitutional right to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court during the remainder of his first term in office.
Trump is skeptical about climate change and wants to expand nonrenewable energy. He has committed to withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord. During his election campaign in 2016 Trump said climate change was “a hoax.” However, he has since rowed back on that statement saying in a recent interview: “I don’t think it’s a hoax, I think there’s probably a difference.”
As for the COVID-19 pandemic, Trump set up task forces January 2020 for safety and allowing the country to open up.
Former Vice President Joe Biden served under Former President Barack Obama from 2008 to 2016.
With that experience, he is now running for president with Kamala Harris as his vice president for the Democratic Party.
They plan to help the economy by raising taxes for the people who earn more to pay for investment in public services, but say the increase will only impact those earning over $400,000 a year. Biden also wants to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour.
For health care, instead of removing the ACA, Biden wants to protect it and expand on it. Biden wants to lower the eligible age for Medicare from 65 to 60. He also wants to give all Americans the option to enroll in a public health insurance plan similar to Medicare. As president, Biden will stop this reversal of the progress made by Obamacare.
Biden promises to repair relationships with U.S. allies. He wants to hold China accountable with an international coalition that China “can’t afford to ignore.”
Biden sees race and policing as a systemic problem and has set out policies to address racial disparities in the justice system, such as grants to incentivize states in reducing incarceration rates.
Biden wants to ban assault weapons and implement universal background checks. He would also fund more research into preventing gun violence.
For the Supreme Court, Biden says if elected he would work to pass legislation to guarantee a woman’s right to an abortion if the Supreme Court rules against it.
On climate, Biden wants to rejoin the Paris Climate Accord and wants the U.S. to reach net zero emissions by 2050, and proposes banning new leases for oil and gas drilling on public lands. Joining the Paris Climate Accord commits another 187 other countries to keeping rising global temperatures “well below” 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
To combat COVID-19, Biden plans to set up a national contact tracing program, establish at least ten testing centers in every state and provide free coronavirus testing to all. Only eight states are meeting the testing target right now.
This story was written by Charlie Pineda. He can be reached at [email protected].
