The 2020 Presidential Election trudges ever closer. With early voting underway and the Nov. 3 primary election date nearing, it’s vital to be informed of our two leading candidates’ platforms.
President Donald Trump has chosen to double down on his “America First” campaign from four years ago, stating similar promises and bullet points to his 2016 agenda, while also adding a stipulation on COVID-19.
Democratic Party representative, former Vice President Joe Biden, has adopted an agenda for his potential presidency, offering points on issues from Native American relations and racial equality, to criminal justice reform and violence against women.
Here is a quick look at the platforms these candidates have put out for the voting public.
The official Trump campaign website provides those interested with a list of bullet points as such:
Graphic by Molly SwisherJobs
Create 10 million new jobs in 10 months
Create one million new small businesses
Cut taxes to boost take-home pay and keep jobs in America
Enact fair trade deals that protect American jobs
“Made in America” tax credits, giving a tax boost to companies bring manufacturing stateside
Continue Deregulatory Agenda for Energy Independence
Eradicate COVID-19
Develop a vaccine by the end of 2020
Return to normal in 2021
Make all critical medicines and supplies for health care workers within the U.S.
Refill stockpiles and prepare for future pandemics
End our reliance on China
Bring back one million manufacturing jobs from China
Allow 100% expensing deductions for essential industries like pharmaceuticals and robotics who bring back their manufacturing to the U.S.
No federal contracts for companies who outsource to China
Hold China fully accountable for allowing the virus to spread around the world
Health care
Cut prescription drug prices
Put patients and doctors back in charge of the U.S. health care system
Lower health care insurance premiums
End surprise billing
Cover all pre-existing conditions
Protect Social Security and Medicare
Protect veterans and provide world-class health care
Education
Provide a school choice to every child in America
Teach American exceptionalism
Drain the swamp
Pass congressional term limits
End bureaucratic government bullying of U.S. citizens and small businesses
Expose Washington’s money trail and delegate powers back to people and states
Defend police
Fully fund and hire more police and law enforcement officers
Increase criminal penalties for assaults on law enforcement officers
Prosecute drive-by shootings as acts of domestic terrorism
Bring violent extremist groups to justice
End cashless bail and keep “dangerous” criminals locked up until trial
End illegal immigration
Block illegal immigrants from becoming eligible for tax payer funded welfare, health care, and college tuition
Mandatory deportation for non-citizen gang members
Dismantle human trafficking networks
End “sanctuary cities” to restore our neighborhoods and protect our families
Innovate for the future
Launch Space Force, establish permanent manned presence on the moon and send the first manned mission to Mars
Build the world’s greatest infrastructure system
Win the race to 5G and establish a national high-speed wireless internet network
Continue to lead the world in access to the cleanest drinking water and cleanest air
Partner with other nations to clean up our planet’s oceans
America first
Stop endless wars and bring our troops home
Maintain and expand America’s unrivaled military strength
Continue nominating constitutionalist Supreme Court and lower court judges
These points were provided by Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. and can be found here.
The Biden-Harris Plans campaign site gives voters a webpage where each of the 47 issues or plans link to a respective page for said plan or agenda. Below is a similar breakdown of Biden’s platforms.
Graphic by Molly SwisherBuild Back Better
Create millions of good-paying jobs
Give America’s working families the tools, choices and freedom they need
Provide immediate relief to working families, small businesses and communities
Provide state, local and tribal governments with the aid they need so educators, firefighters and other essential workers aren’t being laid off
Extend COVID crisis unemployment insurance to help those out of work
Provide a comeback package for Main Street businesses
Treat American workers and working families as essential at all times, not just in times of crisis
Mobilize the American people toward greatness
Mobilize American manufacturing and innovation to ensure the future is made in America, in all of America
Mobilize American ingenuity to build a modern infrastructure and an equitable, clean energy future
Mobilize American talent and heart to build a 21st century caregiving and education workforce, which will help ease the burden of care for working patients
Mobilize across the board to advance racial equity in America to ensure Americans of any race have a true opportunity
Effective reopening
Guarantee testing and Personal Protective Equipment for all called back on the job
Direct the federal government to provide regular and reliable testing for every worker called back on the job
Ensure all workers, in all communities, have access to effective PPE
Ensure workers and unions have a voice in reopening plans
Guaranteed paid leave for all workers who get sick with COVID-19, for as long as they need to recover
Guarantee federally funded paid leave for workers caring for family members or other loved ones sick with COVID-19
Build a National Contact Tracing Workforce
Health care
Protect and build on the Affordable Care Act by giving Americans more choice, reducing health care costs and making our health care system less complex to navigate
Provide middle class families with a premium tax credit, calculated by their need, to help them pay for insurance coverage
Repeal the exception allowing drug corporations to avoid negotiating with Medicare over drug prices
Limiting price increases for all abusively priced drugs to inflation
Expand access to contraception and protect the constitutional right to an abortion
Defending health care protections for all, regardless of gender, gender identity or sexual orientation
Achieving mental health parity and expand access to mental health care
Immigration
Immediately reverse the Trump Administration’s policies that separate parents from their children at the border
End Trump’s asylum policies, which prevent immigrants seeking freedom from gang violence or domestic abuse
End prolonged detention of immigrants and reinvest in a case management program
Surge humanitarian resources to the border and foster public-private initiatives
Push to repeal extreme anti-immigrant state laws
Expand rights to farmworkers and domestic workers
End for-profit detention centers
LGBTQ+ equality
Reaffirm that the Civil Rights Act prohibits employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity
Support transgender and non-binary people in the workforce
Stop employment discrimination in the federal government
Reverse the transgender military ban
Support LGBTQ+ veterans
Support the freedom to build and protect families
Reinstate protections for LGBTQ+ people experiencing homelessness
Ensure blood donation procedures are based on science
Protecting LGBTQ+ members from violence
Ending gun violence
Ban the manufacture and sale of assault weapons and high capacity magazines
Regulate possession of existing assault weapons under the National Firearms Act
Buy back assault weapons and high capacity magazines in our communities
Reinstate the Obama-Biden policy to keep guns out of the hands of certain people unable to manage their affairs for mental reasons
Close the “hate-crime,” “Charleston,” and “fugitive from justice” firearm sale loopholes
End the online sale of firearms and ammunitions
Adequately fund the background check system
Establish a new Task Force on Online Harassment and Abuse to focus on the connection between mass shootings, online harassment, extremism and violence against women
Hold adults accountable for giving minors access to firearms
Direct the ATF to issue an annual report on firearms trafficking
To find more on the Biden-Harris platform, click here.
One should keep in mind that these are the base points on these candidates platforms, leaving ample room for detail and plans of action. For more information, listen to past debates, decide for yourself who you believe is the best option for the country.