Voter Guide: Key Positions: Donald Trump and Joe Biden
BY PAUL NATINSKY
The Nov. 3 election between Republican President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden will give American voters a choice between two candidates with drastically different views of the world and divergent approaches to tackling some of the biggest issues facing the country. Trump, like many fellow Republicans, supports tax reductions and regulatory cuts as a strategy to boost the economy. He frames himself as a conservative champion in the nation’s ongoing culture wars. The president offers little detail about how he would pull the levers of government in a second term. Biden sounds every bit the Democratic standard-bearer as he frames the federal government as the collective force to combat the coronavirus, rebuild the economy and address centuries of institutional racism and systemic inequalities. A veteran of national politics, Biden also touts his deal-making past as proof he can do it again as president. Here is a detailed look at their policies and proposals in key areas.
Immigration
Trump: Since his campaign in 2016, Trump has made multiple promises to reduce illegal immigration. He incorporated a “zero-tolerance” policy that enabled the criminal prosecution of suspected illegal border-crossers that resulted in family separations. It was reported “Nearly 3,000 children were separated from their parents,” according to HRW.com. Trump took the measures of declaring a national emergency to obtain funding for a wall on the southern border between Mexico and the United States. In his efforts to decrease illegal immigration, the statistics support that in the past several years there has been an overall decrease. The president has also proposed incorporating a “merit-based” system that would only allow migrants with job skills to enter the United States. This would dramatically reform immigration policy since it would no longer allow family ties to determine immigration status.
Biden: Being a strong opponent of Trump’s reformed immigration policy, Mr. Biden likely would reverse it. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program would return, along with a program to help undocumented immigrants receive citizenship. In place of Trump’s criminal prosecution for all illegal border crossings, Mr. Biden supports a 100-day moratorium on deportations. Only those charged with a serious crime would be deported. However, to accomplish comprehensive immigration reform Democrats would have to hold the House. Immigration would have to become an immediate legislative priority and many lawmakers feel it is best to diverge from a comprehensive reform to more bipartisan actions.
COVID-19
Biden: Biden draws some of his sharpest contrasts with Trump on the pandemic, arguing that the presidency and federal government exist for such crises. Trump, by contrast, has largely shifted responsibility to governors. Biden endorses generous federal spending to help businesses and individuals, along with state and local governments, deal with the financial cliffs of the pandemic slowdown. He has promised aggressive use of the Defense Production Act, the wartime law a president can use to direct certain private-sector activity. Additionally, Biden promises to elevate the government’s scientists and physicians to communicate a consistent message to the public, and he would have the U.S. rejoin the World Health Organization. He is also willing to use executive power for a national mask mandate, even if its enforcement is questionable.
Trump: After months of insisting that the worst days of the pandemic have passed, Trump recently acknowledged that the pandemic may “get worse before it gets better” as many states — including several critical to his path to 270 Electoral College votes — have seen a surge in the virus. Trump is again holding regular briefings to get his message out on the virus and other matters. Trump believes that a key to economic recovery from the virus is fully reopening schools — though Americans are wary. Only about 1 in 10 Americans think day care centers, preschools or K-12 schools should have opened this fall without restrictions, according to a recent poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs. Trump also says he’s “pretty damn certain” that vaccines and therapeutics for the virus are coming in the not-so- distant future — a game changer as Americans and the world seek a glide path to normalcy. Congress approved about $3 trillion in coronavirus relief in March and April, and Democrats, Republicans and the White House are negotiating another significant round of funding. The package, however, will not include a payroll tax cut — something that Trump badly wanted but that Senate Democrats and even some Senate Republicans balked at including.
Economy
Trump: Improving the economy has been a focal point for Trump. To decrease the trade gap, Trump emphasizes the importance of creating more deals with leading trading partners. Under Trump’s administration, the economy has gradually grown. In the last couple of years the economy has grown around 2-3 percent and job growth has matched how it was under President Obama, according to MarketsInsider. In particular, manufacturing jobs have increased. The coal industry has seen significant improvement. The stock market has also benefited. Trump claims that the economy is the “best” in U.S history.
Biden: Biden pitches sweeping federal action as necessary to avoid an extended recession or depression and to address long-standing wealth inequality that disproportionately affects nonwhite Americans. His biggest-ticket plans: a $2 trillion, four-year push intended to eliminate carbon pollution in the U.S. energy grid by 2035 and a new government health insurance plan open to all working-age Americans. He proposes new spending on education, infrastructure and small businesses, along with raising the national minimum wage to $15 an hour. Biden would cover some but not all of the new costs by rolling back much of the 2017 GOP tax overhaul. He wants a corporate income tax rate of 28 percent (lower than before but higher than now) and broad income and payroll tax hikes for individuals with more than $400,000 of annual taxable income. All that would generate an estimated $4 trillion or more over 10 years.
Education
Biden: Biden wants the federal government to work with states to make public higher education tuition-free for any student in a household earning up to $125,000 annually. The assistance would extend to everyone attending two- year schools, regardless of income. He also proposes sharply increasing aid for historically Black colleges. His overall education plans carry a 10-year price tag of about $850 billion. He calls for universal access to prekindergarten programs for 3- and 4-year-olds; tripling Title I spending for schools with higher concentrations of students from low- income households; more support for non-classroom positions like on-campus social workers; federal infrastructure spending for public school buildings; and covering schools’ costs to comply with federal disability laws. Biden also opposes taxpayer money being routed to for-profit charter school businesses, and he’s pledged that his secretary of education will have classroom teaching experience.
Trump: Trump has used his push for schools to fully reopen this fall amid the pandemic as an opportunity to spotlight his support for charter schools and school choice. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, a longtime proponent of charter schools and school voucher programs, has suggested that families be allowed to take federal money allotted to school districts that do not open and spend it in private schools that do open. For most of Trump’s first term, his administration has sought major increases to federal charter school grant aid, but Congress has responded with relatively small increases.
Healthcare
Trump: The reform on healthcare has been broad and centered on a few key points. The goal to eliminate the Affordable Care Act and replace it with a new health care system is still in place. Some modifications include eradicating individual mandates and subsidies. This is intended to help those with low-income afford health insurance. The new system that would replace Obamacare would restrict the government’s role in determining healthcare choices. States now have the authority to place work requirements on those with Medicaid, in hopes of reducing Medicaid spending.
Biden: Biden wants a “Medicare- like public option” to compete alongside private insurance markets for working-age Americans, while increasing premium subsidies that many working-class and middle- class workers use already under the Affordable Care Act. Biden estimates that would cost about $750 billion over 10 years. That positions Biden between Trump, who wants to scrap the 2010 law, and progressives who want a single-payer system to replace private insurance altogether. Biden sees his approach as the next step toward universal coverage and one he could get through Congress.
Foreign Policy
Trump: In his pledge to “Make America Great Again,” Trump believes the country should only be involved in global affairs that would benefit America’s economic interests. He also believes the United States should play a leadership role in global affairs. He advocates for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to spend more on defense instead of relying on the United States to provide it financially. About 70 percent of defense spending is contributed by the United States, according to BBC. Trump fulfilled his promise to withdraw the United States from the Iran nuclear deal.
Biden: Biden pledges to begin “the day after the election” rebuilding relationships with allies ruffled by Trump’s approach. Biden’s top priority is reestablishing the foundations of NATO, the post-World War II alliance of Western powers that Biden said is necessary to counter Russia’s aggressive, expansionist aims in Eastern Europe and Asia. Biden said he would immediately confront Russian President Vladimir Putin about his country’s interference in U.S. elections. Biden pledges to “end forever wars” but clarifies that U.S. Special Forces — as opposed to large-scale ground missions — remain a vital part of world stability. He calls for rebuilding a decimated U.S. diplomatic corps, rejoining the Paris climate accord and pushing China and other large economies to reduce carbon pollution.
Climate Change
Biden: The battle against climate change is a priority for Biden. He advocates for a plan that endorses 100 percent carbon-free energy and net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Fossil fuels would not be eliminated immediately, but instead gradually decline in usage. Fossil fuels subsidies would end and clean energy would replace them. Biden also envisions supporting federal funding for carbon capture and sequestration programs to reduce carbon gas emissions.
Trump: The United States withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement shortly after Trump took office. The agreement is based on reducing greenhouse gas emissions to combat climate change. However, the withdrawal will not occur until after the presidential election. Trump also plans on eliminating the Clean Power Plan, which proposes moving states to renewable energy. Trump is a promoter for oil, gas, and coal production. He recently finalized plans for opening public land to oil and gas drilling.
SOURCES: U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT, REUTERS.COM, POLITICIANCOMPARE.COM