Jacob Francy, 26
With just days left before the election, both major party candidates are on their final campaign stops to achieve 270 electoral votes in order to win the White House. While we try to evade all of the chaos in the media, let’s look at where both candidates stand on specific issues objectively.
Taxes
Trump says he would extend tax cuts that were enacted under his own administration in 2017, which reduced taxes for most Americans, though research has shown that top earners still benefited the most. Under Trump, everyone would receive a tax cut, but the lowest earners, those making under $19,600, would just see a $320 difference in take-home pay, thousands of dollars lower than Harris’ plan. The very highest earners under Trump would receive a tax break of $376,910, according to an analysis by Penn Wharton. Trump is also promising to end income taxes on Social Security benefits, which would help middle and upper-middle income seniors the most.
The largest part of Trumps’ fiscal plan includes generating universal tariffs, a tax on all international imports. Economists from around the world have claimed that tariffs only cause domestic prices to rise and inflation to skyrocket. “To put simple numbers to the concept,” said Andrew Leahey of Forbes, “imagine a laptop that would be priced at $1,000 that now has a 20% tariff and costs $1,200 out the door. The tariff, effectively a tax on the laptop purchase, is $200 regardless of who the purchaser is. If a college student making $10,000 per year purchases the laptop, the tariff will constitute 2% of their income—for someone making $100,000 per year, the tariff would only be 0.2%. This is the functional equivalent of taxing the latter at a rate one-tenth that of the former—a regressive tax.”
Harris, on the other hand, says she'd provide bigger tax benefits for families but would offset the costs by raising corporate taxes. Under Harris' tax plan, according to the analysis by the Penn Wharton Budget Model, 95% of Americans would see lower taxes, and higher earners would pay more taxes. The top 0.1%, whose annual average income exceeds $14 million, would pay about $167,000 more in taxes.
She also says she wants to “provide a financial cushion” for small businesses with an increase in the startup expense deduction, lifting it from $5,000 to $50,000. New businesses wouldn't need to claim the deduction in their first year, when many take losses and would not be able to use it. Instead, they'd be able to wait until they're profitable and use the deduction at that time. Businesses would also be able to take part of the deduction in one year and save the rest for future years. Harris also plans on increasing the child tax credit from $2,000 to $6,000 and giving first-time homeowners $25,000 for help on a down payment.
Both candidates agree on one issue regarding taxes, which is they have both agreed to end federal taxes on tips, which Trump first announced.
Inflation
Inflation has cooled nearly to pre-pandemic levels, but prices have risen “nearly 21%” since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. A recent survey found two-thirds of middle-income families said they're falling behind their cost of living.
Harris is trying to address the effects of inflation, specifically on lower- and middle-class Americans. She blames price gouging by food suppliers and grocery chains for high prices at the store and pledges to “take on corporations” with the first federal law against price gouging. Economists have expressed doubts about the efficacy of such a law because they say “reasons for food inflation are complex.”
She also wants to lower prescription drug costs, which has been a focus for the Biden administration. Earlier, the White House announced Medicare reached agreements with drug manufacturers for lower prices for 10 drugs that treat a range of ailments, from heart failure to diabetes. It was also Harris who cast the tie-breaking vote for the Inflation Reduction Act, which granted Medicare the drug negotiating authority.
Trump has pledged to end the "inflation nightmare." However his policies, which include adding tariffs to all imported goods, would likely fuel inflation and reverse some of the progress of the last two years, some economists say.
Abortion
Both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have highlighted the Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade in 2022, and the role that the three justices appointed by Trump played in that landmark decision. Trump has touted his nomination of three of the five justices who voted to overturn Roe, while Harris has criticized him for specifically selecting justices who would dismantle the “constitutional right” to abortion.
Trump has said the issue should be left up to the voters of each state, declaring in a video that "the states will determine by vote or legislation, or perhaps both, and whatever they decide must be the law of the land."
He has also called a six-week ban signed into law by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis a "terrible thing and a terrible mistake." He told reporters in an NBC interview that six weeks is "too long" and said he is "going to be voting that we need more than six weeks" which is a reference to the proposed amendment to Florida's Constitution that is on the November ballot that would prohibit laws that restrict abortion before fetal viability, generally considered to be “between 22 and 24 weeks of pregnancy.” Trump backtracked after facing swift backlash from conservatives and said he would be voting "no" on the abortion amendment.
Harris has made abortion rights a focal point of her campaign and marketed the phrase "Trump abortion bans" on the trail. In her speech at the Democratic National Convention accepting the party's presidential nominee, the vice president pledged to sign into law legislation that restores the federal right to abortion, if it were to be passed by Congress.
IVF
Access to in vitro fertilization (IVF) services became a main campaign issue this year after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled in February that “frozen embryos created during the IVF process” could be considered actual children. The decision threatened the availability of IVF services in the state and placed access to fertility treatments into the national debate.
Trump unveiled a new plan last month that would require the federal government or insurance companies to cover the costs of IVF treatments, which can cost tens of thousands of dollars each.
Harris has repeatedly said she supports “the right of women to make their own decisions about their bodies and family-planning”, and told the crowd at the DNC that since Roe's reversal, she has heard stories of couples who have had their IVF treatments cut off.
The Vice President said in a video that Trump "is literally the architect of this entire crisis," and said the Alabama ruling is a "direct result" of the Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe.
Immigration
Trump has promised to launch the largest deportation operation in American history, upping the notorious "Operation Wetback" roundup of Mexican immigrants and Mexican-Americans in the 1950s under President Eisenhower. Supporters and opposers alike question whether the promise is feasible given the significant operational and legal constraints involved in deporting millions of unauthorized immigrants, some of whom have children who are U.S. citizens.
Trump vowed to try to end birthright citizenship for the children of immigrants living in the country illegally, a move that legal experts say is “unlikely to pass constitutional muster.”
The former president says he plans to reinstate his hardline border policies, including a program requiring migrants to remain in Mexico while their asylum cases are reviewed. He has also pledged to militarize the U.S.-Mexico border and to utilize the National Guard to arrest migrants crossing into the country unlawfully.
Trump has not ruled out reviving the practice of separating migrant parents from their children as a way to deter migration, a policy that was discontinued after public outcry and a judicial order in his administration. He has also talked about denying entry to legal immigrants based on their ideological beliefs, saying the move would target "Marxists" and "communists." Trump says he'd suspend refugee admissions from the Middle East and suggested he would reinstate and expand the travel ban his administration issued for certain countries, most of them predominantly Muslim.
Harris usually mainly points to the failed bipartisan border bill this year in Congress which was supported by both major parties. Trump famously called in the Speaker of the House to turn it down, so he could run on the issue for the presidential election. The legislation would have enacted permanent restrictions on asylum, given the president the power to quickly deport migrants when border crossings soar. It also boosted the ranks of border agents, deportation officers, immigration judges and asylum adjudicators. The bill would also have expanded legal immigration, allocating 50,000 new immigrant visas annually for five years. While the bipartisan border deal did not include a legalization program for undocumented immigrants, which has been a longtime Democratic priority in immigration negotiations, Harris has expressed support for an "earned" path to citizenship on the campaign trail.
Education
Trump says he wants to break up the U.S. Department of Education. He's also said he wants to cut federal spending for any school pushing "critical race theory" or transgender matters. Like many Republicans, Trump is also a proponent of school choice, the policy helping parents to use tax dollars toward private institutions, taking tax dollars out of public schools.
In 2018, a federal court approved a $25 million settlement with students who said they were “misled” by Trump and his Trump University, which is no longer running. The institution was supposed to teach them the real estate business. It operated from 2005 to 2010.
As a U.S. Senator, Harris backed a bill that would have provided tuition-free college for most families. The Democratic Party's platform also calls for free college tuition for all. This is not an idea Harris has yet discussed on the campaign trail.
Climate
Trump has summed up his energy and environment policy with the slogan "drill, baby, drill." He vows to make America the world's leading producer of oil and gas, mostly by lifting restrictions on energy production. Trump's energy plan includes slashing energy and electricity prices by more than half even though there is no specific plan of how they will achieve that.
As president, Trump proposed large cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which were rejected by the Democrat-led House Appropriations Committee. He told Fox News in June, "One of the things that's so bad for us is environmental agencies. They make it impossible to do anything."
Trump pulled out of the landmark Paris climate agreement in 2020, and his campaign says he would again exit the international treaty if he wins another term. The U.S. rejoined the agreement in 2021 on the first day of President Biden’s term.
Trump vowed he will undo what he calls Biden's "electric vehicle mandate" on day one in office. The Biden-Harris administration has not issued any sort of “mandate” but has introduced incentives to spur EV adoption with set goals and set a target that half of all new vehicle sales be zero emissions by the year 2030.
Harris has not fully outlined her climate policy yet, but she is expected to continue to pursue the goals of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act signed by President Biden, which funded energy and climate projects aimed at reducing carbon emissions by 40% by 2030. As vice president, Harris advocates moving the country toward a "clean energy economy" while not completely backing away from oil and gas, which is a major industry in battleground states like Pennsylvania, one of the top natural gas producers in the country.
In an interview with CNN, Harris said that as president, she wouldn't ban fracking, a technique for extracting natural gas, a switch from a statement she made during her 2020 presidential campaign that she'd support a fracking ban. Citing the creation of 300,000 clean energy jobs during the Biden administration, she said her experience as vice president shows "we can increase a thriving clean energy economy without banning fracking."
Guns
The National Rifle Association (NRA) endorsed Trump in May at its annual convention. At another NRA event in February, he vowed "no one will lay a finger on your firearms" which confirmed he still is still very in favor of less gun regulations.
After the Las Vegas shooting in Oct. 2017, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms under the Trump administration moved forward with a ban on bump stocks, devices that greatly increase the rate of fire of semi-automatic weapons. The ban was later struck down by the Supreme Court.
At her speech at the Democratic National Convention, Harris only made a small reference to gun violence. "In this election, many other fundamental freedoms are at stake," she said. "The freedom to live safe from gun violence in our schools, communities and places of worship."
Harris has previously stated she is in favor of “common-sense gun laws” referring to background checks, required safety training, and required licensed carry only. However, in an interview, she also has tried to paint the picture that she isn’t a radical when it comes to firearms. “I have a glock,” she said, announcing she is a gun owner herself. She defended herself in an Oprah interview saying, “If someone breaks into my house, they are getting shot.”
Democracy
Trump, after the 2020 election results were released, declaring Biden the winner of both the popular vote and the electoral college, incited an insurrection onto the U.S. Capitol building on January 6, 2021, the day the election results were being certified by Congress. A handful of people, capitol officers and rioters, died during the tragedy.
In an interview, Trump said he would not rule out all-out tyranny, saying he would be “a dictator on Day 1.” He has previously also praised the infamous Chancellor of Germany, Adolf Hitler. John Kelly, Trump’s longest serving Chief of Staff, said under oath Trump told him, “Hitler did some good things.” Trump also reportedly told Kelly, “I need the kind of generals Hitler had.” Kelly has repeatedly called Trump a “fascist”.
Trump has yet to give a definite answer on whether or not he will accept the results of the 2024 election. He says he will only accept them if it is a “free and fair election,” which feeds into the false narrative that a previous election was fixed or stolen.
Kamala Harris has promised to accept the results of the election, and she has also promised to certify the election results as that is one of the Vice President’s duties. She has called Trump a “threat to democracy,” citing his calls for dictatorship.