Hillary Clinton
About the candidate…
Originally from Arkansas and a practicing lawyer, Mrs. Clinton has served as Secretary of State, New York Senator, and first lady of the United States.
On the issues…
-Will uphold the Affordable Care Act
-Supports immigration reform that will allow for a pathway to citizenship for current undocumented immigrants
-Wants to expand Social Security
-Will prevent privatization of the VA.
-She is a believer in the gender wage gap, and has promised to end this gap if elected.
-Pro-choice
Biggest obstacles: Mrs. Clinton is still under investigation for using personal devices and a private server and accessing top-secret email in an insecure fashion while serving as Secretary of State. In addition, many hold Mrs. Clinton responsible for the deaths of 4 Americans that were killed while serving in Benghazi, Libya on September 11, 2012. She has also insisted on the right of victims of violent crimes involving a gun to sue gun companies, which many find to be impractical and nearly impossible.
website: https://www.hillaryclinton.com/
Bernie Sanders (D)
About…
Currently serving his second term as a senator of Vermont, Senator Sanders previously served for 16 years as Vermont’s only congressman in the House of Representatives.
On the issues…
-Promises to increase taxes on the wealthy, increase the national minimum wage to $15/hour, provide free college education to everyone in America, and invest in new job creation. He has not provided a plan yet on how these goals will be funded aside from increasing taxes on the wealthy.
-Focused on fighting global warming, transitioning away from fossil fuels, and investing in new, alternative sources of sustainable energy.
-Will expand Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare
-Fully fund and expand the VA, improve the processing of VA claims, provide additional support to caregivers of veterans
-Lower prescription drug prices
-Wants to increase the minimum wage worldwide
-Has promised to “break up the big banks,” although details on this plan have not been provided
-Promises to close Guantanamo Bay, outlaw using torture on terrorists, and move away from a military presence in the world and towards a more positive influence worldwide through fair trade and humanitarian efforts
Biggest obstacles: Senator Sanders, who spent his honeymoon in communist Soviet Union, is a self-proclaimed socialist democrat. Socialism is quite the opposite of Democracy, and Senator Sanders may have a difficult time convincing the majority of Americans otherwise.
website: https://berniesanders.com/issues/