Compare and Contrast

October 10, 2024

“Pop Quiz, Hotshot”

As we continue to barrel our way towards November 5, I wanted to take a moment for a pop quiz. The only question is this: Between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, which candidate is proposing all of the following?

  • Stronger borders and tougher immigration laws
  • A tougher stance against China
  • Increasing domestic energy production, including fracking
  • Not over-regulating AI
  • Providing incentives for companies for U.S. manufacturing
  • Supporting Israel and its wars
  • Providing more child-care assistance to parents
  • Protecting IVF treatment
  • Protecting Social Security and Medicare
  • Not taxing tipped income
  • Opposing a national abortion ban

Figured it out? Yes, the answer is: both of them. Every one of these positions has been promoted by both candidates — even the last one (although Trump’s actions when he was president certainly seem to indicate that his current stance is temporary at best). Regardless, a combination of political coalitions and shifting demographics has forced both parties to agree on a shockingly broad amount of policy positions, leaving the truly undecided have to look outside of these issues to find what fits them best.

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A woman staring through a magnifying glass directly at you

Harris vs. Trump: Where They Stand on…

So what are the differences between the two? Newsweek recently did a deep dive into seven key issues and where the two campaigns really come to different conclusions. Let’s look at them briefly:

The Economy

Harris often campaigns on the promise of an “Opportunity Economy”, focused on building up the middle class. This would include addressing America’s housing crisis by building more affordable homes and offering first-time buyers up to $25,000 for initial down payments. She also wants to pass a federal ban on price gouging, raise the federal minimum wage, and sign the pro-union Protecting the Right to Organize Act.

Trump’s agenda is more concerned with “big government spending” and free trade. “Drill, baby, drill” is a key slogan, advocating for increasing America’s oil and gas reserves by expanding well drilling into currently prohibited areas. He also states that he wants to pay off the country’s national debt, although there has been no explanations of how that would happen.

Taxes

Harris has pledged to avoid tax increases on American households making less than $400,000 a year, while increasing corporate and capital gains tax rates. She also has proposed a $6,000 child tax credit for newborns (up from the current $2K), and a credit of $3,600 per child for families with children under 6.

Trump plans to slash corporate taxes even further than he did during his previous term, and to extend his 2017 individual tax cuts. He vows to place tariffs ranging from 10% to 20% on most U.S. imports — with 60% reserved for those from China, and specifically called out companies like John Deere, who’s planning to move some manufacturing jobs to Mexico, threatening them with a 200% tariff.

Crime & Gun Control

Harris’s policies center on gun control, with vows to promote banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, requiring universal background checks, and supporting red flag laws. While in the past, she has voiced support for adjusting how funds are allocated toward law enforcement, her website’s current policy proposals include “invest[ing] in funding law enforcement,” and hiring and training more officers.

Trump continuously claims that crime is out of control — despite actual statistics showing that violent crime rates across the board are lower this year than they have been in years. He has promised to deliver a non-specific “record funding” for hiring and retraining police officers. And while he has voiced support in the past for red flag laws, campaign surrogates have vowed that he would appoint federal judges who oppose any firearm limitations.

Immigration

Harris has promised to bring back the bipartisan border security bill that Trump-backed Senate Republicans voted down in May, which would increase funding and personnel for border patrol. Her campaign manager has also stated that she would uphold President Joe Biden’s June executive order limiting the number of asylum claims the U.S. would process when the border is “overwhelmed”.

Immigration is central to Trump’s campaign — as evidenced by both his and running mate Senator J.D. Vance’s statements during their respective debates. Aside from completing what he calls the “Trump wall” on the southern border, he and campaign surrogates have pledged mass deportations to the tune of at least one million undocumented immigrants.

Abortion

In contrast to Trump and immigration, abortion and reproductive freedom are the centerpieces of Harris’s campaign. She has promised to sign a bill to “restore reproductive freedom nationwide” in response to the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade.

As mentioned above, Trump has promised not to sign any sort of nationwide ban on abortion, continuing to insist that “everyone” wants the decision to be left up to state legislatures to decide, and praising the “brilliant and brave” members of the Supreme Court who chose to overturn Roe. His website only mentions that he opposes “late-term abortion”, and recent news items have shown that he and his wife, Melania, seem to sharply disagree on their positions.

Health Care

Harris’s campaign has promised to continue some of the policies of the Biden administration, such as the $35 cap on the price of insulin, and the $2,000 cap on out-of-pocket spending for prescription drugs. She has called for enhancing the Affordable Care Act, pushed to lower drug prices, and advocated for medical debt forgiveness.

Trump’s “concepts” of a plan for health care — as stated during the debate with Harris — continues to be non-specific. Trump’s platform states that he “will increase transparency, promote choice and competition, and expand access to new affordable healthcare and prescription drug options,” with no details about how that would happen.

Foreign Policy

Harris has supported maintaining the current U.S. defense budget, which topped out to nearly $850 billion in the Biden administration’s budget request for fiscal year 2025. She has taken a hard line stance in regards to China, stating that the U.S. would defeat them in the “competition for the 21st century.” She also has vowed to continue supporting Ukraine’s fight against Russian invasion, criticizing Trump’s cozy relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. She also has promised to “always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself” while also ensuring that “the suffering in Gaza ends”.

Trump has promised to fix “our depleted military” (without explaining how it’s depleted), while also “keep[ing] America out of unnecessary foreign wars”. He has promised to end the Russia-Ukraine war “in 24 hours”, but has refused to describe how, and in fact, completely dodged the question when asked whom he hoped would win the conflict. Trump’s 2016 administration was extremely pro-Israel, overseeing the symbolic move of the American embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, and he’s since continued to express his close ties with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

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