Understanding The Differences: How Trump and Clinton Are Selling Policy to the Public

Now that their speeches have been completed and the Republican and Democratic National Conventions have concluded, both candidates have tried their hardest to unite their bases, build excitement and expand support. Trump and Clinton have both made their sales pitch to America, but what can we take from their statements?

Donald Trump painted a rather dark picture of the nation, and however accurate his representations were, may depend entirely upon your political affiliation. Trump spoke of elevated crime rates, increased racial tension and divide within society; fear of terrorism and an American economy significantly in decline.

Clinton’s speech was much more…uplifting than Trump’s. She talks of America as already the greatest country in the world, made great because we have so many people of so may different backgrounds, genders, races and religions living as one. She speaks to the strength of America – as all these different people working together to form an organized society – and how we, as a people, must not be divided by fear, intolerance and hate – this will not make America better.

Immigration

Trump repeatedly cites how Mexicans and foreign nationals are primarily responsible for bringing drugs and crime into this country – the reason for our elevated crime rate over recent years. To reduce crime, Trump proposes building a wall and severely limiting the number of immigrants of all types, from all countries, from entering the country. Trump and Republicans alike, talk about how immigrants are stealing jobs from U.S. residents and contribute to state/national debt because they do not pay their fair share back into society while still taking advantage of national resources.

Clinton counters Trump’s Muslim/Mexican/Immigration ban in favor of “comprehensive immigration reform and a path to citizenship.” She does not want to close borders, rather, she wants to open the system up and make it easier for immigrants to come into the country legally – so that people do not feel the need to come here illegally. Rather then deport illegal immigrants, at the cost of the federal government, Clinton wants to grant amnesty to illegal immigrants; getting them involved in the economy and paying taxes – to the benefit to the federal government.

Crime & Police

Trump calls himself “the law and order candidate in this election,” that ‘he alone’ can restore order, that he will strengthen our nation’s police. But what does he actually mean by this? Is Trump proposing placing more police on the streets, growing the police force to further combat crime? No one is really sure. Trump never specifies or gives any details.

Strengthening the police has been done once before, by the husband of his opponent in this election. In 1994, Bill Clinton signed a law that added 100,000 new police officers into the national police force. What was the result of this decision? As explained by The New York Times, “more than 2.2 million people are now behind bars, nearly double the number incarcerated when Mr Clinton took office. Although the United States makes up less than 5 percent of the world’s population, it has more than 20 percent of its prison population.”

While Clinton has unwavering support for our nation’s police, she does not refer to herself as “the law and order candidate” like Trump. She has acknowledged and apologized for her and her husbands strict approach to law enforcement in the 1990’s, recognizing the negative impact this had on society. Unlike Trump, Clinton does not necessarily believe granting more power and authority to the police is the real answer.

Clinton and Trump also differ on the idea of police militarization. If you are unaware, through Program 1033, the US Department of Defense has directly funded local police with military weapons, gear and vehicles since the 1970’s. This has become an increasingly contentious issue in recent times. In July, President Obama passed an executive order banning the police from obtaining military gear from the DOD – something Clinton and the Democrats also support. Not only has Donald Trump promised to overturn this decision, he promises to make it easier for the police to gain more military gear in order to ensure they are protected.

Military, War & Terrorism

Moving on to fighting ISIS and America’s War on Terror, Trump once again demands more authority in our approach. He says he wants to “destroy ISIS quickly and comprehensively at the source,” at other times saying he is “going to bomb the $h!t out of them.” Never at one point in his speech does he say “we are going to start a new war in the Middle East,” but isn’t this exactly what he is saying?

Clinton harshly criticizes Trump for his desire to put young Americans lives at risk in a new war campaign in the Middle East. Rather than place the burden exclusively on the American military and American soldiers, Clinton proposes working together with many partners throughout the world to develop a joint response to ISIS – not another isolated American War.

To overcome ISIS and the growing threat in the region, Clinton follows along the same lines as Obama in recent years, saying that we need to continue to strengthen our military ties with NATO and build a stronger international force – of many allied nations – so Islamic State can be defeated together.

George Bush, the last Republican President, finished his second term with the lowest approval rating of any President in United States history, for warmongering in the Middle East. It makes sense that Trump would not specifically use the language “I am going to start a new War for America.” This would be political suicide, however, there may be no other way to interpret the strategy he has put forth.

On the other hand, many people view Barack Obama’s foreign policy as a great failure. Consequentially, Clinton has been harshly criticized for making the situation in the Middle East and Libya much worse than it once was; how her time as Secretary of State directly coincided with the rise of the Islamic State, the downfall of Libya and the Syrian Civil War. Opponents, such as Trump, argue that not only has Hillary Clinton’s and Obama’s foreign policy made America less safe, but it has made the entire world less safe at the same time and this is why a dramatic change in policy is needed.

Economy

The debate over whether the American economy in decline is an issue, one that people on both sides of the political isle will fight till the death over. President Obama goes in front of the nation and says “anyone who says America’s economy is in decline is peddling a false narrative.” Clinton cites how Obama has added more jobs than any President in United States history, how 20 million more people are insured and Wall Street is hitting new all time record highs.

Every one of these statements is true, there is no taking this away from the them. Sounds great doesn’t it? Something to rally around and get people excited for liberal Democrat policy and the direction of this country – right? Well, hold your horses, lets actually dig a little deeper into these ‘truths’….

While it is true that Obama has added more jobs than any President in U.S. history, there are 5.8 million fewer Americans working full time in 2016, than when he first took office. Employers cut full time workers so they wouldn’t have to pay employees’ health insurance after the Affordable Care Act. With full time hours slashed, more part time workers were needed to fill those same hours – thus, creating more over all jobs.

Since more people than ever are now working part time, net income for the average American has fallen 2.2%, the number of Americans living in poverty has increased 2.8% and poverty levels overall are at their highest levels in 50 years – all since Obama took office. Furthermore, while it is true that there are now 20 million more Americans with health insurance as a result of the ACA, insurance premiums are at their highest levels in 4 decades. While Wall Street is now setting all time record highs, Wall Street was bailed out in 2009 and the Fed has introduced 4 trillion dollars into the market place since this time – the real reason monetary totals are soaring.

Not so exciting after all is it? However, these ‘truths’  speak to an important issue, one to be considered in all political discussion. Politicians/people can make statements, which are true, while at the same time those same statements are false, such as we just described – please remember to take this into consideration.

Getting to the matter at hand, how does Trump and Clinton propose in making the country better for everyone, ensuring the longevity and continued success of the American economy?

Clinton shares Obama’s enthusiasm for the status quo and how things are currently running, even giving Obama credit for saving the country and bringing us out of the great recession. However, Clinton does  acknowledges that we do face serious economic problems and like Sanders, Clinton promises to raise taxes on the rich; penalize countries who outsource jobs; forgive student loan debt, increase the federal minimum wage and grant equal pay for women. Clinton points to these key political measures as simple ways to grow the American economy and help American workers.

While Trump also opposes countries who outsource jobs, as a business man himself, he does not necessarily approve of an increase on taxes to the wealthy and business owners. Furthermore, where as Clinton fully supports recent trade deals like the Iranian Nuclear Deal and the TPP, Trump strongly opposes these agreements. Trump proclaims America is no longer getting a fair deal in global trade and proposes pulling out of all out international agreements unless the U.S. can re-negotiate and get a better deal; a better share of the action.

Another key difference between the candidates is that Clinton opposes Citizens United, the Supreme Court ruling declaring money=speech and says she will immediately repeal this law.

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