Breaking Down the Issues that Matter to High School Students
October 27, 2020
Below is an in-depth look at where the candidates stand on issues that matter most to high school students before the November 3 election.
President Donald J. Trump (R)
Climate Change
President Trump’s overall stance on this issue has widely consisted of denying its existence and the science behind it, or otherwise being neglectful in regards to taking action:
- In the past four years, Trump has…
- Withdrew from the Paris Climate Accord after election
- Signed the Save Our Seas Act in 2018
- Made industry-friendly changes to rules governing coal, oil, and natural gas production
- For the coming election, he…
- Favors oil, gas, and coal interests
Would likely limit expansion of climate regulation
Sourced from: https://www.wsj.com/articles/where-trump-and-biden-stand-on-climate-and-energy-policy-11601809200
College Affordability
While the President doesn’t frequently discuss this topic in great detail, he shares very different views from his opponent:
- During his administration, they have…
- Proposed deep budget cuts to the Department of Education as a whole (specifically targeting student financial-aid programs)
- $2 billion cut taken from the Pell Grant reserve funds
- Eliminating many federal loan programs
- Vetoed a bill that protected students from debt, by allowing them to cancel it should they be defrauded by their schools
- Extended discharge of debt to permanently-disabled veterans in 2019
- Democrats argued that it should be implemented for all permanently-disabled people
- Erased provisions made to ensure for-profit colleges are preparing kids for college
- Proposed deep budget cuts to the Department of Education as a whole (specifically targeting student financial-aid programs)
Systemic Racism (and Police Brutality)
Regarding the more controversial topic of systemic racism in our country, President Trump has denied its existence in the US on multiple occasions, or otherwise chooses to emphasize the benevolence of “law and order” above all else:
- While addressing this issue, Trump has…
- Typically emphasized the occasional violence of protests, or “riots” as he calls them, over their causes
- Said multiple times that he doesn’t believe the issue exists in the US today
- Instated police reform executive order:
- Discourages use of chokeholds by police
- Created a national database for police misconduct
- Criticized for its apparent failure to address the problem at its core
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/16/donald-trump-police-reform-executive-order
Joe Biden (D)
Climate Change
Biden regards climate change as a very important issue and takes it very seriously. If elected, he has many plans and ideas of how to combat this urgent problem, with a large focus in renewable energy:
- These include…
- Dedicate $12 trillion in spending
- Keep the us in Paris Climate Accord (as left in 2015)
- Push other countries to cut emissions
- Eliminate greenhouse gas emissions by 2050
- Give communities hurt by pollution aid (often poor & minority) by directly involving the justice department
Sourced from: https://www.wsj.com/articles/where-trump-and-biden-stand-on-climate-and-energy-policy-11601809200
College Affordability
College affordability has come up a lot in recent years, and Democratic nominee Joe Biden has many ideas on how to help future college graduates:
- Provide 2 years of community college or other high quality training program w/o debt
- Free tuition at 4 year public colleges from colleges for students w/ an annual income under $125,000
- Double the max. Value of Pell Grants
- Invest $18 billion in grants for historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), tribal colleges and uni (TCUs), hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs) and other under-resources Minority-serving institutions (MSIs)
Sourced from: https://www.savingforcollege.com/article/joe-bidens-plans-college-affordability-and-student-loans
Systemic Racism (and Police Brutality)
Over the last few months, the issue of police brutality and systemic racism, and what would be best to handle these dire problems, has been a topic of interest for both candidates. Democratic nominee Joe Biden has spoken on this issue many times and has some ideas of how to fix this problem in the future, if elected:
- Wants to revamp the national standard of what constitutes appropriate policing, and make all police depts. adopt it → form a commission to do so
- Supports conditioning federal aid for police departments based on meeting “certain basic standards for decency and honorableness”
- Thinks police officers should “not only be fired but held accountable if there’s a criminal offense”
Sourced from: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/joe-biden-systemic-racism-exists-law-enforcement/