Oregon’s primary date is coming up on May 17th, and it’s currently looking like the race for both the Democratic and Republican nominations might still be up in the air at that relatively late point in the primary season. With that date fast approaching, students need to know what the top candidates for President say that they are planning for our country in order to make a good choice for their vote with issues regarding climate change, taxes, and student loans / debt. Wherever your views stand, this article will hopefully help you get to know a little bit more about the candidates to strengthen your opinion.

The top Republican candidates at this point include Ted Cruz, Donald Trump, and Marco Rubio, and the Democrats are Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton.

In regards to climate change, there is a stark contrast between the Republican and Democratic candidates. Simply put, the Republican candidates do not believe that it is a significant issue, so they have no major plans for any change to clean energy to reduce pollution; however, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders share the belief that climate change exists, but have different ideas in order to reduce it. Some ideas include Bernie Sanders’ plan to stop fracking while Hillary Clinton wants to keep it, but with more regulation. Hillary Clinton instead plans to implement half a billion solar panels and various renewable sources.

Bernie Sanders believes in taxing the rich much more than the poor, while Ted Cruz believes in simple flat tax to better the economy. Hillary Clinton agrees mostly with President Obama’s current system, but has plans to change things such as raising the minimum wage, as she also has some similarities with Bernie Sanders. On the other hand, Marco Rubio and Donald Trump have plans for lowering taxes in varying ways with the idea of benefiting business owners and families. Further analysis though, is important to understand.

The Democratic Nominees

Bernie Sanders

• Climate Change: “Enough is enough. It’s time for a political revolution that takes on the fossil fuel billionaires, accelerates our transition to clean energy, and finally puts people before the profits of polluters” (berniesanders.com).
• Taxes: “His plan would increase marginal tax rates on all taxpayers, through higher individual income tax rates and two new payroll taxes. The plan includes several provisions aimed at high-income households” (source: Tax Foundation).
• Student Loans: “…calls for tuition-free courses for freshmen and sophomores at public universities, and suggested closing tax loopholes for corporations as a means of paying for it” (source: Credible Labs).

Hillary Clinton

• Climate Change: “Climate change is an urgent threat and a defining challenge of our time—and Hillary Clinton has a plan to tackle it by making America the world’s clean energy superpower, taking bold steps to slash carbon pollution at home and around the world, and ensuring no Americans are left out or left behind as we rapidly build a clean energy economy” (source: hillaryclinton.com).
• Taxes: “She has supported raising the federal minimum wage to $12” and “she also supports the Obama administration’s expansion of overtime rules to millions more workers” (source: hillaryclinton.com).
• Student Loans: “Clinton repeatedly addressed the growing problem of student debt in speeches while affirming support for the direct loan program and increasing financial aid” (source: Huffington Post).

The Republican Nominees

Ted Cruz

• Climate Change: “It doesn’t matter than 97 percent of scientists agree about climate change, because 97 percent of scientists said the sun rotated around the earth in the 1600s” (source: thinkprocess.org).
• Taxes: “The current seven rates of personal income tax will collapse into a single low rate of 10 percent” (source: tedcruz.org).
• Student Loans: “We should take the funding [of student loans], give it to the states and put the states in the position to make the decisions how to have the greatest impact in their communities” (source: Credible Labs).

Donald Trump

• Climate Change: “The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive” (source: @realDonaldTrump).
• Taxes: “No business of any size, from a Fortune 500 to a mom and pop shop to a freelancer living job to job, will pay more than 15% of their business income in taxes” and “Americans will get a simpler tax code with four brackets – 0%, 10%, 20% and 25% – instead of the current seven“ (source: donaldjtrump.com).
• Student Loans: “That’s probably one of the only things the government shouldn’t make money off. I think it’s terrible that one of the only profit centers we have is student loans” and “though Trump is a conservative, his position on Student Loans seems to be somewhat liberal and we expect that he will continue to promote the loan forgiveness programs” (source: studentdebtrelief.us).

Marco Rubio

• Climate Change: “I do not believe that human activity is causing these dramatic changes to our climate the way these scientists are portraying it” (source: salon.com).
• Taxes: “Rubio’s plan would reduce today’s seven income tax rates to just three: 15%, 25% and 35%” (source: rubio.senate.gov).
• Student Loans: “Allowing private investment groups to invest directly in an individual student is an alternative to student loans that helps make higher education more affordable and more accessible” (source: credible.com).

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How do you feel about the Presidential race so far? Which candidates do you feel strongly about? Let us know in the comments below!

Creative Commons photo source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ishane/3562451195