Question

Information：

1.taxes

Trump:

Keep and extend 2017 tax cuts.

Tax legislation in 2017 reduced marginal tax rates across the board, including reducing the top personal income tax rate from 39.6% to 37%.

Increased the standard deduction from $6350 to $12,000 (currently $12,400)

Limited deduction of state and local taxes to $10,000

Reduced top marginal corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%

Biden: Raise certain tax rates

Increase top personal marginal tax rate back to 39.6%, but leave other marginal tax rates unchanged

Apply Social Security taxes to earnings over $400,000 (currently earnings above $137,700 are not taxed). Current SS tax rate is 6.2%.

Tax capital gains as ordinary income for households earning over $1 million (currently the top marginal tax rate on capital gains is 20%)

Raise top marginal corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%

2.Infrastructure

Trump

Wants a $2 trillion infrastructure package

Establish a national high-speed wireless internet network

Wants to win the 5G race

Expand Opportunity Zones tax breaks

Opportunity Zones were part of the 2017 tax bill

States may designate up to 25% of low-income census tracts as Opportunity Zones

Capital gain taxes are deferred for investments reinvested into investments in these zones, and capital gains taxes are waived if the investment is held for at least 10 years

For financing, cited low borrowing rates

Biden

Proposes 10-year, $1.3 trillion infrastructure package

Includes $400 billion for clean energy research and innovation; $100 billion to modernize schools; $50 billion to repair roads, bridges, and highways; and $20 billion for rural broadband infrastructure

3.Minimum wage

Trump: would consider raising the minimum wage, but thinks minimum wage should differ across states

Biden: raise minimum wage to $15 an hour

4.Health care

Trump

Proposes cuts in health care spending, especially Medicare and Medicaid

Wants to protect Social Security and Medicare

Wants to lower health care insurance premiums, end surprise billing, and bring down drug prices

Biden

Public health care option, which people could buy into. Would make health insurance more affordable for people who could not afford private health insurance premiums or who had pre-existing conditions. Public option would be free to low income individuals and families.

Limit cost of health care coverage to 8.5% of income

Paid sick leave

12 weeks of paid family leave for new parents

5.Trade

Trump

Penalize countries that the U.S. has a high trade deficit with and countries that are unfairly taxing American companies overseas

No federal contracts for companies that outsource jobs to other countries

Tax credits for companies the bring jobs back to the U.S., focusing specifically on pharmaceutical and robotics companies

Tax credits to businesses making American products

Enact fair trade deals that protect American jobs

Biden

Invest at home in innovation to make American companies more competitive

Form coalitions with allies and partner to confront other nations on intellectual and property and technology transfers

6.Environment

Trump

Supports fossil fuels industry

Biden

Wants to achieve 100% clean energy with net-zero emissions by 2050

Transition away from fossil fuels

Rejoin Paris Climate Agreement

Make climate change part of foreign policy and trade negotiations

Tax incentives/credits for renewable energy

7.Education

Trump

Eliminate the Public Service Loan Forgiveness and subsidized loans programs

Income-driven repayment program would cap monthly payments at 12.5% of income

Forgives undergraduate student loans after 15 years instead of 20 years

Biden

Cancel a minimum of $10,000 in student debt per person

Forgive all undergraduate, tuition-related federal student debt for low-income and middle class individuals (earning up to $125,000) who have attended public colleges and universities and private HBCU’s

From those information:

Discuss your reaction to the economic proposals of the two candidates in one of the presidential debates or the vice-presidential debate. In particular, write about what each candidate proposes in terms of economic policy, discuss the pros and cons of each candidate’s proposed economic policies, state which proposals you believe are better (or argue that something in between would be optimal), and explain your reason for your policy recommendations. Your write-up should be between 400-750 words.

Answer 1

ANSWER-

2020 Presidential and Vice Presidential Debate

General Rules

The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), sponsor of all presidential and vice-presidential debates since 1987, said the debates will be moderated by a single individual and will run from 9-10:30 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) without commercial breaks

Each moderator will select questions for their debate, and those questions will not be known by CPD or the candidates ahead of time. Moderators can extend segments and control them so each candidate has equal speaking time. The moderator is tasked with regulating conversation so "thoughtful and substantive exchanges occur."

First Presidential Debate

The first presidential debate proceeded for 90 minutes without commercial interruptions. Commercial interruptions were the only type of interruptions not prominently featured throughout the evening. The debate on Sept. 29, 2020, was meant to be a discussion of six pre-announced topics, "The Trump and Biden Records," "The Supreme Court," "COVID-19," "The Economy," "Race and Violence in our Cities," and "The Integrity of the Election." While these topics were introduced, little in the way of the concrete policy was mentioned as President Trump and Democratic Presidential Nominee Biden furiously chimed in with near-constant interruptions.

Moderator Chris Wallace struggled to keep the candidates on topic and following the rules throughout the debate. Wallace had to remind President Trump multiple times that his campaign had agreed that both candidates would get two minutes of uninterrupted speaking at the beginning of each topic and at one point became so exasperated by both candidates interrupting that he exclaimed: "Gentlemen, I hate to raise my voice, but ... why should I be different than the two of you?" Wallace even lapsed into sarcasm at one point, saying to Trump "You know sir if you want to switch seats we could very quickly can [sic] do that."

While very little specific policy was proposed, the topics of the debate were addressed in broad strokes.

• Supreme Court: Biden argued that the 2020 voters should decide who should fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, while President Trump said the 2016 election voters had already decided.
• COVID-19: Biden said Trump had done a terrible and disorganized job handling the pandemic. Trump disagreed and said things would have been far worse under Biden.
• Economy: Wallace asked if the economy would have a V-shaped recovery or a K-shaped one. Trump argued the economy has bounced back nicely and will continue to do so, while Biden argued that was not the case.
• Race and Violence in our Cities: Trump believes he has united people and that the increase in crime in a number of cities throughout the U.S. is a result of the policies of Democratic mayors. Wallace pointed out that this increase happened even in cities with Republican mayors. Biden said that while he emphatically does not support defunding the police, he thinks the solution to crime and racial strife is community policing.
• The Trump and Biden Records: Joe Biden touted his plan to create jobs through investment in alternative energy. Trump said he was lying and that Biden was promoting the Green New Deal. Biden countered by saying he did not support it.
• Election Integrity: Biden encouraged people to vote and said that voting matters, while Trump alleged that there is widespread voter fraud through voting by mail without presenting proof. When asked if they will accept the election result, Biden said yes, while Trump did not give a definitive answer.

Vice Presidential Debate

Vice President Mike Pence and vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris clashed over President Trump's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, the management of the U.S. economy, taxes, race relations, and the Supreme Court. The debate, moderated by Susan Page of USA Today, was civil compared to the chaos of the first presidential debate, but it still was marked by scathing attacks from each candidate. The mood was lightened when an errant fly landed on Pence’s head, and sat there, for the first minutes. Here are the highlights.

• Coronavirus Pandemic: Harris called the management of the pandemic the greatest failure of any presidential administration in American history. She recounted COVID-19 statistics showing 210,000 Americans dead and millions infected. She outlined the pandemic's economic fallout, and the fact Trump knew about the potential severity of the disease and “didn’t tell you.” Pence defended the president’s initial pandemic responses, including suspending all travel to and from China and using federal authority to accelerate the production of medical equipment and research to fight the virus. He said there will be a vaccine by year-end.
• Economy: Pence credited President Trump with cutting taxes and regulations to reignite an economy suffering from the weakest growth since the Great Depression. He said the economy today is poised for a rapid, V-shaped recovery. Pence claimed Biden will hike taxes if elected. Harris reiterated Biden's public statements that he would not raise taxes on anyone making less than $400,000 a year. Harris criticized Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, saying it gave major tax cuts (totaling $1.5 trillion) largely to wealthy Americans. She argued that the economy under Trump was benefiting from the rebound engineered during the Obama administration. She outlined several Biden proposals for renewable energy, infrastructure, and college education that would grow the economy.
• Supreme Court: Pence defended the right of President Trump to select the next Supreme Court justice so close to the presidential election, while Harris said the Supreme Court choice should be decided by the next, newly elected president.
• China/Foreign Policy: Pence blamed the coronavirus pandemic on China and the World Health Organization, saying, “We will hold China accountable for the coronavirus.” Pence said Trump's trade war is crucial to cut the trade deficit and that electing Biden would be surrendering to China. Harris argued that the trade war had led to the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs. In foreign policy, she said that Biden would collaborate with our allies, instead of betraying our “friends” and embracing dictators as President Trump has done.
• Racism: Harris said Breonna Taylor, a Black medical worker who was shot and killed by police in her Louisville home, did not receive justice in a grand jury's recent decision. Harris said she supported peaceful protests for police reform and racial justice and proposed broad bias training for police officers. Pence defended the grand jury in the Taylor case, and condemned riots and looting in the U.S. in recent months.
• Presidential Health and Succession: Though the vice president is first in the line of succession if a president dies, neither Pence nor Harris would answer the moderator's question about whether they have talked to their running mates about plans if they die or are unable to perform their duties.

Second Scheduled Presidential Debate

The second presidential debate was scheduled to be held on Thursday, Oct., 15 in the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, but it has been canceled after it had been changed to a virtual event.

President Trump said he would not participate in a virtual event. Biden's campaign has said it would be available. Joe Biden scheduled a town hall meeting that was broadcast on ABC News on Oct. 15, 2020, at 8 p.m. EST. NBC News hosted a town-hall event with President Donald Trump at the same time on the same day.

Final Presidential Debate

The second and final presidential debate was a stark contrast to the first, thanks in part to the addition of a mute button designed to prevent interruptions. The result was a more subdued and substantive exchange between the candidates.

Topics presented by moderator, Kristen Welker of NBC, included COVID-19, National Security, American Families, and the Economy, Immigration, Race in America, Climate Change, and Leadership.

In sharp contrast to the first debate, the candidates largely stayed on topic, with the exception being long digressions by President Trump concerning a conspiracy theory about Biden's son Hunter. Whether the debate will matter is an open question since at the time of the debate 50 million voters had already cast their ballots.

Fighting COVID-19: President Trump, noting his recent recovery from the virus as a positive sign, praised his administration's response to the pandemic. He also said that further lockdowns to prevent the spread of COVID-19 would cause more damage than the pandemic, saying, “We can’t close up our nation or you’re not going to have a nation.” He incorrectly claimed that the pandemic was "going away." The number of new COVID-19 cases is rising, not falling.

Former Vice President Biden said the president had no national strategy for dealing with the pandemic and had misled Americans about the danger of COVID-19. Biden then incorrectly stated that COVID-19 infection rates are predominantly rising in red states. Rates of COVID-19 infection are rising in most states, both Republican- and Democrat-run.7 “Anyone who’s responsible for that many deaths should not remain as president of the United States of America,” Biden said. Biden also said that preventing COVID-19 deaths and helping the economy recover was not a tradeoff, and that businesses and schools could reopen and halt the spread of the virus given enough resources.

National Security: Regarding foreign interference in U.S. elections, Biden said, “I made it clear that any country, no matter who it is, that interferes in American elections will pay a price.” Trump continuously raised a conspiracy theory alleging that Biden enriched himself through corruption in Russia and China. A report by Senate Republicans released in late September found that there was no evidence to substantiate any allegations of improper conduct by Joe Biden.8 Trump then said that he had convinced NATO nations to pay more to “guard against Russia.”

Biden responded saying, “I have not taken a penny from any foreign source ever in my life” then accused Trump of embracing “guys like the thugs like in North Korea.” Trump defended his attempts to deal with North Korea saying it was important to have a good relationship with leaders of other countries. Biden retorted, saying, "We had a good relationship with Hitler before he in fact invaded Europe, the rest of Europe.” He also said he would meet with Kim Jong-Un only on the condition North Korea draw down its nuclear arsenal.

American Families and the Economy: Trump, noting he had gotten rid of the ACA individual mandate, said the Affordable Care Act was “no good” and that he would replace it with a much better plan. He declined to give details on what this plan was. He incorrectly said that Joe Biden proposed ending private health insurance and implementing single-payer healthcare.

Biden said that his plan would offer people the option to have public health insurance, not replace private insurance as under the Medicare for All plan. He promised that nobody would lose private insurance under his healthcare plan, which he called Bidencare.

Each candidate accused the other's party of being the one that was holding up further stimulus and relief.

President Biden argued that raising the minimum wage would not hurt small businesses and would be helpful to the economy. President Trump said that the minimum wage ought to vary more on a state-by-state basis and that raising it on a federal level would hurt small businesses.

Immigration: On immigration, Biden acknowledged that the Obama-Biden administration had been unable to pass immigration reform. Trump was asked what he would do to reunite 545 children whose parents cannot be located after his administration separated them under his, now reversed, zero tolerance policy. President Trump said that his administration was trying "very hard" to find those parents. Biden called the situation, "criminal."

President Trump pointed out that the Obama administration had also used detention facilities with cages. Former Vice President Biden said that in his first 100 days he would send a bill to congress that would grant a pathway to citizenship for the "Dreamers" and recertify the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

Race in America: Biden discussed "the talk" black parents have with their children about relationships with police and other authorities, saying not enough progress had been made on combating racism. He then accused Trump of making racism in the U.S. worse. Trump said the former vice president had 47 years to make substantive policy changes to address racism, and never did, adding that the 1994 crime bill did great harm to the Black community.

President Biden said that the crime bills he had supported in the past were mistakes, mandatory minimum sentences should be eliminated, and that drug addiction should be treated with rehabilitation, not jail time.

Citing the First Step Act, a criminal justice reform law passed during his term, Trump claimed that "Nobody has done more for the Black community than Donald Trump," adding the caveat "with the exception of Abraham Lincoln."

Climate Change: President Trump incorrectly claimed that Biden had said he was going to ban fracking. Biden had previously advocated banning fracking on federal land, and restated that position during the debate. Biden also stated his support for natural gas a transitional fuel source. At one point Biden said he planned to transition from oil to renewable energy. Trump seized on that moment saying, “Will you remember that, Texas? Will you remember that, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma?”

Trump again said that Biden supports the Green New Deal, which Trump said would cost $100 trillion. Biden said that was incorrect, and he has his own environmental plan, which differs substantially from the Green New Deal.

Leadership: Responding to a question about how he would address America following his inauguration, Trump said, "We have to make our country totally successful, as it was prior to the plague coming in from China. Now we're rebuilding it and we're doing record numbers, 11.4 million jobs in a short period of time." He then discussed how he felt he had the ability to bring America together based on the fact that before the pandemic, "I was getting calls from people that were not normally people that would call me. They wanted to get together."

Biden's response to the same question was, "I’m the American president. I represent all of you whether you voted for me or against me. And I'm going to make sure that you’re represented. I’m going to give you hope. We're going to move. We're going to choose science over fiction. We're going to choose hope over fear. We're going to choose to move forward because we have enormous opportunities, enormous opportunities to make things better."