 "From immigration to ISIS and guns, where do Clinton and Trump stand on key issues?")
Democratic US Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and her Republican rival Donald Trump will now reap what they have each sown, as the results to the long and often divisive US Presidential election comes to an end in a few hours.
Both candidates have seen their fortunes soar and controversies beset their respective camps. However, both candidates stand poles apart when it comes to issues that matter.
Business Standard brings you Clinton and Trump’s positions on various issues:
Perhaps one of the issues where the two candidates differ most starkly is immigration.
Early on in the campaign, Trump dominated the news cycle by proposing the construction of a wall along the US-Mexico border. Trump has stuck to his idea of a wall which will keep out undesirables and has often made it known that Mexico will pay for the construction of the wall.
During the last of the three Presidential debates in October, Trump reiterated his stance to build his proposed wall along the Mexican border. His justification: "We all want the wall... We have to have strong borders. We have to keep drugs out of the country."
Accusing Clinton of wanting "open borders", Trump, while using a Spanish term, said: "We have some bad 'hombres' here, and we're going to get them out."
Trump had also called for a complete ban on the entry of Muslims into the US. However, he rolled back his position in the later phase of the campaign, instead touting measures such as an enhanced and aggressive screening of immigrants.
One solution listed on the Trump campaign’s official page is to "suspend, on a temporary basis, immigration from some of the most dangerous and volatile regions of the world that have a history of exporting terrorism".
Clinton, for her part, has argued for introducing comprehensive immigration reform with a pathway to full and equal citizenship within her first 100 days in office. Further, Clinton has vowed to defend President Barack Obama's executive actions regarding immigration — Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.
During the last debate, Clinton condemned Trump's "deportation force", which she described as impractical and "an idea that is not in keeping with who we are as a nation". She said there were 11 million undocumented people and 4 million American citizen children and she did not want to rip their families apart.
Fighting the Islamic State
Trump has long said that the Obama administration and Hillary Clinton, when she served in the capacity of Secretary of State, were found to be lacking when it came to combating the dreaded terrorist group.
During the last debate, Trump squarely blamed the Obama administration for the capture of Mosul, stating that the IS had only been able to take the city because of the drawdown of US troops from the region. Trump went on to say: "Nobody would be tougher on the ISIS than Donald Trump. Nobody."
Clinton did delineate her approach for defeating the IS during the last debate and outlined three major policy points for achieving the goal: Take out ISIS strongholds in Iraq and Syria; dismantle the global terror network; and harden defences at home to prevent attacks.
Gun control
Clinton has argued for tighter regulations on gun ownership. During the last debate, Clinton had said that she understood and respected the tradition of gun ownership but there should be reasonable regulation with comprehensive background checks.
Trump, for his part, has strongly defended the right to bear arms. In the past, Trump had said the problem is with the system, not in gun ownership.
Health care
Trump has criticised Obamacare throughout his campaign. While Trump did not outline a clear road map for health care during the three debates, he did lash out at Obamacare, blaming it for having a negative effect on the country and businesses. He has made it clear that if he were to win, he would repeal Obamacare.
Clinton has held to the position that repealing Obamacare would make health care-related problems in the US only worse. However, she has emphasised that she has a plan for bringing down Medicare costs. In the last debate, Clinton linked Trump's proposed taxation plan to health care, and said that Trump's proposal to cut tax would have dire consequences for Social Security and Medicare.
Taxation
Clinton has said that she would address the problem of income inequality by increasing taxes on the wealthy. She has proposed a four per cent surtax on incomes over $5 million and has also called for higher tax breaks for health care and education spending for middle-class families.
Trump on the other hand wants to reduce the number of tax brackets to three, lower the corporate tax rate, eliminate the estate tax and increase the standard deduction for individual filers. He wants to cut the US corporate tax rate to 15 per cent from the current 35 per cent and suggests that investing in infrastructure, lowering the trade deficit and removing regulations will boost manufacturing and job creation.
Trade and globalisation
The Wall Street Journal quoted Trump as saying in a June speech: "Our politicians have aggressively pursued a policy of globalisation — moving our jobs, our wealth and our factories to Mexico and overseas."
The WSJ piece on where Trump and Clinton stand on economic matters said that Trump backed tariffs to protect American industry from what he calls unfair competition. Further, Trump has criticised the North American Free Trade Agreement signed by the US with Mexico and Canada and has called Clinton out to "categorically rule out support" for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement in any form. Trump has repeatedly brought up the flight of American jobs to China and Mexico.
Clinton has already stated on the record that she will oppose the TPP agreement. However, the WSJ piece points out that Clinton had in the past described the TPP as "gold standard". The International Business Times quoted Clinton from her Democratic primary debate in February this year, saying: "We have to trade with the rest of the world... But we have failed to provide the basic safety net support that American workers need in order to be able to compete and win in the global economy."
Climate change
Clinton has said that "climate change is real" and "urgent", and described it as America's "moral obligation" to safeguard the planet for succeeding generations. Clinton has also supported regulations against industries which cause pollution. At a campaign rally in Miami earlier last month, Clinton had said that the US could develop new clean energy solutions, transform its economy on the basis of those energy sources and unite the world to cut carbon emissions.
Trump, however, has called climate change a "hoax". He has gone as far as to say that he would not see America being party to the Paris Climate Agreement under his presidency.
Both candidates have seen their fortunes soar and controversies beset their respective camps. However, both candidates stand poles apart when it comes to issues that matter.
Business Standard brings you Clinton and Trump’s positions on various issues:
More From This Section
Immigration
Perhaps one of the issues where the two candidates differ most starkly is immigration.
Early on in the campaign, Trump dominated the news cycle by proposing the construction of a wall along the US-Mexico border. Trump has stuck to his idea of a wall which will keep out undesirables and has often made it known that Mexico will pay for the construction of the wall.
During the last of the three Presidential debates in October, Trump reiterated his stance to build his proposed wall along the Mexican border. His justification: "We all want the wall... We have to have strong borders. We have to keep drugs out of the country."
Accusing Clinton of wanting "open borders", Trump, while using a Spanish term, said: "We have some bad 'hombres' here, and we're going to get them out."
Trump had also called for a complete ban on the entry of Muslims into the US. However, he rolled back his position in the later phase of the campaign, instead touting measures such as an enhanced and aggressive screening of immigrants.
One solution listed on the Trump campaign’s official page is to "suspend, on a temporary basis, immigration from some of the most dangerous and volatile regions of the world that have a history of exporting terrorism".
Clinton, for her part, has argued for introducing comprehensive immigration reform with a pathway to full and equal citizenship within her first 100 days in office. Further, Clinton has vowed to defend President Barack Obama's executive actions regarding immigration — Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.
During the last debate, Clinton condemned Trump's "deportation force", which she described as impractical and "an idea that is not in keeping with who we are as a nation". She said there were 11 million undocumented people and 4 million American citizen children and she did not want to rip their families apart.
Fighting the Islamic State
Trump has long said that the Obama administration and Hillary Clinton, when she served in the capacity of Secretary of State, were found to be lacking when it came to combating the dreaded terrorist group.
During the last debate, Trump squarely blamed the Obama administration for the capture of Mosul, stating that the IS had only been able to take the city because of the drawdown of US troops from the region. Trump went on to say: "Nobody would be tougher on the ISIS than Donald Trump. Nobody."
Clinton did delineate her approach for defeating the IS during the last debate and outlined three major policy points for achieving the goal: Take out ISIS strongholds in Iraq and Syria; dismantle the global terror network; and harden defences at home to prevent attacks.
Gun control
Clinton has argued for tighter regulations on gun ownership. During the last debate, Clinton had said that she understood and respected the tradition of gun ownership but there should be reasonable regulation with comprehensive background checks.
Trump, for his part, has strongly defended the right to bear arms. In the past, Trump had said the problem is with the system, not in gun ownership.
Health care
Trump has criticised Obamacare throughout his campaign. While Trump did not outline a clear road map for health care during the three debates, he did lash out at Obamacare, blaming it for having a negative effect on the country and businesses. He has made it clear that if he were to win, he would repeal Obamacare.
Clinton has held to the position that repealing Obamacare would make health care-related problems in the US only worse. However, she has emphasised that she has a plan for bringing down Medicare costs. In the last debate, Clinton linked Trump's proposed taxation plan to health care, and said that Trump's proposal to cut tax would have dire consequences for Social Security and Medicare.
Taxation
Clinton has said that she would address the problem of income inequality by increasing taxes on the wealthy. She has proposed a four per cent surtax on incomes over $5 million and has also called for higher tax breaks for health care and education spending for middle-class families.
Trump on the other hand wants to reduce the number of tax brackets to three, lower the corporate tax rate, eliminate the estate tax and increase the standard deduction for individual filers. He wants to cut the US corporate tax rate to 15 per cent from the current 35 per cent and suggests that investing in infrastructure, lowering the trade deficit and removing regulations will boost manufacturing and job creation.
Trade and globalisation
The Wall Street Journal quoted Trump as saying in a June speech: "Our politicians have aggressively pursued a policy of globalisation — moving our jobs, our wealth and our factories to Mexico and overseas."
The WSJ piece on where Trump and Clinton stand on economic matters said that Trump backed tariffs to protect American industry from what he calls unfair competition. Further, Trump has criticised the North American Free Trade Agreement signed by the US with Mexico and Canada and has called Clinton out to "categorically rule out support" for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement in any form. Trump has repeatedly brought up the flight of American jobs to China and Mexico.
Clinton has already stated on the record that she will oppose the TPP agreement. However, the WSJ piece points out that Clinton had in the past described the TPP as "gold standard". The International Business Times quoted Clinton from her Democratic primary debate in February this year, saying: "We have to trade with the rest of the world... But we have failed to provide the basic safety net support that American workers need in order to be able to compete and win in the global economy."
Climate change
Clinton has said that "climate change is real" and "urgent", and described it as America's "moral obligation" to safeguard the planet for succeeding generations. Clinton has also supported regulations against industries which cause pollution. At a campaign rally in Miami earlier last month, Clinton had said that the US could develop new clean energy solutions, transform its economy on the basis of those energy sources and unite the world to cut carbon emissions.
Trump, however, has called climate change a "hoax". He has gone as far as to say that he would not see America being party to the Paris Climate Agreement under his presidency.