On Sunday, October 9, in St. Louis, the second presidential debate was held between Republican Party nominee Donald Trump and Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton. I have shortened this to just the issues and the responses.
The first question was on whether or not the candidates have modeled appropriate behavior. Hillary Clinton said she believed we were stronger together, and Donald trump said he was going to make America great again. Lots arguing back and forth over Hillary Clinton’s emails, and Bill Clinton’s allegations, and Donald Trump’s recently leaked video talking about how he could grope women. This shows the behavior the audience member had asked about.
They were then asked about the Affordable Care Act. Since it has been introduced, the cost of premiums, deductibles and out of pocket costs has gone up, what would you do to fix it. Clinton said that the price has gone up, but it was fixable and that repealing it would remove all the gains that we have received. She also said we can lower costs by making adjustments. Donald Trump said he would repeal it, and that it was costing too much, and that we were almost at 20 trillion dollars in debt. Repealing it would increase competition and lower cost. The next question was on the growth of islamophobia in the United States and what the candidates would do about it. Trump stated that Muslims needed to report problems they see, then he cited the Orlando and San Bernardino and said that the incoming refugees would be a Trojan horse and he would do extreme vetting. Hillary Clinton said she wanted to bring more in and be inclusive, and the anti-Islamic rhetoric helps groups like ISIS recruit.
The forth question was on the emails WikiLeaks had released, and Clinton said such hacked emails were Russia trying to influence the election, which isn’t as crazy as it sounds. Trump said he believes we should be friends with Russia and that Clinton is just blaming her own mistakes on Russia. The next question was on what the candidates would do to make sure the wealthy paid their fair share. Donald Trump said he would remove the carried interest deduction, and he would lower taxes to increase growth. This is consistent with his tax plan, and finally said that most of the deductions he had put on his taxes were a property depreciation deduction. Clinton said she would close the Buffet rule, and add a surcharge on income over 5 million consistent with her previous statements.
The sixth question was on Syria and the humanitarian crisis in Aleppo, and what the candidates would do about it if elected. Clinton said that she would work with partners in the region, negotiate with the Syrian regime while supporting investigations into war crimes. She also said she did not want to use US ground troops, she would arm the Kurdish Peshmerga, and that we should target Baghdadi. Trump said that arming individuals always makes it worse, and that we should just focus on ISIS rather than the Syrian government.
The candidates were asked on how they would select the next Supreme Court justice. Clinton said she would choose based on experience, and would want one to repeal Citizens United , and protect voting rights. Trump said he would select one that respect the constitution and the second amendment. They were also asked about what energy policy they would promote that would be green and protect jobs. Trump said he would promote clean coal, guard our energy jobs from regulation and limit the EPAs ability to hurt energy. Clinton said she would set up a trade prosecutor to limit effects of foreign practices on manufacturing, she also stated we were finally energy independent and need to stay that way, much of the effects on our energy was due to the low cost of oil, and we should focus on natural gas as we transition to renewables to combat climate change. Finally they were asked to name something positive about the other. Clinton said she respected his children and Donald Trump said that he respected that Hillary was a fighter and she didn’t give up.
Regardless of your stance I hope this has informed you for the upcoming election and come November I hope you vote for whoever you believe to be the best candidate.
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