As a conservative college student, people often ask me to outline my political beliefs. Here you go folks. You will quickly realize that I practice cafeteria style politics and tend to vote away from party lines.

Sanders and Trump: Polar Opposite Politics, Identical Dilemma

Here we go: Bernie Sanders scares me to death. There, I said it. No, I don’t think college, healthcare, retirement or anything else should be “free.” To be fair, Bernie’s campaign manager is brilliant. If he was doing my marketing I might be able to keep my small business running after the Bernie tax hikes. Sanders is marketing to a population who has never paid taxes, which is a good idea when talking about programs that will result in the largest tax hikes in American history.

I do have to pose one question to my generation (cringing at the hatred that will probably be directed at me in the comments): Are you stupid? Come on people. You are busting your asses in college just like I am. So the idea behind this is to grind through, get to a point where you are making $75,000 a year and then pay 49% on your income taxes? Why on earth does this make sense? Yes. Bernie talks a big game about taxing the rich. Take a look at the graph below to see exactly what he calls “the rich.”

Friends, I can not figure out what the appeal is. Yes, he talks a big game. Please educate yourself for the love of God. If you intend on working, this is not the candidate for you. The tax hikes on the middle class are scarier here than they are on the top earners. I can go on for days about whether or not Americans will have incentive to work, but I really don’t have to. The clear black and white numbers are enough to make me run screaming. This is appalling and honestly makes me think that we are seeing the effect of every kid being given a trophy.

In the same sense I cannot decide whether or not Donald Trump scares me more or less. I think both of these men have another ridiculous thing to say every day and it is just a competition to see who can excite the most constituents at one time. My biggest issues with the Donald come from immigration policy, particularly from the "Make Mexico Pay For The Wall" issue. We all know that isn't going to happen and there is really no sense in talking about it. Again, I could go on for days here. The only thing that puts him slightly ahead of Bernie in my book is the sole fact that he is not a socialist (say Denmark all you want, it doesn't work there either).

A brief aside here to note that the race will be very interesting if Trump and Sanders go head to head. Honestly, I hold the opinion that this is the only way either of them are electable. Let me explain. They both hold impressive numbers on the more radical ends of their parties, but Sanders who has been pushing his campaign almost solely on a demographic with a historically tried and true low turnout (U.S. Census Bureau) could succumb to his lack of support from moderate Republicans and some economically right-leaning Democrats.

Trump will face a similar struggle as he moves from campaigning for the primary to the national election. He chose to pursue a sect of the Republican Party that lacks a college education (Washington Post/ABC News). These voters also tend to have a low turnout on Election Day, also seen in the previously linked Census Bureau report. At the end of the day, what one would hope to see in a situation of getting fired and then feeling the Bern would be one of people voting on issues, not parties because neither candidate really holds fast one way or the other.

Clinton: A love story

Hillary Clinton is honestly my choice in the Democratic coin toss (see what I did there?). Having just come off of the moderately controversial and extremely close Iowa caucus, it is too soon to say where the Democrats will place their eggs, but Clinton isn't going down without a fight. There are plenty of discussions about whether or not she deleted a series of emails, but domestically she has had a decent Senate career. She also touches on some issues that no one has addressed, but has needed to for a long time. The first being campaign finance reform. I know what you are about to say, Hillary has taken money from everyone. This is a fact, the reason it is a fact is that she has not messed with Citizens United(look in to these people) and has reported her contributions.

For all we know, Bernie Sanders, George Bush and Barack Obama have been getting campaign contributions from each other--but the world may never know. This is like an ingredients list, folks. I want to know what is in my food the same way I want to know who is in the leader of the free world's back pocket. The next selling point for Hillary is undoubtedly actual college reform. This one hasn't been talked about much because Bernie has been saying free and that sounds better.Clinton's education reformis based on holding universities accountable for cost control and tuition hikes. I know there are still issues to be worked through on Hillary's integrity and I tend to think that if she takes the primary these will come to light and potentially end her campaign. Additionally, this super delegate business stands to piss people on both sides of the line off. Depending on whether or not her credibility ruins her, Clinton stands a strong chance against a polar Republican, namely, Donald Trump.

Rubio and Cruz: The ticket splitters

This is where I will piss someone off: These guys are mathematically so similar that anything I can write about them individually would simply be nit-picky. Here is the bottom line, the Republican Party is split in to two sides: for Trump and anyone but Trump. Carson, Fiorina, Bush and their band of bottom of the barrel brothers are a non-issue and Cruz and Rubio are splitting the not for Trump ticket. Hell, even Kaisch got in there in New Hampshire. In Iowa and I tend to think that Cruz would have taken the caucus by a much higher margin had Rubio not been in the race. In New Hampshire Bush even contributed to the split. Keep in mind that this is all from a non-expert, political outsider's point of view.

While the Republicans need a Cruz or Rubio nomination to stand a chance in the national election. I don't know which one it is and I am not sure that it really matters from an electability standpoint, but one of them needs to drop out for the Republicans to take the election.

What you have all been waiting for: Wilson's politics

Like I said, I practice cafeteria style politics. I will give issues and the candidate who best satisfies my views on them.

Education

This is probably my biggest beef with the entire election. Why are politicians seeking to throw federal funding at higher education and why do we want them to? Remember how well that worked in K-12? I tell you what. Let's figure out how to teach our kids their multiplication tables before we figure out how to make college more bureaucratic than it already is. That being said, if we are going to do anything to higher education, my favor tends to fall to Hillary Clinton. The waste that occurs at public institutions is obscene and holding these administrators accountable is crucial.

Economic and Tax Policy

I run a small business so this is a biggie for me. I spend a disgusting amount of time on tax preparation and book keeping. I also would like to see some job cuts at theKGBIRS. A simplified tax code is something this country desperately needs. I also am tired of working 80 hours a week, living off of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and writing fat checks to the government because we do not live in an entrepreneur's economy. Call me cold-hearted. You are allowed to believe in evolution/natural selection OR fairness.

The bottom line is that there are some weak links. Everyone might deserve healthcare, but that doesn't mean that they get it. That is just not how the world works. If we want to keep talking about entitlement spending, we can go in to food. On a weekly basis I am infuriated when I go to the grocery store. I go in with my hands covered in t-shirt ink because I have printed shirts all night with a $20 bill to spend on groceries for the week.

I am not complaining. I am blessed to have that to spend, but it burns me up when the people in front of me buy the most expensive foods in the store and slide their food stamp card. People hit tough times, I get that. But I did the math out not too long ago and I qualify for food stamps. I scrape up my $20 for the week and go buy the cheap stuff anyway because I can live on that. For this reason, Rubio is my choice for taxes. There is a flat tax that is super easy to compute and super easy to pay.This flat tax is a Rubio Flat Tax.

Jobs

This one is easy. Pick a Republican. We need more jobs on this side of the pond. We need factories in America. The tax incentives need to flow like wine. Rubio and Cruz both have excellent policy on this.

Healthcare

Read my lips: Stay away from my private health care. I had some oral surgery done last week. I went in for a consultation because it hurt, he said it was non-emergent but he performed the surgery an hour later because it hurt. Book that surgery under socialized medicine and get back to me. Screw your single payer system (there was a veteran sitting beside me in the waiting room who would love to tell you about that), screw anything other than what I have right now. It works. Is it fair? Maybe not, and even the staunch Republican in the room can appreciate the Obamacare subsidies. Cruz gets my money on this one. He is less heavy on the repeal ACA stuff (let's give it a second people) and is ready to stick with the status quo. I think while it is surely not free, we have a healthcare system that is efficient from a time standpoint. Don't touch it.

At the end of the day...

If I had to go to the polls tomorrow I would place myself in the 'Anybody but Trump or Bernie' category. We do not need to be throwing ourselves to one extreme or the other. At the end of the day, I will go to the voting booth a God-fearing, gun-owning, hardworking man. The candidate who best aligns with those values will get my vote. Hell, they might even be a Democrat. I guess what I am saying is, vote for a candidate with your values, not for the party you always vote for.