If you watched the debate last night, then you'll probably agree with me that most of it was bullsh*t. In my professional opinion, about 55 percent of the time was spent with Donald Trump talking over everyone, 10 percent was Lester Holt (the moderator) trying to regain control, 20 percent was Hillary and Donald seeing who could talk over each other the loudest, 5 percent consisted of Trump sniffling, and possibly 10 percent was actual substance. Luckily for you, I'm here to cut through all the arguing about emails and tax returns to give you the low down on some of the candidate's proposals to tackle the nation's issues.
To organize the debate, Lester Holt divided the topics into three areas: "Achieving Prosperity," "America's Direction," and "Securing America," with various topics falling under each heading. Here's what the candidates had to say about each topic.
1. Achieving Prosperity
Jobs
Hillary Clinton: Hillary wants to "build an economy that works for everyone, not just the wealthy at the top." She plans to create jobs for the middle class in areas like infrastructure, clean energy, technology, innovation and in the small business sector. This, she believes, will make the economy fairer for all involved. She would raise the national minimum wage and eliminate the gender wage gap. She supports families trying to balance their work and home lives by offering paid family and medical leave.
Donald Trump: Donald said that countries like Mexico and China are stealing all of the American jobs because domestic companies are outsourcing their work. To stop this outsourcing, he would reduce corporate tax rates from 35 percent to 15 percent to incentivize companies to grow their businesses in America rather than overseas. He also supports paid family and medical leave like Clinton, but might make the paid time shorter.
Taxes
Hillary Clinton: She would increase taxes for the wealthy. Part of this extra tax revenue would go toward making college more affordable for the middle class. In short, she believes that the wealthy should be taxed more to get the middle class out of debt.
Donald Trump: He would actually cut taxes for the wealthy. Trump said that the high tax rates for the wealthy cause them to spend their money overseas and that by lowering their tax rate, it would help stimulate the domestic economy.
2. America's Direction
Race
Hillary Clinton: Clinton wants everyone to both respect the law and be respected by the law. She wants to end racial profiling, and would retrain police forces to only use force when necessary in an attempt to restore trust between the communities and the police. She thinks the entire criminal justice system needs a reform, and would start this reform by creating stricter gun laws and imposing mandatory minimum sentences for prison time served for minor offenses.
Donald Trump: Trump says that America needs law and order for minorities in the inner cities. He supports racial profiling and did not detail a plan to diffuse racial tensions.
3. Securing America
Cyber Attacks
Hillary Clinton: She acknowledged that the recent cyber attacks on America's public and private sector information will be a big challenge to combat. She plans to make it clear to potential attackers that America has a great capacity and powerful tools with which to fight back. Clinton would disrupt ISIS propaganda efforts online in an effort to stop the terror group from infiltrating the minds of domestic citizens.
Donald Trump: He does not think that America has the great capabilities that Hillary referenced, and does not believe that it was Russia who hacked the Democratic National Convention. Trump says that America is slacking in terms of cyber security and in other areas of the government as well.
ISIS- Preventing Homegrown Terror Attacks
Hillary Clinton: Hillary would use more resources to search for information before and after terror attacks. Domestically, she would accomplish this by training officials to be better able to respond to terror threats and attacks. She used the example of the live capture of the recent New York City bomber, which will allow police to further interrogate him. Clinton also thinks that America needs to work more closely with foreign allies to be able to fight terrorism overseas. She would strengthen ties with Middle Eastern Muslims and with the American Muslim community because she believes that they can provide us with valuable information that we cannot find anywhere else.
Donald Trump: Trump plans to "knock the hell out of ISIS." He says that America needs to stop letting ISIS have access to oil supplies, because that is how they get their money, and as a result of their increased wealth, their extensive power.
For more information on the candidate's policies, visit Donald Trump's website or Hillary Clinton's website.