Edit (July 25, 2020), yeah, this took longer than I thought, but this will be worth it due to how many sources there are, and considering how thorough this will be, while not going over every detail.
Since Donald Trump was elected President of the United States in 2016, everyone has been speaking about who would challenge him in 2020. Everyone (anyone worth their salt) knew that Trump's 2016 opponent, Hillary Clinton, was not going to run, and wouldn't be a viable candidate even if she did. Some argued that if Clinton's opponent in the Democratic primaries (Bernie Sanders) had been the nominee, he would have defeated Donald Trump. But, now that Sanders has lost once again to an establishment hack, we have our main set of Presidential candidates. So who are they?
45th President of the United States
Assumed Office:
January 20, 2017
Preceded by: Barack H. Obama Jr.
Succeeded by: Hopefully anyone but Joseph R. Biden Jr.
Vice President: Michael R. Pence
#1: Donald John Trump, the incumbent Republican President. Age, 74. Donald Trump's disastrous Presidency began on January 20, 2017, after graduating from the Electoral Community College winning the disastrous November 8, 2016 U.S Presidential election. He was widely expected to lose to his Democratic opponent, former Secretary of State Hillary R. Clinton, and despite losing the national popular vote by 2.9 million votes, Mr. Trump won the Electoral College with a 306-232 majority, and after faithless electors were factored in, the final tally stands at 304-227-7. He, and his running mate, former Indiana Governor Michael R. Pence were now to preside over a bitterly divided Country.
Actions in office:
2017: Ordered a travel ban from seven Muslim majority nations, unsuccessfully attempted to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), killed an eight year old girl (Anwar Al-Awlaki, whose father, Anwar al-Awlaki, and half brother, Abdulrahmah al-Awlaki were both executed in 2011, by then U.S President Barack Obama), signed a barrage of executive orders, signed a tax cut into law (that will raise the federal deficit and thus, federal debt), tweeted insults and other vitrol at North Korean dictator Kim Jung Un, failed to specifically condemn white supremacists during the 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, made efforts to end DACA, and fired all members of the Council on HIV/AIDS.
2018: Disbanded his own "electoral fraud" commission (he spread the lie claims that Hillary Clinton only won the popular vote because "3-5 million illegal immigrants voted in the Presidential election", despite the fact that fact checkers are proving that to be a lie), bragged about having a "bigger nuclear button" than Kim Jung Un, called himself a "very stable genius", claimed his 2016 campaign was his first campaign (and thus his first campaign was successful), despite the fact he ran for President as a member the Reform Party in 2000, raised taxes on the American consumer imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum, he fired U.S Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson over Twitter, replacing him with CIA Director Michael R. Pompeo, and replacing Pompeo with Gina Haspel (who endorsed torture under her earlier tenure in the CIA).
He signed a proclamation to send the National Guard to fight illegal immigration at the border, pardoned Scooter Libby (imagine having that name), Libby was convicted of obstruction of justice, perjury, and making false statements, and on the EXACT SAME DAY, he blasted former FBI Director James B. Comey Jr., calling him a "liar" and a "leaker", flipped flopped on TPP (a trans-pacific trade agreement he campaigned against), participated in a summit with Kim Jung Un, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), stated that there were 1,995 migrant children, and 1,940 adults who are being held for prosecution for an illegal border crossing, killed an immigration reform bill that he proposed, nominated U.S District Brett M. Kavanaugh (a George W. Bush appointee) to succeed retiring Associate Justice Anthony (a Ronald Reagan appointee), who was insanely childish belligerent during confirmation hearings, and face allegations of sexual misconduct, which Senate Republicans refused to fully investigate. In the second closest confirmation battle in history, Judge Kavanaugh won confirmation at a 50-48 vote in the U.S Senate, pushed for a diet coke version of NAFTA replacing NAFTA, lost control of the U.S House of Reprsentatives to the Democrats, while increasing his majority in the U.S Senate, and was in a bad mood over that.
He signed a criminal justice reform bill, that had bipartisan support, defended DHS agents' use of "very safe tear gas" against migrants at the border, retweeted an image calling for his political opponents to be imprisoned for "treason", and shut the government down after he did not get funding for his medieval border wall.
2019: The Government shut down lasts longer than any other in history, ending on January 25, 2019, with President Trump losing the battle to newly re-elected House Speaker Nancy D. Pelosi (D-CA-12), but he considers declaring a national emergency at the border to override Congress. The Supreme Court voted to allow the President's 2017 "transgender military ban" to stand, President Trump officially recognizes Venezuelan Opposition Leader Juan Gauido as the interim President of Venezuela, gets a truce with China on the trade war, pressured Ukrainian President Volodymr O. Zelensky into digging up "dirt" on Presidential candidate Joe Biden, which would get him impeached on December 19, 2019, for "Abuse of Power", and "Obstruction of Congress".
2020: President Trump is acquitted by the U.S Senate on both charges, on a near party line vote, while the President botched the response the coronavirus (COVID-19), blaming the Obama Administration, and disputing the World Health Organization's (W.H.O) official mortality rate of 3.4%, and he lied claimed it was really at 1%. The President would eventually declare a National emergency, but said during that declaration, "I don't take any responsibility at all" (then again he has never in his life), and later signed the "Families First Coronavirus Response Act" into law. Around that time, POTUS and Canadian Prime Minister Justin P.M. Trudeau (Liberal-Papineau) would close their respective borders, allowing only "essential traffic" to go through. The U.S Congress passed a sweeping $2 trillion dollar stiumlus package that POTUS signed quickly, and it was one of the most sweeping bailouts in American history. During this time, POTUS announced that he would suspend all immigration the U.S to defeat coronavirus, and during the protests of the murder of George Floyd, the President of the United States said this:
And this:
Yeah. THAT happened. The President also made moves to declare Antifa a terrorist group. The President also hid in a bunker during this time, as well. He made the top U.S Military officer, Army General -and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark A. Milley, "in charge" of the response to the protests, a decision he (General Milley) later said he regrets.
Yeah, I didn't intend to take this long to dissect his Administration, but I did. Now, let's see what his views are:
-Pro tax cuts.
-Supports "tough on crime" policies.
-Supports a line item veto.
-Supports banning the buring of the U.S flag.
-Campaigned on improving infrastructure (hasn't gotten it done).
-Campaigned on lowering the cost of prescription drugs (hasn't gotten it done).
-Campaigned on cutting the $850 billion dollar trade deficit (he hasn't cut it)
-Campaigned on appointing Conservative Judges (has appointed two Justices to SCOTUS, and 1/4 of federal judgeships)
-Campaigned on the debt and deficit (the debt went from $19 trillion to $26 trillion, and the deficit went from $500 billion to $3.4 trillion)
Overall, he's delivered on his promise to change the Judiciary, cut taxes, build a wall, and that's it. Now, onto Joe Biden.
47th Vice President of the United States
January 20, 2009 - January 20, 2017
President: Barack H. Obama Jr.
Preceded by: Richard B. Cheney
Succeeded by: Michael R. Pence
United States Senator from Delaware
January 3, 1973 - January 15, 2009
Preceded by: J. Caleb Boggs
Succeeded by: Edward E. "Ted" Kaufman
Member of the New Castle County Council from the 4th District
November 4, 1970 - November 8, 1972
Preceded by: Henry Folsom
Succeeded by: Francis Swift
#2: Joseph "Joe" Robinette Biden Jr., the 47th Vice President of the United States, serving a total of 46 years, two months, two weeks, and two days in public service. Age: 77. Joe Biden's tenure is significantly longer than Donald Trump's, so I'll mention some notable items from it:
County Council:
United States Senate:
-1970's: Early on, he called himself a "Liberal" on issues such as civil rights/liberties, healthcare, senior citizens' issues, and called himself a "Conservative" on issues such as abortion, and the draft. He opposed using busing to advance desegration and busing, as his homestate did, and led his party to mostly abandon school desegration policies. Biden's first campaign for the Senate focused on civil rights, equitable taxation, withdrawal from Vietnam, and "change".
1980's: Biden ran for President in 1988, and he appeared to be a formidable contender, until the press leaked a story of him plagiarizing a British politician named Neil Kinnock (who later attended Vice President-elect Biden's 2009 Vice Presidential inauguration), and it was also found that he plagarized portions of other politicians speeches, such as the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy (D-N.Y), and former Vice President (and U.S Senator) Hubert H. Humphrey Jr. (D-MN), and Biden ultimately dropped out, since he already was damaged by that scandal, and his competitors were much more interesting than him. Ultimately Governor Michael S. Dukakis (D-MA), lost to incumbent Vice President George H.W. Bush (R-TX). During his tenure, Senator Biden was a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, serving as a ranking member (most senior member of the Committee from the minority party) from 1981-87 & 1995-97, as well as the Chairman, from 1987-1995. During his tenure as Chairman, he presided over President Ronald Reagan's nomination of Robert H. Bork, a conservative "strict constructionist" federal appellate judge, to succeed retiring Associate Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. Bork was smeared portrayed as an "extremist", "backwards", and "dangerous" candidate, and his nomination was slaughtered defeated 42-58, the most lopsided defeat in history (by the number of negative votes cast), with Senator Biden voting against him.
There is one controversy, along with the plagarism, and opposition to busing controversies, that he has been dogged with ever since: Anita Hill. In 1991, President Bush nominated Clarence Thomas to replace Thurgood Marshall as an Associate Justice. Justice Marshall was the first black person to ever sit on the SCOTUS, and if confirmed, Mr. Thomas would be the second. Mr. Thomas was more conservative than his possible predecessor, and replacing a civil rights icon with a man who likely didn't share in his views would be difficult, especially when the Senate that would decide his fate was controlled by Democrats, 57-43. Mr. Thomas was accused by Ms. Hill of sexual harassment, and this made the nomination battle even more hotly debated.
Where then-Senator Biden comes in, is how he handled the situtation, although this was something where a number of Senators take heat in this controversy. Just like the Bork nomination, Senator Biden asked stupid long winded questions, and did not allow witnesses to testify on Anita Hill's behalf, although he allowed Ms. Hill herself to testify. He also initially shared the accusations with the Commitee, and not the public, on the grounds that she was unwilling to testify. Some of the Senators -along with Senator Biden- treated Ms. Hill as if she was the accused, not Mr. Thomas. Biden later apologized to Hill, but she did not accept.
Watch this documentary about the politicization of the American judiciary (which briefly mentions Antia Hill & Clarence Thomas), to see the full context. The section in question is as follows:
18:48-19:00: Clarence Thomas' nomination is announced.
19:00-25-31: The strategy both parties had to Mr. Thomas was switched from Judge Bork, as well as the allegations are uncovered.
25:31-26:30: Testimony from Anita Hill begins.
26:30-27:00: The Senators -vs- Anita Hill.
27:00-29:24: The Degradation of the Judiciary.
Senator Biden was/is criticized for not doing more to look into the allegations against now Justice Thomas. Senator Alan K. Simpson (R-WY), was puzzled "why Hill and Thomas met, dined, and spoke by phone on various occasions after they no longer worked together." Senator's Orrin Hatch (R-UT), as well as Arlen Specter (R-PA, later D-PA) also questioned her memory, and interpretation of events. Biden has been criticized since then over the Anita Hill debacle, amongst other items in his Senate career:
1990's: Senator Biden became involved in crafting federal crime laws, and this aspect of his legacy (regardless if he is or is not elected in 2020), will always cast a negative shadow on him. He spearheaded the "Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994" (aka The "Biden Crime Law"), which included the "Federal Assault Weapons Ban", and "Violence Against Women Act". Biden said of the V.A.W.A: "I consider the Violence Against Women Act the most significant legislation I've crafted during my 35-year tenure in the Senate." Technically, it's 36, but I'll let that slide. He also was the floor manager of the successful passage of the "Comprehensive Crime Control Act" in 1984, and the size of the prison population continued to explode (as it had since President Richard M. Nixon launched the "War on Drugs"), and Biden later called his role in the passage of the bill a "big mistake", although that apology doesn't amount to shit change what has happened. The "tough on crime" laws Biden passed greatly expanded the federal death penalty, new classes of individuals banned from possessing firearms, and a variety of new crimes defeind in statutes relating to immigration law, hate crimes, sex crimes, and gang-related crime, and also required states to establish sex offender registries. The consequences of the "tough on crime" laws?
Crime rates declined, and prison populations skyrocketed, with a considerable percentages of those imprisioned were for crimes against society victimless crimes. And remember, folks, where there is no crime, there is no victim, and when there is no victim, there is no crime.
2000's:
Senator Biden was a member of the Senate Foriegn Relations Committee, from 1997-2009, serving as the Chairman from January 3-20, 2001, and from 01-06-2001-01-03-2003, to 01-03-2007-09, and served as ranking member when his party was in the minority, in those gaps. During his tenure, he supported the 2001 War in Afghanistan, saying:
He voted to invade Iraq, based on the total lie assertion that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (and had nothing to do with 9/11), that never existed were never found.
The total tenure of Biden's Senate career pretty much fit in line with standard Democratic politics.
Vice President:
After dropping out of his second Presidential campaign in early 2008, fellow Democratic Senator (from Illinois) Barack Obama defeated fellow Democratic Senator (from New York) Hillary Clinton, Senator Obama chose Senator Biden as his running mate, and the Obama-Biden ticket (Biden called it the "O-Biden-Bama" ticket, which I cackled at) easily defeated the GOP ticket of Arizona Senator John S. McCain III & Alaska Governor Sarah L. Palin by a comfortable margin.
The electoral record.
Biden being sworn in by then-Associate Justice John Paul Stevens.
2009: Vice President Biden had a behind- the-scenes counselor role in early months of Obama Administration, settling disputes among Preisdnet Obama's "team of rivals", and Biden played a key role in whipping up votes in the Senate for several major pieces of legislation that President Obama sought to enact. He also was the main factor in getting GOP Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania to join the Democratic party, and with an undecided Senate race being called for the Democrats, Biden was able to have some responsiblity in delievering a 60-40 Democratic majority, that (on paper) gave Democrats enough votes to break a Republican filibuster on their own. Biden wasn't the only person to have sway in the Obama Administration, obviously, as he lost to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, regarding the internal debate over sending 21,000 new troops to the war in Afghanistan, but his skepticism remained important in the Administration, and his views would gain more influence as President Obama reconsidered his Afghanistan strategy. Biden would have a considerable amount of oversight regarding Iraq, until the troops exited in 2011. Biden would have a major oversight role for infrastructure spending from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), intended to help combat the ongoing recession, and stressed that only worthy projects get funding.
During his tenure in politics, Biden has had a reputation for gaffes, and in 2009, he revived that reputation for gaffes, when he publicly advised against family members traveling on airplanes or subways, which the White House quickly retracted. Biden later acknowledged that the Administration "misread how bad the economy was", but maintained confidence that the stimulus package would create many more jobs once the pace of expenditures picked up.
2010: On March 23, 2010, on the day "Obamacare" was signed into law, Vice President Biden leaned in to tell President Obama that his signing of the law was "a big fucking deal", which was caught on an hot mic. With Democrats facing all but certain death at the polls heavy losses in the 2010 midterm elections, Vice President Biden maintained an attitude of optimism as he capigned for his party. When Republicans won control of the House of Representatives, and Democrats retained control of the Senate, Biden became even more important, since then-White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel resigned to run for Mayor of Chicago, Biden was the crucial link from the White House to Congress. Vice Preisdent Biden was responsible for pushing through a compromise tax package with human turtle Senator Minority Leader A. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and convincing skeptical Democrats to vote for it. Biden supported closer economic ties to Russia, and the NATO-led military intervention in Libya, which resuled in taking out Muammar Gaddafi, although Libya descended into chaos later on.
2011: Biden was crucial in leading negotiations between the White House and Congress in resolving federal spending levels for the rest of the year, to avoid a government shutdown. The "Biden Panel" with six congressional members was trying to reach a bipartisan deal on raising the U.S debt ceiling, as part of an overall deficit reduction plan. His relationship with Mitch McConnell proved to be key in passing the Budget Control Act of 2011. As of 2020, the national debt has increased from $10 trillion under Barack Obama, to $20 trillion. So the panel proved to be a waste of time.
Biden apparently opposed going forward with the May, 2011, U.S mission to kill Osama bin Laden, due to the risk of a second term for President Obama if the mission failed.
2012: As President Obama made plans to run for re-election, Vice President Biden said that President Obama asked him to remain as his running mate. But with President Obama's popularity declining, then-White House Chief of Staff William M. Daley conducted some secret polling and focus group research in late 2011 on the idea of tossing aside replacing Biden with Hillary Clinton, but the notion was dropped after polls showed that this wouldn't help President Obama, and White House officials said President Obama never considered the idea. Vice President Biden said in May of that year, that he was "absolutely comfortable" with same-sex marraige, which forced Obama to join him before he planned to do so. After President Obama was pwned defeated by his opponent, former Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA), Vice President Biden played the role of "aggressor" in his debate against his opponent, U.S Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI). The Obama/Biden ticket comfortably defeated the Romney/Ryan ticket, on November 6, 2012.
The 2012 record. A slightly worse performance, but still a comfortable win.
2013:
Above: Vice President Joe Biden is sworn in to a second term in private (as January 20, 2013, fell on a Sunday).
Below: Vice President Biden sworn in publicly, both times by Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
The second term agenda for Obama/Biden began before inaugration day, due to the December 14, 2012, Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, which left the nation reeling. President Obama cried as he explained to the nation what happened (I cannot blame him):
Due to how polarizing how he was, President Obama delegated to Vice President Biden the response to gun violence, and he got two Senators -one of each party- to draft a "plan" to "address" gun violence, and the plan initally had bipartisan support (including some support by the NRA), but a strong backlash from gun rights activists led to the plan's defeat in the Senate. At the same time, during the 2013 budget battles, Vice President Biden was cut out of any direct talks with Congress by then-Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-NV), because he felt that the Vice President had given away too much during previous negotiations. During 2013, Vice President Biden's V.A.W.A was reauthorized once again.
2014: The Vice President co-chaired the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault, and he discussed federal guidelines on sexual assault on university campuses while giving a speech at the University of New Hampshire, saying:
"No means no, if you're drunk or you're sober. No means no if you're in bed, in a dorm or on the street. No means no even if you said yes at first and you changed your mind. No means no."
The Vice President favored arming Syria's rebel fighters, and as Iraq fell apart during 2014, renewed attention was paid to the Joe Biden-Leslie Gelb Iraqi federalization plan of 2006, with some observers suggesting that the Vice President was right all along. He later said (in October of 2014) that the U.S would follow ISIL/ISIS "to the gates of hell". Republicans also went on to retain control of the House, and captured control of the Senate that year.
2015: 2015 was personally difficult for the entire Biden family, due to the May 30, 2015 death of 46 year old Joseph R. "Beau" Biden III, the former Delaware Attorney General. The cause of death was related to brain cancer. Later that year, at a series of swearings-in, and other events, videos and photos showed the Vice President placing his hands on women and girls and talked closely to them, and this attracted attention, both on ssocial media, and in the press. Christopher Coons (D-DE), who won the Vice President's Senate seat back in the 2010 special election, said that his daughter had said that she "doesn't think the Vice President is creepy." Personally, I doubt she uttered that statement.
When House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-OH-08) and now-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to give an address before Congress without notifying the Obama Administration, and this deficance of protocol led the Vice President and 50+ Congressional Democrats to skip Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech. The Vice President said in March, 2016, at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Policy Conference in Washington, D.C., saying:
"We're all united by our unyielding—I mean literally unyielding—commitment to the survival, the security, and the success of the Jewish State of Israel."
During his entire Vice Presidency, Joesph Biden never cast a tie-breaking vote in the Senate, making him the longest serving Vice President with this distinction, in American history.
2016: The final year of the Barack Obama Presidency. Vice President Biden was speculated as a candidate to succeeed the term-limited President Obama, partially because the Democratic Party frontrunner, the now former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, saw her favorability ratings go on a steep decline. On September 11, 2015, he said:
"nobody has a right ... to seek that office unless they're willing to give it 110% of who they are."
He cited his son's recent death as a large drain on his emotional energy. He was undecided at the time about running for President, which if he did, he would have become a primary challenger to Secretary Clinton. On October 21, 2015, speaking at the Rose Garden with his wife, Jill, and President Obama by his side, he announced that he would not run for President of the United States. In January, 2016, he affirmed that it was the right decision, but admitted to regretting not running for President "every day." President Obama endorsed Secretary Clinton for President on June 9, 2016, with Vice President Biden doing the same later that day, after she became the presumptive Democratic nominee for President.
As expected, the President and Vice President campaigned on her behalf, with the President calling Republican nominee Donald Trump "unqualified", and the Vice President slamming Mr. Trump on his proposal to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the U.S, building a wall along the Mexican border (and make them pay for it), and his suggestion of either torturing or killing family members of terrorists as damaging to both American values and "to our security." On July 26, 2016, at the Democratic National Convention where Hillary Clinton formally recieved the nomintation for President, Joseph Biden asserted that "moral and centered" voters would not vote for Trump. In one of his final gaffes as Vice President, on October 21, 2016, one year after he declined to run for President, Vice President Biden said that he wished he was still in high school so he could take Trump "behind the gym". Three days later (October 24, 2016), he clarified that he would have fought Trump only if he was still in high school, and the following day, Trump responded that he would "love that".
After Donald Trump won, Vice President Biden met with Vice President-elect Pence as part of the transition of power.
After leaving office, the now former Vice President remained as a consistent Presidential contender. He campaigned for Democratic candidates in 2017 and 2018, which kept him relevant. He mulled the decision for the longest time, before declaring his candiacy on April 25, 2019, after getting a wave of unfavorable media coverage about his past interactions with women and girls, as well as allegations of sexual harassment against a 2014 Democratic nominee for Lieutanent Governor of Nevada, Lucy Flores, and a sexual assault allegation by a woman named Tara Reade, which hurt his favorability ratings, which currently stand at 44.5-46.1%, a net favorability of -1.6%. Almost immediately, he outraised Bernie Sanders on the first day, but trailed in overall contributors. After the grueling months of primary debates, it finally came time to vote.
In the early primaries, Joe Biden placed fourth in Iowa (losing the popular vote to Bernie Sanders, but offically losing to former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Peter P.M. Buttigieg), fifth in New Hampshire (losing to Bernie Sanders), and second in Nevada (once again losing to Bernie Sanders), but he overwhelmingly won South Carolina, with a near majority of support, reinvigorating a campaign that was previously dead in the water declining in fundraising and polling numbers. The Biden campaign had won the endorsement of House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C), which decided the outcome, according to the polls. The Biden campaign then had the momentum to nearly sweep Super Tuesday, winning statewide contests 10-14. For the record, I voted on Super Tuesday, for Bernie Sanders, solely to prevent Michael Bloomberg (POS D-N.Y) from winning my home state (who ultimately placed fourth), which Senator Sanders won against Joe Biden. Through later prmary battles, an increasingly embattled Senator Sanders was struggling to keep up with Joesph Biden, who had more strength than ever before.
With Vice President Biden's strong name recognition, and enough support to reestablish him as the front runner, Bernie Sanders faced an even steeper hill to climb, than when he challenged Hillary Clinton, in a two way race. Ultimately, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic cut the primary short, with many former non-Biden supporters, as well as some Sanders supporters telling the Senator to drop out, considering that Biden's edge in the delegate count was becoming increasingly insurmountable, and Sanders offically dropped out on April 8, 2020, making Biden the presumptive nominee, after 33 years of trying, he finally got the nomination.
As of writing this piece, President Trump trails Vice President Biden considerably, but remember, this is not insurmountable.
Joe Biden's platform:
-Biden wants to codify Roe v. Wade into statute. He renounced his defense of the Hyde Amendment (the Hyde Amendment is a legislative provision barring the use of federal funds to pay for abortion except to save the life of the woman, or if the pregnancy arises from incest or rape).
-Biden supports the decriminalization, but not legalization, of recreational cannabis usage. Biden said he believes no one should be in jail because of cannabis use. As president, he would decriminalize cannabis use and automatically expunge prior convictions. He supports the legalization of cannabis for medical purposes, leaving decisions regarding legalization for recreational use up to the states, and recategorizing cannabis as a Schedule II drug so researchers can study its impacts. Every other Democratic presidential candidate supported the full federal legalization of cannabis, with the exception of Michael Bloomberg (because Bloomberg is a nanny state politician who I view as just as dangerous to the nation as Donald Trump and Joe Biden).
-Biden supports a universal pre-kindergarten program. He supports four years of "free" college tuition, and allowing student loan debts to default during bankruptcy.
-Biden told CNN he did not support decriminalizing illegal entry into the United States, a position that puts him at odds with many of his 2020 Democratic rivals. He released a plan to reform the immigration system in December 2019, which includes a reversal of the Trump administration's deportation policies, a pathway to citizenship for about 11 million undocumented immigrants, and expansions in work visas and refugee admissions.
-Biden embraced the Green New Deal framework, releasing a $1.7 trillion dollar climate change plan. The plan called for the US to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 or earlier, and help coal workers to transition into jobs created from a clean-energy economy. Biden supports the development of carbon capture and storage and small modular reactors to reduce emissions. On September 4, 2019, during a CNN climate change town hall, Biden said he does not support banning fracking for natural gas, distancing himself from some of his Democratic presidential rivals, but said he would ban new fracking permits and evaluate existing ones to determine their safety.
-On July 16, 2019, Biden called for additional funding to construct rural hospitals, increase telehealth services in rural communities, and provide incentives for doctors to practice in rural areas, also known as medical deserts in the United States. On April 29, 2019, Biden came out in favor of a public option for health insurance and outlawing non-compete clauses for low-wage workers.
-On June 17, 2019, Biden appeared at the Poor People's Campaign Presidential Forum in Washington, D.C. to discuss proposals for the funding of poverty alleviation programs, but at a fundraiser in New York the following day reassured wealthy donors that he would not "demonize" the rich and said, "no one's standard of living will change, nothing would fundamentally change."
There are way too many controversies tied to Biden, so I'll link a list. This includes, his compliments of segregationist Senators, insulting voters, his cognitive decline, etc.
Okay, now that I think about it, I should have just individually covered the cadndaites, but I have made it this far, (July 25, 2020). Next up, Jo Jorgensen.
Joanne Marie "Jo" Jorgensen is the Libertarian nominee for President of the United States. She is a doctor. She ran for the U.S House of Representatives in 1992, placing third, losing to Bob Inglis. Four years later, she ran for Vice President with Harry E. Brown on the Libertarian ticket, placing fifth nationally in the popular vote, losing to the incumbent ticket of Bill Clinton and Al Gore. 24 years later, she would run for President, and after a contentious (non binding) primary battle, the nomination was secured for her at the Libertarian National Convention on May 23, 2020.
She is first woman to ever secure the Libertarian nomination for President, and her supporters repurposed Hillary Clinton's unofficial campaign slogan "I'm WiTh HeR", to bring attention to the sexual misconduct allegations against Donald Trump and Joseph Biden. CNN really got mad about that, as did a lot of former Hillary Clinton supporters who act like only H.R.C. can use that slogan.
Dr. Jorgensen's platform:
-Allowing Americans to opt out of Social Security. This would allow any one to invest 6.2% of their payroll taxes in to individual retirement accounts, but they would receive no Social Security benefits at retirement (becausie they did not pay into it).
-Abolishing drug laws, pardoning all nonviolent drug offenders, ending the war on drugs, and called Donald Trump and Joe Biden "taineted on race".
-Supports Generation IV nuclear power to reduce CO2 emissions. She supports removing "subsidies of all forms of energy production, allowing emissions-free nuclear power a chance to compete on a level palaying field", and she supports the use of hydaulic fracking while holding those companies responsible for damages. Dr. Jorgensen also supports ending federal subsides to green energy like wind power and increasing offshore oil drilling, to allow sustainable energy to survive in a free market.
-Opposes embargoes, ecoonmoic sanctions, and foriegn aid. She favors the withdrawl of American troops from foriegn wars. She favors non-interventionism, free and open trade with other nations.
Okay, now for the last candidate, Howard G. "Howie" Hawkins, the Green Party nominee.
Howard Gresham "Howie" Hawkins, is a trade unionist, and environmental activist. He captured the Green Party nomination on July 11, 2020. He is a perennial candidate (somoene who constantly runs for office, usually unsuccessfully).
Hawkins' platform:
-Believes that socialists and progressives should build an independent leftist party, rather than using the Democratic Party as a vehicle.
-Advocates for the expansion of town meetings, expanding their powers to enact legislation and granting them the power to recall representatives.
-Supports Medicare for All (M4A), his plan is to implement a single-payer National Health Insurance in which health care facilities are publicly owned, healthcare workers are salaried, and the system is governed by community boards elected by the public (two-thirds of the seats) and health care workers (one-third of the seats). The system will be funded by allocating current public healthcare dollars (about 70% of current spending) to the system. The rest of the funding would come from progressive taxes on individuals/families, both earned and unearned income, who earn more than 150% of the adjusted Federal Poverty Level and on large corporations.
And that's the top four candidates for President of the United States of America.
Running mates:
Mike Pence (R-IN)
TBA (D-?)
Jeremy "Spike" Cohen (L-S.C)
Angela N. Walker (G-WI)
This took a lot longer than I intended, but it's done. Chao. Btw, JO2020.
Follow me on Twitter: @SkylerSatterfi1
Support the blog: http://paypal.me/smanspeaks
Comments
Post a Comment