2020 Presidential Election: Sanders v Bernie
The 2020 presidential election is one of the most highly talked about events and is on every American’s mind. With the Republican candidate being current President Trump, the two Democratic candidates, Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden are in the spotlight. Though they are from the same party, it seems that they differ on almost every key issue. With the current coronavirus shutting down almost every part of the world and causing destruction to many societies, the current healthcare system has come under lots of scrutiny. Many have turned to the two potential candidates to hear how they would handle this issue to understand how they would fit to be president. To Biden, he wants to stick with Obama’s Affordable Care Act, with a program similar to Medicare. For Sanders, his main priority is Medicare-for-All, nationalizing health insurance. Sanders believes that Medicare for all is the only answer for current health issues in the country while many fear that this level of nationalization is a threat to the capitalist system our country is founded on.
Another big issue on many people’s minds is climate change. A huge problem facing the entire global population, many feel that the world leader’s responses have not been good enough. Biden has proposed a climate crisis plant to decrease America’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 (using parts of the Green New Deal), reentering America into the Paris climate accord, and ending fossil fuel subsidies. Sanders has taken a similar but more dramatic approach. He hopes to meet the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change’s goal of 100% renewable energy for electricity and transportation by 2030, investing $200 billion in the Green Climate Fund, all while creating 20 million new jobs in building the industries needed for this plan to work. Another key issue in America is immigration. For Biden, he wants an easier path for undocumented immigrants to get citizenship, and reversing many of Trump’s border policies, and increasing USA’s refugee admissions from 18,000 to 125,000. Sanders similarly wants to be more open to immigrants. He wants a temporary ban on deportations, end ICE raids, stop the US-Mexico wall construction, end family separations, implement programs to prevent income or disability discrimination against immigrants, and welcome more migrants displaced by climate change which would increase 50,000 immigrants in one year.
This year’s presidential election seems to be at great stakes. With the novel coronavirus ruining many lives, climate change seems like a formidable force that no one can stop, social justice issues on every corner, people are turning to leaders during this testing time. Every candidate is under heavy scrutiny and judgment from the public eye, and every American wants to see their voice being represented in our political leaders.
