Special Report: The Policies and Proposals of Donald Trump and Kamala Harris
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Welcome back to Unbiased. Today is Monday, October 21st, and this episode is what I like to call a special report. Every so often, I release these special report episodes if there's one topic important enough to dedicate a whole episode to, and today's special report is one that was highly requested, and that is the policies of our presidential candidates.

I was originally going to release this episode on Friday, but I really wanted to get it out as soon as possible, given the fact that election day is only two weeks away at this point, and some people have even started voting already. So time is of the essence. Let me first lay the groundwork as far as what you can expect in this special report. So as the episode's title implies, this episode will cover the policies of both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.

The way the episode will be formatted is by topic. So when we talk about, let's say, trade, I'll cover Trump's stance on trade and then Harris's stance. Then we'll touch on, let's say, immigration. I'll, you know, go through Trump's immigration policies and then Harris's immigration policies. So,

Some topics like taxes and foreign policy will be broken down into subsections just because there's a lot to cover. And in those cases, I'll talk about, let's say, Trump's stance on corporate tax specifically versus Harris's stance on corporate tax. Then Trump's stance on capital gains tax versus Harris's stance on capital gains tax, rather than just doing all of Trump's tax policies at once and then all of Harris's tax policies at once.

In total, we'll touch on nine topics. So foreign policy, immigration, taxes, abortion, healthcare, Medicare and Social Security, climate and energy, trade, and the economy. One really important point I want to make before we get into the episode is this.

A presidential candidate can only do as much as Congress allows. What do I mean by that? Each candidate can say that they're going to do whatever they want. But for the most part, if Congress is not agreeable, those things are not going to happen. For instance, Harris wants to enact federal abortion protections. Those protections can only happen if Congress passes a bill. If Trump wants to cut taxes...

taxes can only get cut if Congress passes a bill. Now, there are certain instances when a president can act alone, such as an executive order or a proclamation. We saw Biden do this recently with the asylum restrictions at the border, but even those are subject to review. It's called checks and balances.

So just note that just because a candidate says that they are going to do X, Y, or Z, and, you know, we'll cover a lot of things in this episode that each candidate says they're going to do, X, Y, and Z can only happen if they're going to do X, Y, or Z.

if Congress is on board. So just because they say these things doesn't mean they're going to be able to achieve these things. And one final note, and this is more of a request, but please, please, please share this episode with everyone you know. It is so incredibly important to be as informed as possible headed into this election so you can vote for the candidates

that is right for you. By no means is this episode going to tell you every single thing you need to know about each candidate's policies, and I always encourage you to do your own research, but this episode is a really great launching pad that I think everyone should hear.

I put a ton of time into researching for this episode, so please forward this episode to your contact list, share it to social media, anything you can do to get the word out so that we're all informed going into this election. And now, finally, with those things out of the way and without further ado, let's get into today's episode.

The first topic we are going to cover is foreign policy. When we talk about foreign policy, we're talking about how the United States uses different strategies to guide its relationships with other countries and international organizations. So when talking about each candidate's stance on foreign policy, we're talking about the strategies each candidate would use to guide our country's relationships with other countries and international organizations.

On the topic of foreign policy, because there are so many countries, conflicts, organizations, etc., this is one of those topics we'll break into subtopics and do each candidate's stance one subtopic at a time.

So let's start with NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. This is a political and military alliance between 32 different countries in Europe and North America. To keep it short, essentially the countries that belong to NATO are part of this pact, which says that they will come to each other's defense in the situation where one is attacked. Each

Each member country has to spend at least 2% of their GDP on defense. So Trump, let's start with him, while a supporter of NATO, he has criticized it in the past. And at one point, he did threaten to withdraw. This is because the United States was one of the few countries actually...

paying their fair share, that at least 2% number of the GDP. So Trump said that because these other countries were delinquent on their payments and the United States was pulling the majority of the weight, he would pull out if the other countries didn't pay up.

But outside of the imbalance in payments, Trump does support NATO and what it stands for. Harris is an outright supporter of NATO, reaffirming the United States' commitment to NATO at the recent Munich Security Conference, calling it, quote, the greatest military alliance the world has ever known, end quote. So all in all, both candidates support NATO's mission, though Trump has been more critical of the United States' role in NATO.

When it comes to the Indo-Pacific, Trump and Harris are actually pretty aligned. Trump's 2019 Indo-Pacific strategy supported a quote-unquote free and open Indo-Pacific, meaning free from China's control, and Harris says that she supports the same. However, it is worth noting that of the two candidates, Trump is more likely to scale back on security support for the Indo-Pacific if so

if support were to be scaled back. That's not to say it will be, just if it is. This is because of Trump's America First plan, whereas Harris has a bigger focus on multinational cooperation. When it comes to FISA, the Foreign International Surveillance Act, Harris voted against it. Trump obviously didn't vote one way or the other because he's not a lawmaker, but he, like Harris, was also against it.

Now, FISA was a law first enacted in 1978, or I should say is a law first enacted in 1978 as the exclusive means for conducting electronic surveillance abroad. However, there's one section of FISA that's controversial, Section 702. It was added in 2008, and it allows the FBI to access communications of Americans that are communicating with foreigners without obtaining a warrant. It's

As we know, the Fourth Amendment protects us Americans against warrantless searches and seizures, so some argue that this particular section of FISA allows for warrantless searches and seizures and is therefore unconstitutional. The issue with the controversy behind Section 702 is that on one hand, it goes against the Constitution, and on the other hand, it does and has protected the United States from both American and foreign bad actors.

Consequently, many people were split on whether FISA should be reauthorized. But in April of this year, it was. The Senate passed the bill in a 60-34 vote and the House passed it in a 273-147 vote. As for Harris and Trump, they both opposed the bill due to this controversial Section 702 that allows the federal government to access United States'

citizen's information without a warrant in certain situations. So they are aligned on that front.

Moving on to the war between Russia and Ukraine, the issue for American voters is whether the U.S. should continue its support for Ukraine for as long as it takes in, you know, the war between Ukraine and Russia, or whether the United States should instead pressure Ukraine to negotiate with Russia to end the war and cut back or stop providing aid. Harry

Harris is committed to supporting Ukraine militarily, economically, politically for as long as the United States needs to. Harris has not specified what it would take to win the war, but says it is up to the Ukrainians to decide when and how to start negotiating with Russia.

Trump, on the other hand, has repeatedly said that the war would not have even happened if he were president and that he would stop the war within 24 hours of being elected. And while he hasn't shared many details as to how that would happen, he has signaled that he would head a negotiation between the two. Trump has also been quite critical of the amount of aid the Biden administration has given Ukraine, which to date is around 175 billion dollars.

So look, while it's nearly impossible to say what a candidate would actually do once elected, their statements have told us that if Harris were elected, the aid for Ukraine would continue, whereas if Trump were elected, that aid would likely either stop or otherwise be significantly reduced, and Trump would focus more on a negotiation to end the war.

And finally, when it comes to the Middle East, and specifically the ongoing conflict between Israel and Gaza, one thing about the United States is that no matter who the president is, whether Democrat or Republican, they are going to be more vocal about their support for Israel than the opposition. And this is just because the United States and Israel have an incredibly strong allyship.

With that said, Harris recently said, quote, Let me be clear, I will always stand up for Israel's right to defend itself, and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself. At the same time, what has happened in Gaza over the past 10 months is devastating.

end quote. Harris called for an end to the war, and most recently, with the death of Hamas's leader, Yaya Sinwar, said, quote, Israel has a right to defend itself, and the threat Hamas poses to Israel must be eliminated. This moment gives us an opportunity to finally end the war in Gaza, and it must end such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people

can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom, and self-determination. And it is time for the day after to begin without Hamas in power. End quote. Harris also supports a two-state solution, saying at the September presidential debate, quote, we must chart a course for a two-state solution. End

In that solution, there must be security for the Israeli people and Israel and an equal measure for the Palestinians. But the one thing I will assure you always, I will always give Israel the ability to defend itself, in particular as it relates to Iran and any threat that Iran and its proxies pose to Israel. But we must have a two-state solution where we can rebuild Gaza, where the Palestinians have security, self-determination, and the dignity they so rightly deserve.

As for Trump's stance, in August, a few weeks after Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu visited Trump at Mar-a-Lago, Trump said that he told Netanyahu the war has to stop, saying in part, quote, He, referring to Netanyahu, knows what he's doing. I did encourage him to get this over with. It has to get over with fast. Get your victory and get it over with. It has to stop. The killing has to stop.

Trump has also criticized calls for a ceasefire, but has also made statements about wanting to get back to peace. In a March interview, Trump said, quote, end quote.

Trump was asked in June whether he would support an independent Palestinian state, and to that he answered that he would have to see. As far as Trump's response to Sinwar's recent death, Trump said, "...my reaction is he was not a good person. That's my reaction. That's sometimes what happens."

Trump also said that Sinoir's death makes peace negotiations easier and said he was glad that Netanyahu decided to do what he had to do. So that is foreign policy. Let's now move on to immigration. When we talk about the immigration policies of each candidate, we're of course talking about how each candidate plans to handle immigration in the United States.

So let's start with Trump. Trump has pledged to launch what he calls, quote, the largest deportation effort in U.S. history of illegal immigrants, end quote. In states that cooperate, he says he would utilize their local law enforcement as well as the National Guard to assist with those deportations, and those deportations would prioritize those with criminal records.

Trump previously enacted a zero tolerance policy as president, which required the U.S. attorney's offices along the southern border to prosecute all illegal immigration cases referred to them by the DHS. This ultimately led to the separation of children from their parents at the border. Trump later, though, issued an executive order which excluded parents traveling with children from that zero tolerance policy.

Trump's campaign agenda says he would push for a, quote, merit-based immigration system that protects American labor and promotes American values, end quote. Trump supports travel bans, saying he would restrict people from anywhere that threatens our country. This includes Syria, Yemen, Somalia, as well as certain groups of people such as communists, socialists, and those who support groups like Hamas.

Trump has said he would restore his 2019 Remain in Mexico program. This program was ended by President Biden, but it forced non-Mexican asylum seekers that were attempting to enter the U.S. through the southern border to wait in Mexico for the resolution of their cases.

He also said he'll end catch and release by detaining and not releasing all migrants that are caught crossing the southern border, either illegally or, you know, by violating other immigration laws. He says he'll end Biden's parole programs, which allows migrants with sponsors here in the United States to enter the country and obtain work permits. And of course, he has plans to resume construction of the border wall.

Now, before we move on to Harris's immigration policies, let's quickly talk about DACA. So DACA was an executive action taken by Obama, which allows undocumented immigrants who came to the United States under the age of 16 to apply for protection from deportation. There are different factors of eligibility that one has to meet, but after passing a background check, they're able to get renewable two-year permits to work and study in the United States.

However, under DACA, there is no permanent pathway to citizenship. So in 2017, under Trump's administration, DACA was challenged by a group of red Republican states.

Because of DACA's vulnerabilities, namely that it didn't offer a permanent pathway to citizenship, Trump decided to end DACA and gave Congress six months to come up with a more permanent fix. Included in that more permanent fix would be additional immigration measures. Things like more border security measures, changes to asylum, mandatory worker verification, immigration enforcement measures, etc.,

Republicans were on board with these additional immigration measures, but to Democrats, they were non-starters. So nothing ever ended up happening with the bill introduced in 2018 to replace DACA. Ultimately, the Supreme Court upheld DACA. It remains in place today as it was when Obama created it. Still, Trump would like to end DACA as it exists currently and come up with a more permanent citizenship solution tied to other immigration measures. So that's his stance on DACA. Moving on.

Moving on to Harris. Back in 2017, as a senator, Harris pledged to block funding of a border wall and called the wall, quote, a stupid waste of money. Later in 2020, when Harris sought the Democratic nomination, she remained committed to blocking funding of a wall, proposed making illegal immigrants eligible for government health care, decriminalizing illegal border crossings, and reforming ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

However, more recently, Harris did switch course a bit. She said that she would revive the recent bipartisan border bill that failed to pass Congress, which called for $650 million on wall spending, more asylum lawyers and judges, and gave the president the authority to shut down the border if crossings reached an average of 5,000 on any given day.

Notably, while saying she would revive this bill, she also said she would reform the broken immigration system and create an earned pathway to citizenship. As far as DACA goes, Harris has long been a supporter of DACA and would not challenge the program in the way that Trump has proposed to challenge it.

While serving as vice president in 2021, Harris was put in charge of addressing the root causes of immigration from Central America. And while she was not put in charge of the border itself, contrary to the belief of many, illegal border crossings reached historic levels during this time.

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$45 upfront payment equivalent to $15 per month. New customers on first three-month plan only. Taxes and fees extra. Speeds lower above 40 gigabytes. See details. That is immigration. Let's now move on to taxes. This one is fairly obvious, but when we talk about each candidate's tax policies, we're talking about how each candidate plans to handle taxes in America, not only for individuals like you and me, but also for corporations.

And this topic is one of those that has a bunch of subsections like corporate tax, capital gains tax, individual tax, or income tax, etc. So we'll break this down by subsection similar to how we did foreign policy. Before we get into each subsection, here are a couple things worth noting. Number one is

Trump enacted a piece of legislation called the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. He wants to extend that legislation when it expires in 2025, so his tax policies are based upon that. For a little more clarification, Trump's legislation cut corporate taxes permanently and

and cut individual taxes temporarily. So the tax cuts or individual tax cuts are what will be expiring in 2025, but the corporate tax rate cuts will remain in place even once that legislation expires unless that legislation is repealed at some point.

As for Harris, she actually agrees with extending some of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act provisions, but not all of them. She instead supports Biden's tax plan, which is what Biden was planning on implementing when Trump's 2017 law expired if Biden were reelected. So Harris's policies are based on that.

Let's start with corporate tax. Trump reduced the corporate tax in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 from 35% to 21% and has proposed lowering it even further to 20% and as low as 15% for companies that make their products domestically in the United States. Harris, on the other hand, wants to raise corporate tax, proposing an increase from the current rate of 21% up to 28%.

Moving on to capital gains tax. First, let me explain what capital gains tax is. Say you buy a house for $400,000. Two years later, you sell the house for $600,000. The capital gain on that sale is $200,000 and you'll be taxed on it. Now, the amount that you pay in tax will depend on various factors, mainly income. So depending on your income, you'll pay anywhere from 0% to 20% with 0%, 15%, and 20% being the three tax brackets for capital gains. Hey,

Harris supports Biden's proposal of raising the tax rate on capital gains to the rate charged on ordinary income for those with a dual annual income over $1 million or $500,000 for single filers. Under her plan, those individuals would be taxed on long-term capital gains at a rate of 28%. Under current law, the rate for those earning more than a million a year is 20%, so those higher earners would see an increase of about 8%.

Trump, on the other hand, wants to keep capital gains taxes where they're at. After all, it was his legislation in 2017 that created these three capital gains tax brackets. Prior to his legislation, long-term capital gains tax rates were based on your federal income tax bracket. At one point in his presidency, Trump did float the idea of a temporary capital gains tax holiday, but that idea did not make it far.

Now let's talk about unrealized capital gains because this was a big topic this election cycle.

An unrealized capital gain refers to the increase in value for an asset that a person has not sold yet and therefore has not realized the gain. So take the previous example where you bought your house for $400,000 but say you decide not to sell it. That $200,000 increase in value would be an unrealized capital gain because you haven't realized the gain through a sale.

Harris recently said that she supports Biden's proposal of a minimum tax of 25% on unrealized gains for those with more than $100 million in assets. So if you don't have over $100 million in assets, this tax on unrealized capital gains would not apply to you. Again, that would just be for those with more than $100 million in assets that would be subject to this minimum 25% tax on

unrealized capital gains. Harris also may consider adopting Biden's idea of taxing unrealized capital gains at death. So this idea would essentially treat death as a realization event for federal income tax purposes, and the tax would be assessed accordingly on those unrealized capital gains. As for Trump, there's not really much to say here because Trump does not support a tax on unrealized capital gains, regardless of personal worth.

Now, let's talk about something that applies to all of us, and that is income tax. Harris is proposing rolling back Trump's tax cuts for the top earners and raising the top marginal income rate up to 44%, which is an increase from the current rate of 37%. This change would apply to couples earning over $731,000 and singles earning over $609,000. Harris has pledged

not to increase taxes on those who earn less than $400,000 per year and said she would cut taxes for middle-class families. Harris has also proposed a billionaire minimum tax.

Now, as we've said, Trump was the one that decreased the income tax for all or most tax brackets, and he wants to extend these provisions and make them permanent. So with Trump's 2017 law, top earners saw their income tax go down from 39.6% to 37%. Top earners are those single filers earning over $609,000.

All other tax brackets saw a decrease of anywhere from 1% to 4% except single filers earning under $9,500 saw no change at all under Trump's plan. So again, the main difference between the two candidates here is that Trump wants to extend

the 2017 provisions, which are currently in place right now. And Harris won't extend those 2017 provisions and instead has said that she won't increase taxes on those who earn less than $400,000 per year, but will increase taxes on those earning more than $400,000 per year. And again, she also said she will cut taxes even further for the middle class.

Moving on to families with children. First, the child tax credit, which is a tax credit for parents with children. In Trump's presidency, he raised the child tax credit from $1,000 to $2,000 and created a non-refundable $500 credit for non-child dependents.

Harris has proposed raising the child tax credit even more by reinstating the child tax credit that was offered during the pandemic, which was $3,600 per child. Harris also wants to give families with newborns $6,000 to be received in the baby's first year. And finally, last tax subtopic, let's talk about tips, interest on loans, and overtime pay. Both Trump and Harris have said they support ending federal income taxes on service worker tips.

Trump was the first to announce this plan. Harris announced her support of the plan a few months later. Trump has also said that he would exempt social security benefits from taxes. And more recently, he proposed a tax break that would make interest on car loans fully tax deductible. Now, Trump has not offered specific details as to how that interest on car loans, uh,

deal would work, but some experts have said it would likely be structured as an itemized deduction and most likely benefit those buying more expensive cars rather than entry-level cars because entry-level car buyers generally have more modest incomes and claim a standard deduction on their tax returns. But again, we don't have many details on what that would actually look like in practice.

And finally, most recently, Trump said that he would want to end taxes on overtime pay. So that is our tax discussion. Next topic is abortion and IVF.

How does each candidate feel about abortion and IVF here in the United States? I feel like this is one we're all pretty familiar with because it's just, it's so heavily talked about. And honestly, it's pretty straightforward, but let's do it just so we're all on the same page. Trump is a firm believer that abortion is an issue that should be a state-by-state decision. Because of that, he said he would not sign a federal abortion ban,

nor would he offer federal protections. Again, to him, it's a state issue, not a federal issue.

Harris, on the other hand, is a big supporter of restoring abortion rights nationwide by way of federal legislation and has proposed giving the DOJ oversight over states' abortion laws. So in practice, that would mean, let's assume federal protections for abortions were enacted, states that have a record of restricting abortion rights, like Texas, Florida, Georgia, etc., would have to seek protection

preclearance from the DOJ before enacting new abortion laws in line with whatever federal protections were ultimately put into place. When it comes to IVF, in vitro fertilization, both Harris and Trump have pledged to protect access to it.

it. So that was your abortion and IVF discussion. As I said, pretty straightforward. Now let's go on to healthcare. When it comes to healthcare, one thing all Americans can agree on is that the healthcare system in the United States needs help. What people disagree on is how to fix it, including Trump and Harris. In case you didn't know, research studies have found that the United States ranks last among 10 developed nations in terms of healthcare. And

Now, important to this conversation is the ACA or the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare. The

The ACA was enacted in 2010 in an attempt to make healthcare more accessible. Despite Democrats controlling both Congress and the White House at the time, it actually took months for Congress to enact the ACA because there was a lot of debate on how much of a role the government should have in healthcare, which is a private industry. Nonetheless, the ACA, as we know, was signed into law.

Part of this included the creation of the healthcare marketplace, which is a place that Americans can go and choose a healthcare plan that best fits their needs. It also included minimum standards, which were essentially a list of things that had to be covered by private insurance plans, and it stopped private insurance plans from denying or charging people more based on pre-existing conditions.

Four years after the ACA's enactment in 2014, an individual mandate took effect. And this individual mandate required Americans to pay a penalty if they decided not to buy insurance. So what happened is that more people got insurance, which achieved the goal of increasing access to health care. But at the same time, people who chose not to get insurance were penalized.

So critics of the ACA really didn't like this idea of penalization and also just didn't like the government's regulation of the private industry of insurance. So all this to say the ACA has been very controversial over the years, but has also been very pivotal in shaping our current healthcare system. So here's where we get into the relevancy of the ACA, now that you have the background and each of the candidates' politicizations.

policies. Trump, in both 2016 and 2020, campaigned on repealing the ACA, though to this day, the ACA remains in place.

As president, Trump signed an executive order which allowed the sale of cheaper health insurance policies with fewer benefits. Also, that 2017 tax bill we spoke about earlier, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, repealed that individual mandate. So now, despite the ACA still being in place, individuals cannot be penalized for not buying health insurance.

Trump has said that despite wanting to repeal the ACA, he will, quote, always protect patients with pre-existing conditions, end quote. Trump has promised to replace the ACA with a system that is, quote, much better, stronger, and far less expensive, end quote. However, he has not provided specifics as to what that would look like.

Trump was asked at one of the presidential debates about a recent remark he made about working on the ACA. Trump responded, quote, I had a choice to make when I was president. Do I save it and make it as good as it can be, never going to be great, or do I let it rot? I felt I had an obligation, even though politically it would have been good to just let it rot and let it go away. End quote. Harris, on the other hand, is a big supporter of the ACA and says she wants to expand it and strengthen it. Add,

At the same presidential debate where Trump was asked about working on the ACA, Harris was asked about her prior support of Bernie Sanders' plan to eliminate private insurance in favor of a government-run health care system. But then Harris later proposed a plan that included a private insurance option, so the moderators were asking Harris to clarify her stance.

Harris responded by highlighting her support for private health care options over the last four years, while also advocating for the maintenance and expansion of the ACA and criticized Trump's attempts to repeal the ACA. So all in all, Trump wants to replace the ACA with a plan he says would be more affordable, whereas Harris wants to preserve and expand the ACA. So that was health care. Now we're moving on to Social Security and Medicare.

Let's first do Social Security. A little bit of background first. Social Security was created in 1935 as a way to provide financial support to retired individuals, disabled individuals, and others. Now, the Social Security Trust Fund is projected to be depleted by 2035.

which could result in reduced benefits if something isn't done. So the two main questions when it comes to Social Security are one, how is each candidate planning on adding funds? And two, does either candidate plan to cut Social Security benefits? As of now, both Harris and Trump have said they won't cut benefits. Instead, they'll protect them.

As to the first question, Trump's approach to raising revenue for Social Security hinges on the economy, that a stronger economy will naturally bolster Social Security. He argues that economic growth and job creation would boost payroll tax revenues, thereby adding funds to the program.

As for Harris, she said that by millionaires and billionaires paying their fair share, and likely that would mean extending the Social Security payroll tax to higher incomes, she'll be able to raise the revenue to continue supporting the program. Currently, Social Security payroll taxes are not applied to wages above $168,600. But again, as of now, both candidates have said they won't cut benefits. They won't raise the retirement age.

Now let's get into Medicare. Medicare is the federal health insurance program that serves people older than 65. This program is projected to deplete its hospital insurance trust fund by 2036, contributing to this depletion in aging population and increased enrollment. So again, the question is, how does each candidate plan to maintain solvency?

Harris often discusses her work with the Biden administration, which allowed Medicare for the first time to negotiate drug prices on the patient's behalf. Harris wants to expand this legislation to cover more drugs and lower prices collectively.

at a quicker rate. Harris's stance centers around cracking down on drug companies and high drug prices. As for Trump, he has proposed reversing increases made to Medicare Part B premiums during Biden's administration, prioritizing at-home care, offering tax credits for caregivers, reducing red tape, and overturning disincentives that lead to care worker shortages.

While president, he enacted measures to increase price transparency, reduce drug costs, and lower the cost of insulin, as did the Biden administration. Trump has opposed any cuts to Medicare benefits and suggested that waste and fraud within the system need to be addressed to save money. Stop by O'Reilly Auto Parts for the power, performance, and reliability of a new SuperStart battery. Visit OReillyAuto.com. O, O, O, O'Reilly!

So that is Social Security and Medicare. Moving on to climate and energy. Here we're talking about how each candidate plans to deal with the climate as well as energy production. Trump wants to expand domestic fossil fuel production and overhaul Biden's clean energy initiatives.

Trump pulled the United States out of the 2015 Paris Agreement, under which roughly 200 countries agreed to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. And his rationale for that was, quote, because of the unfair economic burden imposed on American workers, businesses, and taxpayers by U.S. pledges made under the agreement. End quote. Biden later rejoined the Paris Agreement on his first day in office. Trump's

Trump also hopes to do away with Biden's Inflation Reduction Act. The Inflation Reduction Act did many things, but most notably focused on climate and, in fact, was the largest investment in climate-related policies in U.S. history. It provides tax credits and subsidies for electric vehicles, as well as other clean energy products, and budgeted roughly $370 billion for these emissions reduction efforts.

Trump ultimately wants to make the United States fully energy independent, and to do this, he wants to remove permitting delays on fossil fuel production and increase domestic drilling efforts. As president, he used executive orders to streamline the permitting process for the construction of new oil pipelines so the construction and subsequent production could happen at a quicker rate.

Harris, on the other hand, sees climate change as an existential threat and has supported many of Biden's climate policies, including his decision to rejoin the 2015 Paris Agreement. And Harris ultimately cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate to pass the Inflation Reduction Act. That's what we just, you know, the legislation we just spoke about.

Back in 2020, as a presidential candidate, Harris proposed a $10 trillion plan that called for net zero emissions by 2045 and a carbon neutral electricity sector by 2030. She was also an original co-sponsor of the Green New Deal, which was intended to transition the United States to 100% clean energy within 10 years.

and around the same time pledged to end federal support for the fossil fuel industry and called for a carbon tax and a ban on fracking. That stance has changed a bit with Harris now saying she would not ban fracking if elected.

While serving as VP, the Biden administration approved various new fossil fuel projects, including an $8 billion oil drilling project in Alaska. In fact, under their administration, the United States has become the world's largest crude oil producer. It's unclear whether Harris would follow that track, but we know she does support a lot of Biden's policies, so it's worth mentioning. As far as nuclear energy goes, both Harris and Trump have said they'll invest in nuclear energy facilities.

Moving on to trade. So when we talk about trade policies, we're talking about the management of international trade, which can include, you know, regulating imports, managing exports, export controls, import tariffs, etc.,

International trade impacts the economy here in the United States in various ways by fueling economic growth through productivity and innovation, creating jobs, lowering prices, market competition, etc. How to handle trade to best impact the U.S. economy is what's at issue here. So both candidates have different approaches.

Trump's overall view on the global trading system is that the current system works against United States interests and is responsible for trade deficits, declining United States manufacturing, and the offshoring of American jobs. He wants to return the United States to the, quote, manufacturing superpower of the world through rebalancing trade towards domestic production.

One way he plans to do that is through tariffs on imports. Tariffs are basically a tax on imports. They range depending on, you know, what product is being imported and the country the import is coming from. There are many arguments for and against tariffs. Proponents say that raising the price of imports can protect manufacturers here in the U.S. They're also a huge moneymaker for the government. They can create more jobs here in the United States, lower the deficit by raising money, and promote economic growth.

Opponents, though, say tariffs result in higher prices for the consumer, reduce competition, generate tension, and make domestic industries less efficient. Now, I know the tariff topic has been a big topic of discussion this election, so I actually included two different articles that each speak to one side of the argument. So one article is written by PBS, a

against tariffs. The other is written by The Atlantic in favor of tariffs. But by reading both, you should have a much better idea as to the arguments for and against. You can find both of those links in the sources section of this episode or by finding this episode's webpage on jordanismylawyer.com. Just scroll all the way down to the bottom of the webpage and the links will be the last two links under the trade section.

Last thing I'll say on tariffs is that Trump enacted tariffs during his presidency, and the Biden administration held on to those tariffs. So while Harris has criticized Trump's tariff proposal as being comparable to another income tax on Americans, it's not clear whether she would keep the current tariffs in place as the Biden administration has done following Trump's administration.

Moving on, staying on tariffs, or staying on trade, but moving on. As president in 2018, Trump renegotiated NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, and the updated agreement, which is called the 2018 U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, includes tariff-free access to the U.S. market for most Canadian and Mexican products. However, Trump now proposes a 100% tariff on cars imported from Mexico and says that he would renegotiate the 2018 deal to address concerns about Chinese vehicles.

Harris, as senator, was one of the 10 senators who voted against Trump's US-Canada-Mexico agreement, saying it would not do enough to protect American workers and the environment. Harris is expected to maintain the Biden administration's approach to trade, relying on tariffs and export controls to boost domestic competitiveness with China. Both Trump and Harris are keen on countering China's economic rise.

Another thing Harris and Trump seem to be on the same page with is the TPP, or the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which was a trade agreement with 11 other countries negotiated by Obama.

The supporters of that agreement felt the deal would expand U.S. trade and investment abroad, spur economic growth, lower consumer prices, and create new jobs. However, its opponents felt that the deal would accelerate U.S. decline in manufacturing, lower wages, harm the climate, and increase inequality.

Harris as senator voted against the TPP, but it ultimately did pass Congress and was signed into law. But on Trump's first day in office, he withdrew from the TPP. Biden ultimately replaced the TPP with the IPEF or the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, but it's unclear what Harris or Trump would do about the IPEF once elected.

And finally, number nine, the economy. How does each candidate plan to fix the economy? Now, basically, this entire episode is about how each candidate plans to fix the economy, right? I mean, taxes, trade, immigration, foreign policy, it all plays into the economy. So this section will really just be a recap in a sense and a brief recap at that.

So first, Trump, how does Trump plan to fix the economy? He plans to extend the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and make those changes permanent. This includes both individuals and corporations. For corporations, he's proposed an even further decrease to 15% so long as their products are American-made. If not, those corporations have to pay tariffs on products shipped from

Trump also plans to reduce inflation in large part by expanding oil and gas drilling and regulation, which in turn would cut energy costs and energy prices. When it comes to tariffs, he has suggested a blanket tariff of 10 to 20 percent on virtually all imports and tariffs of 60 percent, possibly more, on goods from China. He's also said he would ask Congress for authority to impose a reciprocal tariff on any country that imposes one on the United States.

Circling back to taxes, he wants to raise the child tax credit from $1,000 to $2,000. Part of Trump's economic plan also consists of the deportation measures we spoke about earlier. According to Trump, quote,

And staying on the topic of immigration, Trump says the deportations will help the housing market for Americans by making more housing available and lowering home prices. Harris, how does she plan to fix the economy? Harris wants to focus on building up the quote-unquote opportunity economy, which would focus on the middle class.

This includes not raising taxes on those that make less than $400,000 a year and, as discussed, increasing taxes for those that do make more than $400,000 a year and increase taxes for corporations. She, like Trump, wants to increase the child tax credit, but hers goes a bit further, a $3,500 tax credit, plus $6,000 to families with newborns in the first year of the newborn's life.

Like Trump, Harris supports ending taxes on tips. She wants to enact measures to fight price gouging, boost housing development by constructing 3 million new homes over the next four years, and help first-time homebuyers by providing up to $25,000 to help with their down payment. Harris wants to eliminate medical debt from credit reports and continue forgiving student loans as the Biden administration has done.

Now get out and go vote. No, but in all seriousness, that was your policy recap. And I really hope after listening, you feel more informed and more prepared to head to the polls in two weeks, maybe even sooner if you're voting early.

I know I didn't touch on every single policy, but as I said in the beginning of this episode, this is meant to be a launching pad. If you have any questions about the effects of any of these policies or you want to dive a bit deeper, I can't tell you how much I encourage diving deeper.

I highly, highly, highly encourage you to put a few hours aside before you vote and do some additional research. I have a ton of resources linked for you in the sources section of this episode, which again can be found in this episode's description or by going to jordanismylawyer.com and finding this episode's webpage. The first few links in the sources section you will see are the links to Harris's official platform and the links to Trump's official platform. Those are really good places to start.

Remember, vote for the candidate that makes the most sense for you, the candidate that you feel is best for America, and do not let anyone shame you into voting for any candidate. This is your choice and this is your privilege as an American citizen. Don't forget that.

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