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04 November 2016 |

One of the biggest elections in not only US history but global history is due to take place in a matter of weeks. On this side of the Atlantic, many question Americans trust and support of Donald Trump, Republican Presidential Candidate, suggesting Hillary Clinton, the Democratic Presidential Candidate, to be the more reputable candidate. There has been much controversy in recent weeks regarding allegations made against Trump, yet floods of concerns remain as people fear he could still become the next US President.

In the coming weeks City Career Series will be focusing its headlines on the US elections and their impact. However, to understand the US elections, it is necessary that the key issues in America are outlined and the respective viewpoints of each candidate are summarised.

Immigration

Currently one of the world’s biggest issues is immigration. Whilst the US is not as heavily involved in the Syrian Refugee Crisis, they do face controversy with regard to their relationship with their neighbours in Latin America. It is expected that there are around 11 million illegal migrants in the US, the majority of which are believed to be from Latin America. The potential integration of these illegal citizens has caused much controversy.

Clinton and Trump have two opposing views. Clinton and the majority of the democratic party believe that they should support illegal immigrants with a path to citizenship, whilst Trump argues that all illegal immigrants should be deported. Trump has faced particular controversy for the 2,000 mile US-Mexico border wall he wishes to build in addition to his demands on closing borders to all Muslims for the short term. Clinton and Trump equally share the same opinion towards the Syrian refugee crisis; Clinton shows support for the Syrian refugees admittance into the US, whilst Trump opposes such action.

Foreign Policy

Central to relationships between countries around the world is foreign policy. One of the major foreign policy issues is Syria.

Hillary Clinton is renowned for her support of the Iraq War and Obama’s intervention in Libya and therefore it is no surprise that she similarly wants to act in Syria. Whilst this support does not come in the form of ground troops from the US, it does include a no fly zone in addition to providing arms for Syrian rebels.

Trump, similarly to Clinton believes that the US needs to fight IS and take action. However, unlike Clinton, Trump believes that ground troops should be sent to Syria. Trump also argues that NATO needs to take a greater role and that allies need to pay more to protecting the world from terrorism.

Gun Crime

Unsurprisingly, gun crime is a very heated topic of debate in the US. Over the past few years there has been numerous reports about the improper use of guns from both police and citizens. Americans in comparison with the rest of the Western world have a more liberal policy towards the use and access to guns. With the massacres that have taken place in schools in addition police shootings, Clinton has proposed to tighten gun control providing she wins the Presidential election. Meanwhile, Donald Trump opposes control measures. However, it must be noted that Trump’s position does not reflect the whole of the Republican party, as this issue does result in split views.

Abortion

As the biggest Christian country in the world, abortion splits opinion. Trump adopts a more conservative view whilst Clinton believes that up until 20 weeks into the pregnancy abortion should be legal. Important to understand is British law concerning this issue; according to the Abortion Act 1967, a woman can abort her pregnancy up to 24 weeks into pregnancy. However, there is no time frame for the foetus to be aborted if there is a risk to the mother’s life. Trump believes that abortion should be prohibited. Feeling so strongly about the matter Trump during the election campaign has suggested that women should be punished for aborting a child, reports the BBC. Trump does believe that women should be allowed to abort in the cases of ‘rape, incest and threat to the mother.’ Facing great controversy and backlash for his statements regarding abortion, Trump’s view on the matter has altered. He has changed his approach, suggesting that states rather than the President should be the judge of abortion laws.

Healthcare

Over the last eight years of Obama’s presidency the word ‘Obama Care’ has frequently arose. Enacted in 2010 by outgoing President Barack Obama, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was designed to give Americans access to more affordable health insurance. This act has helped expand the availability of both public and private health insurance through subsidies, taxes and further regulations. The expense and success of Obamacare has however caused much debate. It will be up to the next President of the United States to decide whether to continue such a process. When considering healthcare as a factor, it is important to compare the systems of the US and UK. Although there is great controversy surrounding the NHS in the UK, the ability for everyone to access healthcare for free is extremely important.

Clinton shares similar views with the current President Obama; she will continue with Obamacare, interlinking the issue with abortion in which she wants to remain accessible through various health schemes to women. Opposing this view, Trump demands that Obamacare be ceased and does not call for the extension or greater accessibility of healthcare to the American people.

Taxes

In order to pay for all the polices that the US presidential candidates are discussing, it is important to finally focus on the financing of the government through their tax system.

Taking a true businessman approach, Donald Trump has called for a reduction in corporation tax in addition to the number of tax brackets. This according to the BBC will see the ‘top 1% of earners…income increase by double digits, while the bottom quarter gets a boost of up to 1.9%.’ In the meantime, Hillary Clinton wants to restructure the tax system to support social reforms. Clinton has called for an increase in federal minimum wage to $12 per hour and an extra tax of 4% for those earning more than $5 million, explains the Guardian.

There appears to be winners and losers in both cases of the tax system. Yet taxes go beyond financial aspects, what is the morally correct thing to do?

he question remains…Who will be the winner in the election? For more information on topical issues and stances in the US elections see the links below: