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Biden vs. Trump – A partial voting guide

Part 2 of a 2-part series

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This is the second op-ed of a 2-part series, focusing on presidential candidates Joe Biden and Donald Trump. The first op-ed examined five major issues confronting the candidates and voters: immigration, abortion, NATO, Ukraine and Israel-Hamas-Gaza.

This meta compare and contrast analysis of 13 additional issues may assist voters come Nov. 5:

Education: USA Today political experts see Trump wanting to give parents more control over local schools, “including the right to elect and fire school principals.” Trump has praised court rulings that target higher education affirmative action programs. Biden’s signature priorities have addressed student loan debt, denounced school book banning and scolded legislative bodies that attack LGBTQIA individual’s rights (April 13).

Climate change: Alan Blinder, professor of economics and public affairs at Princeton and former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve (1994-1996), wrote in his March 28 Wall Street Journal op-ed that Congress and Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act “contains the largest carbon-reduction measures in U.S. history. Donald Trump, by contrast, has called global warming a Chinese hoax.”

Jan. 6, 2020 insurrectionists: Donald Trump has stated that, if elected, he will pardon all of the 1,353 arrested and charged Jan. 6 US Capitol insurrectionists. To which, Karl Rove, GOP strategist, George W. Bush’s deputy chief of staff and weekly writer for The Wall Street Journal, called Trump’s pledge a “critical mistake . . . they’re thugs” (The Hill, April 4).

Unemployment and Jobs: During Donald Trump’s era as president, the unemployment rate was 6.4 percent while it is under four percent during Biden’s term of office (Yahoo Finance, March 17). Manufacturing job growth: 6.5 percent with Biden and 3.4 percent under Trump (Poynter, March 5).

Stock market: Since Biden took office, the S&P stock index has risen 40 percent. At the same point in Trump’s presidential term, the S&P was up just 13 percent (Yahoo Finance, April 1).

National Debt: Biden’s presidency has increased national debt by $4.7 trillion (up 16.67%). During Trump’s reign, the national debt increased by $8.18 trillion (up 40.43%) (Self Financial, Inc.).

Federal deficit: The deficit, the difference between the government’s income and expenses, added $7.8 trillion to the country’s debt during Trump’s presidency and $6.7 trillion under Biden’s leadership (PolitiFact, March 12).

Gross Domestic Product: GDP, a measure of all of the goods and services produced in the country, grew 14 percent during Trump’s presidency compared to 22 percent since Biden took office (Washington Post, Dec. 23, 2023).

Trade policy: Trump wants a 100 percent tariff on imported cars from China and Mexico, 10 percent across the board tariff and 60 percent tariff on Chinese goods. Biden believes in global trade with America’s 1,600 partners and Trump believes in isolationism. (Blinder, Wall Street Journal, March 28).

Tax policy: The Trump tax cuts of 2017 expire in 2025; Trump wants to extend the cuts by 10 years, estimated by the Congressional Research Service to cost about $3.5 trillion. Biden and the Democrats “want to pay for domestic priorities and reduce the budget deficit with higher taxes on the rich and corporations” (Blinder, March 28).

Infrastructure: In 2017 Trump’s proposed $1 trillion infrastructure package never got off the ground (New York Times, May 22, 2019). On Nov. 6, 2021, Congress passed Biden’s $1.2 trillion bipartisan-approved Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which will add about 1.5 million jobs for each of the next 10 years and address issues like clean water, reliable high-speed internet, roads, bridges, airports, ports, rail, pipelines, power grid and cyber-attacks.

2020 and 2024 elections: Even after 100 percent of America’s 8,000-plus election managers, 61 court cases and Bill Barr -- Trump’s attorney general – all concluded the 2020 election results were valid, Trump “insists falsely that the 2020 election was stolen from him” (Blinder, The Wall Street Journal, March 28). Trump has already claimed the 2024 election will be rigged and people should not mail in their ballot, both of which greatly muddles the GOP’s get-out-the-vote effort (Mariah Timms, Wall Street Journal, March 20).

Democracy vs. Authoritarianism: Matthew C. MacWilliams, in his exhaustive research at University of Massachusetts Amherst, has found “41 percent of Americans tend to favor authority, obedience and uniformity over freedom, independence and diversity” (Politico, Sept. 23, 2020). Eighty-two percent of voters are worried about America’s historic democracy (Morning Consult, Sept. 7, 2023). Hence, Biden-Trump’s democracy-authoritarianism posturing is for real.

In this two-part op-ed series comparing and contrasting Joe Biden and Donald Trump’s respective presidential candidacy, 18 issues have been analyzed to give voters a better perspective as to who to vote for in the Nov. 5 election.

Don’t be among the 1/3rd of voters who usually sit out the election—how unpatriotic is that? Vote!

Op-ed reference sources:

    1. Rick Newman, The Biden stock market is swamping Trump’s, Yahoo Finance, April 1, 2024
    1. John McCormick, McDaniel’s saga shows peril of election denialism, The Wall Street Journal, March 28, 2024
    1. (news release) U.S. national debt by president, Self Financial, Inc., 2024
    1. Abha Bhattarai, Biden’s economy vs. Trump’s, in 12 charts, Washington Post, Dec. 23, 2023
    1. Louis Jacobson, Fact-checking Joe Biden on debt accumulated under Donald Trump, PolitiFact, March 12, 2024
    1. Alan S. Blinder, Biden vs. Trump: A choice, not an echo, on economic policy, The Wall Street Journal, March 28, 2024
    1. Miranda Nazzaro, Rove: Trump Jan. 6 rioters pledge a `critical mistake,’ The Hill, April 4, 2024
    1. Bob Haegele, From LBJ to Biden; how the economy performed under each president, Yahoo Finance, March 17, 2024
    1. (news release) Elections 2024: Your guide to the 2024 elections, USA Today, April 13, 2024
    1. Katie Rogers, How `Infrastructure Week’ became a long-running joke, New York Times, May 22, 2019
    1. (news release) Fact Sheet: The bipartisan infrastructure deal, The White House, Nov. 6, 2021
    1. Mariah Timms, Trump claims 2024 will be rigged, putting Republican turnout at risk, The Wall Street Journal, March 20, 2024
    1. Matthew C. MacWilliams, Trump is an authoritarian. So are millions of Americans, Politico, Sept. 23, 2020
    1. Philip Bump, A lot of Americans embrace Trump’s authoritarianism, Washington Post, Nov. 10, 2023
    1. (news report) The Jan. 6 attack: The cases behind the biggest criminal investigation in U.S. history, NPR News, April 16, 2024
    1. Louis Jacobson, Biden, Trump and the economy: Who did better on inflation, jobs, gasoline prices and more, Poynter, March 5, 2024



Contact information: 319-290-9779; Steven.B.Corbin@gmail.com; Apr. 15-Oct. 31: 4116 Maryhill Drive, Cedar Falls, IA 50613-5781 and Nov. 1-Apr. 14: 55055 Shoal Creek, La Quinta, CA 92253-4728

Disclosures:

    1. Steve is a non-paid freelance opinion editor and guest columnist contributor (circa 2013) to 181 newspapers in 39 states who receives no remuneration, funding or endorsement from any for-profit business, not-for-profit organization, political action committee or political party
    1. Steve is Professor Emeritus of Marketing, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls (1975-2013); Marketing Department Head (17 years); State of Iowa Board of Regents Award for Faculty Excellence in Teaching, Research and Service (2003)
    1. Steve graduated from Nevada H.S. (Nevada, IA) in 1966; University of Northern Iowa (1970 bachelor’s degree); Colorado State University (1972 master’s degree); Virginia Tech (1975 doctoral degree)
    1. Steve was elected to public office three times and served on the Denver Community School District Board of Education (Denver, IA) for 11 years, serves on the Advisory Board of Discerning Wealth Ameriprise Financial Services (Cedar Falls, IA) and is a member of the Cedar Falls Lions Club, Lions Clubs of Iowa and Lions Clubs International
    1. Steve is married to Doris J. Kelley (Iowa House of Representatives, 2007-2011; Chair/Vice-Chair - Iowa Board of Parole, 2011-2014; Chair, Iowa’s 19th Amendment Centennial Commemoration, 2017-2021)
    1. Steve has three sons, three daughters-in-laws and three grandchildren

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