In the 2016 election, the traditional issues have taken a backseat to all of the noise and the commotion going on in the candidates personal lives. The “Big E’s” – Education, Economy, Environment and Equality – are the issues most people are still looking to understand before election day. As you would expect, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, have substantially different views.

Education

Hillary Clinton

• wants to make sure everyone has access to “world class” education.
• wants to correct standardized tests so they are fewer, fairer and produce better results.
• wants to “make college affordable” and create “debt free tuition if you go to a public college or university.”   
• wants to create higher teacher salaries.
• wants to “teach discipline, self-control, patience and punctuality in schools.”

Donald Trump

• is against Common Core.
• says, “I’m a tremendous believer in education, but education has to be at a local level. We cannot have the bureaucrats in Washington telling you how to manage your child’s education.”
• wants to make a plan to decrease student loan and debt from colleges or universities.
• does not believe in government profits from college students. “It’s the only thing the government makes money on — college students.”

Economy

Hillary Clinton

• says, “Inequality is too high, wages are too low and it is too hard to get ahead.” She has a plan to change the minimum wage to $15 an hour.
• wants to raise taxes on the wealthy people in America to get the country out of debt. “raise tax by four percent on incomes above five million a year, and create a 30 percent minimum for people earning one million a year.”

Donald Trump

• has many ideas of how to get America out of debt. He wants to “place tariffs on products that come from China and Mexico.”
• wants to keep the minimum wage, not raise it like Hillary wants to.
• wants to put a 14.25 percent “one-time tax” on those making over ten million a year for five consecutive years.
• wants to get “wall street pros” to run the economy because they have more experience than politicians in DC.

Environment

Hillary Clinton

• wants to generate enough renewable energy to “power every home in America and have .5  million solar panels” by the end of her first term.
• wants to cut energy waste (she does not have a set plan to do so).
• is making it a priority to reduce American oil consumption by one third.
• wants to enforce the “Clean Power Plan” which was created by Barack Obama in 2015. The Clean Power Plan is a policy aimed at combating anthropogenic climate change (global warming).
• wants to revitalize coal communities.

Donald Trump

• believes that “global warming was created by the Chinese to make United States manufacturing non-competitive.”
• wants to cut funding to Environmental Protection Agency.
• is a supporter of fossil fuel extraction and he is not a fan of wind power.

Equality

Hillary Clinton

• is fighting for federal equality for LGBT Americans.
• is fighting for an AID and HIV free generation. “We do have the tools to end this epidemic once and for all, but we need to rededicate ourselves to fighting HIV and AIDS and leaving no one behind.”
• wants to protect rights of the transgender Americans.
• will work to fix the pay gap.
• is a supporter of paid leave
• stands with Planned Parenthood and is working to protect women’s health and reproductive rights.

Donald Trump

• is opposed to marriage equality.
• will not enforce federal civil rights laws that ensure transgender Americans are treated equally under the law.
• is also a supporter of paid leave.
• does not have a specific position on wage gap but has said, “you’re gonna make the same if you do as good a job.”

For more information on the Big E’s and other issues, visit candidate websites at http://www.hillaryclinton.com and https://www.donaldjtrump.com.