2020 Democratic Candidates: Plans and Views on Issues
When there are 20+ candidates under the same political party who are running for president, it is extremely difficult to know which one to choose. Here are some of the plans each one proposes for their presidency and their views on other issues that were not covered in their plans. These are merely summaries, however these plans are covered in great detail on their respective websites.
Michael Bennet:
Plans:
Medicare X—This would be a public option bill allowing all Americans to buy public health insurance plans through Medicare.
America’s Climate Change Plan—Assert America’s leadership in climate change, conserve 30% of lands and oceans in America by 2030, and have net-zero emissions by 2050.
Fix Our Broken Politics—Overturn Citizens United, ban Congressmen from becoming lobbyists, take on corruption in Washington D.C., strengthen democracy, and protect election integrity.
Reward Hard Work—Invest $500 billion in high-quality training and apprenticeships for American workers, improve economic security for the middle-class, and empower workers.
Secure Our Elections and Defend Democracy—Raise standards and increase resources to protect voters in America through new voting machines, stronger cybersecurity, and improved election procedure.
Views on Issues
Immigration—Bennet is against family separation at the border and believes in creating a citizenship path for DREAMers.
Abortion—Bennet believes that America should continue funding Planned Parenthood and other clinics like it. He also believes that there should be no restrictions on accessing safe, legal abortions.
LGBTQ+ Rights—Bennet intends to reverse the trans military band and he plans to “protect all Americans from discrimination, whether based on race, gender, sexual orientation, or disability.”
Gun Control—Bennet has a bit of a mixed record when it comes to gun control but plans to enact common-sense reforms, including but not limited to universal background checks.
Joe Biden:
Plans:
Strengthening America’s Commitment to Justice—Reduce mass-incarceration, take out racial, gender, and income-based disparities, focus more on redemption and rehabilitation, and reduce violence in communities across America.
Protect & Build on the Affordable Care Act—Build on the Affordable Care Act by giving people more choices, reduce healthcare costs, and make the healthcare system less complex.
Older Americans—Protect and strengthen Social Security, help middle-class families with savings, and affordable support and health care.
Rural America—Build a pathway to middle class for rural Americans, help rural communities invest in their assets, and give young people in rural America options to live, work, and raise kids.
Clean Energy Revolution and Environmental Justice—100% clean energy economy and net-zero emissions by 2050, invest in environmental justice, and rally with the rest of the world to fight the climate change threat.
Educators, Students, and Our Future—Increase pay for educators, invest in school resources that help students grow to be physically and mentally healthy adults, and provide paths to a successful career for every middle and high school student.
Views on Issues
Immigration—Biden plans to reunite families, bring asylum seekers into the country, and make it easier for DREAMers to achieve citizenship. He also believes that diversity makes America strong.
Abortion—Earlier during his campaign, Biden supported the Hyde amendment which only allows federal funding for abortion in cases of incest, rape, or at when birth risks the mother’s life but he has since changed his stance on this amendment. He is against abortion but believes it should be legal.
LGBTQ+ Rights—Biden says that he would make the Equality Act one of his top legislative priorities.
Gun Control—”I know how to beat the NRA because I’ve done it before - twice. I shepherded through the passage of the Brady background check bill in 1993, and bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in 1994. As president, I will defeat the NRA again.”
Cory Booker:
Plans:
Animal Welfare—Pass laws in an effort to end animal cruelty and make it a federal crime.
Criminal Justice—End mass incarceration, fix the system, end racial and religious profiling, and pursue restorative justice.
Democracy and Voting Rights—End attempts to limit ballot access, end voter suppression, take money out of politics, and set up automatic voter registration.
Equality for LGBTQ+ People—Pass the Equality Act, end the trans military ban, ensure the full protection of federal civil rights in both law and government for all LGBTQ+ people, rescind rules from the Trump Administration allowing LGBTQ+ to be denied healthcare due to medical professionals’ personal beliefs.
Equality for People with Disabilities—Fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, phase out subminimum wage, and ensure accessibility, equality, and opportunity for everyone with disabilities.
Gun Violence—Universal background checks, ban assault weapons, close loopholes like the Charleston loophole or the boyfriend loophole, fund gun violence research and violence intervention programs.
Immigration—End family separation, fix the process for asylum, expand DREAMer protection, create a pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants.
Reproductive Rights—Nominate judges dedicated to upholding these rights, protect Roe v. Wade, fix sex education with evidence-based guidelines instead of abstinence-only programs, repeal the Hyde amendment.
College and Workforce Training—Strengthen and invest in Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), make college debt-free, make community college free, and make it easier for students to file FAFSA
Economic Security and Opportunity—Make it easier to join a union, raise minimum wage $15/hr, pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, pass the Worker Dividend Act, and support trade deals that help working families
Healthcare—Medicare for all, universal paid family and medical leave, treat addiction like a disease and provide resources needed to heal communities, lower the price of prescription drugs, take patents away from drug companies that sell the same medication in other countries, and invest in ending the maternal mortality epidemic.
Housing—Renter’s Credit, expand affordable housing and invest in it, eliminate homelessness, and end discrimination in the housing market.
Public Education—Guarantee universal early childhood education, give extra resources for underperforming school districts, pay teachers more, and fund special education fully.
Climate Change and Environmental Justice—Rejoin the Paris Climate Accords, implement the Green New Deal, safeguard the basic human right to safe drinking water, and raise the standards for granting or renewing Clean Air and Water Act Permits.
National Security—Support men and women in uniform, empower diplomacy, and work with allies.
Veterans—Ensure healthcare and mental health services for vets, pass the Veteran Education and Transfer Extension Act, ensure that the Veterans Health Administration provides gender-inclusive and acccessible services.
Steve Bullock:
Plans:
One Big Idea to Fix Our Democracy—Crack down on dark money, Overturn Citizens United, and ban SuperPACs.
Healthcare is a Right—Increase access to quality healthcare, lower costs for care, improve healthcare in rural communities, make medicare stronger, and invest in solutions for opiods.
Tackling the Climate Crisis—Rejoin the Paris Climate Accords, require federal agencies to develop plans to reduce their carbon emissions each year, expand clean energy, recruit top climate scientists to work in federal agencies, increase research investments, and work with farmers and ranchers to develop proper biofuels.
Public Education: One of Our Great Equalizers—Increase eligibility for Pell Grants, make community and tribal colleges tuition free, lower interest rates on student loans, invest in HBCUs, and ensure that the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights protects the rights of all students.
A Fair Shot at a Better Life—Raise minimum wage to $15/hr, create a Working Families Tax Credit, enforce antitrust laws, strengthen Social Security, and lead a national infrastructure renewal.
A Safe and Secure America—Reduce nuclear risks, re-engage in the Iran Nuclear Deal, reestablish respectful relationships with NATO allies, and increase support for initiatives that foster democracy, empower women, and fight discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender, and race.
Reforming America’s Immigration System—End family separation, allow refugee applicants to apply for asylum in their own countries, provide legal status to DREAMers, pass a Comprehensive Immigration Reform, and secure the border properly.
Standing With American Workers—End corruption, update the Employee Free Choice Act, ban employer use of social media or AIs to spy on employees, support paid family and medical leave, expand apprenticeships, and ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Making Housing Affordable—Increase funds for the Housing Trust Fund and invest in energy efficient buildings.
Connecting America—Invest in highways and transits, help local water systems keep water clean, update the national electric grid, and incentivize creation of bike paths.
Views on Issues
Abortion—Bullock is pro-choice.
Gun Control—Bullock believes in Universal background checks, “red flag” laws, a ban on high-capacity magazines and semi-automatic weapons, and that gun violence should be seen as a public health issue.
Pete Buttigieg:
Plans:
Healing and Belonging in America: A Plan to Improve Mental Health Care and Combat Addiction—Expand the mental health and addiction workforce and their overall clinical and cultural competency, invest in drug treatment research, integrate addiction and mental health care with physical health care, address the mental illness and addiction stigma, and launch a national campaign to end social isolation and loneliness.
Commitment to America’s Heartland: Unleashing the Potential of Rural America—Support the Rural Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge, double fund small-scale manufacturing partnerships, increase Internships for All, pay farmers for conservation, and support biofuels.
Securing a Healthy Future for Rural America—Medicare For All Who Want It, reduce care shortages in rural areas, make it easier for rural patients to be treated at or near the homes, and address the economic and social factors that lead to health inequity.
An Action Plan to Combat the National Threat Posed by Hate and the Gun Lobby—Empower law enforcement, pursue white nationalists, address domestic terrorism and gender-based violence, work together with online platforms and social media to target the spread of hateful ideology, name/shame online platforms who refuse to take steps against hate groups, universal background checks, close loopholes, fund gun violence research, and ban high-capacity magazines and assault weapons.
A New Rising Tide: Empowering Workers in a Changing Economy—Gender pay transparency, support unions, expand federal protections to cover domestic and farm workers, raise the minimum wage to $15/hr, keep employers from permanently replacing workers who go on strike, and create equitable, fair, safe, and accessible workplaces free of discrimination and harrassment.
The Douglass Plan: A Comprehensive Investment in the Empowerment of Black America—Reform criminal justice and health systems and work on fulfilling broken promises of true equity.
A New Call to Service—Help young adults meaningfully engage in communities around the world and their own communities. This service plan would focus on intergenerational mentorship, climate, addiction, substance abuse, and mental health.
Views on Issues
Healthcare—Buttigieg believes in the idea of Medicare for all the people who want it, but not necessarily Medicare for All.
Immigration—Buttigieg supports DACA and he is opposed to Trump’s wall at the border, however he believes in increasing border security.
Climate Change—Buttigieg believes that climate change is a national security threat. He supports the Green New Deal and wants to rejoin the Paris Climate Accords.
Abortion—Buttigieg is pro-choice.
LGBTQ+ Rights—Buttigieg supports the Federal Equality Act and the right for trans prisoners to receive gender reassignment surgery.
Julián Castro:
Plans:
Protecting Animals and Wildlife (PAW) Plan—Make animal cruelty a federal crime, make it illegal to test cosmetics on animals, strengthen the Endangered Species Act, establish a $2 bbillion National Wildlife Recovery FUnd, and protect more than 30% of America’s lands and oceans by 2030.
People First Economic Plan for Working Families—Tax inherited wealth, repeal the Trump Tax Bill, raise the minimum wage to $15/hr, and ensure gender pay equity.
People First Plan to Disarm Hate—Combat hate and domestic terrorism, universal background checks on guns, close NRA loopholes, renew a permanent assault weapons ban, requier a license for firearm puchase, invest in gun violence research, and invest in mental health care for victims of gun violence.
People First Indigenous Communities Policy—Strengthen tribal sovereignty, justice for indigenous women, and eliminate barriers preventing democratic participation.
People First Policing Plan—End over-aggressive policing, combat racially discriminating policing, and mend the relationship between law enforcement and community members.
People First Immigration—Reform the current system of immigration, create a more humane policy on the border, and establish a 21st Century version of the “Marshall Plan” for Central America.
People First Education—Pre-K for every child, reimagine high school, affordable pathways to success after high school, and elevate the profession of teaching.
People First Housing—Create a Renters’ Tax Credit, increase amount of affordable housing, provide fair housing for all Americans, and hold Wall Street accountable.
People First Plan to Eliminate Lead Exposure—Increase resources to remediate hazards from lead, make sure we can respond to future lead emergencies, and provide more resources for families already impacted by lead poisoning.
Views on Issues
Healthcare—Castro believes in Medicare for All
Climate Change—Castro supports the Green New Deal and plans to rejoin the Paris Climate Accords.
Abortion—Castro is pro-choice and believes that “abortion should be protected, including for trans people and low-income Americans.”
LGBTQ+ Rights—Castro supports marriage equality and believes that trans people should be allowed to serve in the army.
Bill De Blasio:
Views on Issues
Health Care—De Blasio believes in Universal Health Care through Medicare for All.
Immigration—De Blasio gave New York City ID cards to residents in NYC who were undocumented. He also managed to successfully sue the Trump Administration after they had threatened to cut federal funding to New York unless New York cooperated with federal immigration authorities.He only turns undocumented immigrants to ICE when they’ve been accused of violent crimes.
Climate Change—De Blasio supports the Green New Deal.
Abortion—De Blasio is pro-choice.
LGBTQ+ Rights—De Blasio increased access to healthcare for LGBTQ+ New Yorkers. He also made it easier for trans and nonbinary people to amend their birth certificates and identify as neither male nore female on official documents.
Gun Control—NYC gun laws limit gun licenses to former law enforcement officials, professional bodyguards, and those who can establish a strong need for self-defense. New York has some of the most restrictive gun laws in the country.
John Delaney:
Plans:
$2 Trillion Infrastructure Plan—Create an Infrastructure Bank, a Highway Trust Fund, a Climate Infrastructure Fund, a Water Infrastructure Matching Fund, a School Infrastructure Matching Fund, a Deferred Maintenance Matching Fund, Areas Left Behind Matching Fund, and a Rural Broadband Matching Fund.
A National AI Strategy—Artificial intelligence is the future of work. It can help with national security and privacy.
BetterCre: Universal Health Care—Create a new public health care plan for everyone under 65 but preserve traditional Medicare. Over 65, people get Medicare. Guarantee of universal coverage and keeping private insurance options open.
Cities Fair Deal—Promote innovation, invest in small, minority-owned businesses, build infrastructure, improve public education, reform the criminal justice system, and increase access to affordable housing.
Climate Change—Carbon Fee and Dividend, Climate Corps, and Carbon Throughway.
Combating the Opioid Epidemic—Work on prevention and treatment.
Commitment to Black America—Fix investment disparity, education disparity, healthcare disparity, and criminal justice disparity.
Criminal Justice Reform—Reform sentencing and prisons, reform the police, uphold civil rights, and decriminalize marijuana.
Department of Cybersecurity—Create a Department of Cybersecurity that is equipped to combat cyber attacks.
Economic Opportunity—Invest in communities, address Artificial intelligence, guarantee free Pre-K through 14 education, and double the Earned Income Tax Credit.
Education—Pre-K through 14 education including two years of community college or technical training.
Encouraging Entrepreneurship—Engage entrepreneurs nationwide, make sure government regulations do not stifle entrepreneurship, and reform the banking industry to encourage small businesses.
Fixing Our Broken Politics—End gerrymandering, make states establish independent commissions, Make Election Day a federal holiday, and overturn Citizens United.
Gun Safety—Universal Background Checks, Assault Weapons Ban Act, and update the Violence Against Women Act.
Heartland Fair Deal—Student loan forgiveness, ensure rural communities have access to high quality, affordable substance us disorder treatments, strengthen access to maternity and prenatal care in rural communities, and invest in research that helps agriculture with climate change.
Immigration—Clear path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and DREAMers, invest in effective border security, reform visa program for guests, and increase refugee cap.
LGBTQ+ Equality—Prohibit discrimination in employment, housing, credit, and public accomodations, allow the Department of Justice to challenge discriminatory actions, ensure that Title IX protects LGBTQ+ students through the Student Non-Discrimination Act, federal ban on conversion therapy, and support the Voting Rights Advancement Act.
Living Wage—Increase minimum wage, paid family leave, and implement Workers’ Tax Credit.
Mental Health—Ensure that individuals who need mental and behavioral health services have the same access and coverage as people who need physical health services, and expand access to mental health resources for at-risk areas.
National Service—Community Service, Infrastructure Apprenticeships, and Climate Corps.
Negative Emissions Technologies—Stop paying fossil fuel subsidies and instead promote NET.
Prescription Drugs—Let the government negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies and address the difference in costs between the US and other first world countries.
Student Loan Debt & College Affordability—Lower the cost of higher education and provide two years of post-secondary education to all students.
Women’s Rights—Make women’s rights a part of global relations, improve women’s rights in the workplace, and better healthcare for women, including reproductive rights.
Tulsi Gabbard:
Plans:
A Foreign Policy of Prosperity Through Peace—Gabbard plans to stop wasting resources and lives on regime change wars and instead work on peace and prosperity for everyone.
Enact Criminal Justice Reform—End the failed war on drugs, legalize marijuana, end cash bail, ban private prisons, and bring about real criminal justice reform.
Equality For All—Extend civil rights protections to the LGBTQ+ community, ensure equal treatment for all Americans under the laws regardless of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or national origin.
Healthcare For All—People should not have to choose between necessities and life-saving medication. Most first world countries have universal health care and some type of private insurance for those who want to pay extra for more.
Hold Wall Street Accountable—Big banks were unaffected by the 2008 Recession and they continue to grow. They need to be broken up and Glass-Steagall should be reinstated.
Honoring & Empowering Our Veterans—Most vets come back highly trained, highly equipped, leaders, and more assets, but they have a hard time finding jobs.
Invest in Public Education & Our Teachers—Invest in future generations and provide more resources. Guarantee college for all as many people want the education but cannot afford it.
Protect Our Planet with Clean Energy & Create Jobs—End fossil fuel and agribusiness corporation subsidies, create more renewable jobs, and end offshore drilling. Invest in 100% renewable and safe energy sources.
Protecting Democracy—Securing America’s Elections Act: make sure every state uses paper ballots or voter-verified paper backups to have an auditable paper trail.
Racial Justice—Condemn hatred, bigotry, and violence in all contexts.
Reform Our Broken Immigration System—Clear, enforceable, accessible, and humane pathway to citizenship, pass DACA, and fund and equip agencies to process asylum and protect migrants.
Second Amendment Rights & Gun Safety—Strengthen the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, universal background checks, ban bump stocks and assault weapons, and close loopholes.
Stand Up for Women’s Rights—Guarantee equal pay for equal work, let women keep the right to choose, and build a society where everyone is treated equal.
Strengthen Social Security—Protect Medicare and Social Security.
Kristen Gillibrand:
Plans:
Fighting for Women and Families—Protect women’s rights, help women access healthcare they need, national paid family leave, stop sexual assault and harassment, and let women have the right to choose what to do with their bodies.
Making the Economy Work for All of Us—Guarantee a Family Bill of Rights, create sustainable jobs, tackle economic inequality and raise pay, make college affordable, reward public service, and make healthcare affordable.
Getting Corruption and Greed Out of Government—Take dark money out of politics, make the government more transparent, and make sure everyone, regardless of stature, follows the same rules.
Protecting Our Planet—Pass the Green New Deal, put a price on carbon, phase out fossil fuels, and guarantee clean water and air to everyone as a right.
Restoring Our Values—Universal healthcare, stop family separation at the border, fix the immigration system, protect voting rights, fight for LGBTQ+ equality, fix the criminal justice system, and address institutional racism.
Keeping America Safe—Restore leadership through strength and compassion instead of fear and hate, end the gun violence epidemic, stronger foreign policy without tons of wars, protect the country with cybersecurity, and protect everyone from sexual violence.
Kamala Harris:
Plans:
Quality, Affordable Healthcare for All—Expand Obamacare into Medicare for All, reduce prescription drug prices, and keep options for both public and private Medicare plans.
Economic Justice—Lower the cost of living, empower unions, raise the minimum wage to $15/hr, and combat sexism, racism, and corporate favoritism in the economy.
Raising Teacher Pay—Close the teacher pay gap with the largest federal investment in teacher pay in U.S. history. This would provide public school teachers and average of a $13,500 raise.
Combat the Climate Crisis—Implement the Green New Deal, rejoin the Paris Climate Accords, and make climate cooperation one of the key diplomatic priorities for the U.S.
Criminal Justice Reform—Legalize marijuana, end private prisons and mass incarceration, and make treatment and rehabilitation a priority for drug offenses.
Action on Gun Violence—“If Congress fails to send comprehensive gun safety legislation to Kamala’s desk within her first 100 days as president – including universal background checks, an assault weapons ban, and the repeal of the NRA’s corporate gun manufacturer immunity shield – she will take executive action to keep our kids and communities safe. She’ll mandate the most comprehensive federal background checks in history, revoke the licenses of gun manufacturers that break the law, close the “boyfriend loophole” to make it harder for domestic abusers to purchase guns, reverse President Trump’s dangerous decision to allow fugitives from justice to purchase guns, and ban the importation of AR-15 style assault weapons. [...] In addition to enacting universal background checks, renewing the assault weapons ban, and repealing the gun manufacturer immunity, Kamala will fight to make gun trafficking a federal crime, ban high capacity magazines, and prohibit those convicted of a federal hate crime from buying guns.”
A Fair and Just Immigration System—Better pathway to citizenship, reinstate DACA, expand Temporary Protected Status, reverse the Muslim Ban, and refocus border security on illegal drugs, illegal weapons, and human trafficking.
LGBTQ+ Equality—Pass the Equality Act, place a third gender option on federal and official identification cards and documents, and prosecute hate crimes.
Government for the People—Protect elections from foreign adversaries and hackers, and fight voter suppression.
Debt-Free College and Student Debt—Make community college free and public universities debt-free.
Gender Equality—Protect Planned Parenthood and Roe v. Wade, EMPOWER Act, make human trafficking a felony offense, and end the fear and silence that surround workplace harassment.
Fighting for Racial Justice—Fix the education, healthcare, and pay gap.
Amy Klobuchar:
Plans:
Healthcare—Universal Healthcare with a public option to expand from Medicare and Medicaid, lift the ban that prevents Medicare from negotiating prescription drug prices, prioritize mental health, protect safe abortions, and allow the importation of safe drugs from other first world countries.
Shared Prosperity and Economic Justice—Improve child care, raise minimum wage, increase teacher pay, make community colleges tuition-free, end the family separations at the border, fix the DREAM Act, and make a better pathway for citizenship.
Climate—Bring back the clean power rules and gas mileage standards from the Obama Administration and implement the Green New Deal.
A Safer World—Invest in cybersecurity, modernize the military, universal background checks on guns, close loopholes in purchasing guns, and ban bump stocks, high capacity ammunition, and assault weapons.
A Strong Democracy—Restore the Voting Rights Act, overturn Citizens United, expand funding for public defenders, and improve election cybersecurity.
Wayne Messam:
Plans:
Student Debt—Provide relief for Americans struggling with student loans by cancelling the debts.
Jobs & Economy—Invest in training entrepreneurs and encourage young people to start their own businesses.
Gun Reform—More background checks and keep terrorists from ever gaining access to guns. His number one priority will be to prevent mass shootings.
Education—Raise teacher pay and make smart investments in education.
Healthcare—Reform the healthcare system by bringing costs and letting the government negotiate prescription drug prices.
Women’s Health—Women should be able to make their own decisions about their health.
Climate Change—Need a bold, direct, climate action plan like the Green New Deal and reduce carbon emissions within 10 years.
Criminal Justice—Legalize marijuana while still enforcing DUI laws. After legalization, expunge records for anyone who was previously arrested for selling marijuana.
Immigration—Reform the immigration system and provide a pathway for Dreamers to achieve citizenship.
Voting Rights—Protect people’s right to vote and end voter suppression and no more poll taxes.
Foreign Policy—Respect all people and faiths and restore American global leadership.
Democracy Reform—Overturn Citizen United, take the dark money out of the political system, and abolish the electoral college.
Beto O’Rourke:
Plans:
Climate—Make the largest-ever climate change investment in infrastructure, innovation, and communities while bringing carbon emissions to net-zero by 2050.
Criminal Justice—Legalize marijuana and expunge arrest records, eliminate private and for-profit prisons, reform criminal justice, hold police accountable for civil rights violations, fund public defenders more, and create a path for formerly incarcerated people to re-enter our communities.
Democracy—Ban voter suppression and gerrymandering, limit the influence of money in politics, and enhance election security.
Economy—Raise the minimum wage, give unions more power, and create tax code breaks for the middle class.
Education—Preschool for all, fund public schools to make them high-quality, increase teacher pay, close the achievement gap, and make sure everyone can pursue a higher education without sinking in debt.
Gun Safety—Universal background checks, close loopholes in gun ownership, keep weapons of war on the battlefield, pass red flag laws, and increase trauma support for victims of gun violence.
Hate Crimes—Mobilize the federal government to combat domestic terrorism and white supremacy.
Healthcare—Universal healthcare, including reproductive and mental healthcare, as it is a right and not a privilege.
Immigration—End child detention and reunite families, expand the naturalization process, and restore regional security.
LGBTQ+—End the assault on LGBTQ+ rights, protect the safety of trans women of color, enact the Equality Act, give LGBTQ+ Americans full equality and protection under federal law.
National Security—Restore relationships with allies and invest in the peace and stability of Central America.
Veteran—Modernize the VA to improve the mental and physical healthcare for veterans and ensure that all vets and their families, regardless of identity and/or sexual orientation, are treated with dignity and respect.
Tim Ryan:
Plans:
Building a New Industrial Policy—Increase union membership, help “left-behind” workers, and strengthen American Manufacturing.
Implementing Trauma-Informed and Social & Emotional Learning Curricula—Invest more in social and emotional learning so that everyone can have the opportunity to thrive.
Moving Our Economy Forward—Raise the minimum wage and improve working conditions.
Protecting Our Environment—Rejoin the Paris Climate Accords and commit to a carbon-free future with clean energy.
Transforming Our Education System—Need highly-trained teachers, social-emotional learning programs, afterschool programs, mental health counselors, healthy lunches, pathways for family engagement, and up to date books, technology, and curriculums
Fixing a Broken Health Care System—Lower the price of healthcare and drug prices. Stop the descent of life expectancy.
Improving Out Agriculture and Food System—Supply more communities with fresh produce, eliminate food deserts, strengthen small and regional farms, and promote healthy eating.
Getting Our Veterans the Help They Need—Reform the VA, invest in modernizing and improving military health services and grow the VA’s Whole Health program for a more balanced treatment that focuses on the wellbeing and customized health plans for individual vets.
Views on Issues
Immigration—Ryan rupports a permanent solution for recipients of DACA.
Abortion—Ryan was previously pro-life but he has since changed his position.
LGBTQ+ Rights—Ryan was an original cosponsor of the Equality Act and supports the Safe Schools Improvement Act.
Gun Control—Ryan used to have an A rating with the NRA, however he supports background checks on secondary, peer-to-peer firearm sales and raising the minimum age to purchase guns. He redirects campaign donations from the NRA to gun control groups.
Bernie Sanders:
Plans:
Healthcare for All—Guarantee Medicare-for-All, allow Medicare to negotiate with drug companies to lower the price of prescription drugs, allow patients, pharmacists, and wholesalers to buy low-cost prescription drugs from other industrialized countries, and cut the prices of prescription drugs and pin the prices to the average drug price in the UK, Canada, France, Germany, and Japan.
College for All and Cancel All Student Debt—Provide $48 billion a year to eliminate tuition and fees and cancel the $1.6 trillion in student debt, require that states cover the full cost of obtaining a degree for students with a low-income, and give $1.3 billion to HBSCUs.
Fight for Working Families—Raise the minimum wage to at least $15/hr, enact a program for universal childcare and pre-k, and guarantee paid family, medical, and sick leave and paid vacation.
Jobs for All—Employ millions of people to build a 100% sustainable energy system and to rebuild crumbling infrastructure, employ hundreds of thousands of people to provide care for young children, and employ more people to provide support services for seniors.
The Green New Deal—Create 20 million jobs, transform the energy system to 100% renewable energy and end the fossil fuel industry greed and hold them accountable.
Right to a Secure Retirement—Guarantee comprehensive healthcare for seniors, expand social security, guarantee home and community based long-term care services, protect pensions, expand the Older Americans Act, and protect the most vulnerable seniors.
Meet Our Commitment to Our Veterans—Fully fund and expand the VA, compensate vets faster and improve how compensation claims are processed, expand mental health services for veterans, make comprehensive dental care available to all vets, and expand the VA’s Caregivers Program.
Enact a Responsible, Comprehensive Foreign Policy—Focus on democracy, human rights, diplomacy and peace, and economic fairness, end interventions in places like Iraq and Syria, rejoin the nuclear agreement with Iran, and work with other pro-democracy forces to build societies that work for and protect everyone.
Fight for Women’s Rights—Equal pay for equal work, fund Planned Parenthood and Title X, oppose efforts to undermine Roe v. Wade, reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, pass the Equal Rights Amendment, fight to end sexual harassment in workplaces and the military, and protect women from harassment, discrimination, and violence in educational institutions by protecting and enforcing Title IX.
Fight for Disability Rights—Expand Social Security Disability Insurance program, increase educational opportunities for people with disabilities, guarantee jobs for people with disabilities that pay living wages, and ensure no one with a disability experiences discrimination or barriers in their lives.
Fight for LGBTQ+ Equality—Pass the Equality Act, ensure LGBTQ+ people have comprehensive health insurance without receiving discrimination from providers, work on reducing suicies and bullyying, institute training programs for police on fairer interactions with trans people, and oppose legislation meant to “protect” religious liberty at the expense of the others’ rights.
Empower the People of Puerto Rico—Repair damage from Hurricanes Irma and Maria, restore self-rule in Puerto Rico, and ensure a strong, social, safety net for Puerto Ricans and ensure access to healthcare, nutrition assistance, veterans benefits, and quality public schools.
Demand that the Wealthy, Large Corporations and Wall Street Pay Their Fair Share in Taxes—Establish a progressive estate tax on billionaire and multi-millionaire inheritances, end special tax breaks on the top 1%, increase the marginal tax rate on incomes above $10 million, and close loopholes in taxes that benefit large and wealthy corporations.
Gun Safety—Take on the NRA, end loopholes, universal background checks, ban assault weapons, and prohibit high-capacity ammunition magazines.
Racial Justice—Restore the Voting Rights Act, secure automatic voter registration for every American above 18, end voter suppression and gerrymandering, abolish the death penalty, and legalize marijuana.
Immigration Reform—Reform paths to citizenship, expand DACA and DAPA, reform ICE, end family separation and child detention centers, and dismantle cruel and inhumane deportation programs.
Empower Tribal Nations—Protect and honor Native American treaties and sovereign rights, use the Green New Deal to undo environmental damage in Native American country, and invest in providing Native communities with quality schools, healthcare, and job opportunities.
Real Wall Street Reform—Break up banks that are too big, reinstate the Glass-Steagall Act, cap ATM fees and credit card interest rates, and reform credit rating agencies.
Fight for Fair Trade and Workers—Expand “Buy America” and “buy Local,” make sure trade policies support communities of color, and eliminate rules that increase the cost of medicines.
Reinvest in Public Education and Teachers—Oppose DeVos’ idea of privatizing schools, guarantee childcare and universal pre-k for every child, increase pay for public school teachers, and protect the tenure system for public school teachers.
Get Big Money Out of Politics and Restore Democracy—Restore the Voting Rights Act, overturn Citizens United, abolish voter ID laws, and make Election Day a national holiday.
Fair Banking for All—Cap interest rates at 15% and allow post offices to offer basic and affordable banking systems.
Revitalizing Rural America—Limit the control of corporations over agriculture, protect the environment for all rural residents, prepare the next generation to rebuild rather than to abandon rural America.
The Workplace Democracy Plan—Eliminate the “right to work for less,” give federal workers the right to go on strike, ban the permanent replacement of workers on strike, and guarantee the right to unionize for everyone.
Joe Sestak:
Plans:
Government & Electoral Reform—End gerrymandering, increase transparency for PACs, overturn Citizens United, make election day a national holiday, fight voter suppression, institute automatic voter registration, increase voting rights protections, restore voting rights to previously incarcerated people, and increase funding for investigating foreign interference in our elections.
LGBTQ+ Rights—Pass the Equality Act, oppose “religious liberty” legislation that is discriminatory, appoint LGBTQ+ people to important positions, fight violence against LGBTQ+ people, sign the Global Respect Act, and allow the US government to barr people from entering the country if they are known to have violated human rights against LGBTQ+ people.
Social and Racial Justice—Oppose white supremacy and white nationalism, confront sexism, racism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, classism, ageism, and bigotry, fight for equal rights, pass immigration reform, raise the minimum wage, decriminalize marijuana, institute paid family and medical leave, provide clean drinking water for everyone, and rejoin the Paris Climate Accords.
Jobs & Economic Protection—Rebuild infrastructure, support small businesses, develop sustainable industries for fighting climate change, and establish fair trade deals with foreign countries.
Healthcare—Restore the ACA, establish comprehensive care nationwide, let Medicare bargain for better drug prices, allow importation of drugs from Canada, and fix our Mental Health Parity Act.
Climate Change & Environmental Protection—Stop subsidizing fossil fuel industries, end offshore drilling, restore national monuments, and fight deforestation, habitat destruction, and illegal poaching of endangered species.
Education and Training—Expand childhood education, support Common Core, create a healthy, safe environments for all children, support transitioning school days to 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., pay teachers as professionals, reduce costs of higher education, and establish a national college credit transfer system.
Seniors—Protect Medicare and Social Security, end elder abuse, fight diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and cancer, and create more opportunities for senior advancement.
Defense & Foreign Policy—Rejoin the Iran nuclear deal, support all military service members, rejoin the Paris Climate Accords, and establish better economic ties with countries worldwide.
Women’s Rights—Ensure reproductive rights and health services, achieve “Equal pay for equal work,” fight domestic abuse, human trafficking, and sexual violence, and support women in the military and women starting small businesses.
Veterans—Help vets find quality jobs once re-entering civilian life, expand benefits and protections for surviving spouses, address addiction and suicide among veterans, and hold VA accountable for meeting responsibilities to veterans.
Immigration—Secure borders with smart technology, increase guest worker visas and programs, create naturalization paths for undocumented immigrants, end the separation of children, and grant all immigrants and asylum-seekers the right to an attorney.
Violence Prevention—Expand programs that protect and support domestic violence survivors, fight human trafficking and sex trafficking, expand laws aimed at preventing elder abuse and abuse of the disabled, pass common sense gun laws, restore the assault weapons ban, and fix the criminal background check system.
Corporate Abuse of Power—End corporate lobbying, overturn Citizens United, reinstate Net Neutrality, and establish that personal data belongs to the person not corporations and governments.
Agriculture and Food—Reinstate mandatory country-of-origin labeling for beef and pork, create a National Land Bank as part of a 21st Century Sustainable Homestead Act, and fund research into climate stabilizing agriculture.
Tom Steyer:
Plans:
Structural Reform—Repeal Citizens United, limit Congressional Terms, initiate a Vote-At-Home Systems, and support important election reform legislation.
5 Rights—The right to an equal vote, the right to clean air and clean water, the right to learn, the right to a living wage, and the right to health.
Climate Justice—Justice-based pollution reduction, Instill a community-led civilian Climate Corps, and create a climate-smart infrastructure.
Views on Issues
Immigration—Steyer supports a path to citizenship and believes in allowing non-English languages in public schools.
Abortion—Steyer is pro-choice.
LGBTQ+ Rights—Steyer advocates for LGBTQ+ equality.
Gun Control—Steyer is pushing for gun reform.
Elizabeth Warren:
Plans:
End Washington Corruption—End lobbying, close loopholes, permanently ban Senators and Congressmen from trading stocks in office and from becoming lobbyists once their terms are over, make Supreme Court justices follow an ethics code, and force every candidate for federal office to put their tax returns online.
Rebuild the Middle Class—Workers should elect 40% of the company’s board members, invest in rural neglect, economic opportunity, and racial discrimination, and ultra-millionaire tax for universal childcare, student loan debt relief, Green New Deal, and Medicare for All.
Strengthen Our Democracy—Overturn Citizens United, Eliminate voter suppression, and hold foreign governments accountable if they sow division, attack democracy, and interfere in elections.
Equal Justice Under Law—End racial disparities in our justice system, ban private prisons, decriminalize marijuana, prosecute giant corporations and leaders, and embrace community policing and demilitarize local police forces.
A Foreign Policy for All—Oppose NAFTA 2.0, remain vigilant about terrorism, leverage tools of national power, and bring home troops.
Views on Issues
Immigration—Warren plans to replace ICE, increase support for DACA, decriminalize unauthorized border crossings, and treat immigration as a civil issue rather than a ciminal issue.
Abortion—Warren is pro-choice.
LGBTQ+ Rights—Warren supports LGBTQ+ rights and equality.
Gun Control—Warren plans to implement a ban on assault weapons and invest in more gun violence research.
Marianne Williamson:
Plans:
Plan for US Department of Peace—Teach violence prevention and conflict resolution in schools, reform the criminal justice system, build peace-making efforts, provide peace-building support to assist government and communities, and create and administer a US Peace Academy.
The Reparations Plan—Create a Reparations Council made of black leaders to determine how to disperse money.
Plan for US Department of Children and Youth—Develop a public education system that takes a whole-student approach that focuses on academic, social, and emotional learning practices, implement a healthcare system for children, create environments for students to succeed, invest in anti-bullying programs, and lower the cost of higher education.
Child Advocacy—Maternal and Paternal leave, affordable childcare, better nutrition in food served at public schools, anti-trauma services for at-risk youth, mental health services, and conflict resolution, restorative justice, and peace-creation training.
Climate Crisis—Invest more in clean, green energy, reduce carbon emissions to net-zero by 2050, and work with universities, community colleges, and trade schools to develop educational programs to help bring in people for the new industries and jobs.
Crime Prevention—Trauma-informed child- and family-service systems, teaching life skills and mentoring, quality after-school and out-of-school programming, and parenting skills and family support services.
Criminal Justice—Early intervention and addressing poverty, restorative justice, trauma-informed justice and courts, and prisoner rehabilitation and re-entry support.
Democracy at Risk—End gerrymandering, end voting restrictions, lower voting age to 16 and institute automatic voter registration at the age of 16, ensure voting systems are secure from internal and external threats, make election day a national holiday, and guarantee enough time and easy access to polling places.
Disability Justice—Disability Integration Act, long term care, let disabled people work and earn health, marriage equality, prevent abuse of people with disabilities, and eliminate disability-based disenfranchisement.
Education—Universal pre-k, increase funding and give healthier lunches and breakfasts, reduce the amount of high-stakes testing required, lower student/teacher ratios, free college tuition, and forgive student loans
Food—Support small, local family farms and ranches and regenerative, sustainable agricultural practices.
Gun Safety—Ban assault rifles, semi-automatic weapons, bump stocks, and high-capacity magazines, require universal background checks, implement child safety locks on guns, and let the CDC track and record gun ownership in America.
Healthcare—Focus on food and mental health more.
Immigration—Eliminate three and ten-year re-entry bans, support DACA, expand protections for LGBTQ+ immigrants and asylum seekers, and find a path to citizenship for law-abiding, productive immigrants in the US.
LGBTQ+ Rights—Back the Equality Act, support LGBTQ+ rights in housing, healthcare, and services, amend the Fair Housing Act, pass the Every Child Deserves a Family Act, lift the trans military ban, and ban conversion therapy.
Mass Incarceration—Free incarcerated people, re-examine the parole process, and pressure states to re-examine their sentencing processes.
National Security & Peace-Building—Transform the US from a war economy to a peace economy, increase the budget for peace-building agencies, decrease violence against women, and provde international humanitarian assistance.
National Service—Every American citizen between the ages of 18 and 26 can voluntarily perform a year of National Service in schools, hospitals, infrastructure, or working on sustainability, regenerative agricultural projects, military, Peace Corps, and more.
Native American Justice—Savannah Act, give native Americans more of their land back, protect the religious freedom of Native Americans, and give more attention to the epidemic of missing and murdered indigenous women.
Racial Reconciliation & Healing—Reparations and more understanding between races.
Reproductive Rights—Protect the right of every woman to make decisions about her reproductive choices and uphold Roe v. Wade.
Social Security—Protect Social Security and continue giving retiring people relief.
The Economy—Universal healthcare like Medicare-for-all, increase minimum wage to a living wage, treat student loans like normal debt, provide free higher education, restore Glass-Steagall, establish the Green New Deal, close loopholes that give big breaks to big businesses, and enforce anti-trust laws.
Veterans—Prevent suicide rates in veterans, improve services for women veterans, and prevent vets from becoming homeless.
Women’s Rights—Reauthorize Violence Against Women Act, increase rules, regulations, and oversight to prevent pregnancy-related discrimination, pass the Equal Rights Amendment, support the EMPOWER Act, and empower the Justice Department to prevent sexual harassment, discrimination, and rape more thoroughly.
Andrew Yang:
Plans:
Freedom Dividend—UBI: $1k a month for everyone over the age of 18 to help with bills, education, starting business, creativity, health, relocation for work, time spent with children, taking care of loved ones, and a real stake in the future
Economy/Jobs & Labor—Reduce student loans, give women the right to privacy/abortion and contraception, implement a carbon fee, reduce mass incarceration, paid family leave, fight for equal pay, legalize marijuana, and have NCAA pay athletes.
Civil Rights/Criminal Justice—Bring back Net Neutrality, work on LGBTQ+ Rights and equality, restore Voting Rights, Decriminalize Opiods, Automatic Voter Registration, make DC a State, end gerrymandering, hold pharmaceutical companies accountable, make Election Day a holiday, increase gun safety, pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, support the DREAM Act, make Puerto Rico a state, give every cop a camera, and lower the voting age to 16.
Democracy/Governance—Implement 12-Year Congressional term limits and 18-Year term limit for Supreme Court Justices, relocate federal agencies, prevent corruption in the federal government, make a local journalism fund, closely monitor the mental health of the White House staff, and make taxes fun.
Healthcare—Medicare-for-All, invest in America’s mental health, fund medical technology innovation, fund Autism intervention, and expand access to medical experts.
Environment—Combat climate change, preserve public lands and water, work on reducing wildfires, and reduce packaging waste.
Education—Control the cost of higher education, make community college affordable for all, promote vocational education, increase teacher salaries, life skills education in all high schools, and free financial counseling for all.
Family/Social Cohesion—Increase assistance for single parents and reduce harm to children caused by smartphones.
Foreign Policy—Increase veteran employment and businesses, ending veteran suicide, every vet under a roof initiative, reverse boot camp, and modernize military spending.
Immigration—Southern border security, support the DREAM Act, and a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.