With one week left until the U.S. elects its 45th president, many voters are anticipating going to the polls Nov. 8. The Student Government Association (SGA)’s Government Relations Committee has been keeping an eye on the election and watching the debates and accompanying coverage. They recapped the issues discussed in the third debate below, supplementing parts of the debate with their own research on the issues.

SGA will host Table Talk on Wednesday, Nov. 2, to “lay it all out on the table” and encourage civil discussion among students of all political affiliations. The event takes place from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Student Success Center’s Clary Theatre.

The third debate opened with a discussion of the Supreme Court.

Supreme Court Vacancy

Clinton: Clinton said she wanted a Supreme Court justice who would stand on “the people’s side,” specifically for women and the LGBT community. She emphasized a repeal of the Citizens United vs. FEC decision, which spawned the creation of super PACS (Politico.com, 2016). Clinton said she wanted to appoint a justice with a tradition of “standing up to the powerful” on the behalf of the American people. She then called upon the U.S. Senate to confirm President Barack Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland.

Trump: Trump said he believes the Second Amendment is “under absolute siege.” Trump said he would nominate a justice who is pro-life, conservatively bent, and protective of the Second Amendment. He emphasized his originalist values, saying his justice would “interpret the Constitution the way the founders wanted it interpreted,” and that he wants a justice with the same values as Antonin Scalia.

Immigration

Clinton: Clinton said in the debate that she has a comprehensive plan to reform immigration that includes border security. She desires to bring undocumented immigrants “out into the light” and encourages a path to full citizenship.

Trump: Trump believes the issue of illegal immigrants should be solved by building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. He has said that the U.S. should have a zero-tolerance policy on immigration. He is also calling for deportation of illegal immigrants.

Tax Policy

According to Alan Cole with the Tax Foundation, Trump’s plan is estimated to add between $2 and $3.9 trillion to U.S. debt over the next 10 years, and Clinton’s plan is estimated to add $200 billion to U.S. debt over the next 10 years. It is necessary to note that these estimates do not include the macroeconomic effects caused by changes to the tax system, which are difficult to predict, and vary based on the opinions of different reporters.

Furthermore, this is not an analysis of federal spending; this is an analysis of tax policy. How much the deficit changes will depend on changes in federal spending as well. To get a full picture, look at both tax policy and federal spending policy, as well as other monetary changes.

(Note: Details of the candidates' plans were not covered in third debate, but are provided below by SGA.)

Clinton: Clinton said in the debate, “No one making less than $250,000 will have their taxes raised.”

Changes:

• Income over $5 million changed from 39.6 percent tax rate to 43.6 percent tax rate
• Capital Gains over $5 million changed from 20 percent to 24 percent
• Households making over $1 million will pay a minimum of 30 percent effective tax rate, meaning they can still use deductions, but those deductions can only bring them down to 30 percent. No one making over $1 million will be able to lower their tax rate below 30 percent. Clinton also wishes to double the child tax credit, while adding new $1,200 tax credits for caregivers. She said she will close the carried interest loophole and attempt to close other loopholes enabling businesses to avoid some taxes.

Trump: Trump plans to replace the current seven tax brackets with three tax brackets as follows:

• Under $75,000: 12 percent Ordinary Income, no Capital Gains tax
• $75,000–$225,000: 25 percent Ordinary Income, 15 percent Capital Gains
• $225,000+: 33 percent Ordinary Income, 20 percent Capital Gains

Trump wishes to cap deductibles for households at $200,000. The child care expenses deductible would be changed to “average cost of child care in residing state.” He plans to increase the standard deduction from $12,600 to $30,000 for households. He wants to remove personal exemptions (such as taking $4,500 off for each member of a household). He would also like to decrease corporate tax from 35 percent to 15 percent.

National Debt

The national debt is currently at 77 percent of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP). According to the Committee for Responsible Federal Budget, Trump’s plan would cause the debt to rise to 105 percent of the GDP in 10 years, compared to Clinton’s 86 percent rise.

Clinton: Clinton plans to combat debt by creating jobs and investing in education and skills training. Her plan is similar to President Obama’s stimulus plan, which had the slowest GDP growth since 1949, but Clinton believes it will work better because the U.S. is better off economically now than it was then. She plans to pay for these programs by taxing those with household incomes of more than $250,000, as well as corporations.

Trump: Trump said he plans to manage the economy and national debt by cutting taxes and deregulating industry. His desire is to renegotiate trade deals to benefit the U.S. and bring back jobs. He intends to cut business tax rates in order to foster economic growth.

Trade

Clinton: Clinton would like to hire a trade prosecutor for the first time in history. She believes the U.S. should have trade deals that it enforces. She would like to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), a former trade deal President Bill Clinton signed while in office. She does not support the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). Clinton supports the idea of free trade; she does not support the idea of higher tariffs on U.S. trading partners.

Trump: Trump sees deals such as NAFTA as “some of the worst trade deals ever created.” However, he said he would like to see the U.S. have more free trade than it does now. He believes business people should negotiate trade deals. He disagrees on Reagan's trade deals, saying the U.S. should be tougher on trade than it was then; he believes in raising tariffs.

Terrorism and ISIL

Clinton: Clinton is calling for intelligence-gathering and coalition-building to try to avoid conflict when possible. She said she wants to make a plan to collaborate with U.S. allies in the region and fight ISIL propaganda. Her end goal is to defeat ISIL with a coalition of majority Muslim nations. Finally, Clinton wants to fight terrorism at home by advocating for gun control.

Trump: Trump generally takes the stance of an approach that calls for a military intervention to fight ISIL. He called out the Obama administration and Clinton for allowing ISIL to proliferate after the U.S. withdrew troops from the Middle East. Additionally, he is in favor of NATO intervention in the Middle East and hopes to fight terrorism at home through “extreme vetting” for immigrants coming into the U.S. Finally, Trump says he is keeping some specific details of his plan confidential so as to not give information to enemies.

Abortion

Clinton: Clinton said she would appoint pro-choice justices to maintain Roe vs. Wade, and plans to keep individual states from mandating otherwise. Clinton said as a senator she voted against a ban on late-term, partial-birth abortions, saying women should be able to make those decisions “in accordance with their faith, with medical advice.” She said she will defend Planned Parenthood.

Trump: Trump plans to appoint pro-life justices who would overturn Roe vs. Wade. He believes abortion rights should be decided at the state level. He does not support late-term or partial-birth abortions. Trump went on to say he is in favor of defunding Planned Parenthood.

From the Government Relations Committee of the Student Government Association. Members including: Daniel Luehm, Marc Sheinman, Sarah Edwards, Trevor Beachboard, Rachel Wexler, Ben Templin, Thomas Watkins, Jason Quill, and Victoria Doris. This summary is not an endorsement of any political party or candidate. Any opinions expressed are solely those of the aforementioned students.