CANDIDATESON HOT-BUTTON ISSUES

Photos: Gage Skidmore, Flickr

Backgrounds

Hillary Clinton

Democrat

Gary Johnson

Libertarian

Donald Trump

Republican

Former Secretary of State, FirstLady, US Senator from NY

Former Governor of NewMexico

Business magnate, billionaire,owner of the Trump

Organization

SocialIssues

Abortion Pro­ChoicePro­Choice

(Until fetal viability)Pro­Life

(except in rape/incest)

EmploymentDiscrimination

In favor of lawsprotecting workplacediscrimination ofhomosexuals. 

MarijuanaLegalize Medical 

Wait on Recreational

Legalize Medical Wait on RecreationalLegalize Marijuana

Planned Parenthood Continue to Fund PP "does a lot ofgood"

No abortion funding

Defund it.

In favor of lawsprotecting workplacediscrimination ofhomosexuals. 

In favor of lawsprotecting workplacediscrimination ofhomosexuals. 

Equality/InjusticeIssues

Arrifmative Action In­favorNo affirmative action.Against favorable

treatment ofminorities.

In favor, "fine with it."

Gay Marriage Proponent Proponent Should Be State­Issue(previously opposed)

Should Employers BeForced to Pay Men &

Women the Same Wage?

Yes. Unclear, but hasclaimed that equalwork should bring

equal pay.

No; too manyconfounding factors.

Confederate Flag Flying  States should not flyit.

States should befree to fly it.

States should not flyit.

Business/Economic

Issues

Citizens United Repeal and overturn.In favor, falls under1st Amendmentprotection.

Generally against bigmoney in politics.

Tax RatesIncrease taxes,

small increases tomajority of earners,larger increases to

wealthy.

Eliminate tax systemcompletely. Introduce28% sales tax, no

income tax, no payrolltax. 

Establish 3 taxbrackets: 10­20­25.Tax cuts for all

earners. 

Corporate Taxation Close loopholes andcontinue taxation.

Eliminate corporatetax to create jobs.

Reduce corporatetax rate to 15%.

EducationIssues

Common Core system Common Core isbeneficial. 

Does not support,education should be

state and local.

Eliminate CommonCore, it's a "disaster."

Higher EducationCosts/Student Debt

Public universitiesshould be tuition­

free.

Guaranteed federalstudent loans arepredatory, collegecosts need to be

reduced. 

Government shouldnot profit off ofstudent loans. 

Department ofEducation

Use Department ofEducation fundingmore efficiently,retain federalstandards. 

EliminateDepartment of

Education entirely.

Significantly cutDepartment ofEducation.