mike.editor@midpush.com, originally published 190325, updated 190427
Hmm, 19 months to go to the November 2020 election. Things are heating up in the announcement of
contenders for the office.
I plan to work this article and try and keep up. But it’s tough. It’s only partially filled out now. It will get more detailed, and even more boring as time goes on. Lots of candidates!
The common themes of the 2020 candidates is just a few paragraphs down. The candidates are listed below. Their names provide a hyperlink to a page with more detail. In general there seems to be a lot of emotion and compassion in their platforms, but somebody still needs to pay for it all.
Let’s get started, the candidates in first name alphabetical order.
- Amy Klobuchar – Senior Senator from Minnesota, updated 190411.
- Andrew Yang – Tech entrepreneur.
- Bernie Sanders – Senator from Vermont, updated 191226.
- Beto O’Rourke – Former House Representative for Texas’s 16th district.
- Corey Booker – Senator from New Jersey, updated 190419.
- Donald Trump – President of the United States.
- Elizabeth Warren – Senator from Massachusetts, updated 190427.
- Eric Salwell – US Representative from California, updated 190412.
- Jay Inslee – Governor of Washington.
- John Delaney – Former Maryland Representative.
- John Hickenlooper – Former governor of Colorado.
- Julian Castro – Ex Mayor of San Antonio and a member of Obama’s cabinet, updated 190406.
- Kamela Harris – Senator from California, updated 190411.
- Kirsten Gillibrand – New York Senator, updated 190406.
- Marianne Williamson – Author, lecturer, and activist.
- Pete Buttigeg – Mayor of South Bend, Indiana, updated 190411.
- Tim Ryan – Ohio congressman, tried to unseat Nancy Pelosi for the Speaker-ship as he was upset with the direction of the Democratic party.
- Tulsi Gabbard – House Representative from Hawaii.
- Wayne Messam – Mayor of Marimar, Florida, updated 190412.
- William F. Weld – Former Massachusetts governor.
Democratic Contenders Favorite Topics:
- Health Care – Medicare for all is a dominant theme. Medicare today is for over 65 year old residents. Today, care providers are reimbursed less for these patients than younger patients. So this could be more expensive than first meets the eyes. Reimbursement rates may have to go up across the board to keep hospitals from closing.
- Immigration Compassion – People who manage to make it to the border deserve Asylum, especially if they are woman with children. But not the men? Or do we want more Tech H1’s?
- Environmental policy – With climate change on everyone’s mind, the classic American lifestyle is being reviewed. Do we all need gas cars, air-conditioned homes, and lots of Chinese products? Of course we can do better… Is Coal still being used too much?
- Reparations for Black Americans impacted by slavery – One candidate wants to allocated $100B for this. Yikes, that’s a lot of money!! Another wants to also include American Indians.
- Free College – Presently students in the past few years have taken out massive loans in order to attend college. Getting a job after college, starting a family, buying a house have all been complicated by having to pay their student loans off. Should people pick colleges that are easier to afford? Should people pick majors that enable them to
- Universal Income – Everyone needs money, and some have stated that with automation, artificial intelligence, that jobs will be fewer. So just guarantee everyone who is inside our borders, free everything!!
- Abortion – Ouch, a hot topic. Basically it boils down to the following categories. 1) The Never Camp, 2) The 3 month/first trimester Roe v. Wade camp, 3) the second trimester camp, 4) the third trimester camp. A controversial subject most politicians shy away from. The political battle wages on in the above 1) and 4).
- Rule Changes – Like a six year old, playing Go-Fish, it’s easier to change the rules then have a tantrum.
- Supreme Court – Let’s just increase the number of judges, to 11. Problem, on party change, does it go to 13?
- Ditch the Electoral College – Minor problem it’s burned into the Constitution. 3/4 of the states would have to approve. California, New York, and others don’t make it to 38 states.
- Lower the voting age to 16 – Hmm, then bring back Joe Camel style ads for sophomores that can’t read.
- Social Security for illegal immigrants.
- Tear Down the Border Wall – Hmm, should we also get rid of all air port security? Why check passports and luggage?
As you review all of the items above I think we can agree that they all sound great! But, can we provide all of this to all people who happen to exist within our borders? Where will the money come for all of this? Our national debt is already high. Some of this is just selective pandering for votes, with a goal to increase the dependency on the government.
Key Issues Missing from the Dem's platforms
But what is seriously missing from these candidates are what there views on the items that follow. Most of the candidates appear to be running for a local district and pandering to their constituents.
- Defense –
- International Affairs – Is Germany funding Russia’s military buildup with it’s reliance on the North Sea gas pipeline?
- North Korea – Is Obama’s strategy of “Strategic Patience” the way to go?
- Iran – Obama’s nice guy approach, shipping them a $1.7B, some in various currencies, then watching Syria implode as Tehran spends the funds the best strategy?
- China –
- Russia – Trump’s view of Russia as a friend has not worked. But with a triad of the US, Russia, and China, who becomes buddies with each other and beats the other up?
- Saudi Arabia – Over the past 40 years they have helped keep Oil prices stable, the press is pushing for abandonment since we don’t need them anymore, will the middle east get more volatile.
- South China Sea Nine or Ten Dash line – China has been increasingly sought to annex more and more area from Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan, and even Japan. Under the Obama administration, nothing much was done.
- Tariffs Agreements – Has America been too nice over the years? Everyone else charges tariffs for our products, but if we do the same, they threaten us. Past presidents have not cared. Are American’s funding China’s military buildup with iPhone’s and other products?
- Budget – All of these candidates should be required to show a sample budget on how they would pay for their largess.