Bloxham

DLaina Bloxham
Inst: Nick Gorrell
ENGL 2010-016
July 19, 2016
Election Comparative and Reflection Essay

When I started this research paper, I wanted to choose an obscure third party candidate
that no one else would examine. I was considering Jim Hedges with the Prohibition Party, which
is the third oldest political party in the United States, not because I am for prohibition, but I
wanted to think outside the box. As I was researching, there really wasnt much current
information on Mr. Hedges political stances or agenda. Their presidential convention this
election was a conference call instead of an actually convention. "There wasnt much enthusiasm
for going anywhere," says Hedges (Giaimo). I scrapped this line of research and went with a
more mainstream candidate, Gary Johnson, with the Libertarian Party. Still, the Prohibition
Partys lack of platform detail and breadth was instructive in examining the lack of specific
details and policy plans across all third party candidates. This included even main stream third
parties such as the Libertarians.
I will be analyzing and reflecting Mr. Johnsons issues of the proposed tax plan as well as
immigration with that of Donald Trump, of the Republican Party. I wish to show that although
third party candidates may have good ideas that may be beneficial to the country if elected, they
really do not have to be as solid in their political agenda due to the fact that there really is no way
they will be elected.
In the tax plan, Trump has laid out a plan with four tiers of income tax paid. Trump

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proposes that if an individual is making less than $25,000 annual income or jointly $50,000 there
will be no income tax due, the remaining income brackets pay 10%, 20%, or 25%, simplifying
the current tax code. He proposes to cap the business tax at 15% and eliminate the death tax all
together. In addition, Trump plans to incorporate loophole tax reductions to top earners and
corporations with expense deductions and eliminate overseas tax havens (Trump 2). Johnsons
plan does not seem as precisely laid out, he is in favor to eliminate income tax over time to be
replaced with a consumption tax. His argument tends to be persuasive about the nature of
taxation as a philosophy, without the actual plan to support it (Johnson 2).
Trumps tax plan provides cleaner details and analysis over Johnsons, but is this really
the plan that America needs? Donald Trump revealed a detailed tax plan on September 28 th of
2015, three months after he entered the presidential race. He was under pressure to push forward
with a realistic plan quickly to demonstrate his business credentials as a candidate. Compared to
modern tax code, Trumps plan would be a radical tax revision, but not entirely beneficial to the
nations needs. According to Time.com, Trumps plan to bring corporate money back from
overseas has been tried before, specifically in 2004. Instead of helping the economy, it was used
to further line the pockets of those who brought their money back from overseas tax free. The
problem is that companies can easily get around such provisions by putting foreign dollars in an
account labeled business development or some such, and then using pre-existing U.S. funds to
do the buybacks. (Foroohar). This loophole that Trump is proposing is disguised as something
that will help the economy, but did not work in 2004 when it was first implemented.
Johnsons tax policy favors philosophic assertions with few details. This is possibly due
to the reality of Johnson being a symbolic candidate who is standing on spreading the message of
the Libertarian philosophy. His energy and more limited funds would be wasted on creating a

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detailed tax plan that would not realistically be implemented. Johnson proposes to give back to
corporations that control the things that government shouldnt really be handling in the first place
to free up tax dollars. For example, the federal power plant, Johnson argues that the federal
government doesnt need a power plant and the generators that go with it. If the power plant
were to go back to a private sector, so would the expense and therefore the funds running it
would be freed to put elsewhere. True prosperity only comes when you take a hard look at
everything you do, identify that which you don't need to be doing, shouldn't be doing, or simply
cannot afford to do...and stop (Johnson). America does need a realistic tax plan. I do agree with
Johnson that there should be cuts where we are spending unnecessarily. I can also see the use of
the four tiered plan from Trump but his loophole plan to get money back to the country makes
me raise my eyebrows a little skeptically.
Now let us look at the immigration plan for each candidate. Trump has had much to say
on this issue. He is very adamant that A nation without borders is not a nation. To do this he
suggests a wall to be built on the southern border of the United States and have Mexico pay for it
(Trump2). Trump is not alone in his proposals to build borders across the Mexico border. In their
book Patriot Debates: Experts Debate the USA Patriot Act, Terwilliger and Edger say that a
fence along the border with Mexico would be a large step in the right direction. No less is
required on the northern border (Terwilliger). Another action is to halt the spread and reach of
radical Islam. To do this Trump proposes a close relationship with the Muslims. To stop
terrorism from Islam, Trump is adamant that a more vigilant approach in checking paperwork
and documentation for those coming into the country needs to be a top priority (Trump).
As more immigrants come into the country they tend to side with the Democrat Party and
therefore would be taking away the votes that Trump is looking for (Salam). This is not the only

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reason that Trump wants to remove illegal immigrants from the country, in his speech America
First! Trump states that the more illegal immigrants that are here the less jobs there are for
American citizens (Trump).
Johnson on the other hand is pro-immigration (Johnson). A bigger fence will only
produce taller ladders. Johnson said of Trumps plan for a wall. He does endorse stricter
background screenings, paying taxes, and proof of employment for aspiring immigrants (Johnson
2). Those that would like to try the American dream should do so through the proper channels of
immigration and not illegally. The borders should be emphatically closed to those trying to bring
contraband, terrorist violence, or weapons of mass destruction into the country (Terwilliger).
This election has everyone split in the decision of what is the lesser of two evils to vote
for. As with all elections the candidates try to tell the voters what they want to hear and then do
things their own way when elected. I was able to find a little bit firmer viewpoints for the
candidates but as I said before Johnson is not as clear cut on how he will carry out his proposals
if elected. I believe it is because he knows that he will not be elected mostly because the
campaign expense is too great to be really serious. Trump on the other hand is so extreme that he
also will more than likely not be elected because he is burning bridges by being so harsh in his
statements, especially about immigration.

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Figure 1: The Too-Partisan Party System. Source: Dan Parker. 30 July, 2010. Image 81376. www.caglecartoons.com

The American people latch on to one topic of importance to them in a presidential

candidate and then seem to not do any other research of the candidates and all the issues. This is
what has hurt our country and will not change until the American people change it. I dont know
who I am voting for this coming election. The candidates havent given me solid stances to get
behind. I may just vote for the Prohibition Party because that would be the most ironic thing, to
not have any alcohol to get us through the next four to eight years with whomever it is that will
be elected.

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Works Cited

Foroohar, Rana. Donald Trumps Tax Plan Offers Something For Everybody. Time.com (28,
September, 2015): N.PAG. Academic Search Premier. Web. 14 July 2016.
Giaimo, Cara. "The Prohibition Party Still ExistsAnd Is On the Ballot In At Least 3 States."
Atlas
Obscura.
N.p.,
01
Mar.
2016.
Web.
17
July
2016.
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-prohibition-party-still-exists-and-is-on-theballot-in-at-least-3-states (This website is a history of the Prohibition Party to get the
word out they are still around, I believe that it is an accurate website that depicts what
the Prohibition Party is about and their agenda).

Johnson, Gary. Government Spends Too Much Because It Does Too Much. American
Spectator 44.5 (2011): 8. Academic Search Premier. Web. 14 July 2016.
---."Issues." Johnson/Weld 2016. N.p., 2016. Web. 17 July 2016. https://johnsonweld.com/issues/
(This is Johnsons campaign website. It goes over his plan and issues and therefore I feel
it gives us what Johnson is running for).

Salam, Reihan. Trumps Immigration Disaster. National Review 68.8 (2016): 24-25. Academic
Search Premier. Web. 13 July 2016.
Terwilliger III, George J., and Timothy Edgar. "Part Two Other Issues: Borders." Patriot
Debates: Experts Debate The USA PATRIOT Act (2005): 113-126. Academic Search

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Premier. Web. 18 July 2016.

Trump, Donald. America First. Vital Speeches of the Day 82.6 (2016): 161-165. Academic
Search Premier. Web. 13 July 2016.
---. "Show Your Support for Donald J. Trump." Make America Great Again! N.p., n.d. Web. 17
July 2016. https://www.donaldjtrump.com/ (This is Trumps campaign website to give us
the things that he is running for and the issues that he stands for in his campaign).