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We currently live in a country that is divided. Everyone seems to have a side and opinion that directly opposes the other sides opinion. We can’t agree on anything and quite frankly, we can’t seem to get anything done that needs to get done. The things that are most important in this country like health care, immigration laws, and guns laws have been put on hold. This is due to petty arguments from both sides, mainly the Republicans if I’m being honest, not wanting to succumb to the opposite side based on their prejudiced pride and inability to see reason. However, one thing that most people can actually agree on is wanting a strong economy and good economic growth. This takes me into the topic of this paper, what policies and ideas the presidential candidates of 2020 have regarding economics.

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Many of the Democratic candidates like Joe Biden, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Kamala Harris, and Beto O’Rourke believe the minimum wage should be raised to $15 an hour. Most of the Democrats also believe that the lower and middle classes are owed their dues. Joe Biden’s website says “The American middle class built this country. Yet today, CEOs and Wall Street are putting profits over workers, plain and simple. It’s wrong.” They also believe that our current Economy is only benefiting the rich and not the working class. Julian Castro’s website says "Our economy today is not working for working people, the way it did in the past. The costs of caring for your family are rising year after year, while your paycheck is staying the same." According to Cory Booker “For too long, America’s economic agenda has centered on further enriching the already-rich, with massive windfalls for multinational companies, tax breaks for the wealthy, and trade deals that boost corporate profits at the expense of hard-working Americans.” The Democratic candidates are concerned that the 1% are taking over and that Donald Trump’s policies, especially his tax cuts, only benefit the 1% and not the majority of Americans.

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The Republican candidates on the other hand, say they are for the American people but there polices prove otherwise. Donald Trumps website says, “Under President Trump’s leadership, Congress passed historic tax cuts and relief for hard-working Americans.” However, his tax cuts seem to only be benefiting the 1% according to most Democratic candidates. According to Bill Weld, “In the federal budget, the two most important tasks are to cut spending and to cut taxes – and spending comes first.” This, being a little ironic, considering how much of the taxpayer’s money Donald Trump spends flying around wasting time playing golf when he could be doing something—oh I don’t know, presidential? Donald Trump’s website states, “The U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew at or above 3 percent for two quarters in a row for the first time in three years.” Which means this also happened in Obama’s administration. In my opinion, Donald Trump seems to take credit for things that the Obama Administration set up for him.

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Overall, both parties think they can help the economy in a better way. The Democratic candidates want policies that help the working and middle classes to thrive and be treated more fairly. The Republican candidates say they want to help the working class, but their policies seem to focus on continuing to make the rich richer. All parties have different policies and different classes in mind, but overall economic progress is the goal.  There may be different ways to go about creating economic progress—some worse and some better. We may be divided but at least the one thing we can all agree on is the overall wellbeing of our economic growth and prosperity.