Economy & Taxes

Joe Biden (D)

• Reform tax code to support middle class
• Raise the top individual income tax rate to 39.5%
• Raise capital gains taxes to same rate as ordinary income
• Rebuild the middle class as the backbone of economy
• Raise the federal minimum wage to $15/hour
• Supports free trade between countries and is against imposing tariffs
• Increase taxes on the wealthy
• Repeal the Trump tax cuts
• Close all tax loopholes
• Supports renegotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership
• Supports increase in infrastructure spending
• Pursue a trade policy that benefits American farmers
• Invest $20 billion in rural broadband infrastructure
• Supports changing USMCA
• Replace secret-ballot elections for unions with public card-check system
• Provide a federal guarantee for public sector employees to bargain for better pay, benefits, and working conditions
• Allow the National Labor Relations Board to levy fines against employers who violate labor laws
• Ensure that workers can exercise their right to strike without fear of retaliation
• Impose a national ban on "right-to-work" laws
• Extend the right to organize and bargain collectively to independent contractors

Michael Bloomberg (D)

• Says he will work to strengthen the middle class, invest in education, create good-paying jobs in renewable energy and other industries
• Raise the federal minimum wage to $15/hour and index it to growth in median earnings
• Has called for more progressive tax policy, but says the wealth tax proposed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren goes too far
• Criticized a proposed tax increase on New York residents earning over $500,000 a year
• As mayor of New York City, he created the Small Business Solutions Center that offered free services to nearly 10,000 business throughout the city

Pete Buttigieg (D)

• Increase marginal tax rates on top income earners
• Raise the federal minimum wage to $15/hour and index it to wage growth
• Supports federal investment in clean water and wastewater infrastructure, transportation and mobility, and climate adaptation and resilience
• Spend $80 billion to expand high-speed broadband access to all currently underserved communities by creating a public option to compete with providers
• Critical of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), believes it has moved jobs previously in the Midwest overseas
• Supports changing USMCA
• Supports Trump's goal of taking on China, but would repeal the tariffs his administration imposed on goods from China
• Opposes using tariffs to pressure countries
• Repeal "right-to-work" laws
• Introduce multimillion-dollar penalties for employer interference in union elections and workers’ rights
• Stop employers from permanently replacing workers who strike
• Allow workers at unionized worksites in the same line of work (such as fast food workers) to bargain towards a single bargaining agreement for all of their employers
• Give preference in government contracts to firms that treat their workers well
• Create a federal entrepreneurship fund to invest $20 billion over five years in entrepreneurs from underrepresented backgrounds
• Forgive Pell Grant recipients' college loans if they start a business employing at least three people within five years of leaving school
• Award 25% of federal contracting dollars (over $100 billion per year) to small business owners from underserved communities

Tulsi Gabbard (D)

• Raise the federal minimum wage to $15/hour
• Break up big banks and hold Wall Street accountable for their risky investments
• Supports using tax incentives to stimulate job creation
• Opposes the Trans-Pacific Partnership
• Supports passing a modern Glass-Steagall Act
• Fund infrastructure through decrease in military spending
• Repeal the tariffs the Trump administration has imposed on goods from China

Amy Klobuchar (D)

• Raise the federal minimum wage to $15/hour
• $1 trillion infrastructure plan:
• Repair and replace our roads, highways, and bridges
• Provide protection against flooding and update and modernize our airports, seaports and inland waterways
• Expand reliable public transit options and update rail infrastructure
• Rebuild our schools and overhaul our country’s housing policy
• Connect every household to the internet by 2022
• Ensure clean water for everyone
to repair transportation system (airports, trains, bridges), expand broadband to all households, ensure clean water, and rebuild schools
• Infrastructure plan meant to create thousands of good-paying jobs
• Fund infrastructure through tax alterations on wealthy and corporations
• Renegotiate trade deals and end Chinese tariffs that hurt the agriculture industry
• Supports changing USMCA
• Supports using tariffs as a method to crack down on certain countries, but critical of Trump's approach
• Supports legislation to simplify the tax code, close wasteful loopholes, and provide incentives to keep jobs in America
• Raise capital gains taxes to same rate as ordinary income
• Apply a minimum tax rate of 30 percent on individuals making more than one million dollars a year
• Decrease red tape and burdensome regulations that hinder small business growth
• Expand the Child Tax Credit
• Connect every household to the internet by 2022
• Increase the maximum salary for a worker to qualify for the overtime pay
• Increase inspections of steel imports at ports of entry to combat Chinese steel dumping, the setting of the price of steel artificially low to prevent competition

Bernie Sanders (D)

• Wealth tax proposal: 1 percent tax on net worth above $32 million for a married couple
• Tax rate would increase to 2% on net worth from $50 to $250 million, 3% from $250 to $500 million, 4% from $500 million to $1 billion, 5% from $1 to $2.5 billion, 6% from $2.5 to $5 billion, 7% from $5 to $10 billion, and 8% on wealth over $10 billion
• These brackets are halved for singles
• The wealth of billionaires would be cut in half over 15 years
• Increase the marginal tax rate to 70% for income above $10 million
• Institute a 77% tax rate on inheritances above $1 billion
• Cap itemized deductions at 28% for households making over $250,000
• End the capital gains break for those with household income above $250,000
• Create a 1% tax on household net worth over $21 million
• Establish a federal jobs guarantee to ensure that everyone is guaranteed a stable job
• Raise the federal minimum wage to $15/hour
• Supports renegotiating NAFTA and changing USMCA
• Opposed the Trans-Pacific Partnership
• Cap credit card interest rates
• Restrict rapid-fire financial speculation with a financial transactions tax
• Rethink our trade policies and move toward fair trade rather than just free trade
• Supports using tariffs as a method to crack down on certain countries like China and Russia, but critical of Trump's approach
• Supports passing a modern Glass-Steagall Act
• Supports increase in infrastructure spending
• Provide unions the ability to organize once a majority of workers sign-up
• Ensure companies cannot prevent a union from forming by denying a first contract
• Repeal "right-to-work" laws
• Ban the permanent replacement of striking workers

Tom Steyer (D)

• Raise the federal minimum wage to $15/hour
• Supports a 1% annual wealth tax on wealth above $32 million to pay for infrastructure and education investments
• Repeal Trump's tax cuts
• Repeal the tariffs the Trump administration has imposed on goods from China

Donald Trump (R)

• The U.S. economy has seen consistent growth under the Trump administration
• The Trump tax cuts significantly lowered taxes on corporate profits, investment income, and the estate tax
• Pulled the U.S. out of Trans-Pacific Partnership
• Signed updated NAFTA accord with leaders of Mexico and Canada, known as the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)
• Imposed a 10% tariff on $200 billion worth of imports from China and threatened to raise rate to 25%

Joe Walsh (R)

• In favor of expanding the Bush-ear tax cuts
• Favors cutting the capital gains tax
• Supports abolishing the estate tax
• Supports a free trade system and came out strongly against Trump's trade war with China and his decision to raise tariffs
• Believes the tariffs are a tax on middle-class Americans and are devastating to farmers

Elizabeth Warren (D)

• Wealth tax proposal: levy 2% tax on fortunes worth more than $50 million, and a 3% tax on fortunes over $1 billion to pay for universal childcare and student loan debt relief
• Raise the federal minimum wage to $15/hour
• Supports financial regulations to help foster economic stability
• Supports passing a modern Glass-Steagall bill
• Renegotiate NAFTA and change USMCA
• Opposed the Trans-Pacific Partnership because it would "undermine US sovereignty" and disproportionately benefit multinational corporations
• Supports using tariffs as a method to enforce environmental and labor standards, but would repeal the tariffs the Trump administration has imposed on goods from China
• Defend and create quality American jobs and promote American industry
• Allow the United States Postal Service to partner with local community banks and credit unions to provide access to low-cost, basic banking services like checking and savings accounts at post offices and online
• Proposes a trade plan with mandatory preconditions like enforcing core labor rights, upholding international human rights, membership to the Paris Climate agreement with a reducing emissions plan, and elimination of domestic fossil fuel subsidies
• Proposes mandating trade negotiators to publish drafts of their proposals to the public allowing comments to be made and policy to be shaped before becoming law
• Create a $85 billion grant program for nonprofits and local governments to expand broadband access in rural communities and on Native American lands
• Establish a $7 billion fund to close the gap in startup capital for entrepreneurs of color
• Labor and unions plan:
• Substantially increase penalties for violations of labor rights, worker safety laws, and anti-discrimination laws
• Repeal "right-to-work" laws
• Strengthen the right of workers to strike
• Crack down on the widespread practice of misclassifying workers as independent contractors
• Extend basic union protections to farm workers and domestic workers
• Guarantee farmers a price at their production cost and use government reserves to stabilize the market

Bill Weld (R)

• Supports balancing the budget through cuts in spending
• Promote economic growth through tax cuts
• Opposes the tariffs implemented by the Trump administration
• Against raising the minimum wage
• Supports free trade
• Address the predicted job losses due to automation and re-educate workers for the new economy