Lately there has been a lot of talk about the presidential candidates everywhere we go. There are news channels covering every single incident along with social media sites freaking out over the vines that some of them are posting. But the place I hear talk about politics most is our very own Lincoln-Way Central. I would like to mention right off the bat that I’m very impressed with the fact that most high schoolers are paying attention to the happenings of the world and forming an opinion on it, but I would like to urge my fellow students to do a bit more research on the candidates’ campaigns.

The candidate who seems to be gaining the most support from my age group is Bernie Sanders. Most of my classmates are throwing their full support behind him due to his claims of making a college education free, but there is much more to his campaign. To start, he states that he would like to tax the wealthy and somehow stop them from moving their business to other countries to avoid taxes. While this is all well and good, he has yet to explain how he will do so. He has proposed legislation that would end tax breaks for companies that move overseas, but this has yet to be passed. The issue with this is that the more taxes he puts on the rich, the less money they will have to start businesses and pay people to work in those businesses. This would cause more businesses to move overseas for cheaper labor, some rich people might even move out of the country altogether to seek a place with less taxes. We must all remember, the wealthy do pay taxes as well, and it may not seem equal but in the end it all works out. Regarding Bernie’s golden idea to make college education free, I say it is absolute rubbish. First off, he cannot change the tuition of private colleges, so most people will not even be affected since most students do not go to public universities. On top of that, nothing is ever free and someone has to pay to run the colleges, so where will he get the money to support these universities? He has yet to come out and clarify this to my knowledge, which makes me ignore his idea in this area. One thing that is admirable about his campaign is that he feels that civil liberties should be protected at all costs. I do agree that we deserve our privacy, even if there is a slight chance that the government could find a terrorist by tapping into all of our phones. I am glad he does not want to give the government more power because if you give them a foot, they take a mile.

Next we move onto good old Donald Trump. This eccentric billionaire has decided to run for president. Most of the kids in my classes hate this guys guts due to the crazy things he says on television. I would agree that he is quite rash, but there has to be some good things about his campaign, right? Actually, Trump proposes that business taxes be lowered in order to attract more business in the United States. Companies such as GM and Ford have already moved their business elsewhere and his plan intends to bring them back to where they belong. There is just one flaw; he states that he pays as little taxes as he can but then turns around and states that the one percent of our country will be taxed more than the rest of us in order to even the stakes. This is conflicting, as I am sure you can see. Moving on though, his views on education differ just a little from Bernie’s but enough to make a bit more sense. Trump does not state how he intends to stop the government from making money on college students, but he does address it. He points out that the government should allow schools to be controlled at the local level, and how instead of making college free, the government should focus on fixing their financial plan in order to make college more affordable. Although this seems a little flimsy, it could work if they really tried hard and he gets a good vice president. Trump’s views on civil liberties is where I see a great downfall though. He states that he wants to have surveillance and that he does not care what anyone else tells him. This concerns me because if we allow the government to see everything we are doing, what freedoms do we really have? What will the country become when we hand over our liberties without a fight?

The last candidate that is often mentioned in the halls is Hillary Clinton who is the butt of long-running jokes. I do admire her attempts to relate to a younger generation, but she should focus more on her campaign plans than being ‘cool.’

If I was told a few years ago that these people would be running for president, I would not believe it at all. This all seems like a really edgy prank that everyone is playing on us, but unfortunately it’s not.

As for college and graduating as debt-free as possible, you can go see Mr. Taylor and he will explain how it is indeed possible. Just go up to his room or find him running on the track somewhere, and he will be glad to inform you.