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Tatiana Diaz de Leon

Ms. Sidhu

AP Lang & Comp, Period 5

3 April 2016

The 2016 Election

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are the three natural rights that Thomas

Jefferson claimed every man should possess. Under this motto he contributed to the creation of

the Declaration of Independence, a document that would forever hold an influential spot in the

birth and development of the new nation, the United States of America. The thirteen former

British colonies along the east coast of North America declared their independence on the fourth

of July in 1776 through this document. Although this day is greatly celebrated throughout the

United States today, the colonies did not truly receive their independence until September of

1783 after years of fighting British forces, and yet, the fight to establish a perfect system of

government never really ends. Jeffersons motto only applied to so many people in his mind at

the time despite the explicit words written on the declaration that read, We hold these truths to

be self-evident that all men are created equal (Declaration of Independence). The declaration

states that our government shall be altered or abolished if it violates any of the principles which

it was founded upon, and that is exactly what has occurred throughout history in order to try to

maintain safety and happiness within the nation (Declaration of Independence). The failure of

the Articles of Confederation brought forth the birth of the Constitution through which a stronger

and more secure form of government with checks and balances worked to ensure the absence of

tyranny. The issues with slave states and free states during the 1950s and 1960s, which caused

the civil war later down the line, brought forth a complete new realization and interpretation of
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the principles of the declaration of independence. Our sixteenth president, Abraham Lincoln,

reminded Americans of the significant principles that our nation was founded upon in his

Gettysburg Address during the Great Civil War when he warrants that our nation was conceived

upon liberty and the idea that all men are created equal (Gettysburg Address). Such principles

influence the decisions our nation should make.

The concept of politics within a nation is meant to introduce new ideas to continue to

better the government in a way that benefits the people and their freedom always. As new

realizations occur and new issues arise, people need to find ways to accommodate for them.

Slowly American citizens have received their rights demonstrated through strong movements led

by activists of all types throughout history. Our leader, the president of the United States,

represents authority and choices that our nation makes even though he doesnt have all the

power. American citizens are granted the privilege of voting for our president. Whatever ways

that candidates intend to solve the many issues our nation faces determines whether they gain the

nations support and get elected as president. Moreover, the main idea that needs to be

considered during presidential elections is whether this person sees citizens freedom, safety, and

happiness as all equally important principles to be preserved. One thing to have in mind is that

not one person can be perfect or can satisfy everyones opinions, but it is necessary that the

person elected is the best possible option for the nation and its people. In the current presidential

election of 2016, the candidate that demonstrates the aim to preserve the nations liberty and

safety together is the Democratic Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

One issue that is continually discussed by many in our nation is that of the United States

military budget. With the U.S. in more than 17.2 trillion dollars in debt, it seems illogical to

continue to spend more than 18% percent of our budget on the military (National Defense
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Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014). This point is brought up by a few candidates but more

discussed in detail by Sanders throughout the campaigns. Building and fortifying our national

security is not a horrible action to do; nonetheless, the unnecessary excess of expenses is being

wasted because of its great potential to benefit and aid our nation in other parts and ways. There

are people all over the nation the elderly, the children, the sick and the poor - who are suffering

financial cuts in order to sustain the nation finically, but Sanders argues that money can be taken

from this bloated military budget (ProCon.org). The central problem is that we do not

recognize our national priorities. In this case, Sanders not only recognizes that the national

military spending is too much, but he also identifies the exact places this excess money can be

spent on in order to benefit the people in our nation. Just a small percentage of money used for

the military can alternatively be used on education, health care, social security, affordable

housing, and food stamps (National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year). Unlike

Sanders, Trump and Hillary do not go in depth about the alternative spending of the military

budget. In complete contrast, Ted Cruz hopes to increase federal military spending; he believes

the first priority of the nation is to protect the national security (ProCon.org).While it is true that

protecting our national security is important, the current state of our department of defense is one

of the best in the world, and thus increasing the budget is no longer a necessity when thousands

of Americans are currently facing more grave problems. Bernie Sanders is the only candidate

who recognizes the necessary step that needs to be taken at the right moments. Now, there are

more significant segments that some of the military budget can be spent on. Additionally, this fix

of his connects to his plan for college education in the United States. As the nations money is

less focused on defense, we are able to more easily educate our future leaders and innovators and

prevent burdening student loans.

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The enduring issue of minimum wage is one that is constantly debated about. Sanders has

been on the losing side of this issue throughout the years as many politicians do not like the idea

of raising the federal minimum wage. The average minimum wage in the nation currently is

$7.25 an hour; millions of Americans are working full time jobs earning this minimum wage and

still living in poverty (A Living Wage). Many other candidates including Donald Trump are

against increasing the federal minimum wage, and instead he claims he would rather create jobs

so [we] dont have to worry about the minimum wage (Morning Joe). Nevertheless, it is

important to understand that there will always be jobs which are considered to be minimum wage

standards and there will always be people who need to take those jobs as it is their way to earn

income. Therefore, creating jobs may lessen poverty to an extent, but increasing the federal

minimum wage will make a bigger impact on current impoverished people. Sanders has

continuously shown his dedication to the cause he calls The Living Wage, in which full time

workers can always earn enough to live comfortably. In 2014, Senator Bernie Sanders voted in

favor of the Minimum Wage Fairness Act, which would have raised the minimum wage to

$10.10 after two years (ProCon.org) and still, Sanderss goal is to get it to $15 an hour over

the next several years (A Living Wage). His strong collaboration efforts with labor unions

and continuing to introduce propositions to increase the federal minimum wage demonstrates

Sanderss dedication to the happiness and safety of U.S. citizens as well as his potential role as

president of the United States.

One of the largest plans that Sanders has for the United States is his movement to restore

democracy by lessening the influence of wealthy patrons in the political life and elections. The

wealthy people of America are given too much freedom to purchase their way to who they want

to have power in the nation. Essentially, this ties into the idea that campaigns should be publicly
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funded and billionaires should have their limitations. Part of Sanderss plan to achieve a less

corrupt U.S. government is intending to appoint Supreme Court justices who will make it their

priority to overturn Citizens United [Supreme Court decision], through which it is not

considered corrupt to allow wealthy citizens to essentially purchase the entire government by

giving tons of money to politicians as a means of influence (Getting Big Money Out of Politics

and Restoring Democracy). Furthermore, Sanders plan includes a push for a new constitutional

amendment that solidifies Congress and the states power to regulate money in elections

(Getting Big Money Out of Politics and Restoring Democracy). When allowing wealthy

people to control what occurs during the elections through the money they put in, our

government becomes even less so a democracy as the people are not really getting a say in what

happens. In our current state, not everyone participates in the political process because they

know money is essential to have any influence. Sanders examines the evident juxtaposition of

our current state of politics with Lincolns historical words of how our nation should be. With

the lack of public funding and excessive wealthy influence, our government does not prove to be

of the people, by the people, and for the people (Gettysburg Address) in the way that reflects

the true democracy of America. In this sense, Sanders intends to restore democracy so that it

more a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

While some presidential candidates have similar stances on issues, these stances also

differ to lesser extent. Trump and Clinton may agree on a stance with Sanders, but Sanders

actually delves into how he intends to fulfill his propositions and how his stances on issues are

not just words on paper or coming out of a mouth. He portrays his stances as hopeful promises.

Some people who oppose Sanders may claim that his policies hinder the free will of American

citizens; in other words, socialist policies limit peoples individual freedom. However, the
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priority of a government is to provide for its people as well as give them their freedom to an

extent. If one matter clearly proves to be a struggle for many citizens, it is the governments

responsibility to help. Sanderss ideas for his presidency and our government are more

progressive than what people call socialist. They are progressive like those of Franklin D.

Roosevelt in the 1930s when he dug the United States out of a depression with New Deal

policies. They are progressive like many presidents after Roosevelt who intended to provide for

the people what they cannot do on their own. Sanders intends to preserve the ideals by which this

nation was founded upon. Sanderss ideas demonstrate that as president, he aims to aid the

people to accommodate them for what they dont have, not to take over the good things they

already have.
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Works Cited

Graham, David. Bernie Sanderss Global Victory Over Clinton. TheAtlantic.com. 21

March 2016. Web. 25 March 2016.

Sanders, Bernie.A Living Wage. Bernie 2016. www.berniesanders.com. Web. 25

March 2016.

Sanders, Bernie.Getting Big Money Out of Politics. Bernie 2016.

www.berniesanders.com. Web. 25 March 2016.

Sanders, Bernie. Its Time to Make College Tuition Free and Debt Free. Bernie 2016.

www.berniesanders.com. Web. 24 March 2016.

Sanders, Bernie. National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014

Continued. Congress.gov. 19 Dec 2013. Web. 24 March 2016

Slack, Donavan. Bernie Sanders outspends everyone. USA Today. 22 March 2016.

Web. 25 March 2016.

Voeten, Erik. Will Trump win over Sanderss voters on free trade? Washington Post.

21 March 2016. Web. 24 March 2016.

Morning Joe. Trump Minimum Wage Isnt a Bad Thing. www.msnbc.com. 20 August

2015. Web. 25 March 2016.

2016 Presidential Election ProCon.org. ProCon.org Headlines. N.p., n.d. Web. 27

March 2016.