In light of the upcoming primary election in Texas, The Featherduster has compiled a referential list to help you discover which candidate you like best.

Republican Ted Cruz (Texas State Senator):

[Sources]

https://ballotpedia.org/Ted_Cruz_presidential_campaign,_2016#Domestic

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/ted-cruz-believe-candidate-stands-10-issues/

https://www.conservativereview.com/2016-presidential-candidates/candidates/ted-cruz

http://www.vox.com/2015/3/24/8280817/ted-cruz-issues

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/12/07/sens-cruz-paul-call-end-muslim-immigration-rubio-ignores-issue/

http://www.ontheissues.org/2016/Ted_Cruz_Energy_+_Oil.htm

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2016/01/28/3743660/ted-cruz-abortion-rally/

http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2016/01/27/3743336/cruz-gay-marriage-iowa/

https://www.tedcruz.org/tax_plan/

Education: Abolish Common Core; allow the states to set their own education standards.

Immigration: Increase the strength of the Mexican border, repeal/defund any amnesty programs and construct an E-Verify system of attaining citizenship; prevent any Muslim refugees fleeing unstable countries from entering the United States.

Taxes: Establish a flat tax rate of 10 percent for all Americans, except for families of four, which will not be taxed for the first $36,000 earned; abolish the IRS.

Jobs and Market: Do not raise the minimum wage; audit the Federal Reserve; revoke Net Neutrality and the Export-Import bank; encourage free trade and prevent the government from influencing the market.

Energy: Prohibit/repeal any legislation regarding climate change that inhibits businesses or the free market; maintain subsidies for fossil fuel companies to ensure Americans are employed.

Healthcare: Repeal Obamacare.

Foreign Policy: Repeal the Iranian Nuclear Deal, enforce tougher sanctions; send in ground troops for ISIS only if Kurdish forces need supplemental support.

Abortion: Pro-life; allow abortion policies to be determined by the states; defund Planned Parenthood.

Same-Sex Marriage: Enable marriage to be determined by the states; states should ignore the ruling set by Obergefell v. Hodges.

Environment: Reduce the Environmental Protection Agency’s restrictions on oil drilling; pass the Keystone XL Pipeline Act; rejects the science supporting climate change.

Debt: Pass a federal mandate requiring Congress to pass a balanced budget; cut spending on Medicare and Medicaid in order to reduce the national debt.

Gun Control: Prosecute those who pose a danger to national security while ensuring that the Second Amendment is upheld.

Republican Donald Trump (American businessman and billionaire):

[Sources]

http://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/637186/Donald-Trump-policies-Republican-Party-White-House-GOP

http://www.ontheissues.org/Donald_Trump.htm#Foreign_Policy

https://www.donaldjtrump.com/positions

https://www.donaldjtrump.com/positions/tax-reform

http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/20/politics/trump-announcement-speech/

http://money.cnn.com/2015/07/28/news/economy/donald-trump-polls-taxes-wages/

http://www.ontheissues.org/Celeb/Donald_Trump_Free_Trade.htm

http://www.hrc.org/2016RepublicanFacts/donald-trump

https://ballotpedia.org/2016_presidential_candidates_on_gay_rights#Donald_Trump

Education: Eliminate Common Core and cut spending for the Department of Education; enable local decisions to direct educational standards.

Immigration: Construct a wall between the U.S. and Mexico which will be funded by the Mexican government; stop all Muslim immigrants from entering the United States until order is restored (the meaning of this is unspecified by Trump).

Taxes: Simplify the tax code and reduce tax rates for all classes; lower taxes on capital gains; eliminate the death tax and corporation taxes.

Jobs and Market: Entice companies and corporations to return to American soil and provide jobs for the public; promote the globalization of the U.S. economy; compete with other international finance powerhouses.

Energy: Encourage the drilling of oil in order to maintain a prosperous economy.

Healthcare: Repeal Obamacare and replace it with a cheaper solution.

Foreign Policy: Enforce tougher sanctions against Iran; strengthen the military but allow Russia to deal with the Middle East.

Abortion: Pro-life; defund Planned Parenthood; prohibit late (exact time unspecified) abortions.

Same-Sex Marriage: In favor of traditional marriage but respects the Supreme Court’s decision and does not seek to challenge it.

Environment: Believes climate change is illegitimate; restrict the influence of the EPA.

Debt: Stop adding to our budget.

Gun Control: Protect the Second Amendment; repeal any executive action approved by Obama that restricts gun ownership.

Republican Marco Rubio (Florida State Senator):

[Sources]

http://www.ontheissues.org/Social/Marco_Rubio_Abortion.htm

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/marco-rubio-believe-candidate-stands-10-issues/

https://marcorubio.com/issues-2/rubio-tax-plan/

https://ballotpedia.org/Marco_Rubio_presidential_campaign,_2016#Economic_and_fiscal

http://votesmart.org/candidate/political-courage-test/1601/marco-rubio/#.VquWVseMC9Y

http://www.ontheissues.org/Domestic/Marco_Rubio_Jobs.htm

http://www.businessinsider.com/marco-rubio-on-planned-parenthood-2015-9

https://marcorubio.com/issues-2/marco-rubio-immigration-plan-border-security-legal/

Education: Eliminate Common Core; ensure states possess the flexibility to control their educations and construct their own curriculums; introduce income-based repayment as the primary method to allow students to pay back their loans.

Immigration: Implement an E-Verify system of identification; finish a fully-fledged Mexican-U.S. border wall; deport illegal immigrants and cease funding toward sanctuary cities.

Taxes: Eradicate capital gain taxes; reduce corporation tax and construct three tax brackets: those who earn below $75,000 (15 percent), those who earn $75,000 – $150,000 (25 percent) and those who earn above $150,000 (35 percent). Cut all taxes on businesses to 25 percent.

Jobs and Market: Dismantle Net Neutrality; do not raise the minimum wage and instead provide wage subsidies.

Energy: Lift existing bans targeting crude oil exports; approves of the Keystone XL Pipeline.

Healthcare: Replace Obamacare with tax credits to pay for insurance.

Foreign Policy: Deploy a dominant and perhaps perpetual presence of ground troops in Iraq; revoke the Iranian nuclear deal and implement more strict sanctions; do not cultivate trade relations with Cuba.

Abortion: Pro-life; ban abortion after 20 weeks; prioritize reducing the amount of abortions that occur; disapproves of the abortions supplemented by Planned Parenthood.

Same-Sex Marriage: Opposes same-sex marriage but admits that all Americans must live in accordance to Obergefell v. Hodges.

Environment: Believes climate change is not caused by manmade activities.

Debt: Freeze budget spending, except for defense; restrict government spending and borrowing from other countries.

Gun Control: Protect the Second Amendment; considers gun laws ineffective toward criminals and therefore should not be passed.

Republican Ben Carson (retired neurosurgeon):

[Sources]

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/ben-carson-believe-candidate-stands-10-issues/

https://www.bencarson.com/issues

http://www.ontheissues.org/Ben_Carson.htm

http://www.ontheissues.org/2016/Ben_Carson_Abortion.htm

http://www.2016committee.org/issues

http://www.ontheissues.org/2016/Ben_Carson_Health_Care.htm

http://www.ontheissues.org/2016/Ben_Carson_Immigration.htm

http://taxfoundation.org/article/details-and-analysis-dr-ben-carson-s-tax-plan

http://www.ontheissues.org/2016/Ben_Carson_Gun_Control.htm

http://ontheissues.org/2016/Ben_Carson_Foreign_Policy.htm

Education: Restrict any federal standard that may impede on school choice; promotes charter schools and vouchers.

Immigration: Crack down on companies and businesses that violate immigration laws; believes any who enter the country illegally are criminals; admit illegal immigrants as guest workers and require them to pay taxes.

Taxes: High corporate taxes cripple the economy; employ a flat 14.9 percent tax rate and prohibit the taxation of capital gains and dividends.

Jobs and Market: Do not interfere with the free market; encourage the growth of American businesses overseas. Do not raise the minimum wage; do not allow the federal government to heavily affect the market.

Energy: Abolish all energy subsidies; work toward independence from foreign oil.

Healthcare: Substitute Obamacare with a savings account that receives $2,000 per year for the entire family.

Foreign Policy: Support Israel above all else; enable the military to exert some dominance over the Middle East while striving to remain independent from oil.

Abortion: Pro-life; wants Roe v. Wade to be overturned; the only exception for allowing abortion is if the health/life of the mother is at risk.

Same-Sex Marriage: Though against same-sex marriage, the people must respect the ruling of the Supreme Court.

Environment: Believes climate change should be considered irrelevant to administrative decisions. Limit the EPA’s power over the economy.

Debt: Force cuts on the federal budget before raising the debt ceiling. Enable citizens to leave Medicare in order to cut some of its budget.

Gun Control: Do not impose any restrictions on gun control against lawful citizens.

Republican John Kasich (Ohio State Governor):

[Sources]

http://presidential-candidates.insidegov.com/l/47/John-Kasich

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/john-kasich-believe-candidate-stands-10-issues/

http://www.ontheissues.org/John_Kasich.htm#Environment

http://www.mydaytondailynews.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/kasich-calls-for-cuts-in-federal-regulations/nnPtF/

https://ballotpedia.org/John_Kasich_presidential_campaign,_2016

https://johnkasich.com/issues/

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/22/us/politics/john-kasich-on-the-issues.html?_r=0

http://www.fixthedebt.org/blog/john-kasich-releases-budget-and-economic-plan_1#.Vs5A6seMDq0

John Kasich on Budget & Economy – On The Issues

https://johnkasich.com/resultsnow/

http://www.ontheissues.org/2016/John_Kasich_Health_Care.htm

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/politics/elections/2015/08/17/john-kasich-medicaid-obamacare-republican-presidential-campaign/31745793/

Education: Maintain the standards set by the Common Core but allow state governments and local communities to create the curriculum; cut federal spending on public education and limit the Department of Education.

Immigration: Illegal immigrants should not be provided with a path to citizenship, but they should be able to become legal if they haven’t committed any crimes and pay taxes; prevent any more Syrian refugees from entering the country.

Taxes: Distribute a $3 billion tax cut for job creators; cut taxes targeting annual income and corporations while increasing taxes on consumption and fracking.

Jobs and Market: Deregulate domestic businesses; suspend new regulations for a year in order to refurbish the market.

Energy: Against restricting the amount of emissions businesses are allowed to produce; all forms of energy should compete in the market, but regulations should never put people out of work.

Healthcare: Expand Medicaid; though against Obamacare, he supports insurance exchanges and extensive coverage; vows to improve or even replace Obamacare entirely if elected.

Foreign Policy: Critical of the Iran Nuclear Deal; sending combat troops to fight ISIS is a necessity; ensure that both Israel and the NATO allies which border the East remain safe.

Abortion: Pro-life; ban abortion after 20 weeks unless the mother’s life is in danger; defund Planned Parenthood.

Same-Sex Marriage: Favors traditional marriage, but the Supreme Court decision has been made: the country must accept the ruling and focus on other issues.

Environment: Believes climate change is real and should be addressed; however, businesses should not have their emissions be limited by the EPA, though private and local restrictions on carbon emissions should be enforced.

Debt: Create an amendment to the constitution that requires Congress to pass an annual balanced budget; reduce spending on healthcare, Medicare and Medicaid in order to create a surplus.

Gun Control: The key to controlling gun violence is registering the mentally ill; keep any existing gun laws; don’t do anything executive or irrational.

Democrat Hillary Clinton (former Secretary of State):

[Sources]

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/hillary-clinton-believe-candidate-stands-10-issues/

http://votesmart.org/candidate/political-courage-test/55463/hillary-clinton/#.Vs5VjceMDq0

http://www.ontheissues.org/Hillary_Clinton.htm

http://www.businessinsider.com/hillary-clinton-vs-bernie-sanders-on-the-issues-2015-9

https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/

http://www.ontheissues.org/celeb/Hillary_Clinton_Environment.htm

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/29/hillary-clinton-israel-relationship_n_6965938.html

https://www.hillaryclinton.com/briefing/factsheets/2015/08/10/college-compact/

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/23/us/politics/hillary-rodham-clinton-proposes-cap-on-patients-drug-costs-as-sanders-pushes-his-plan.html?_r=0

Education: Establish a universal Pre-K education system; provide up to $17.5 billion in funds for states to invest in better education; make public college debt free for those who are in need with a $350 billion plan to finance it.

Immigration: Give an opportunity for illegal immigrants to obtain legal status within the U.S.; continue to enforce Obama’s executive actions on immigration; shut down privately held detention centers and provide Obamacare to undocumented citizens.

Taxes: Raise the tax for capital gains; provide tax credits for the middle class and enforce taxes on short-term capital gains.

Jobs and Market: Raise the minimum wage to $12 per hour; incentivize businesses to hire previous felons by granting them tax credits as well as $1,500 for hiring apprentices.

Energy: Construct half a billion solar panels by 2020; opposes the Keystone Pipeline; promotes renewable energy; envisions 33 percent of the nation’s energy running on renewable energy by 2027; invest $5 billion for green-collar jobs.

Healthcare: Keep Obamacare; enable the government to set insurance rates and negotiate prices for pharmaceuticals; distribute tax credits for families with expensive, uninsured medical expenses; limit out-of-pocket spending to $250 per month.

Foreign Policy: No ground troops, only air support for the fight against ISIS; supports the current Iran nuclear deal; seek out a long-term solution for both Palestinians and Israelis; U.S. should take in up to 65,000 Syrian refugees; against the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Abortion: Pro-choice; abortion should remain available during all stages; focus on foster care and improved contraceptives to reduce abortions.

Same-Sex Marriage: Supports same-sex marriage though has previously been against it.

Environment: Thinks global warming is a real issue; implement the Clean Power Plan, which will set a federal standard for cutting carbon emissions.

Debt: Impose a $250 billion stimulus in order to improve infrastructure; increase investment, both public and private.

Gun Control: Enforce background checks; hold gun manufacturers accountable: allow them to receive lawsuits.

Democrat Bernie Sanders (Vermont State Senator):

[Sources]

http://www.businessinsider.com/hillary-clinton-vs-bernie-sanders-on-the-issues-2015-9

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/bernie-sanders-believe-candidate-stands-10-issues/

http://www.ontheissues.org/Bernie_Sanders.htm

http://www.factcheck.org/2015/12/sanders-support-for-syrian-refugees/

http://feelthebern.org

Education: Free universal education at the Pre-K level; free tuition for public and community colleges.

Immigration: Enable undocumented workers a path to citizenship; securing the border is important, but a wall is unnecessary; supports the DREAM Act and waives deportations.

Taxes: Boost the tax rate for citizens making more than $250,000 to 37 percent and those making more than $10,000,000 to 52 percent; stop Wall Street and big business from exploiting tax loopholes.

Jobs and Market: Raise the minimum wage to $15; audit the Federal Reserve and utilize its influence to fund small business; charge businesses for high-risk investment practices.

Energy: Repeal fossil fuel subsidies and charge businesses for carbon emissions.

Healthcare: Appreciates Obamacare but wishes to enlarge healthcare coverage; construct a universal healthcare system through a single-payer system; expand existing welfare programs until all American citizens are insured.

Foreign Policy: Withdraw U.S. troops from the Middle East; focus more on domestic issues; supports a mutual, two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict and was critical of the prime minister of Israel Netanyahu’s address to Congress; believes U.S. should take responsibility for the Syrian crisis and take in an unspecified number of Syrian refugees; against the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Abortion: Pro-choice; abortion should be available to women at all stages of pregnancy.

Same-Sex Marriage: Supports same-sex marriage: believes LGBTQ+ values are American family values.

Environment: Acknowledges climate change as real and an international problem that must be addressed; against the Keystone Pipeline.

Debt: Reduce military spending and create a progressive tax bracket; invest in infrastructure in order to supply jobs to the public.

Gun Control: Enforce a federal ban on assault rifles; expand federal background checks; any more regulations should be left to the discretion of the states.