The people of the United States are always looking at who could be the best person for the job when it comes to the role of president. Regardless of where someone stands politically, both sides are interested in what every candidate thinks on the hot topics of today. Two of the biggest candidates for the presidential election of 2016 are Dr. Ben Carson and Bernie Sanders. When looking at their views on hot topics that today are a big deal, three important ones come to mind: gun control, ISIS, and the Affordable Care Act.
One of the biggest topics that people care about currently is gun control. Bernie Sanders and Ben Carson both have their own views on it. However, it has been noted that Ben Carson is unique in his opinion as it does not really follow other Republican’s views on gun control. Dr. Ben Carson believes in gun control without registration as he believes that it just leads to guns being taken away. He is very pro-2nd Amendment. He also believes that semi-automatic weapons should only be allowed in the countryside of the United States and that they should not be allowed in big cities where it could fall into the wrong hands. Bernie Sanders is very firm on background checking. He believes that there should be background checks done to keep guns out of the hands of felons and mentally ill people who should not have a gun in their hands. He wants to put a federal ban on assault weapons and believes that gun control legislation should be put in the hands of the individual states themselves and not be a federal government problem to solve. There are not huge differences between the two with gun control aside from the fact that Carson is very pro-2nd Amendment and Sanders is not as passionate about that amendment staying the way it is. On other issues, however, the two are much more divided.
The only thing Sanders and Carson seem to agree on with the subject of ISIS is that they need to be stopped. Sanders believes that ISIS should be stopped but with a coalition. Coalition is just another term for an alliance. He says that we need to learn from our mistakes in the Iraq war and that the United States should not lead the fight for ISIS. Instead, the Middle Eastern allies of the United States should lead the coalition. On the other hand, Ben Carson believes we need to “untie the military’s hands” so to speak and let them destroy ISIS once and for all. He believes that the Americans need to step up with their leadership toward fighting ISIS. With these opinions, Bernie Sanders seems to be less about destruction and more about strategy and well thought out plans while Carson seems to just be about destroying ISIS and let the military attack without holding them back at all.
The third and final important subject would be the Affordable Care Act. Ben Carson is very much against the Affordable Care Act. He has said that the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, is about control and restriction. He even goes as far as saying that Obamacare is the worst thing to happen to the country since slavery. He talked about how slavery is when someone is robbed of their ability to control their own life, which is what Obamacare does. He also said that while he is all for healthcare for all, that Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act is not the way to go. Bernie Sanders’s opinion on the Affordable Care Act is that it did not actually do enough and that more needs to happen. He has his own healthcare plan which is sort of his own version of Obamacare that he believes is more helpful to the uninsured. This is a larger difference between the two candidates as Carson is completely against it while Sanders just believes it is simply not enough for the country.
It is always important to research the candidates running for president. Ben Carson and Bernie Sanders have very different views what with Carson being a Republican and Sanders being a Democrat. When looking at the people running, it is definitely important to look at the important topics like gun control, ISIS, and the Affordable Care Act. While it is perfectly fine to just vote based on political party, it is definitely more wise to research as some things, such as Carson’s views on gun control, may be different than what the rest of the party says.
