The first African American president of the United States, Barack Obama, has been a successful leader of our nation, having served two terms over the last eight years.  Now that the year is coming to an end, a new leader must take over Obama's place as our new president.  There are four candidates running for the spot as our 45th president:  Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Gary Johnson and Jill Stein.  It is our job, as a nation, to decide who we trust to not only become our new leader but most importantly, our voice.  Prior to voting, it is important to understand the views of all the candidates on the major issues that govern our nation.  The two main candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, will be discussed in this blog, along with their say on three topic issues: gay marriage, taxes and abortion.

Taxes are paid in many different forms.  We pay for taxes when we buy things at a store, when we own property, and even when we work, where a certain percentage is sent to the government.  Tax money is used to fund and support roads, parks, schools, firefighters, police, etc.  Hillary Clinton believes that the wealthy class isn't paying enough taxes, while the middle class is paying too much.  In order to fix this issue, Clinton claims she will close corporate tax loopholes and give tax relief to working families.  This will prevent businesses from relocating overseas to dodge taxes and increase funds on roads, child care, schools, etc. As a middle-class part-time college student working over 40 hours a week to help my parents make ends-meet, I stand firmly with Clinton's tax issue propositions.  I believe that her ideas will create equality in taxes paid for between the wealthy and middle classes. On the other hand, Trump is proposing a tax agenda that will give the middle class a small tax cut and the wealthy class a huge tax cut.  By doing so, Trump believes his plan will reduce taxes on both sides, without destroying jobs.  I don't completely agree with Trumps plan because the wealthy class needs to pay the fair amount of taxes that match how much money they get.  The working class can hardly pay for bills, let alone worry about so much taxes.

Abortion is the termination of a human pregnancy.  There are several reasons why a mother would want to choose abortion as a means of ending her pregnancy from being a rape victim to just not being ready to have a family.  Some people may think of abortion as a crime while others will think it's the right of a mother to be able to make the call.  Clinton is pro-choice, supporting abortion.  She believes that a mother has every right to decide whether or not she wants to keep her child or not.  Being a woman, I understand what Clinton is saying.  A mother definitely has every right to make that decision, not the government.  However, I believe that abortion is still a wrong way out of a pregnancy.  Not matter how I see it, it is no different than murder.  Claiming to be pro-life, Trump claims that he is against abortion.  He claims that it is wrong to end an unborn life.  He does explain that he does have exceptions such as rape, incest and if the mother is going to die.  Trump declares that those who abort their pregnancies need to face some sort of punishment, that of which he is not yet sure of.  I agree with Trump in that sense that abortion is wrong.  Abortion is comparable to that of murder.  It is morally unjust to end a life, let alone a life that has not seen the world yet.

People all around the world have fought very hard to push the legalization of gay marriage.  The countless protests of hundreds of people in several cities turned out to be a huge success.  Since June 26, 2016, gay marriage has been legal in the United States.  Although same sex marriage is acceptable by the law, there are still many opposing people.  There are several gay couples that still receive dirty looks, jokes, rude comments and much more discrimination.  Hillary is completely for marriage equality.  She states she will ensure all LGBT Americans have full equality under the law.  This will end all discrimination in schools, workplaces and all areas of our society.  With LGBT family members, I understand first-hand exactly what it's like to be hated for who you are.  With Clinton's promising ideas, I believe she will definitely make a difference and continue to further ensure same sex equality. Meanwhile, Trump is against gay marriage.  He is completely against this movement so much that he wants the Supreme Court to reverse its 2015 same sex marriage legalization throughout our nation.  I strongly disagree with Trump.  His ideas are very wrong and unfair.  Everyone deserves to be treated just the same as the next person.  Marriage should never be defined as a woman-man relationship.  Marriage is about being with the person you love and if a person finds love within someone of the same sex, then there should be no laws against him/her.

After reading more about both candidates and their views on these three topic issues, I have made a decision as to who I believe would be a better fit as our next President of the United States.  Between Clinton and Trump, Clinton's views and ideas have persuaded me to choose her as the stronger and more promising candidate.  Furthermore, Clinton has far more experience than Trump.  All in all, most of Clinton's ideas are more practical and efficient while Trump's ideas are much too reserved and impractical.