Biden v Sanders, issue by issue

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), left, and former Vice President Joe Biden argue at the Democratic presidential debate in Manchester, Feb. 7, 2019. Photo / New York Times, Chang W Lee

Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont will debate one on one for the first time, and Sanders, who is staying in the Democratic primary race despite a series of defeats, has already telegraphed his strategy.

"Joe, what are you going to do?" Sanders repeatedly asked at a news conference last week, ticking off a laundry list of issues he plans to press Biden on, including health care, student debt, climate change, mass incarceration, immigration and wealth inequality.

Biden, for his part, has criticised Sanders on gun control and his signature policy proposal, "Medicare for All."

Here is where the two candidates stand on some of the issues each may raise.

HEALTH CARE

Biden

One of the biggest distinctions between the candidates is that Biden does not support a universal government-run health insurance programme like Medicare for All. Instead, he supports maintaining the private insurance system but adding a Medicare-like public option that anyone could sign up for — a proposal that still goes well beyond the Affordable Care Act. He estimates his plan would cost US$750 billion over a decade.

Biden would also increase tax credits for people to buy insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace. His plan doesn't specifically address medical debt.

Sanders

One of the bedrock principles of Sanders' campaign is that health care is a human right, and he is the torchbearer for Medicare for All. He estimates his plan would cost about US$30 trillion over 10 years and would be paid for by new revenue of about US$17.5 trillion, along with "current federal, state and local government spending."

He also wants to eliminate US$81 billion in medical debt.

CORONAVIRUS

Biden

The new coronavirus has quickly become the most urgent problem facing the country, and Biden released a plan Thursday calling for free testing, "the elimination of all cost barriers to preventive care and treatment for COVID-19" and emergency paid leave for affected workers.

He also wants to restore a White House office that oversaw responses to global health crises — an office that the Obama administration created and the Trump administration eliminated — and direct the Justice Department to combat price gouging for medical supplies.

Sanders

Sanders outlined his plan to address the coronavirus in a speech Thursday. He called for a national state of emergency (which President Donald Trump subsequently declared), emergency funding for paid sick leave, an expansion of community health centres and a mandate that all medications related to coronavirus be sold at cost.

STUDENT DEBT

Biden

Biden wants to make two-year community colleges and "other high-quality training programmes" debt-free but would not cancel existing student debt the way Sanders is proposing. His plan would, however, forgive the remaining balance for people who paid 5% of their discretionary income (with the first US$25,000 exempt) toward their loans for 20 years.

Sanders

Sanders wants to make all public colleges and universities free, cancel all student loan debt — about US$1.6 trillion owed by about 45 million Americans — and cap student loan interest rates at 1.88%. He said he would pay for the debt cancellation with a tax on financial transactions like stock trades.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Biden

Biden's US$1.7 trillion climate plan calls for 100% carbon-free energy and net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. It would end fossil fuel subsidies and subsidize clean energy but envisions a continued role for fossil fuels for some time: It would not ban fracking, for instance.

Sanders and former Biden embrace at the Democratic presidential debate in Westerville, Ohio last year. Photo / New York Times, Tamir Kailfa

Biden also supports federal funding for carbon capture and sequestration programs that could, in theory, eventually offset some emissions.

Sanders

Sanders is a proponent of the Green New Deal, a sweeping resolution that calls for aggressive action to combat climate change, and has modeled his US$16.3 trillion proposal on that plan. He calls for an immediate ban on fracking, for the electricity and transportation sectors to be carbon-free by 2030 and for the United States to end the use of fossil fuels no later than 2050.

IMMIGRATION

Biden

Biden wants to undo the Trump administration's hard-line immigration policies, reinstate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and create a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

In contrast to Sanders, he would not decriminalise unauthorised border crossings, but he is calling for a 100-day moratorium on deportations and said he would deport only people who have committed a serious crime.

Sanders

Sanders has called for a moratorium on deportations pending a review of the current immigration system. He also supports the reinstatement and expansion of the DACA program, which protected from deportation people who were brought into the United States as children.

In addition, he has backed the movement to abolish federal agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection.

MASS INCARCERATION

Biden

Criminal justice is a fraught issue for Biden, who helped pass laws, like the 1994 crime bill, that produced mass incarceration to begin with.

He has made a stark reversal on the issue during this campaign, calling for incentives for states to shift from incarceration to crime prevention, an end to mandatory minimum sentences and the death penalty, and decriminalising marijuana.

In contrast to Sanders, however, he does not want to legalise marijuana.

Sanders

Sanders has promised to cut the national prison population in half and end mass incarceration. To do that, he wants to abolish the death penalty, three-strikes laws and mandatory minimum sentences, among other measures.

GUN CONTROL

Biden

Biden supports an assault weapons ban, a voluntary buyback programme and a ban on online gun sales as well as a slew of proposals that are nearly universal among Democratic candidates now, like background checks and red-flag laws. He is also calling for incentives for states to enact gun licensing programs.

Sanders

Sanders, like Biden, supports an assault weapons ban, a voluntary buyback programme and many other gun restrictions. But much like criminal justice for Biden, gun control is a difficult area for Sanders, politically speaking: Earlier in his career, he voted against federal background checks and legal liability for gun manufacturers.

ABORTION

Biden

Biden has a long and complicated record on abortion. In the 1980s, he supported an attempt to let states overturn Roe v. Wade, and he supported the Hyde Amendment — which prevents Medicaid from covering abortion in most circumstances — until just last year.

Today, however, he supports the same basic set of policies every major Democrat in the race did, including legislation to codify Roe v. Wade, repeals of the Hyde Amendment and the global and domestic "gag rules," and a pledge to nominate only Supreme Court justices who support abortion rights.

Sanders

Sanders also supports legislation to codify Roe v. Wade, opposes the Hyde Amendment and the global and domestic gag rules, and has promised to nominate only Supreme Court justices who would uphold Roe v. Wade.

HOMELESSNESS

Biden

Biden is proposing US$640 billion over 10 years for affordable housing as well as a "bill of rights" that would provide protections against eviction, foreclosure and predatory mortgages. He also wants to create tax credits for renters and first-time homeowners and expand the Section 8 housing voucher program.

Sanders

Sanders proposes spending US$2.5 trillion to build about 10 million permanently affordable housing units. He also wants to implement a national rent control standard and spend US$70 billion to repair public housing.

MONEY IN POLITICS

Biden

Biden is calling for a constitutional amendment to make elections completely publicly funded, eliminating all private contributions — a significant step beyond what Sanders has proposed. In the shorter term, he wants to put new restrictions on super political action committees and publicly finance major parties' national conventions.

Sanders

Like most Democrats, Sanders wants to overturn Citizens United — the Supreme Court decision that prevents the government from banning political spending by corporations in elections — and then pass a constitutional amendment that makes clear that money is not speech. He also wants to abolish super PACs and has called for a ban on corporate contributions to the Democratic National Convention.

He has criticised Biden for accepting campaign contributions from billionaires.

WEALTH INEQUITY

Biden

Biden wants to strengthen collective bargaining, hold corporate executives personally liable for anti-union efforts and enforce labor laws more strongly. Like many Democrats, he is also calling for a US$15 minimum wage and for higher taxes on corporations and wealthy investors.

Sanders

Sanders has suggested taxing the rich with a wealth tax and progressive estate tax while also enacting a federal jobs guarantee, doubling union membership and taking other steps to bolster the working and middle class. He also wants to break up big banks.

Written by: Matt Stevens and Maggie Astor
Photographs by: Chang W Lee, Tamir Kailfa
© 2020 THE NEW YORK TIMES