That Trump, Cruz, Clinton and Sanders all favor gun regulation? To differing degrees to be sure, but all of them are OK with regulation and have some form of proposal for it. Trump favors extending the waiting period and eliminating Assault Rifles, while Sanders wants there to be instant background checks and no semi-automatic weapons. But some kind of regulation – everyone agrees.
Did you know…
That Trump, Cruz, Clinton and Sanders all favor Israel. With Sanders being almost critical and the rest be unreservedly in support of Israel.
Did you know…
That Trump, Clinton and Sanders all favor increasing taxes on the very wealthy? Cruz has a flat tax proposal that he thinks is going to save the country. But the rest of them Clinton & Sanders think we need to make those 1% stand up for more of their share. [Keith has pointed out that Trump actually wants to reduce the tax rate on the wealthy – my information was from 17 years ago. Apparently, he no longer thinks the wealthy need to pay more]
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That Trump, Cruz, Clinton and Sanders all favor creating jobs. I know – that surprises no one.
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That Cruz and Clinton favor the USA Freedom act? Sanders is against and I couldn’t find Trumps position, except that he is pro surveillance, so… probably fine with it.
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That Trump, Cruz, Clinton and Sanders all favor preserving social security and Medicare. That all of them want to reform the Veterans Administration? Again – that surprises no one, but its important to recognize the similarities.
There are obviously many stark differences along party lines, but the differences between Trump & Cruz and Sanders & Clinton are fairly nuanced.
Between Trump & Cruz the largest difference is on taxes – Cruz is very keen on a flat tax and removing the IRS. Trump wants to cut spending except on military and increase decrease tax on billionaires.
Between Sanders & Clinton the biggest difference is in Security/Privacy & Healthcare. Sanders thinks we shouldn’t sacrifice our rights and privacy to fight terrorism, Clinton is OK with doing that. Sanders wants a true Universal Healthcare Plan, Clinton wants to improve the current ACA.
I think it’s important to note that the differences between the party candidates get inflated on social media and by the candidates themselves in an effort to claim distinctiveness.
It's a Thought 
I’m in favor of a flat tax. I think the current system is flawed, is too one sided and too prone to fraud abuse. I think we could do better by getting rid of the annual reporting and just having a flat tax.
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It really does sound like a simple, ideal plan. There appears to be some contention about whether it would produce sufficient taxes.
And it does seem to favor high income over lower income. Although he proposes 10% for families over 36K, which does not seem onerous, until you consider the 37K family. Last year they earned less money at 35K and netted more. A staggered tax rate seems more ideal somehow, but of course it still runs into the crossovers.
Several Eastern European countries have flat taxes of 21%-27% and aren’t making enough to cover the bills. But I don’t know how much of that is bad management and how much is reasonably not enough. Still government is never well managed…
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While, there may be some similarities, you may want to look into the tax proposals again. Both Cruz and Trump will be reducing the taxes on the wealthy in a huge way. Per former Senator Alan Simpson of the Simpson-Bowles Deficit Reduction Committee, as echoed by The Concord Coalition and Fix the Debt (both bipartisan organizations), both GOP front runners tax proposals would increase the deficit in such a huge way, there are not enough spending cuts to make up for it. I find this hypocritical, since Cruz has touted his concern over the deficit and singlehandedly shut down the government while we almost defaulted on our debts. Check out http://www.concordcoalition.org/.
I don’t mean to be contrarian as your point to look for similarities is a good one, but I have personally found on this issue, a great deal of hypocrisy, especially with Cruz who touts this as the reason to vote for him. His plan does not match his rhetoric.
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Well, I was basing my compare on actual quotes, but I noticed they often contradict themselves, Trump being the most self contradictory.
But thank you for pointing that out – because when I re-checked I found out my quote was from 1999 – he’s flip flopped. You are quite right – he wants to lower taxes on the wealthy now. My bad.
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You set yourself a rough task here in comparing the statements of candidates. So much of what they say is for the cameras, not from the heart. If I tried to assess the remaining five, I would say what my gut says they truly believe.
Here’s where I am now:
Cruz believes in Cruz. Period.
Trump believes in Trump. Or he would really really like to. Again.
Kasich believes this is all a bad dream and the Republicans will soon wake up.
Clinton believes in Clinton and the pragmatic 10 Point Plan for every issue.
Sanders believes in Sanders and his ability to turn complacent American consumers into revolutionaries.
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