Platform Analysis: Khan
Khan, officially a Republican, plans to bring a libertarian and progressive twist to the traditional conservative party.
In terms of economic policy, Khan hopes to bring tax cuts to everyone; he plans on slashing taxes in all brackets as well as for corporations. Khan believes that having a minimum wage is important, but increasing it to $15/hr would force businesses lay off many employees.
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Khan strongly favors reducing the reach of the federal government. Khan wants to cut the Ash and Coal Act and also remove EPA regulations on green energy use. Khan supports a gradual transition to using green energy while slowly separating from coal mining energy production. Khan does not want to implement carbon taxes; he expresses his support for protective legislation such as the Clean Air and Water Acts.
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Parting ways with most congressional Republicans, Khan plans on drastically changing Obamacare rather than a “repeal & replace” tactic. He believes that all Americans should be covered by robust yet affordable plans. Khan also plans on letting competition between providers flourish by privatizing the current system, which he says will lower prices for the consumer.
One of Khan’s most passionate commitments is to education. Khans believes education to be a “great equalizer” that enables class mobility. A strong believer in equality of opportunity, Khan plans on closing what he calls a “loophole” in Title I which creates vast rifts in funding and teacher quality between schools in the same county.
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Khan knows America’s history and believes that direct military intervention is not the solution to current global affairs. When asked about his plans to defeat ISIS, Khan explained that we must arm like-minded militant groups in the Middle East, and that it is best if the U.S. does not get involved directly. On the subject of North Korea, Khan believes their erratic dictator, now armed with nuclear weapons, to be a non-issue. He claims our strategy of deterrence has worked thus far and plans on continuing to avoid escalation.
Khan’s campaign platform is an attempt to close the gap in ideologies between the liberals and conservatives. Rather than appeal to more diverse voters, this volatile platform can alienate voters with extreme ideologies, whether liberal or conservative. Khan is unspecific with his ideas for minimum wage, would he raise it or keep it the same as it is? Khan’s platform for the environment is very liberal and may stop people from the coal industry and other corporations that are using non-renewable energy sources from supporting him. Khan is confusing with his position on how he is exactly going to deal with the coal industry. While he wants more people to get jobs in the coal industry and wants to remove the Ash and Coal Act, he also is advocating for the transition to green energy use and separating from coal mining energy production. Khan’s conservative view on Obamacare however, will help him win votes from those seeking drastic changes to Obamacare. On education, Khan pushes an appealing platform that will draw in those of lower classes, with beliefs of them receiving a better education for better opportunities. Khan is very liberal in his platform for foreign policy with him choosing to be non-aggressive with his approach to terrorist groups like ISIS and North Korea. This will cause conservative voters feel a sense of detachment towards Khan. The platform that Khan is running with is likely to create problems during the election because of overly diverse ideas being mixed to one platform.