The U.S. faces two futures in the November election. In one, the new president offers the country a better future, based on science, hard evidence, and a willingness to learn from experience. She promotes policies that spur good jobs across the country, using technology and clean energy. She supports education, health care, and reproductive rights. She treats the climate crisis as an emergency and seeks to mitigate its catastrophic storms, fires, and droughts.
In another future, a new president compromises public health and safety and dismisses evidence in favor of mindless conspiracy fantasies. He ignores the climate crisis in favor of more pollution. He demands that Federal officials are showing him personal loyalty instead of enforcing US laws. He fills federal scientific and other agencies with unqualified ideologists. He incites people to hatred and division, and he inspires extremists at the state and local levels to pass laws. which disrupt education and it's more difficult to do this make a living.
Only one of these futures will improve the destiny of this country and the world. That is why, for only the second time in our magazine's 179-year history, the editors Scientific American support a candidate for president. That person is Kamala Harris.
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Before we gave our endorsement, we looked at Harris’s record as a U.S. senator and vice president under Joe Biden, as well as the policy proposals she made as a presidential candidate. Her opponent, Donald Trump, who was president from 2017 to 2021, also has a record — a disastrous one. Let’s compare.
Healthcare
Biden-Harris Administration strengthened the popular Affordable Care Act (ACA), giving more people access to health insurance through subsidies. During Harris's September 10 debate with Trump, she said one of her goals as president would be to expand that coverage. Numerous studies have shown that People with insurance stay healthier and live longer because they can afford to visit doctors for preventive and emergency care. Harris supports Medicaid expansiona US health care program for low-income people. States that have expanded the program have seen improvements in public health.while states that continue to restrict eligibility do not. To pay for Medicare, a health insurance program primarily for older Americans, Harris supports raising taxes on people earning $400,000 or more a year. And the Biden-Harris administration succeeded in passing the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which limits the cost of several expensive drugs, including insulin, for Medicare beneficiaries. Harris' vice presidential pick Tim Walz signs legislation prohibition on excessive price increases for generics as governor of Minnesota.
While in office, Trump Proposes Cuts to Medicare, Medicaid (Congress, to its credit, refused to accept them.) He also insisted that a work requirement be a condition of Medicaid eligibility, which makes it difficult for people to qualify for the program. As a candidate, both in 2016 and this year, He promised to repeal the ACAbut it’s unclear what he’ll replace it with. When pressed during a September debate, he said, “I have concepts for a plan,” but didn’t elaborate. Like Harris, however, he has expressed concern about drug prices, and in 2020 he signed an executive order designed to lower prices for drugs covered by Medicare.
The COVID pandemic has been the greatest test of the American health care system in modern history. Harris served as vice president of an administration that pushed for widespread distribution of COVID vaccines and created a free mail-in COVID testing program. Wastewater surveillance for viruses has improved, allowing health officials to respond more quickly to high levels. Bird flu now poses a new threat, underscoring the importance of the Biden-Harris administration’s Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy.
Trump praised his efforts to combat the pandemic during his first debate with Harris, but in 2020 he encouraged resistance to basic public health measures, spread misinformation about treatments, and suggested that bleach injections could cure the disease. By the end of that year, About 350,000 people in the United States have died COVID; the current total number of cases in the country is more than a million. Trump and his staff have had one big success: Operation Warp Speed, which developed effective COVID vaccines at an incredible rate. Notably, however, Trump plans to cut a billion dollars from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health, which have launched a COVID vaccine research program. These moves are in line with the guidelines Project 2025a highly conservative blueprint for the next presidency, drawn up by many former Trump staffers. He also talked about shutting down the Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy, calling it a pig project.
Reproductive rights
Harris is a staunch supporter of reproductive rightsDuring the September debate, she made it clear that she wanted to restore “protection Roe v. Wade” and added: “I think the American people believe that certain freedoms, particularly the freedom to make decisions about one's own body, should not be established by government.” She vowed improve access to abortionShe defended the right to order the abortion pill mifepristone by mail with approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administrationeven though the Republican MAGA government has tried – so far unsuccessfully –revoke these rightsAs a U.S. Senator, she co-sponsored the package of bills. reduce rising maternal mortality ratesIn August, Trump said he would vote against a bill to expand abortion access in florida, where he livesFlorida's 'heartbeat' law makes most abortions illegal after six weeks of pregnancy, before many people even know they are pregnant.
Trump appointed conservative US Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade, abolishes the constitutional right to basic health care. He spreads misinformation about abortion — during a September debate, he said some states support abortions at nine months and beyond, calling it “execution after birth.” No state allows that. He also declined to answer a question about whether he would veto a federal abortion ban, saying Congress would never approve one in the first place. He made no mention of the executive order and praised the Supreme Court, three of whose justices he appointed, for returning abortion to the states to decide. That ruling led to patchwork legislation and entire areas of the country where abortion is dangerously restricted.
Weapons Safety
The Biden-Harris administration closed the gun show loophole that allowed people to buy guns without a license. the evidence is clear that easy access to guns in the US has increased the risk suicides, homicides and accidents involving firearms. Harris supports a program that temporarily confiscates weapons from people recognized by the court as dangerous.
Trump promised the National Rifle Association that he would get rid of all Biden-Harris gun measures. Even after Trump was wounded and a supporter killed in an assassination attempt, the former president remained silent on gun safety. His running mate, J.D. Vance, said the rise in school shootings was a “fact of life“And the solution was to strengthen security in schools.
Environment and climate
During the September debate, Harris made a pointed statement that climate change is real. She would have continued responsible leadership demonstrated by Biden, who has taken the most significant climate action of any president. The Biden-Harris administration has restored the U.S. to the Paris Agreement to combat climate change. Harris' election will continue the IRA clean energy tax credits and rules to reduce power plant emissions and coal useThe approach allows the country to spend billions of dollars in authorized spending on renewable energy, which should cut U.S. carbon emissions in half by 2030. The IRA also includes a commitment to expand electric vehicle technology.
Trump said climate change is a hoaxand he dodged the question, “What would you do to combat climate change?” during a September debate. He pulled the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement. Under his leadership, the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies have refused over 100 environmental policies and regulationsmany of which are intended to provide clean air and water, limit the dangers of toxic chemicals, and protect wildlife. He also tried to cancel funding for climate satellite projects.
Technologies
The Biden-Harris Administration’s 2023 Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence requires that AI products be safe for consumers and national security. The CHIPS and Science Act incentivizes chip manufacturing and semiconductor research while expanding the workforce. The new Trump Administration will quickly undo all of this work. Under the insidious and divisive framework of Project 2025, technology safeguards for AI will be rolled back. AI is impacting our criminal justice, labor, and health care systems. As is now rightly complained, there will be no telling how these programs are developed, how they are tested, or whether they work at all.
The 2024 U.S. ballots also include Congress and local officials—the people who make decisions that impact our communities and families. For example, extremist state legislators in Ohio gave Politicians have the power to override any rule of the state health department designed to limit the spread of infectious diseases. Other states have taken similar measures. In education, many states now ban lessons on racial prejudice. But studies have shown that such lessons reduce stereotypes and do not motivate students treat each other negatively, regardless of raceThis is the kind of science that MAGA politicians ignore, and people like that don't deserve our votes.
At the top of the ballot, Harris deserves our vote. She offers us a path forward illuminated by rationality and respect for all. From an economic perspective, the renewable energy projects she supports will create new jobs in rural America. Her platform is also Increases tax deductions for new small businesses from $5,000 to $50,000, making it easier for them to make a profit. Trump, convicted felon which was also found responsibility for sexual violence in civil proceedings, it proposes to return to its dark fantasies and demagoguery, whether it is denying the reality of climate change or the results of the 2020 elections, which were confirmed by more than 60 court casesincluding those controlled by judges he appointed.
One of two futures will come true according to our choice in this election. Only one – a vote for reality and honesty. We urge you to vote for Kamala Harris.