Last week social media blew up with scandal. Tensions are higher than they have been at any point in the 2016 election. On the heels of an “October surprise” about Trump was the second presidential debate. The debate should have been about the issues that will affect all of us long after the shock of the latest controversy wears off but it was clouded by the gossip. The good news, at least for me, is that after the moderators wasted the opening 20 minutes of the debate grilling Trump’s immorality (and ironically Anderson Cooper scolded the audience applause to Trump as a waste of time) they did get on to talk about at least five issues of substance.

I have not heard any of these issues rehashed on my social media. All I have heard since Friday, October 7, is a debate as to which candidate has the worse character. This is an argument that cannot be won. If both of these candidates were scrutinized more harshly over their character and more people voted with principle during the primaries, we would have different nominees today. There will be consequences that result from either candidate’s election, which consequences can you live with?

Let’s pay attention to what these two people say they will do. I am more interested in solutions than gossip. Let’s navigate them together.

Five substantial topics that were discussed during the debate were:

1. The Affordable Care Act
2. Islamophobia and Extreme Vetting
3. Tax Provisions
4. Syrian Humanitarian Crisis
5. Supreme Court Justices

You can see a full transcript the debate on Politico, but here is my paraphrase that trims redundant comments, fluff, and comparisons.

The Affordable Care Act

Hilary says that she will fix the problems with the affordable care act such as lowering the high premiums, copays, deductibles, and prescription drug costs. She says that some things are good about the Affordable Care Act such as there being more people on insurance, companies can’t deny coverage over a pre-existing condition, there’s no lifetime limits, women can’t be charged more than men, and young people can stay on their parent’s policies until the age of 26. She says she’ll get more help to small businesses so that they can afford to provide health insurance. She says that we are at 90% health care coverage and she wants to get that to 100%.

Donald says, “Obamacare is a disaster!” and that the costs are through the roof claiming that by 2017 it will implode. He says that Clinton’s method of fixing it would be to go back and ask congress for more money but we are almost $20 trillion in debt. He proposes repealing the Affordable Care Act and replacing it with something much less expensive. He suggests giving it back to the insurance companies because when they have competition, rather than a monopoly, costs will go down. He says that a single payer plan like the one Clinton proposes would be similar to what they have in Canada, and when Canadians need a big operation they come here because their system is slow.

Islamophobia and Extreme Vetting

Donald says, “I mean, whether we like it or not and we can be politically correct, but whether we like it or not, there is a problem. When they see hatred going on, they have to report it. As the example in San Bernardino. Many people saw the bombs all over the apartment of the two people that killed 14 and wounded many, many people. Horribly wounded, they will never be the same.” He goes on to say that the problem is Radical Islamic Terrorism and you have to name the problem in order to solve it. When pressed about his past comments regarding the blocking Muslims from coming here he clarified that he would use “extreme vetting” from places where Isis has territory. He also noted that Hilary Clinton and Barak Obama want to increase the number of refugees coming here without knowing enough about them.

Hilary says that there are divisive dark things said about Muslims like Captain Khan who lost his life defending our country. She says that Donald attacks people like him. She also said that we need Muslim Americans to be our “eyes and ears” to help keep us safe. She intends to defeat ISIS by building a coalition with majority Muslim nations. She believes that these nations won’t cooperate with us when they hear the divisive language. She says that we are not at war with Islam, we are at war with Jihadists. She also feels that we need to bare our weight with the refugee crisis instead of leaving it to places like Europe. She wouldn’t have religious tests in the vetting and suggested that saying things about Muslims is a propaganda strategy used to recruit Jihadists. She then said the go to www.hilaryclinton.com to fact check Donald about his position on the Iraq war.

Tax Provisions:

Trump says that he would get rid of carried interest. He critiqued that Hilary complains about him using the tax code but she didn’t try to change it when she was a Senator. He speculated that she wouldn’t change it because of the people who contribute to her campaign to put out negative ads. He says that he would get rid of carried interest provisions, lower taxes, get rid of regulations, bring the tax rate down from 35% to 15%, and cut taxes for the middle class. He said that Hilary would raise taxes.

Hilary’s response was that everything Donald said wasn’t true. She believes that his tax cuts would end up raising taxes on middle class families. She said that nobody who makes less than $250,000 will have their taxes raised. She said that she voted to close corporate loopholes as a Senator. She would apply the Buffett rule and tax people who are making a million dollars. She wants to have a surcharge on incomes above 5 million and make up for lost times. She thinks “all the gains have gone to the top” since the great recession. She stated that she doesn’t want any individual getting away without paying their fair share.

Syrian Humanitarian Crisis

Hilary says that she advocates for no-fly and safe zones. She believes we need some leverage with the Russians and to work more closely with our allies on the ground. She says that Russia is ambitious and aggressive and that they want Donald to be president. She claimed that she has stood up to Russia and will do it again but they got a treaty reducing nuclear weapons as well as sanctions on Iran. She would also support efforts to investigate for war crimes committed by the Syrians and the Russians to hold them accountable.

Trump said, “Now, with that being said, she talks tough against Russia, but our nuclear program has fallen way behind and they have gone wild with their nuclear program. Not good. Our government shouldn’t have allowed that to happen. Russia is new in terms of nuclear and we are old and tired and exhausted in terms of nuclear. A very bad thing.” He critiqued what she did in Libya with Quaddafi, said that Isis has a good chunk of the oil and that the Iran deal is the dumbest deal he’s ever seen. He said that Assad, Russia, and Iran are killing Isis and they’ve lined up because of weak foreign policy.

The Supreme Court

Hilary says that she will appoint justices who “understand the way the world really works” and that she thinks the current court has gone the wrong direction. She said, “I would want to see the Supreme Court reverse Citizens United and get dark unaccountable money out of our politics” and “ I want a Supreme Court that will stick with Roe v. Wade and a woman’s right to choose, and I want a Supreme Court that will stick with marriage equality.” She critiqued Donald’s list of names for the Supreme Court because among those names were people who would “reverse Roe v. Wade and reverse marriage equality.” She said, “I have clear views about what I want to see to change the balance on the Supreme Court and I regret deeply that the senate has not done its job and they have not permitted a vote on the person that President Obama, a highly qualified person.”

Donald said that he is looking to appoint judges “in the mold” of Justice Scalia. He said that he has actually picked 20 of them and put out the list and that they are highly respected, thought of, and beautifully reviewed. He emphasized that he wants people that will respect the constitution of the United States, particularly the second amendment.

As a side note, I’m just wondering why Hilary won’t put out a list? She dogged Trump about how she put out her taxes and he didn’t. Well since he put out a list, why won’t she? Just wondering.

When this is all over on November 8, we will reap the consequences of one of these two candidates. I believe we are in for a challenging four years either way. I also believe that I prefer one set of consequences over the other and that some of the consequences will last after one of these people finishes their term as president. Lastly, it will be a shame if we keep our eyes on old audio bites and off the long term implications of our choice.

The topics Chris Wallace promises to cover in the next debate will be

1. Debt and Entitlements
2. Immigration
3. Economy
4. Supreme Court
5. Foreign Hot Spots
6. Fitness to be President

My fellow Americans, are we ready to pay attention to these issues or will we allow the media to manipulate us into an emotional frenzy with the gossip they so strategically held until the last possible moment?

Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Ephesians 4:29