Platform? What platform?

While I have had opportunity to watch the debates I have read some articles on stances that each of the candidates take. Well, most of them.
Debates are a good way to shed light on the issues and to meet the candidates.
I don’t know about anyone else but I like to hear a little more meat than simply “beat Trump”.
As the candidates jockey for position with their ideas of what they wish to accomplish I hear common phrases such as “raise the minimum wage” and “free health care for all.”
Who can argue with a bigger paycheck or free health care? I do not see any negatives at face value so the next question is what is tied to those benefits?  Is anything truly “free?” Do candidates also want to raise taxes that may effectively lessen the take home pay from what it is today or diminish abilities to pay for what health care presently costs? What percent of our workforce is actually paid minimum wage? I believe that most workers are above that already.
While workers ask for more hours and a better pay rate they may be oblivious as to whether or not their employer can turn a profit from what work is being done. Payroll is typically a company’s largest expense. When workers are profitable then wages will probably rise on their own. If large payrolls and more taxes turn a business from a profitable one to one that is a money loser then that wage source will be no more. Gone. Doors closed. What good is that?
I believe better incentives for small business would help. Why not encourage businesses to add more equipment and offer tax breaks to help grow those businesses which in turn would be able to afford better pay? Back to the “freebies.” 
If there is free health care, would those services be readily available today or would they be more like months down the road? Or non-existent? And what illnesses or symptoms would be covered?
Other buzz words I hear pertain to social security, term limits, Congressional pay rates and pension plans? 
Are we headed toward socialism? Or “liberalism” as it has been rephrased? That single word may be just what keeps some candidates from making the final cut.
As good as ideas may sound, I do not believe one candidate can get every one of their agenda items accomplished.  There is a Congress that has a track record of dividing strictly along party lines that must vote to approve. I believe it is good that we have our systems of checks and balances.
It will be interesting to see what candidate(s) emerge to face our incumbent president (assuming that the Republicans nominate Donald Trump again).
I am just one vote. My wife makes two for our household. What difference can two votes make? After all, millions of votes will be cast. All we can do is vote for the person that we think is the best one to lead our country … one who truly cares for America and not one what desires to make our country like the rest of the world. I hope more people get to the polls and vote. I would love to see a 100 percent voter turnout. That won’t happen. It is important to vote. Voting is the one thing that we each can do. But that is my opinion. What is yours?