What Harris And Trump Want To Do
The conventional wisdom from the mainstream press and a major Republican talking point is that Kamala Harris allegedly doesn’t have a specific platform. The press and the Republicans have demanded that Harris roll out a detailed platform and give interviews to the mainstream press. Harris has now done that but it was buried by the New York Times and the Washington Post.
One thing I do here is explode the so-called conventional wisdom from the cynical and dysfunctional D.C. press corps. Moreover, I debunk zombie MAGA Republican talking points. Please like and share this column to get our message out because nobody will do it for us.
One of the best columnists in the mainstream media is Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post. She is an outlier since she has extensively covered Harris and is frequently critical of her employer and other mainstream outlets. I would recommend that you give her follow on Twitter. Rubin knows what Harris wants to do since she is a policy wonk.
“What Harris wants to do: expand insulin and negotiated drug prices beyond Medicare, a full blown and already described housing plan, restore child tax credit and add a $6K credit, support Ukraine, defend the green energy measures already enacted, sign federal abortion protection, sign the Senate immigration bill, etc. Raise corporate tax, not renew higher earners’ Trump tax cut, ban assault weapons-pass red flag law- universal background checks. We know more about her plans than most presidential candidates.” Jennifer Rubin Tweet.
Harris herself knows what she wants to do, even if the mainstream press doesn’t want to cover it. Kamala Harris tweets:
“Cut taxes for 100+ million working & middle-class Americans
Pass the first-ever federal ban on corporate price gouging on food and groceries
Make housing more affordable by building 3 million homes
Give up to $25,000 in down payment assistance to Americans”
Harris recognizes that it is expensive to raise a family. She supports safety net policies aimed at helping working families: the child tax credit, paid family leave and universal childcare.
Four hundred prominent economists have endorsed Harris: “The choice in this election is clear: between failed trickle-down economic policies that benefit the few and economic policies that provide opportunity for all. It is a choice between inequity, economic injustice, and uncertainty with Donald Trump or prosperity, opportunity, and stability with Kamala Harris, a choice between the past and the future.”
Dementia Don Old Trump has a very different agenda, despite his inability to coherently talk about policy. Speeches by Trump usually consist of lies, insults and smears, as well as rambling and bizarre asides about Hannibal Lecter, sharks, and being electrocuted. Trump has lost his mind.
The biggest economic issue in the election is inflation. A friendly interlocuter asked Trump a soft ball question on what he would do about high prices. The answer didn’t instill confidence in Trump’s mental status and policy knowledge.
“First of all, she can’t do an interview,” Trump said of Harris. “She could never do this interview because you ask questions like, Give me a specific answer. She talks about her lawn when she was growing up,” before shifting to speaking about Russian President Vladimir Putin and the impact of the ongoing Ukraine war on energy prices.
When asked again by Attkisson to offer practical details of his promise to reverse inflation, Trump responded: “They come down with energy and they come down with interest rates. We’re going to get, as I told you, we’re going to get energy down by 50% in 12 months. We’re gonna have it. It’s gonna be a major smash on energy. If you look at the energy for, and I’m not just talking about cars. I’m talking about air conditioning, heating, your basic energy, operating a bakery, operating any kind of a business — it’s all having to do with energy. That was where they started wrong.”
Trump fanned the flames of inflation when he added $8 trillion to the national debt when he was president. Another Trump presidency wouldn’t be any better — he would add anywhere from $5 to $6 trillion to the national debt. In any event, he does have a concept of a plan for the national debt. Trump: “Maybe we’ll pay off the $35 trillion U.S. debt in Crypto. I’ll write on a little piece of paper, ‘$35T crypto we have no debt.’ That’s what I like.”
Trump’s economic strategy is centered around a massive increase in tariffs or a national import or sales tax. He appears to believe that raising prices for all Americans is the magic elixir that the economy needs.
Don Old Trump wants to impose a Trump sales tax on everyday, basic necessities that would cost the average American family nearly $4,000 a year. Trump on his tariff plans: “I don’t need Congress. I don’t need them. I’ll have the right to impose them myself, if they don’t.” Trump has proposed tariffs as high as 20% on ALL $3 trillion of annual imports to the U.S. , which would be as high as a $5 trillion tax hike.
Tim Walz tweeted about the Trump agenda:
“Cut taxes for the rich
Make groceries more expensive
Ban abortion nationwide
It’s an agenda no one asked for — except for some guys who want more control over our lives.”
“Donald Trump’s economic plan is simple — cut taxes for himself and his billionaire and corporate friends, and raise taxes on everyone else. Why? Because all Donald Trump cares about is himself.” Senator Chris Murphy (R-CT.)
The Peterson Institute for International Economics found that Trump’s import taxes, mass deportation, and threats to Fed independence would cause inflation to spike 4–7 percentage points above baseline. This would bring the inflation rate to 6–9%. Inflation would permanently be higher at 4% instead of 2%.
“Trump is offering, in essence, a fortress America economic strategy, of unprecedented tariffs that we haven’t seen since before the depression, massive deportation and immigration restrictions, and low taxes. That was essentially the Republican agenda of the 1920s, before the depression.” Ron Brownstein. As we all know, the economy collapsed in 1929 and didn’t begin to recover until 1933.
“Once you build a house you always have it. On the other hand, a social or economic gain is a different matter. A social or an economic gain made by one Administration, for instance, may, and often does, evaporate into thin air under the next Administration.” Franklin Roosevelt
Be confident going forward. Take nothing for granted. Keep working hard.
It’s America or convicted felon Trump. Choose wisely.