Election Thread II: Kamala vs. Trump

[Del]

Trump told Elon that he wants to shut down the US Dept. of Education.... there's no need for it. States and local school boards can run their schools just fine without any need for national oversight. Trump is embarrassed that US schools are ranked very low overall, compared with 40 other developed nations.

I don't know if Trump has been saying this at rallies. Probably so, but I haven't seen it reported.

This is something that I have been wanting to see done for many years.

The Department of Education, as I see it, is a way for the Feds to get their hooks into State and Local school districts---you want $$, we got $$, just play by our rules.
It's also incentivizes local Bond measures by providing matching $$. The problem is the interest on the 30 year bond at today's high rates is 100% by the end of the term. When taxpayers are hit with multiple bond measures from past years it becomes a real burden to satisfy greedy school districts. Even a .05 % sales tax or 2% property tax increase to pay off a single bond adds up when put with multiple bond measures passed in the passed decades.
Reasons for school bonds always include "differed maintenance" such as roofing, or electricity to support high tech infrastructure or financing completion of new construction projects that have been already started----all expenses that should have already been factored into existing budgets but mysteriously weren't.

Financing for public education is certainly a hot mess of mismanagement. Some states are less bad than others.

Congress can apportion taxpayer money back to the states where it came from. They can earmark some of it for education, or just let the states manage funds as they see best.

Mostly, I like the idea that the Teachers Unions no longer have a small nucleus of federal appointees to bribe and lobby to enforce the Union's policies on all school families nationwide. Control of schools should be much closer to the families who attend them, not centralized in DC.

And a whole bunch of federal employees who don't do anything could be put to productive work adding to our real GDP. Perhaps they could learn to code, or something.

[Hovannes]

[Hovannes]

[Del]

The big news this week is that Kamala has leaked some of her new policy proposals to the press. Lots of noise from the Trump campaign in response.

I found an article from CNBC, the best example I could find which simply lays out Kamala's policies for her "First 100 Days" -- neutral reporting without fluff or argument.
Harris economic plan features new tax cuts, housing incentives and price caps

Most of the focus has been on Kamala's proposed price controls. I don't know if she is stupid enough to actually do this, but she clearly thinks we are stupid enough to fall for it. Kamala can't exactly admit that the primary causes of inflation were Biden's shut-down of American energy, Biden's green-light on Putin's pipeline and Ukraine invasion, Biden's 36% increase in the money supply via ill-advised covid pay-outs, and Kamala's own tie-breaking vote on the disastrous "Inflation Reduction Act." So she is blaming high grocery prices on "greedy corporations."

Some interesting opinion pieces condemning this policy have appeared in Kamala's own left-wing press:

Washington Post: When your opponent calls you ‘communist,’ maybe don’t propose price controls?
"It’s hard to exaggerate how bad Kamala Harris’s price-gouging proposal is.'

This is a very thoughtful piece by WaPo. Take the time to look at it, if you want see the best arguments against price controls from a source that really wants Kamala to win.

CNN also piped up against price controls: Harris’ plan to stop price gouging could create more problems than it solves

Kamala also proposes to grant $25,000 to first-time homebuyers as assistance for down-payment. Obvious problems:
- Increased demand will drive housing prices up, negating the goal of affordable homes.
- Lack of credit worthiness and earned down payments will result in many loan defaults, copying conditions before the 2008 Subprime Meltdown
- Government debt is already scary out-of-control, and Kamala does not propose any government cuts to pay for these grants.

On the bright side, Kamala has at least given us some policies to consider. She is still into a whole month without giving a single interview as the Democrat Nominee.
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It is worth a moment to review the candidates' websites. You've probably heard that Kamala's site says nothing at all about policy, just some bio fluff about Kamala and Walz.
https://kamalaharris.com

Trump's site is heavy with his policy vision for America, not a bit of personality promotion. Most of his site is devoted to the Republican national platform.
https://www.donaldjtrump.com

[Hovannes]

The DNC doesn't have time to pull another switcheroo as Kamala augers in.
Or do they?
The convention in Chicago will be must see TV
I've got plenty of popcorn.

[Del]

The DNC doesn't have time to pull another switcheroo as Kamala augers in.
Or do they?
The convention in Chicago will be must see TV
I've got plenty of popcorn.

They have no time and no bench.

I don't predict that the DNC Convention will be riveting TV. The debate will. And any Kamala live interview, if she actually schedules one "by the end of the month."

Democrats are relying on a complicit media to drag Kamala across the finish line. And the hope that Trump will screw up and say something stupid. Trump 2.0 hasn't given them much to work with.

[Del]

The writer of the WaPo piece has walked back her opinion after hearing Harris give a rally speech. Which tells me that Kamala has already moderated her position after so much push-back.

Article:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... r-AA1oWjEe

The tweet from the original writer:
https://x.com/crampell/status/1824543886468845912

Catherine Rampell
@crampell

Yes there was still some silliness in her speech, but her comments on prices were more toned down than campaign factsheet sent to reporters (punishing companies that raise prices above their costs etc). A generic call to increase antitrust enforcement is fine and I support it

Of course, the overall grocery price inflation wasn't caused by monopolist actors in the food supply chain. If it were, there would have certainly been news reports and action taken at the time.

At least Kamala isn't really so foolish as to mess with price control tyranny. She also doesn't have a policy to lower costs.

Trump wants to open up American energy, which will lower costs on everything dramatically.

[Hovannes]

Wisconsin leads the way cleaning up voter rolls
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/0 ... 4AC2&uscca

[Del]

The DNC doesn't have time to pull another switcheroo as Kamala augers in.
Or do they?
The convention in Chicago will be must see TV
I've got plenty of popcorn.

Okay.... this DNC convention is going to be interesting, after all. And not in a good way.

100,000 Anti-Israel Protesters Expected To Descend Across Chicago During Democratic Convention

[Del]

Babylon Bee:

At publishing time, Kamala had also announced plans to convert the Mall of America into a labor camp.