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Monday, October 14, 2024

Lech Walesa said he doesn't interfere in the internal affairs of other countries but the 2024 election "is too important for the world" for him to withhold his views. "I deeply believe that Americans will vote responsibly. In my opinion, I am completely convinced that Trump's election WOULD BE A MISFORTUNE FOR THE U.S. AND THE WORLD," he wrote, using all capital letters. read more


Former President Donald Trump's plans to pump up American manufacturing and cut taxes would result in higher inflation, fewer factory jobs and a bigger budget deficit, according to a survey of prominent economists. Of 50 economists in a Wall Street Journal survey, 68% said Trump's policies would mean inflation would likely be higher, while only 12% said that about Vice President Kamala Harris' proposals. 61% of the economists polled said interest rates would also move higher under Trump. read more


One of the more peculiar aspects of Donald J. Trump's political appeal is this: A lot of people are happy to vote for him because they simply do not believe he will do many of the things he says he will. read more


Sunday, October 13, 2024

David A. Graham - Donald Trump's affection for oppressive and bloodthirsty dictators is by now so familiar that it might go unremarked, and yet also so bizarre that it goes unappreciated or even disbelieved. [I]n the depths of the pandemic, Trump prioritized the health of Vladimir Putin over that of Americans, sending the Russian president Abbott COVID-testing machines for his personal use, at a time when the machines were hard to come by and desperately needed. Meanwhile, Trump told people in the United States they should just test less. So much for "America First." read more


Saturday, October 12, 2024

This week Kamala Harris proposed to have Medicare cover in-home care for seniors and people with disabilities, in what would amount to a major expansion of the beloved federal health insurance program. And while it doesn't appear to have registered as such in the political conversation (more on that in a minute), her plan made an impression on a lot of everyday Americans who heard about it. read more


Comments

The survey is taken quarterly and includes economists from Wall Street, business and academia, the Journal said Monday. The outlet noted that 66 economists sent in responses this time, but not all of them answered every question.

Trump has proposed a broad tariff on goods brought in from other countries to be sold here of 10% up to 20%, as well as a higher tariff on Chinese goods of 60%. A vast majority of economists agree that the higher tariff charges on importers would be passed on to consumers, and many believe that if the charges were enacted they could spark retaliatory tariffs against U.S. goods sold abroad.

Out of 44 economists answering, 59% said there would be fewer factory jobs three to five years out, while 16% said there would be more.

In the Journal survey, 65% of the economists responding said they thought Trump's proposals would add to the deficit, up from 51% who said that in the previous quarterly poll.

It's absolutely mindboggling just how short America's memory is. Donald Trump inherited a growing economy from Barack Obama, added $8 trillion in debt and then mismanaged this nation's early Covid response and left office with unemployment at 6.4% - with a net loss of 2.7 million jobs over the 4 year error - the Dow Jones sitting at 30,930, and with over 400,000 dead from Covid.

Today, unemployment sits at 4%, the Dow closed today at 43,065 - another record high, and during Biden and Harris' term over 16 million jobs have been created. Yet a plurality still believe that their own personal economy was better under Trump than Biden, accurate statistics be damned.

When the former president endorses violence and proposes using the government to attack his enemies, many of his supporters assume it's just an act.

The former president has talked about weaponizing the Justice Department and jailing political opponents. He has said he would purge the government of non-loyalists and that he would have trouble hiring anyone who admits that the 2020 election wasn't stolen. He proposed "one really violent day" in which police officers could get "extraordinarily rough" with impunity. He has promised mass deportations and predicted it would be "a bloody story."

Last Thursday, inside a small music venue in downtown Detroit during the middle of the day, you could see this phenomenon playing out quite clearly. Mr. Trump was there to address the Detroit Economic Club. Presidents Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama had all, in their respective days, come to Michigan to talk to this club, too.

Mary Burney, a 49-year-old woman from Grosse Pointe, Mich., who works in sales for a radio station, described herself as an independent-turned-Trump-voter. She did not believe the former president would really persecute his political opponents, even though he has mused about appointing a special prosecutor to "go after" President Biden and members of his family. "I don't think that's on his list of things to do," she said. "No, no."

Tom Pierce, a 67-year-old from Northville, Mich., did not truly believe that Mr. Trump would round up enough immigrants to carry out "the largest mass deportation operation in history." Even though that is pretty much the central promise of his campaign. "He may say things, and then it gets people all upset," said Mr. Pierce, "but then he turns around and he says, No, I'm not doing that.' It's a negotiation. But people don't understand that."

Did Mr. Pierce, a former chief financial officer, believe Mr. Trump would actually levy a 200 percent tariff against certain companies? "No," he said. "That's the other thing. You've got to sometimes scare these other countries." (Indeed. In an interview on Fox News on Sunday, Mr. Trump said, "I'm using that just as a figure. I'll say 100, 200, I'll say 500, I don't care.")

Mr. Pierce added, "He's not perfect. And I don't necessarily care for his personality, but I do like how we had peace and prosperity."

That dynamic is one that Mr. Trump has had with voters ever since he stormed onto the political scene nine years ago, and it endures, even as his language has grown darker. In the latest New York Times/Siena College poll, 41 percent of likely voters agreed with the assessment that "people who are offended by Donald Trump take his words too seriously."

And so, the fate of American democracy and Rule of Law lies in the hands of people just like these who all believe that Trump is only exaggerating and can't possibly be serious about undertaking the heinous actions already documented as policy in Project 2025.

I guess this is precisely how Germany fell into the thrall of another deranged conman nearly a century ago. The parallels fit like a comfortable pair of fur-lined gloves.

It is a denigration of those who have opposing views, much as fmr Pres Trump does so often.

You're completely misconstruing what the title means. The title is shortened because of the character limit. It should read:

What Real People Get About Kamala Harris' Big New Idea That The Political Set Can't Grasp

The title is meant to speak solely to the punditry/media class, not any other particular group and certainly not the majority of citizens. And the point of the title is that this proposal is life-altering for untold millions, yet it's not received any of the focus or publicity that Trump's demented rantings about removing taxes from overtime pay or making car loan interest deductible - things that are clear panders and will never be instituted by Congress.

The author is talking about the real-world ramifications of this policy idea for all those trying to navigate the now muddled up reality of figuring out how to provide care for the elderly without 1) Being forced to pay exorbitant amounts of money to provide adequate caregiving in private facilities - often expending whatever wealth the cared-for have accumulated, or paying for the care out of their own pockets if able to; 2) Try to provide caregiving in their own homes and/or the cared-for's home by paying for outside agencies to assist at least part time; 3) Wait until all the cared-for's life savings and wealth have been exhausted, at which time they may qualify for Medicaid assistance for long term care; none of which are particularly appetizing for most families dealing with these issues.

Lamp, you've been here long enough to know to check the linked article first if the posted title raises questions. I'm open if you've got an alternate title that at minimum provides a gist of what the article is about within 60 characters. I did the best I could.

#49

California Sen. Kamala Harris is dropping out of the presidential race, citing a lack of funds. She informed her campaign staff of the decision on a conference call and later sent an email to supporters, in which she wrote "my campaign for president simply doesn't have the financial resources we need to continue."

Harris' departure, two months before voting and caucusing begin in the presidential contest, marks an abrupt end to a campaign that, for much of the winter and spring, looked like that of a top-tier presidential contender.

"I've taken stock, and I've looked at this from every angle, and over the last few days, I have come to one of the hardest decisions of my life," Harris said in a video announcing her decision. "As the campaign has gone on, it has become harder and harder to raise the money we need to compete."

Amid a crowded field filled with both moderate and progressive candidates, Harris struggled to carve out her own policy lane. She shifted positions several times on a defining issue for Democrats: health care. Harris initially backed the total elimination of private health insurance, only to later roll out a health care plan that allowed private plans as long as they met government standards.

Harris backtracked in several other high-profile moments, including her criticism of Biden's anti-busing stances as a senator. She later admitted that her views of the federal government's role in setting local policies was essentially the same as Biden's.

www.npr.org

She was a law and order prosecutor without a lane from which to win the nomination ...

Geez, why are you here? People try to educate your stupid --- and you simply ignore proven facts because they don't fit your preconceived prejudices or confirm your ignorant uninformed viewpoints.

Stop dodging the question - How was Harris supposed to win in the 2020 primary with no policy differences, no organized labor backing and no major or small donors?

We spoke to 5 people who knew Kamala Harris before she was VP. Here's what we learned.

When Harris became San Francisco's first female district attorney, she pursued Lateefah Simon for a job in her office. Simon declined the offer a few times, but recalls Harris telling her, "You can either carry this bullhorn on your back for the rest of your life, demanding that elected officials work for you and the young people that you care about, or you can become a part of my team, and we can actually deconstruct some of these inequities."

Simon went on to work for Harris for several years, and remembers her as a boss with high expectations. On Simon's first day, the new employee arrived "dressed down" in casual clothes, and Harris sent her home saying, "You are being paid by the very victims and survivors through tax dollars to represent them in this role. You will come with everything that you have every day."

Harris has earned a reputation for having a high turnover of staff over her years as a public official. Duran left his job as her communications director after just five months. His on-the-record criticisms echo the complaints of some other former employees who will only speak anonymously.

While Duran says Harris assembled a team of highly competent people, he says he was often frustrated by how long she could take to make decisions. He describes her as someone who was exacting on certain details of cases but could struggle with other details. He recalls a boss with standards that were high without being clear.

"I found it hard to navigate a situation where it wasn't really clear to me how I could do a good job because doing the job in a way that had worked everywhere else didn't seem to work there," he says.

At the same time, Duran acknowledges that that toughness may have come from the unequal pressures placed on Harris. "I think she's very aware of her place in history," he says, "And I think she felt that she would be held to a much, much higher standard than white or male politicians."

Where exactly have I gaslighted?
By the same measure, for instance, her predecessor Mike Pence saw 83 percent turnover in his vice-presidential office.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/09/06/harris-veep-boss-management/

I never gaslight, I always have receipts, unlike you.

Kamala Harris ran her office like a prosecutor. Not everyone liked that
.
But interviews with 33 current and former staffers and allies show that Harris herself - and the team around her - have undergone important changes since the most difficult days of her first year as vice president. These people close to Harris, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of assessing the Democratic nominee's leadership, say she grew into the role, found policy issues that more closely aligned with her comfort areas and replaced key aides with staffers who responded better to her management style.

People close to Harris say her widely praised presidential rollout, in which she quickly locked down the Democratic nomination following Biden's withdrawal and moved to capitalize on her party's enthusiasm and energy, are testaments to her management. They also point to the growing pool of alumni who have rejoined her team, particularly this summer. At least 20 staffers who previously worked for Harris are now working on her campaign, such as policy experts Rohini Kosoglu and Ike Irby, veterans of both her Senate and vice president's office.

Those allies and staffers say that Harris's management style hasn't changed - but the circumstances have. Rather than trying to find her voice as a first-time presidential candidate or brand-new vice president, she has suddenly become the party's standard-bearer. Office disputes during the height of the pandemic are now viewed as minor frustrations as Harris fights to keep Trump out of the White House.

"Her leadership roles, the way she thinks through problems and wants to tackle them - those have been a very consistent through line," Irby said in a recent interview. "The mechanics around her - and the opportunities that those offices provide for leadership - those have changed."

"She holds herself to an incredibly high standard, and therefore, she holds her team to a really high standard," expecting their work to be thorough and complete, said Daniel Suvor, a former aide in California's attorney general's office between 2014 and 2017.

Kamala Harris ran her office like a prosecutor. Not everyone liked that.
But in interviews, former staff who signed the letter acknowledged it also addressed one of Harris's perceived weaknesses as a candidate and elected official: her demanding management style. People who have worked for Harris say her interactions with staff can resemble a prosecutor prying details from a witness, asking pointed questions about everything from her schedule to policy briefings. And her cautious approach to big decisions has frustrated deputies rather than inspire them.

Since she came into office as VP 92% of her original staff have moved on. She's had an ongoing tendency to go into meetings underprepared and then she berates her staff when she comes off looking foolish.

Milquetoast Mike Pence had 82% of his staff turnover after 2 years and complaints about Harris were never about "her" being unprepared, it was how intensely she expected her staff to be prepared for all contingencies.

You're not going to gaslight me, I posted this stuff earlier on another thread. Harris is not perfect and she's been tough on staff, with the biggest complaint being how meticulous she was in making big decisions. It drove staff crazy when they thought the decisions were obvious. But I also addressed that. Harris is a black woman operating in places no other person like her ever had before. For any minority, a critical mistake - making a bad decision - can be career-ending because there is no support structure for her to fall back onto. She operated without a net.

I know you can't understand this because you've lived a life of privilege where you believed no one would ever not give you a fair shake. It isn't like that for summit seekers. If you make one bad mistake, you fall off the mountain, usually for good.

Look at what you're doing. I point out that she won billions in awards for California's taxpayers and you come back with "she's unprepared for meetings." Can you see the difference here? She wasn't unprepared when she depantsed the big name law firms with their Big 5 lawyers representing the corporations she extracted billions from in court, was she? What is more important, one's ability to excel at the job you're elected to or being seen as everyone's favorite boss?

Many people who left Harris previously have rejoined her when she took over the top spot. They appear to know something that you refuse to see or acknowledge.

Dow and S&P 500 notch record highs as earnings season kicks off

The Dow and S&P 500 notched new highs on Friday, with the broader index closing above 5,800 for the first time as big US banks got earnings season underway.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose nearly 1% as JPMorgan Chase (JPM) shares surged.

Yeah, Trump's right. The economy - as reflected by the markets - is abysmal.

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