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
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
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
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 thatKamala 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.
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.
Dow and S&P 500 notch record highs as earnings season kicks offYeah, Trump's right. The economy - as reflected by the markets - is abysmal.
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.
#5
It's not a matter of what, it's a matter of who. Those of us old enough have first hand memories of how Walesa united his fellow countrymen through the union Solidarity, who eventually forced the then-Soviet puppet government out of power and into the dustbin of history and was elected President of Poland in his own right.
Back then, supporting Solidarity was a bipartisan staple and if my memory serves correct, when Walesa was able to travel to the US he was feted by Congress as a conquering hero. At my graduation in 1982, Notre Dame bestowed him with an honorary doctorate in absentia.
I'm equally sure as soon as someone tells Trump what he said, he too will unleash an obscene all-caps outburst in his typical 4th grade level English.