Finally - Here's What She's For!

Start by asking yourself...Are We Better Off that Four Years Ago? If so, How?

Harris must be held accountable for answering three questions, in particular.

Healthcare

In 2019, Harris bylined an essay, My Plan for Medicare for All. Her plan? A single payer like most European countries where you wait a month for a blood draw or MRI. She co-sponsored legislation for this with Weekend at Bernie's. American Action Forum reports that MFA would add $44T to our national debt or more than double it.

Even Joe Biden said of single payer - "Makes no sense to me."

But, not to worry, Harris is vigorously walking this back. Actually only cryptically.

So, when it comes to healthcare, WHAT IS SHE FOR TODAY?

Double down on Obama(doesn't)care, which has healthcare premiums going through the roof?

Energy

Most economists agree - energy is a root cause of the inflationary spiral that started under Harris-Biden. Kamala was one of 10 senators who called for a federal ban on fracking in 2020. Here too she is walking that back. 43% of American electricity comes from natural gas which comes from fracking.

So, when it comes to energy, WHAT IS SHE FOR NOW?

Buy more oil from the mullahs?

Bidenomics

Even though Joe instructed reporters at a recent news conference to "start writing about how well his economic policies are doing", only 28% of Americans approve. Ipso facto - 72% disapprove.

Remember Harris cast the deciding vote for the Inflation Reduction Act also known as The Green New Deal with Handouts Aplenty Policy.

Here we know WHAT SHE STANDS FOR. Price controls on groceries and probably lots more disguised as a federal ban on price gouging. They failed under Nixon, they're failing under Maduro and they'll fail again. Who the hell is advising this woman? Karl or Groucho Marx Jr?

A boatload of government handouts and no plan to pay for them.

Ever notice since Harris burst onto the scene the term "federal" is being used a lot? Ban this - don't ban that. Straight from the left wing playbook. Federal government controls how you live your life.

Joe, in his out the door address said, "Everybody does better with Unions". Really? Must be why membership in the country is only 7%. And all the new plants are built in SC, TN etc. Honestly how stupid do they think we are?

Wanted Answers? Without Further Ado...

The Kamala Plan (so far) was announced on Friday, August 16. She calls it the "Opportunity Economy" as she unabashedly ignores her complicity in the last four years.

Grocery Prices: Harris would work in her first 100 days to help Congress pass a national ban on “price gouging” for food and groceries, as well as give the Federal Trade Commission and prosecutors authority to go after companies they determine price gouge, support small businesses in the industry, take a closer look at mergers between big grocery companies and “aggressively” investigate price-fixing in meat supply chains specifically.

This policy is nothing more than PRICE CONTROLS. They have been tried throughout history and they have always produced the same two outcomes. Rationing and rampant inflation once lifted.

(As was proven going back to the time of Hammurabi 4000 years ago, price controls cause disruptions in the supply change leading to shortages and black market trading. FDR* tried 'em and they led to runaway inflation when lifted. Same deal with Truman. Then Nixon (only lasted 90 days), then Carter and lots of Commies including Maduro with an "o". Always ends up the same way. Pent up demand explodes when lifted and inflation skyrockets. Best not to fool with Mother Market. By the way, the Office of Price Administration created to administer said price controls in 1941 added HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS in Headcount to administer and $$$ to the deficit.)

*In fairness to FDR and maybe Harry a bit, during WWII, we encountered draconian supply chain conditions as factories were repurposed to produce war materials and thousands of workers went to fight.

Housing Costs: Harris wants to provide $25,000 in down payment assistance for first-time home buyers and is calling for the creation of three million new housing units within the next four years, proposing a tax credit for developers who build starter homes and investing $40 million in an innovation fund to tackle the housing crisis. 

(Why can't some of these first timers use the billions they saved in student loan write-offs for a down payment? She hints at including housing in her Price Controls scheme.)

Rental Costs: Harris would also expand a tax credit for housing developers who build affordable housing rental units, and is calling on Congress to pass legislation that would stop predatory investors who buy up rental homes and collude with each other to raise rental prices.

Child Tax Credit: Harris proposed giving families a $6,000 tax credit for newborns in their first year of life, and restore a pandemic-era tax credit of $3,600 per child for middle and lower-class families.

Taxes: Harris also wants to expand the Earned Income Tax Credit for workers in lower-income jobs, which would cut taxes by up to $1,250, and has previously said she would continue President Joe Biden’s promise not to raise taxes on American households earning $400,000 or less annually, and does support raising taxes for high earners and corporations, according to The New York Times.

I find it interesting that people fall for the Rich are Evil. The Rich don't pay their fair share. Tax the rich. I wonder how many people get a job from a poor person. Not to mention Hunter's IRS track record.

No Tax On Tips: Harris has separately endorsed a plan to get rid of taxes on tips for hospitality and service workers, echoing a proposal by former President Donald Trump—which has been criticized by some experts—though a campaign official told CNN tips would still be subject to payroll taxes, and would include an income limit and guardrails to prevent people like hedge fund managers from taking advantage of the policy.

Prescription Drug Prices: Harris proposed a $35 cap on insulin and capping out-of-pocket expenses on prescription drugs at $2,000 per year on Friday, also saying she would speed up Medicare negotiations on the price of prescription drugs—after the Biden administration announced a deal lowering costs on 10 medications—and crack down on anti-competitive practices in the pharmaceutical industry that cause higher prices.

She even declared she will "snatch patents", if drug makers don't capitulate.

Healthcare: The Harris campaign also announced her intention to work with states to cancel Americans’ medical debt, and she proposed expanding subsidies for Affordable Care Act plans that would save health insurance customers an average of $700 on their health insurance premiums.

Paid Leave: Harris has not released a specific paid leave proposal, but she has previously co-sponsored 12-week paid leave legislation, Politico notes, with Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., telling the outlet, “I absolutely believe that when they are in office, we will get a paid leave bill done finally.”

Minimum Wage: Harris called for raising the minimum wage in a Las Vegas speech earlier in August, but her campaign has not specified how high she believes it should be raised.

Fed Independence: Harris has vowed to maintain the Federal Reserve’s independence after Trump said he believed “the president should have at least [a] say” on the Federal Reserve’s decisions, with Harris telling reporters, “The Fed is an independent entity and as president I would never interfere in the decisions that the Fed makes.”

Bottom line - every last one of these vote-getting ploys entails the outflow of taxpayer revenues. Not one stimulates economic or wage growth. This readership is far too savvy to require a lesson on why market interference always ends badly. Budget hawks are still crunching the numbers so more to come on the price tag for the Opportunity Economy - as the debt sails past $35 Trillion.

The Importance of Actually Running Something Meaningful

I have long felt and, for the most part, history confirms that there is inestimable value in having been responsible for the performance of something big before you inhabit 1600. Be that a major state, a military branch, a large company. To have succeeded in running something meaningful typically confirms a vitally important set of skills and experiences.

Running a substantial organization effectively teaches

• The importance of setting clear expectations at all levels and ensuring they are aligned.

• Holding members accountable for performance. Rewarding those who excel. Removing those who cannot meet the standards.

• Engineering support for important decisions that cross constituencies. Being able to sell you ideas.

• The importance of relentless continuous improvement.

• Removing barriers so members can perform better.

• Ensuring rewards are tied to results.

• Fiscal responsibilities including cash flow, making payroll, paying expenses.

While there have been Presidents who had good runs coming from a life comprising only political office, it's not the preferred path by any stretch.

To me, a successful track record of running something "big" matters.

Nine Most Terrifying Words

I have always considered Ronald Reagan's famous remark, "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are - I'm from the government and I'm here to help" to be the GOAT of all political quips. I fear, however, that if Ms. Harris and Mr. Walz have a say they will give new meaning to Reagan's poignant observation.

Let's Kill All the Lawyers

This phrase appears in numerous places in literature. Shakespeare's Henry V, Dickens, The Pirates of Penzance, even Homer Simpson. It was my first thought as I began to read (listen) Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch's new book, Overruled.

The theme of this book is the allegation that we are overrun with laws. While certainly the rule of law is necessary to ensure civility and justice, we have taken it to new levels. There is no one who, if looked at carefully, could not be convicted of something. (More to Come)

Inflation

“Consumers don't produce inflation. Producers don't produce inflation. Inflation is produced only by too much government spending and too much government creation of money, and nothing else. We economists don't know much, but we do know how to create a shortage. If you want to create a shortage of tomatoes, for example, just pass a law that retailers can't sell tomatoes for more than two cents per pound. Instantly you'll have a tomato shortage. It's the same with oil or gas." Milton Friedman, Nobel Prize Winning Economist

(Another cool thing Friedman said, "Nothing is as permanent as a temporary government program." Witness our deficit and national debt.)

It was not Trump's Covid spending that caused inflation, it was all that money Biden flooded the economy with under the American Rescue Plan. Totally unnecessary. That coupled with his intentional destruction of our energy stability.

But hold on. Biden has promised, "To DO EVERYTHING I can" before he is shown the door. Now that's some terrifying words. Get ready. Supposedly there's $1T unspent in the "Infrastructure and Jobs Act". You can bet that'll be flowing before January. Inflation here we come again.

Farmers 'brutalized' as costs 'go through the roof' in last days of Biden's America.

A few recent quotes

"Within the agriculture sector, we're in a recession right now," Brent Johnson, a farmer and president of the Iowa Farm Bureau, said over the weekend. 

"We've seen a lot of job losses. We're seeing negative balance sheets. It's become very challenging." 

Soaring costs are crippling farmers while the international market for American-grown food has slowed to a crawl "with no new trade deals" under the current administration, said Johnson. 

"It doesn’t take somebody with a PhD to figure out that the math isn’t working and that we've got to do something to offset what’s been going on," John Boyd, a Virginia farmer and founder of the National Black Farmers Association in Virginia, said in a phone interview. 

"We’re paying $5 a gallon for diesel and it was probably somewhere around $2 a gallon five years ago," he said. 

"All of these costs have gone through the roof, all the input costs — but the prices for corn and soybeans are down." 

Fertilizer, seed, feed, diesel and labor costs, said Boyd, have doubled since Biden and Harris were sworn into office in Jan. 2021.

Wanna bring down grocery prices? Forget persecution of the retailer with his 2-3% margin. Get energy prices down. Make some trade deals.

Illegals Being Shepherded In by Dems so They Can Vote

Let's get the facts straight. Illegals cannot vote, although with 14 states requiring no ID, I'm sure some do. The real reason Dems want them in is because they figure someday they'll finagle a path to citizenship and grandfather them all. In return, the millions of illegals will be brimming with gratitude and ready to pull the lever for their favorite Dem. But, right now, they are not a deciding factor at all.

More on the Kamala Legacy

San Francisco prosecutor taps friend with no law experience for high-paying job as violent crime runs rampant.

San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins (black female) is being accused of nepotism after she quietly promoted a close friend to her chief of staff despite her being trained as a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner with no legal experience and holding down a second job. 

Monifa Willis (also black female), who also works as an assistant nursing professor at the University of California, San Francisco School of Nursing, where she reportedly earns a $100,000 salary, was initially hired by the DA's office in 2022 to run the agency's Victim's Services Division. She took on her new position in March.  The appointment has raised questions about the hiring of a friend for a prominent role in a large office. The position pays around $289,000 annually.

Meanwhile...

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — San Francisco is the worst-run city in the United States, according to a study from WalletHub that measured 148 of the country’s largest metropolises.

The study attempted to gauge cities’ “operating efficiency,” or how they spend and manage public funds, It used 36 metrics and measured them against the city’s per-capita budget.

Tenderloin retail hours to be limited after SF supervisors’ approval.

San Francisco was the worst-ranked city in the study, and Oakland was right behind it. Gulfport, Mississippi, New York City, and Flint, Michigan rounded out the bottom five

Honestly you couldn't make this stuff up if you tried.

BTW - in the top 20 Best Run Cities, only one is in a Blue Sate (Warwick, RI).

https://wallethub.com/edu/best-run-cities/22869

Where Have All the Ladies Gone?

As I was sitting at mass this past Sunday (a regular at the 730 am or 9), I was struck by the preponderance of men. I did a quick survey of the pews I could see and it was 4 to 1 males.

Low and behold, I saw the following article this week.

"Concern for religion's future in America grows as young women stop attending church".

Women are disenchanted by obvious issues. The unwillingness of most churches to put them in leadership positions as well as positions on reproductive rights and the LGBTQ community. As more women delay marriage and childbearing in favor of careers, they are staying away. Longer term this will have dire consequences in a society where religion and church attendance are in precipitous decline. After all, in most churches, it's the women who do all the work. And usually have the greatest influence on upcoming generations.

Another aspect of American society on the ropes, I fear.

BTW - the same observation applies if one contrasts under 30 to over.

What is the WNBA Thinking?

On a less serious note, instead of welcoming, applauding and promoting Caitlin Clark, the WNBA seems to be rooting for her comeuppance. Or at least giving scope to those players, coaches and referees green with envy.

What are they thinking? This woman is single handedly lifting their league and the value of its players to unprecedented levels. There isn't a golfer alive who doesn't give Tiger credit for the purses they earn today. No difference here as I see it.

Hopeful Fact

After the DNC in 1988, polls had Dukakis up 55% to 38% over George HW Bush. He lost 426 electoral votes to 111.

On 95, I Saw Two Billboards

A few miles apart. One Said: TRUMP - Trusted, Proven Leadership. The second said - Welcome to Mar A Lago. Home of the Felon. What a country.

Again - Are We Better Off than Four Years Ago?

(Ed. Note: Couple of Corrections/Acknowledgements:

• I misspelled Madur-o (it is not Madur-a) in last post. Apologies.

• Apparently Tim Walz was a Command Master Sergeant in the National Guard but is not now. Didn't complete the training so his rank was reduced. Whatever.

• I have been rightfully accused of belaboring the Walz record. I agree. Will stop as it now looks like Kamala is being forced to stick her head out of the policy foxhole.)