Kamala vs the Orange Felon - Presidential Race 2024 - Polls, News, Etc...

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VRAMdemon

Diamond Member
Aug 16, 2012
7,815
10,207
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"They have on multiple occasions asked me "You get it, but why are most Democrats humorless scolds on race issues,” is a common line of attack against Dems. down here. Walz making “white guy” jokes helps disarm that."


It's all about the crowd, the context and the timing. I'm made similar comments intending to be joking and it went bad. Real bad.

What I posted was my personal experience in a particular part of the country and with people I have interacted with, but Yes... your point is valid.

Regarding the Harris/Walz campaign moving forward. FWIW it may have been an authentic off the cuff throwaway joke, but it functions as something more: part of his role is the safe boring white guy with dad jokes. He is advertising that. I wouldn’t endorse a whole routine of “I’m so white that I …” comments, but here and there is just enough of that seasoning. Authenticity is what it is. Most rational people are not genuinely offended, or are going to change their vote over an innocuous comment.

He doesn’t need to step in the quagmire that comes from being criticized about race. For example: He could have said “Midwest taco guy” or something instead of "white guy tacos". But if he’s saying “Midwest guy tacos”, the race baiters on FOX are going to say, “Look! He can’t even say “White”! Why is he so ashamed of being White? He does have to realize that by using race, he can get into a battle having to discuss why it’s okay to use racial stereotypes in certain situations and not in others which is not something you want to do constantly. It can turn some voters off.

Race was always going to be an issue in this election. They can get out ahead of it and show they’re not afraid to address the issues of race, or they can let the racists set the agenda. BUT!, lets be real here. Literally ANYTHING Walz could say would garner the same level of criticism. He could say “I like puppies and kittens” and the MAGAs/rightwing/FOX news would be outraged. The only way to avoid saying “this kind of stuff” is to never say anything at all, and I don't think that’s a winning strategy.
 

Zorba

Lifer
Oct 22, 1999
15,613
11,255
136
Remind people the last Trump tax cut did nothing but increase the deficit by 50% before the pandemic. It exacerbated the income gap. It did nothing to spur economic growth.

As far as the largest tax hike in history bet if you ran the numbers based on current GDP I’m confident we can say they are lying
It'll be true in gross numbers. The media loves statements like that in gross numbers.
 

Jaskalas

Lifer
Jun 23, 2004
35,704
10,013
136
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.

Initial search of the subject yielded nothing productive in learning what was proposed.
Everything I find on it is just pure hate and visceral.

Can anyone shed some light on Harris's "price controls"?
And why on earth anyone in America would make that a cornerstone of their campaign?
 

Dave_5k

Platinum Member
May 23, 2017
2,007
3,820
136
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.

Initial search of the subject yielded nothing productive in learning what was proposed.
Everything I find on it is just pure hate and visceral.

Can anyone shed some light on Harris's "price controls"?
And why on earth anyone in America would make that a cornerstone of their campaign?
The details haven't been provided. Basically just a speech announcing it with a few quotes, and apparently a campaign press release (that my google-fu failed to find, but apparently just had same lack of detail as the speech).

But I'd join in on the hate on the proposal even without details... whoever Harris is using as economic policy advisor should have already been fired by now, for putting forward a proposal that very much sounds like price controls and was widely interpreted as such by most of the media, even if that's not exactly the proposal.

A few more specific quotes and analysis from the Washington Post:

Harris’s plan will include “the first-ever federal ban on price gouging on food and groceries — setting clear rules of the road to make clear that big corporations can’t unfairly exploit consumers to run up excessive corporate profits on food and groceries,” the campaign said in a statement.

The exact details of the campaign’s plan were not immediately clear, but Harris said she would aim to enact the ban within her first 100 days, in part by directing the Federal Trade Commission to impose “harsh penalties” on firms that break new limits on price gouging. The statement did not define price gouging or “excessive” profits.

Republican and many Democratic economists see mandatory price controls as a counterproductive form of government intervention that discourages firms from producing enough supply to meet demand.
 
Nov 17, 2019
13,294
7,875
136
I have no problem at all with some level of 'price controls' if the Corporatocracy isn't willing to contain itself.

==============

Couple more areas that need to be addressed:

Saudi Arabia is on a high-stakes mission to buy the world


The Kingdom's sovereign wealth fund has risen in prominence as it has invested in everything from Uber and Heathrow airport to a Blackstone fund.

Foreign money from all sources needs to be most more closely scrutinized and in some areas blocked.

=================

U.S. News // 1 hour ago
eBay's move to drop American Express over processing fees takes effect


Card fees are nuts. Bank fees in general also need to be reviewed and likely reduced.

Apply pressure and shame at first, but if they don't react, get out the bigger hammer of regulation.
 
Nov 17, 2019
13,294
7,875
136
Every time a company raises prices or fees, the WH should respond with the names and pay packages of the top 5 or 10 C-Critters of that company ... 'Now tell us again about how your costs are rising?'
 

HomerJS

Lifer
Feb 6, 2002
39,276
32,768
136
The reduced corporate tax rates are permanent, so aren't affected by the 2025 expiration. Obviously that was by design. In fact, I don't believe the middle class tax cuts were even part of the original "reform" as conceived by the GOP. They were bolted on at some point to ensure it would be passed by a split Congress. And to game the system, many provisions had to be sunset to satisfy the Byrd rule.
Forgot about that. Add to my list restoring the corporate tax rate back to pre-Trump days
 

HomerJS

Lifer
Feb 6, 2002
39,276
32,768
136
A .0000001% time when Fox news happened to be honest

Tarlov is the only one at Fox who tells the truth. Surprised she still has a job. She doesn’t let the rest of those shills run over her
 

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
40,860
10,216
136
The details haven't been provided. -snip-

Republican and many Democratic economists see mandatory price controls as a counterproductive form of government intervention that discourages firms from producing enough supply to meet demand.
Coming down on price gouging it seems to me does not equate to price controls. Maybe something else can be worked.
 

hal2kilo

Lifer
Feb 24, 2009
26,012
12,259
136
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.

Initial search of the subject yielded nothing productive in learning what was proposed.
Everything I find on it is just pure hate and visceral.

Can anyone shed some light on Harris's "price controls"?
And why on earth anyone in America would make that a cornerstone of their campaign?
Yea, literally every time in the last fews days since Kamala laid out fighting against price gouging, when I check into Fox, that's all they've been talking about. Her being for price controls. I guess they've never heard of things like jawboning. But, I digress, they are literally lying about her being for price controls as they have never proposed that.
 

VRAMdemon

Diamond Member
Aug 16, 2012
7,815
10,207
136
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.

Initial search of the subject yielded nothing productive in learning what was proposed.
Everything I find on it is just pure hate and visceral.

Can anyone shed some light on Harris's "price controls"?
And why on earth anyone in America would make that a cornerstone of their campaign?

In general, the measures mostly sound like something an AG would do, not an economist. As such, when it comes to reducing grocery prices, my expectation would be that she investigates whether there’s any collusion, market manipulation, fraud, monopolism, etc. going on and potentially prosecuting it. My sense was not that she was thinking of price controls. But, IMO she needs to make this clear. This isn’t to say that, once in power, her lead economist won’t give her some proposals for her platform. But, at the moment, I’d expect her to lean on the AG for any price reduction investigations. Going after “price gouging” is typically a politician’s gimmick when they don’t want to suffer the political costs that implementing anti-inflationary measures would create. I’m not going to pick at it too hard. The message is not the details of the policy but in telling people who are fixated on the price of groceries, and all those props Trump had on the table that he never got around to, that she is on it.

I'm not sure how much monopolism, or close to it is going on in the agriculture “industry”. There may be a small numbers of very big companies controlling the market, but I don't know for sure.
 
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hal2kilo

Lifer
Feb 24, 2009
26,012
12,259
136
In general, the measures mostly sound like something an AG would do, not an economist. As such, when it comes to reducing grocery prices, my expectation would be that she investigates whether there’s any collusion, market manipulation, fraud, monopolism, etc. going on and potentially prosecuting it. My sense was not that she was thinking of price controls. But, IMO she needs to make this clear. This isn’t to say that, once in power, her lead economist won’t give her some proposals for her platform. But, at the moment, I’d expect her to lean on the AG for any price reduction investigations. Going after “price gouging” is typically a politician’s gimmick when they don’t want to suffer the political costs that implementing anti-inflationary measures would create. I’m not going to pick at it too hard. The message is not the details of the policy but in telling people who are fixated on the price of groceries, and all those props Trump had on the table that he never got around to, that she is on it.

I'm not sure how much monopolism, or close to it is going on in the agriculture “industry”. There may be a small numbers of very big companies controlling the market, but I don't know for sure.
Look at the grains business.
 

balloonshark

Diamond Member
Jun 5, 2008
7,126
3,603
136
In general, the measures mostly sound like something an AG would do, not an economist. As such, when it comes to reducing grocery prices, my expectation would be that she investigates whether there’s any collusion, market manipulation, fraud, monopolism, etc. going on and potentially prosecuting it. My sense was not that she was thinking of price controls. But, IMO she needs to make this clear. This isn’t to say that, once in power, her lead economist won’t give her some proposals for her platform. But, at the moment, I’d expect her to lean on the AG for any price reduction investigations. Going after “price gouging” is typically a politician’s gimmick when they don’t want to suffer the political costs that implementing anti-inflationary measures would create. I’m not going to pick at it too hard. The message is not the details of the policy but in telling people who are fixated on the price of groceries, and all those props Trump had on the table that he never got around to, that she is on it.

I'm not sure how much monopolism, or close to it is going on in the agriculture “industry”. There may be a small numbers of very big companies controlling the market, but I don't know for sure.
This brief Robert Reich video says it's the monopolies.

 
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HomerJS

Lifer
Feb 6, 2002
39,276
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Yea, literally every time in the last fews days since Kamala laid out fighting against price gouging, when I check into Fox, that's all they've been talking about. Her being for price controls. I guess they've never heard of things like jawboning. But, I digress, they are literally lying about her being for price controls as they have never proposed that.
If you listen to them the following is ok….

1 week after a CAT 5 hurricane leaves Florida without power you can roll in town, charge $20/lb for ice and get it. Harris wants to end that
 

Dave_5k

Platinum Member
May 23, 2017
2,007
3,820
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If you listen to them the following is ok….

1 week after a CAT 5 hurricane leaves Florida without power you can roll in town, charge $20/lb for ice and get it. Harris wants to end that
Actually, that is a great example which is already specifically illegal in Florida, and they routinely set up hotlines (even now under Republican control) to report such cases post hurricanes
 
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