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Good morning, Democrats!
Polls are indicating that the single biggest issue on the minds of Americans going into this presidential election is the economy, including inflation, with 35% of those polled listing it as their most important issue, more than triple the 11% who view immigration (#2) as being most important. Both Trump and Harris have put out generalized approaches to improving the economy, while neither have provided much in the way of details. This isn’t surprising since economics is a complicated subject, so details of any plan are difficult to explain in a 60-second TV commercial, but some details are available. For instance, Kamala Harris has proposed financial assistance for first-time home buyers and startup businesses. That would be expensive but could be more than paid for if loopholes were to be closed and billionaires were to be taxed on their income at the same rate as average citizens.
The only details from Trump’s “plan” to fix the economy are to cut taxes on the ultra-wealthy even more, and to further tax the middle class by imposing stiff tariffs on all imported goods. According to Trump, tariffs would lower prices. This is about as truthful and logical as Trump’s 2016 claim that his plan eight years ago would completely pay off the National Debt within two years of his presidency. Of course, anybody who takes the time to do the research and crunch the numbers knows that Trump INCREASED the debt almost $1.7 trillion/year, more per year than any other President in modern history, instead of paying it down, much less paying it off completely as he promised.
But, back to Trump’s proposed tariffs. Over 80% of the produce and around 50% of other food items we see in our stores comes from or through Mexico and many tech items come from China. Like his ill-fated border wall idea, Trump claims that Mexico and China will be paying the tariff, and not the American consumer, but anybody who has ever been involved in the operation of a business knows that the producer will simply increase prices to cover costs. If Trump is elected and puts these tariffs in place, economists project that prices across the board will go UP at least an additional 25%, with many items more than doubling in price. Workers will demand higher wages just to make ends meet. Domestic companies will need to raise prices on just about everything to cover the increased cost of labor. The end result is that inflation will go from being an issue to becoming a runaway freight train.
Republican policies in general have NEVER improved our economy. Just look at GDP statistics by President. Democratic policies don’t always work quite as well as we would like, but they never hurt us as bad as what the other side offers, and usually DO help, at least a little. This election we need to vote using our heads as well as our hearts. Both our heads and our hearts should have us voting for Kamala Harris!
Bill
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