[continued from previous message]   
      
   > 10. I believe there is little doubt that former President Trump failed   
   > to intervene and stop the   
   > attempted occupation of the Capitol of the United States for several   
   > crucial hours on January 6th   
   > 2021. I believe we need to elect as President a person fully committed   
   > to "protect and defend   
   > the Constitution" under all circumstances.   
   > Michael   
   >   
   > PART III THE ECONOMY CLAIM AGAINST BIDEN (and, by implication KH)   
   >   
   > Those inclined to vote for former President Trump often say that the   
   > economy for them was   
   >   
   > better in the Trump years before the onset of the COVID crisis than   
   > they have been in the post-   
   > COVID years of the Biden administration. By this, they generally refer   
   > to the inflation in the costs   
   >   
   > of food, housing and energy. The implication is that the economic   
   > policies of former President   
   > Trump created the better conditions during his administration and that   
   > the policies of the Biden   
   > administration have created and are responsible for the recent   
   > inflation and sense of economic   
   > crisis.   
   > I believe both of these conclusions are mistaken. First, the relative   
   > low inflation from 2017   
   > through 2019, I believe, represented the results of the efforts to   
   > stabilize and grow the economy   
   > by the Obama administration and the Federal Reserve after the Great   
   > Recession. I believe that   
   > little of this relative prosperity (including wage increases for   
   > African-American men alluded to by   
   > commentators such as Bret Stephens) can be attributed to the explicit   
   > policies or initiatives of   
   > the Trump administration (with the possible exception of some modest   
   > stimulus from modest tax   
   > decreases for middle-class families in the 2017 tax legislation).   
   >   
   > On the other hand - and I think this has to be said very loudly and   
   > clearly - the inflation in the   
   > post COVID period Is mainly the result first of the severe supply   
   > chain disruptions due to the   
   > shutdowns, quarantines and restrictions on productivity resulting from   
   > the need to contain the   
   > COVID virus. More recently, inflation has been exacerbated by severe   
   > interruptions in shipping   
   > by the war in Ukraine and the wars in the Middle East, and threats to   
   > the safety of maritime   
   > traffic. While the combined stimulus packages of the CARES Act (passed   
   > towards the end of the   
   > Trump administration) and the American Recovery Plan (passed early in   
   > the Biden   
   > administration) may said to have also been factors, these Acts I   
   > believe largely saved America   
   > from a depression or terrible recession in the wake of COVID. I   
   > believe it is also undisputable   
   > that the rate of inflation has significantly fallen in the last year,   
   > largely due to the careful policies   
   > of the Federal Reserve augmented by the policies of the Biden   
   > administration.   
   > Thus, I believe that voting for former President Trump on the premise   
   > that he can better run the   
   > economy or restore the price levels in the first couple of years of   
   > his administration is based on   
   > faulty assumptions and is gravely mistaken. The proposals for an   
   > across-the-board tariff on   
   > foreign imports of good and technology proposed by the former   
   > President is intrinsically   
   > inflationary and likely to reverse the steady if still incomplete   
   > progress in checking inflation while   
   > working to increase wage levels.   
   > One of my disappointments in the debate during this election season is   
   > that there has not been   
   > a more comprehensible discussion about the reasons for the economic   
   > pain experienced by   
   > many Americans despite the state of our economy being what Heather Cox   
   > Richardson calls   
   > "the envy of the world." I believe that the long-term   
   > infrastructure, research and development,   
   > and capital commitment legislation passed during the Biden   
   > administration is a major   
   > accomplishment that a Harris administration will sustain and build on,   
   > but that a second Trump   
   > administration is more likely to undermine and undo by misguided   
   > approaches such as the   
   > Trump campaign's tariff proposals. Thus, I think that voters for whom   
   > the state of the economy is   
   > a major concern should be voting for the Harris-Walz ticket so that   
   > the foundations for a strong   
   > U.S. economy laid by the Biden administration can be built on and   
   > strengthened.   
   > Michael   
   >   
   > Part IV THE DO-NOTHING CLAIM AGAINST KH   
   >   
   > Former President Trump and Senator Vance have often suggested that   
   > somehow Vice   
   > President Harris could have seen to the enactment of her policy   
   > proposals and initiatives during   
   > the three years she has been Vice President.   
   > I think this suggestion is unfair - and very ironic as well - for the   
   > following reasons:   
   > First, very obviously, the Vice President is not the President and   
   > therefore has not had unilateral   
   > control of the Biden administration�s agenda.   
   > But more importantly, President Biden and Vice President Harris have   
   > tried to advance some of   
   > the Vice-President's proposals and others that flow from a belief in   
   > the power of government to   
   > maintain fairness and opportunity in our economic and social systems.   
   > A striking example to me   
   > is the expanded childcare credit, which was passed temporarily under   
   > the American Recovery   
   > Plan in 2021 but had to be pared back in the 2022 budget negotiations   
   > due to opposition mainly   
   > from Republican lawmakers and, yes, a few Democratic or independent   
   > lawmakers, especially   
   > in the U.S. Senate. Other plans to provide initiatives designed to   
   > support workers in the service   
   > economy had to be scrapped because of opposition largely if not   
   > exclusively from Republican   
   > lawmakers.   
   > To ensure that more of the proposals and initiatives proposed by Vice   
   > President Harris can be   
   > fairly considered, refined, and implemented requires not only on   
   > electing Vice President Harris   
   > to be the next President of the United States but also on electing a   
   > majority of Senators and   
   > Representatives who understand the potential of government to support   
   > economic security and   
   > encourage fair competition and a level playing field for   
   > entrepreneurship and investment, be   
   > they Democrats, Independents or Republicans who are willing to work   
   > with the Vice-President in   
   > pursuit of her goals for our country and its people.   
   >   
   > Michael   
      
   ***   
      
   Kamala Harris is coming to Atlanta for a campaign rally on Saturday!   
   Will we see you there, Doris? - Cameron volunteering with Team   
   Harris-Walz (stop to quit)   
      
   RSVP here: https://txt.democrats.org/h7n8   
      
   p.s. Friday 11/1 is the last day to vote early in person!   
      
   ***   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)