SKILLED MANIPULATORS GET ELECTED!

 Weekly Opinion Editorial

CUT & PASTE

By Steve Fair

     Years ago, there were three Republican candidates for county sheriff.  Two were experienced law enforcement officers- the third a perennial candidate for office.  At a GOP booth at a major outdoor event, all three candidates campaign material was laid out on the table.  The two viable candidates had well written, well produced, slick campaign push cards to distribute.  The third candidate took the other two candidate’s push cards, cut and pasted what he agreed with, and put his name at the top.  He didn’t bother to retype.  When confronted by his opponents, he explained he agreed with what they stood for.  Voters didn’t buy the plagiarist’s story and he received less than 40 votes in the primary election. Three observations:

     First, Vice President Harris is cut and pasting President Trump policy.    This week, Harris announced she supports exempting tips from personal income taxation for service workers.  Trump has been touting that concept for months.  Trump has endorsed a $5,000 per child tax credit to help struggling families.  This week, Harris announced she supports a $6,000 one.  Harris claims to now support hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a drilling technique that involves injecting pressurized liquid into a well to extract oil and gas.  Trump has consistently supported fracking.  Harris says she supports private health care, walking back her long-time support of national health care.  Trump has consistently said Americans should manage their own health care. 

     Harris is not just borrowing Trump’s policies.  She supports price controls, similar to those enacted by President Nixon to control the inflation the Biden/Harris administration created.  She wants to empower the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and state attorney generals, “to investigate and fine food companies that violate the federal ban.”  

     For those too young to remember, Nixon’s price controls were an utter disaster.  They simply delayed the inevitable and created shortages.  The price controls resulted in the demise of many food processors and ingredient providers.  Unable to pass along real price increases in a reasonable period of time drove many out of business.  The end result was the American consumer paying more for food.  Government rarely fixes anything with regulation and interference.  It helps when it gets out of the way.

     Second, will the real Kamala Harris stand up?  Is her recent conversion to conservative policy real or it just a ploy to get votes?  Consider Harris’ track record of the aforementioned issues: (1) Biden/Harris expanded the reach of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to hire more IRS agents specifically to target ‘tipped workers.’  (2) During the 2020 presidential campaign, Harris said: ‘there is no question, I’m in favor of banning fracking.’  But energy exploration (drilling) is a big issue in battleground Pennsylvania, so now she supports fracking? (3) Harris has consistently supported a single payer health care system ran by the government since she was in elective office.  So now she doesn’t? 

     Harris has contradicted the Biden/Harris administration policy and unless Harris was converted on the road to Damascus(unlikely), this looks like the ultimate confidence game.

     Third, skilled manipulators get elected.  Because such a low percentage of American voters pay any attention to public policy, all too often connivers finagle and beguile the naïve to get into office.  Once there, these public servants abandon their campaign promises and govern to help their true constituency- their donors.  That’s why America has record inflation, an out-of-control national debt, and a huge government footprint.  Until voters hold their elected officials accountable, it will be the same old same old.

     Solomon said in Ecclesiastes there was nothing new under the sun, meaning no matter how things seem new to us, in their essence they are the same.  Voters need to recognize the ‘cut and paste.’