After much marketing and promotion, Vice President Kamala Harris sat down with MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle in Pittsburgh for a one-on-one interview. Again, the discussion was taped and edited. We are still awaiting a live interview that Harris would grant to someone a little less media-friendly and more objective than Ruhle, but this may never happen in the few short weeks left before November 5.
How anti-Trump and pro-Harris is Ruhle? As we said in a recent editorial, Ruhle effectively said that Harris doesn’t have to answer any questions because Trump was such a terrible choice on Friday’s taping of Bill Maher’s HBO show.
Stephanie Ruhle: “If you don’t like her answer, are you going to vote for Trump? Kamala Harris is not running for perfect, she is running against Trump. We have two choices. There are some things that you might not know her answer to. In 2024, we know exactly what Trump will do, who he is, and the kind of threat he is to democracy.”
Bret Stephens of the New York Times, another anti-Trumper: “The problem that a lot of people have with Kamala is that we don’t know her answer to anything.”
Ruhle: “But you know his answer to everything.”
Stephens: “People are also expected to have some idea of what program you’re supposed to vote for. I don’t think it’s a lot to ask for her to sit down for a real interview.”
Ruhle: “When you move to Nirvana, I’ll be your next-door neighbor. We don’t live there.”
The Harris campaign watched this exchange and agreeing to a sit-down with Ruhle was a good idea. Nothing could possibly go wrong with an interviewer who was so out-and-out pro-Harris.
But what a disaster the interview turned out to be. Harris seemed clueless as she attempted to answer basic questions on the economy. She employed a new word three times in under 15 seconds —holistic—to describe her housing policy.
Looking holistically at the connection between that and housing and looking holistically at the incentives we in the federal government can create for local and state governments to actually engage in planning in a holistic manner that includes prioritizing affordable housing.
Holistic is a term used by management consultants, college admissions officers, and some doctors. It means considering the whole thing and not just pieces of a puzzle. When a college looks at a high school student’s application, it will examine not just the SAT scores but also other elements of the student’s profile, such as grades, essays, recommendation letters, extracurricular activities, and community service. WebMD describes a new type of medicine – holistic medicine – which considers the whole person: mind, spirit, and body.
We suppose some bright staffer on her campaign told her to use the word “holistic” because the federal government can’t directly influence developers to build homes—bringing in local and state governments would make it whole.
When asked how Harris would pay for her $1.8 trillion boondoggle, which promises $25,000 in retail housing down payment assistance and tax breaks to real estate developers (we wondered, cheekily, if the Trump organization would also receive these tax breaks), she resorted to the usual, tried and tested mantra: The big corporations and the wealthiest billionaires “have to pay their fair share.”
Her reliance on such rhetoric aligns with public perceptions. Fully 54% of Americans believe that Kamala Harris’s ideas tend toward socialism, as shown in a recent TIPP Poll:
Similarly, in battleground states like Georgia, voters believe that the media is working in favor of Harris and against Donald Trump, as a recent TIPP Poll shows:
Ruhle: “Expanding that tax credit, or you mentioned housing before, giving that extra money for a first home. If you can’t raise corporate taxes, or if the GOP takes control of the Senate, where do you get the money to do that? Do you still go forward with those principles and borrow?”
Kamala Harris: “Well — but we’re going to have to raise corporate taxes, and we’re going to have to raise — we’re going to have to make sure that the biggest corporations and billionaires pay their fair share. That’s just it. It’s about paying their fair share. I am not mad at anyone for achieving success, but everyone should pay their fair share, and it is not right that the teachers and the firefighters that I meet every day across our country are paying a higher tax than the richest people in our country.”
Let us unpack the numbers.
According to SmartAsset, an online resource for consumer-focused financial information and advice, the top 1% of earners make $787,712 nationally. [In 2021, nearly 1.5 million tax returns in the U.S. met this criteria]. These families pay a whopping 40% of all federal income taxes. Households making above $400,000 but less than $787,712 contribute about 30% of federal income taxes. [Harris repeated that she would not raise taxes on any household making less].
In effect, the top 3% of income earners already pay 70% of federal income taxes. Still, Kamala Harris says that these families are not paying their fair share. How much more can she sock them for? And even if she did, wouldn’t those additional funds first go to pay our existing annual two-trillion-dollar deficits, then retire the existing $35 trillion debt, and only then be used for new government spending? As expected, Ruhle did not pose any of these follow-up questions.
Harris repeated her charge on tariffs saying that Trump’s tariffs would amount to a $4,000 sales tax increase. Last week, our columnist debunked Harris’s false charge with a detailed analysis, including an example of how retail purchases happen in the real world.
Harris also showed how profoundly ignorant she was about capitalism, although she claimed in an earlier speech that she was a capitalist: “Well, listen, I work with a lot of CEOs; I have spent a lot of time with CEOs. And I’m going to tell you that the business leaders who are actually part of the engine of America’s economy agree that people should pay their fair share.”
No, they don’t. An individual CEO may agree to pay more, but talk is cheap. Given the tax laws today, why do wealthy CEOs not voluntarily contribute to the IRS more than what they legally owe in taxes?
In capitalism, the CEO’s role is to satisfy the stakeholders— investors, employees, customers, and suppliers. [The government is not a stakeholder unless it is a customer]. CEO pay is directly related to the company’s performance on the stock market, which is directly related to profits and revenue growth.
To this end, CEOs are always looking to cut costs, and one way to do this is to move their companies to jurisdictions that tax less. Kamala Harris should know. Some of the largest and most profitable companies based in highly taxed California—Oracle, Tesla, Charles Schwab, Palantir, HP Inc, Toyota Financial, McKesson, and Chevron—have all recently moved or announced a move to Texas, a state with no corporate income tax or personal income tax for employees. The average CEO wants to pay less in tax, not more.
America is ready to vote on November 5. But Harris shows again that she is woefully unprepared to take over as the leader of the Free World.
TIPP Takes
Geopolitics, Geoeconomics, And More
1. Trump Looks Strong In North Carolina And Georgia – RealClearPolitics
If Trump wins North Carolina, Georgia, and Pennsylvania, he will become the next president. He is well-positioned in North Carolina and Georgia; most polls show him tied in Pennsylvania.
2. U.S. And Allies Call For 21-Day Ceasefire Across Lebanon-Israel Border – BBC
Allies, including the U.S., UK, and EU, have called for a temporary ceasefire in Lebanon following an escalation in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
The 12-strong bloc proposed an immediate 21-day pause in fighting “to provide space for diplomacy towards the conclusion of a diplomatic settlement” and a ceasefire in Gaza. In a joint statement, they said the hostilities were “intolerable” and presented an “unacceptable risk of a broader regional escalation” that was neither in the interest of the people of Israel or Lebanon.
3. Israel Puts Troops On Alert For Entry Into Lebanon – AFP
Israel’s army chief told soldiers to prepare for a possible ground offensive to fight Hezbollah in Lebanon as the air force conducted hundreds of deadly strikes around the country.
“We are attacking all day, both to prepare the ground for the possibility of your entry, but also to continue striking Hezbollah,” Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi told a tank brigade, according to a statement from the military.
4. Hezbollah Weapons Arsenal, Underground Network A ‘Huge Threat’ To Israel: Experts – Al Arabiya
With its massive underground tunnels network and a vast weapons arsenal, Lebanon’s armed Hezbollah group poses a “huge threat” to Israel, despite the Mossad’s notoriously sophisticated intelligence tactics, experts said.
Boaz Shapira, a researcher at Alma, an Israeli think tank that specializes in Hezbollah, said that, Israel hasn’t yet targeted most of Hezbollah’s strategic arrays. “Most of the Hezbollah personnel targeted so far were from the military wing” Shapira said.
5. U.S. Announces $375 Million In Military Aid To Ukraine: Blinken – AFP
Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the military aid for Ukraine, in a package that includes HIMARS precision rocket launchers, cluster munitions and light tactical vehicles.
Under President Joe Biden, the United States has provided around $175 billion in both military and economic assistance to Ukraine since Russia’s February 2022 invasion.
6. At UN, Zelensky Rejects China-Brazil Peace Plan – RFE/RL
In his speech at the opening of the U.N. General Assembly, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva said Brazil and China wished to revive their six-point proposal to end the conflict, initially released in May.
But Zelensky said the only acceptable peace plan was for Russia to withdraw its forces from his country and end the invasion, in line with the U.N. Charter’s principles of independence and territorial integrity.
7. Russia: Putin Calls For New Nuclear Deterrence Doctrine – D.W.
“In the updated version of the document, aggression against Russia by any non-nuclear state but with the participation or support of a nuclear state is proposed to be considered as their joint attack on the Russian Federation,” he said while meeting the country’s most senior security committee on nuclear deterrence.
The Russian president also said Russia reserved “the right to use nuclear weapons” in response to an attack on Belarus. Ukraine has been asking Western allies for permission to use long-range weapons to strike targets deep within Russian territory.
8. Russia Wants To Ban Adoption By Countries Allowing Gender Transition – RFE/RL
Russian lawmakers approved the first reading of legislation that would ban the adoption of Russian children by citizens from countries where gender transition is legal in a nod to the Kremlin’s crusade to protect what it views as “traditional family values.”
If approved in two subsequent readings and by the Federation Council, the ban would hit prospective parents from countries such as Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Britain, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Spain, and Switzerland, all of which allow for gender transitioning.
9. Japan Defense Force Ship Sails Through Taiwan Strait For 1st Time – Kyodo News
A Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer, Sazanami, along with Australian and New Zealand vessels, conducted the transit in the narrow waterway between China and Taiwan in an apparent challenge to China’s growing military assertiveness.
The ships were believed to be heading to the South China Sea for exercises.
10. U.S., EU Demand China Respond To Human Rights Abuses In Xinjiang – RFA
The U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Human Rights Council called on China to implement recommendations made by the U.N.’s human rights office in a two-year-old report issued and to release Uyghurs and others unjustly detained in Xinjiang.
American diplomat Michèle Taylor also demanded that China clarify the fate and whereabouts of missing family members and facilitate safe contact and reunion during a speech at the current Human Rights Council session in Geneva.
11. ‘Nowhere Near Winning This,’ Haiti’s PM Says Of Battle Against Gangs – Al Jazeera
Haiti’s interim prime minister has said the Caribbean country is far from defeating armed groups that have seized control of large swaths of territory, urging greater international support to help restore safety and stability.
“We are nowhere near winning this, and the simple reality is that we won’t without your help,” Garry Conille said at an event on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
12. IMF Approves $7 Billion Loan To Support Pakistan’s Economy – NDTV
The three-year loan program “will require sound policies and reforms” to support Pakistan’s ongoing efforts to strengthen its economy “and create conditions for a stronger, more inclusive, and resilient growth,” the IMF said.
In July, the South Asian nation agreed to the deal – its 24th IMF payout since 1958 – in exchange for unpopular reforms, including widening its chronically low tax base.
13. Sri Lanka’s New President Calls For Snap Parliamentary Polls – D.W.
The decision was expected as the newly elected president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, had promised during his election campaign that he would form a new government.
Dissanayake’s coalition group, the National People’s Party, holds only three seats in the 225-member parliament. A fresh mandate could help him secure his position there as he continues to enjoy the public’s support post-win. The parliamentary elections will be held on November 14.
14. Prediabetes In Teens Might Raise Odds Of Pregnancy Complications Later – HealthDay News
Ignoring prediabetes in teenagers “may represent a missed opportunity to avert pregnancy-related complications” later, said study lead author Katharine McCarthy.
As the researchers explained, prediabetes occurs when blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not yet high enough to be diagnosed as Type 2 diabetes. Obesity is a contributing factor to prediabetes. Prior research has found that rates of prediabetes have tripled among Americans ages 12 to 19 over the past decade.
15. Survey: Most Americans Won’t Get New Flu, COVID-19 Vaccines – HealthDay News
Fewer than two in five U.S. adults (38%) say they will definitely get a flu jab, and only one in four (26%) say they’ll get the updated COVID-19 vaccine, according to a National Foundation for Infectious Diseases survey.
The survey found that the lack of interest extends to those eligible for an RSV vaccine (21%) and pneumococcal vaccine (24%).
“The low vaccination rates among those with chronic health conditions are of particular concern because they are more likely to develop serious and even life-threatening complications from respiratory infections,” said Dr. Robert Hopkins Jr., medical director of the NFID.
Republished with permission from TIPP Insights
