A reader has suggested that I only compare Trump and Harris on the basis of their schtick – whatever that is – and not their policies.
Well. Harris supports a legislative approach to the complexities of the border and immigration issues, as were included in the bill drafted by a bipartisan group of Senators and supported by Republicans. It was not adopted because Trump told Republican Senators not to vote for it, that he wanted the issue to run on.
Much has been made of Harris’s supposedly being a border czar during the Biden Administration. In fact she was not. Her role was to deal with causes of the flood of refugees seeking asylum. She spent her time working with governments in Central and South America to try to change conditions so that fewer people would feel compelled to leave for the border.
Harris supports national legislation protecting reproductive health rights of women, essentially the legislative incorporation of Roe v. Wade. Trump’s position shifts frequently, from allowing states to adopt their own positions to supporting a national ban on such rights. He has claimed to support exceptions for rape, incest or to save the mother’s life. Vance, his VP nominee, does not support those exceptions.
Harris supports tax and expenditure policies that support lower income and middle class families, so that they can work, stabilize economically, and pursue a better life, with attainable options for education, health care, and housing. Trump supports $5 trillion in tax cuts for the wealthy.
Harris supports NATO. Trump tried to undercut it. Harris supports Ukraine in its war with Russia. Trump does not, but supports Russia and its leader, Putin.
Harris supports a nuanced policy regarding the Israeli-Palestinian struggle, that would lay the foundation for the ultimate establishment of a two-state solution. Trump supports Israel alone. His urging of a quick solution to the present situation is for political, not humanitarian, reasons.
Harris strongly supports policies to attack climate change. She supports the Paris Accords. Trump strongly supports production and usage of traditional fossil fuels. He withdrew from the Paris Accords in his term.
Harris supports re-entering the Iran Nuclear Agreement that Trump withdrew from in his term.
These policy differences are important, very important, but they are not the only matters by which comparisons between the candidates can or should be made. Character and temperament matter greatly.
Harris is married, stepmother of two, an attorney, served as District Attorney in San Francisco, then elected statewide – in a state with 40 million people, more than the smallest 21 states combined – and served as Attorney General, then elected U.S. Senator, then elected Vice President of the United States. Never prosecuted for anything.
Trump married three times, convicted of 42 felonies for tax and campaign fraud related to paying hush money to a porn star. Found guilty in a separate civil action for sexual assault. Despite his claims to being a great businessman, has gone bankrupt 6 times. Prior to being elected President in 2016, he had never run for or been elected to any public office.
Aside from all that, there are the matters of general conduct and demeanor. And truth telling. The facts about these matters are well known about Trump. Harris does not engage in name-calling and points to facts when making comparisons and judgments.
I hope this satisfies those wanting such information.
Col Owens is a retired attorney and a law professor. He is author of the Bending the Arc Toward Justice.
Well said!
Liberal Democrat propaganda spewed by a long time Democratic insider. She is a know leftist and supports policies that just short of total communism and now they want to hide and distort her record and pretend she is a moderate. She must be made to stand up for her past and not covered up
The bias is so strong here that it would be hard to find a more unsatisfying essay. I’m sorry to see this.
Mr. Owens, I care too much to let you make false statements. My corrections are made in that spirit:
Trump’s administration through their policies ushered in the LOWEST unemployment across all minority populations in the US. Trump’s policies garnered an economy where the working family could afford to buy a house, send their kids to college and save for retirement. Biden/Harris policies have created the highest inflation in 50 years! Their policies directly caused gasoline to increase over 50%. Food prices follow energy prices so guess what? Food and property prices have increased by over 50% in under 4 years!!
Border Policy by the Trump Administration enacted a “Remain In Mexico” operation that accomplished everything Harris futilely attempted to make happen and it fell grossly short of the Trump admin successes.
You cannot say with any authenticity that Trump is “pro-Putin”. How quickly you forget that Putin has only been aggressive when Biden/Harris “have the con”. Putin doesn’t respect the Biden administration (and that includes Harris) and his actions prove it.
Regarding Iran: Trump didn’t give Iran Billions of US Dollars and allow Iran to export their oil, Biden/Harris did and again: it is evident what Iran does with that money. Iran has taken the money that Biden/Harris gave them and armed Houthis and Hamas, making the Middle East LESS peaceful.
The policy differences are very clear. We cannot afford another 4 years of Harris, no matter what you think of Trump.
Very well said
Thank you for replying to my opinion piece and sharing your thoughts.
I was a legal aid attorney for almost 40 years. I can assure you, working people under the Trump Administration policies could not buy a house, or send their child to college, much less save for retirement. Many lost their homes, and hopes for higher education with his opposition to reforming the student loan business. This from a man who ran a sham college which was legally shut down for fraudulent practices.
Inflation, according to most economists, is not in the purvue of a president. in the case of the last 8 years, the pandemic has been universally identified – by all but the most ardent Trump supporters – as the cause of the inflation. Combined with the impact of governmental actions taken to save our economy. The scope of the pandemic was substantially greater because of the denial of the Trump Administration.
Border policy, and immigration policy generally, has been a mess for decades, since the Simpson Mazzoli Act of 1986. As I indicated, the bipartisan legislation that was painstakingly developed by the Biden Administration was tanked by Trump because he wanted the issue to run on. Self over country.
The real tragedy of the immigration situation is that so many people need safety, as well as opportunity, while we need the workers. Playing politics with the border is not a policy that serves people.
Trump calls Putin a genius and says that he can do whatever he wants in the Ukraine. His admiration for authoritarian leaders is well documented.
Trump’s tanking of the Iran Nuclear agreement has pushed the world backward to the potential for Iran to be a nuclear state. in this instance, as well as with most foreign policy issues, world leaders in the democratic world vastly prefer dealing with the Biden Administration.
Speaking of oil, Trump’s contribution to the crisis of climate change is “drill baby drill.”
The Middle East is a caldron and has been, more or less, since 1948. Today Israel is beset on five sides, by Hamas in Gaza, by Hezzbalah in Lebanon, by Iran-backed factions in Syria, by Iran itself, and by Yemen. One must ask, why such universal hatred among its neighbors? The current war in Gaza, resulting in 40,000 deaths among civilians, is not a rational or wise policy to address the region’s problems.