Harv's Corner 09/30/2024

Harv's Corner
I Voted!

Early voting has begun. 
It's important before you cast your vote that you know what you are voting for.  Today I present Donald Trump with an outline of his platform and what you can expect if he is elected.  Please read carefully and then
VOTE!

Donald Trump, R
Seeking a return to the White House, with Ohio Sen. JD Vance as his running mate this time, Trump wants to accomplish much of what he couldn't do during a term that was sidetracked by the global pandemic. The Republican wants the extension and expansion of his 2017 tax cuts, a huge increase in tariffs, more support for fossil fuels and a greater concentration of government power in the White House. Amid a bitterly divisive campaign, Trump survived an assassination attempt during a July rally in Pennsylvania and an apparent attempt on Sept. 15 while playing golf in Florida.

CLIMATE
Trump denies established climate science, disparages renewable energy and champions unlimited production of fossil fuels. His administration rolled back more than 100 environmental protection regulations, and he plans a similar agenda if elected again. He has called for unlimited oil and gas drilling, pledging to "end Biden's delays in federal drilling permits and leases" and to "remove all red tape that is leaving oil and natural gas projects stranded." He has also called for building more coal plants and eliminating a Biden regulation that would force many existing plants to close.

ECONOMY
Trump enacted a large package of tax cuts as president and pursued protectionist trade policies, including a trade war with China. He wants to cut taxes further and enact more sweeping tariffs. He says he would not cut Social Security or Medicare benefits but has not provided a plan to keep the programs solvent. Trump has also criticized high interest rates, the Federal Reserve's primary tool to control inflation. He argued in August that the president should have a say in the decisions of the Fed, which normally operates independently of the White House.

DEMOCRACY
Trump is the only U.S. president who has refused to accept his loss. He tried to overturn the 2020 election and has sought to delegitimize the electoral system. He has used dehumanizing terms like "vermin" to describe his political opponents. Trump has indicated that he would end the norm of Justice Department independence, vowing to use the levers of government to punish his political opponents and anyone whom he deems to have engaged in "unscrupulous behavior" in this year's election. He has floated the idea of pardoning himself, something no president has tried to do.

ABORTION
Trump's Supreme Court appointees enabled the overturning of Roe v. Wade, ending federal protections for abortion. He has boasted about that fact on a number of occasions, saying he accomplished what no Republican president before him could and calling himself "proudly the person responsible" for the overturning of Roe. He has repeatedly, and falsely, claimed that "all legal scholars" supported overturning it. He has said that he would not sign a federal abortion ban but that states should be allowed to enact any restrictions they choose.

ISRAEL, GAZA
Trump has sought to position himself as a champion of Israel, and as president, he took actions that favored the country. He supports Israel in its war in Gaza and has condemned pro-Palestinian demonstrators in the United States, but he has also urged Israel to "finish up" the war because it is losing support. He said recently that he doubted a two-state solution was possible. Trump has described criticism of Israel as antisemitism, and his administration took steps to designate campaigns to boycott Israel as such. He has also made antisemitic remarks.

IMMIGRATION
Trump enacted sweeping anti-immigration policies when he was president, including separating migrant children from their parents. If elected again, he wants to round up millions of immigrants in the U.S. illegally and detain them in camps before deporting them en masse. He told Time magazine in April that he said he might deploy the military against migrants both along the border and in nonborder states, claiming that a law that forbids the use of the military for domestic law enforcement would not apply because people who are in the U.S. illegally "aren't civilians."

UKRAINE
Trump has repeatedly taken issue with U.S. aid to Ukraine and says he will continue to "fundamentally reevaluate" the mission and purpose of the NATO alliance if he returns to office. He has claimed, without explanation, that he will be able to end the war before his inauguration by bringing both sides to the negotiating table. (His approach seems to hinge on Ukraine giving up at least some of its Russian-occupied territory in exchange for a cease-fire.) On NATO, he has assailed member nations for years for failing to meet agreed-upon military spending targets.

EDUCATION
Trump has said he wants to "get rid" of the Education Department and "let local areas and, frankly, states handle education." In September 2023, Trump released a 10-point plan that included "restoring parental rights," proposals relating to students' gender identity, and allowing for the direct election of principals. He proposed incentivizing schools to eliminate teacher tenure, reinstating a commission focused on teaching U.S. history and allowing for "universal school choice." Trump lauded the Supreme Court decision ending the use of race in public and private university admissions.

GUN CONTROL
As president he banned bump stocks in response to the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting, though the ban has since been overturned by the Supreme Court. His campaign stated, "The Court has spoken and their decision should be respected." He reversed Obama-era regulations that required those eligible for Social Security Administration mental disability payments to be blocked from buying guns, and made it easier for gun-safety devices to be more widely accessible. The former president is a gun owner and has stated in the past that he "always carries a gun."

LGBTQ RIGHTS
Trump has pledged to keep transgender women out of women's sports and says he will ask Congress to pass a bill establishing that "only two genders," as determined at birth, are recognized by the U.S. As part of his crackdown on gender-affirming care, he would declare that any health care provider that participates in the "chemical or physical mutilation of minor youth" no longer meets federal health and safety standards and bar them from receiving federal money. He would support a national prohibition of hormonal or surgical intervention for transgender minors.

THINK!   VOTE!
(HARV)