The Wall Street Journal, along with many in the mainstream media, published an article showing that presidential candidate Joe Biden and his new running mate, Senator Kamala Harris, have different views on a number of policy issues.
On energy and climate, Ms. Harris has issued clear support of the Green New Deal while Mr. Biden says he backs the “goals” of the policy but would spend less money on it.
On health care, Ms. Harris has signed onto the Medicare for All Act of Senator Bernie Sanders, but then she backtracked saying she’d like to find a compromise position between single-payer and the current system. Mr. Biden is for expanding Obamacare with a public option but is against Medicare for All.
When it comes to trade, Ms. Harris has opposed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement and the Trans-Pacific Partnership due to environmental concerns. Mr. Biden backed them, citing his support for labor.
While Ms. Harris is behind the move toward guaranteed income for all Americans, Mr. Biden publicly has stated the government should provide more financial support for those in need but has been vague about exactly what the policy would be.
Ms. Harris was very vocal against the Trump administration’s actions separating families at the U.S.-Mexican border. She was one of only a small group of Democrats to reject the billions of dollars Congress appropriated for a border wall in exchange for a path to citizenship for young immigrants.
But neither had anything to say about the record $738 billion military budget that easily passed Congress last year; 377-48 in the House and 86-8 in the Senate. President Trump signed that bill last 20 December, a nice Christmas present to the military and a near-guarantee for continued American military involvement around the world. It included an estimated $15 billion the “Space Force” program to accelerate American military presence above the earth.
Ms. Harris is on the record as “Not Voting” when the roll call for the defense budget was made.
In 2002, a year after the U.S. launched the Afghan War, then-Senator Joe Biden, as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said of President George W. Bush who was selling the Iraq War, “At each pivotal moment he [Bush] has chosen a course of moderation and deliberation, and I believe he will continue to do so.”
Rather than moderation, Biden was one of 77 senators to authorize the use of military force in Iraq. Yet, when running for the nomination, he tried to get away with saying he opposed President Bush on Iraq.
In 2001, Biden voted for the Patriot Act, which gave the federal government the power to spy on any American by monitoring phone and email communications, collecting bank and credit report records, and tracking activity on the Internet. The act did not require federal officials to destroy any information gained on American citizens even if they were found to be completely innocent.
While campaigning for the presidential nomination, Mr. Biden stated, “I’m the guy that – as has been pointed out repeatedly – that thought we should not be going into Afghanistan.”
In fact, he was part of the unanimous vote backing the 2001 resolution authorizing the use of military force against any “nations, organization or persons” then-President George W. Bush decided was complicit in the 9/11 attack of that year.
TRENDPOST: We note this, since at this stage of America, deeply falling into the Greatest Depression and running up a $4 trillion deficit this year, there is no mention from the two ruling political parties to cut the military budget, which, along with intelligence agencies and Homeland Security, is over $1 trillion.
And as for the population as a whole, there is little interest among them to either end America’s decades long foreign entanglements or cut the military budget.
TRENDPOST: With COVID Hysteria sweeping the airwaves and the Democratic National Convention going virtual, mainstream America is tuning out The Presidential Reality Show®.
Last night’s opening acts at the Convention drew only 5.7 million viewers, a drop off of 51 percent from four years ago.
With interest so low among the general public, if the Democrats are unable to generate voter enthusiasm, we stand by our forecast: “Trump 2020: By Default”… the fault of the Democrats for picking uninspiring candidates.
As for the population as a whole, there is little interest among them to either end America’s decades-long foreign entanglements or cut the military budget.