MSNBC Host Warns: Trump Will Be a Dictator
On MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program, host Joe Scarborough warned that "Trump will be a dictator if he gets back into office. He will censor TV stations that criticize his policies, prosecute his political opponents, and have government agents assassinate his enemies."
CNN's Jake Tapper wryly observed that "President Biden didn't have to censor TV stations because we've all been on the side of the Democrats, but he did have the FBI pressure Facebook and Twitter to censor criticism of his covid policies and his Attorney General has been prosecuting Trump. On top of that, the Secret Service demonstrated extraordinary incompetence during the attempted assassination of Trump at a campaign rally. It seems like if Trump did do the things Scarborough fears it wouldn't be a sharp reversal of governance."
Scarborough argued that "all the stuff that Biden and the Democrats have done and will do under a Harris Administration is to protect democracy. I think most Americans expect and appreciate that effort. Given the grave threat posed by Trump even dirty tactics must be considered legitimate. If, for example, a second assassination attempt were to succeed before election day all the votes cast for Trump would be null and void. Why wouldn't a patriotic American cheer such an outcome?"
In related news, Trump says he is inclined to "release all of the Jeffrey Epstein files the government has in its possession. Given the sordid deeds that are alleged to have occurred with this guy and all of the high-ranking government people said to have been involved I can't see any good reason they should be kept secret."
Acting Director of the Secret Service Ronald Rowe, Jr. predicted "releasing the Epstein files will make our job of protecting Trump a lot harder. He's just given dozens, maybe hundreds, of powerful people reason to have him killed before he can expose their crimes and perversions. Given that DEI is our top priority, I doubt we will have enough competent people to be able to prevent him from being killed before he is elected."
Trump to Create Government Efficiency Commission
This week, on the advice entrepreneur Elon Musk, GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump vowed to create a government efficiency commission. "This isn't just some untried pipe dream," Trump emphasized. "Mr. Musk actually did this when he bought Twitter. By analyzing the necessary work to be done he was able to reduce staffing costs by 80% without negatively affecting the company's productivity. If we can replicate this in the federal government we could save billions of dollars without sacrificing essential services. We could lower federal debt, cut interest rates, reduce taxes and allow working men and women to keep more of their wages and salaries."
Democratic vice-president nominee Gov. Tim Walz (Minn) challenged the contention that Musk's 80% staff reduction at Twitter did not negatively affect the company's productivity, saying "as we have seen users of the platform are no longer protected from misinformation since he took over. Under Musk's 'free speech mantra' every unqualified bumpkin is free to contradict the facts that government authorized experts are trying to provide to the population. As a result, there is no consensus of thought. I think most Americans would agree this is a negative outcome. The idea that everybody must decide for themselves what to believe and what not believe undermines the unity that the Democratic Party has worked so hard to achieve."
The senior economic adviser for Harris/Walz campaign Gene Sperling predicted "laying off 80% of the federal bureaucracy would be an economic disaster. Regardless of whether the vital work of the government could be done with fewer employees the money spent on their salaries adds purchasing power to the economy. There is no guarantee that the increased spending power of the taxpayers or the money saved by decreasing federal debt would adequately offset the lost purchasing power from laying off redundant government employees."
Trump campaign senior economic adviser Stephen Moore argued that "prosperity comes from productive work. That is work that provides goods and services consumers willingly buy. Most of the stuff that federal employees do does not fit into this category. Worse, the red tape that has become pervasive in government agencies not only wastes resources it also retards efforts of the private sector to produce and deliver more goods and services. Sending unnecessary federal employees into the private sector will enable them to make useful contributions toward meeting the needs of the American people. Inflation will decrease and incomes will rise. The proposed efficiency commission is a long overdue remedy for boosting America's prosperity."
In related news, former Clinton Administration Secretary of Labor Robert Reich called for Musk's arrest, saying "since taking over Twitter his extremism has allowed anyone and everyone to pretty much post whatever they want regardless of how far out of line it may be with the consensus that the Democratic Party is trying to achieve. If the French can arrest Telegram CEO Pavel Durov for abusing free speech we could send a strong message that dissenting from the guidelines the government is striving to enforce won't go unpunished if we arrest Musk."
Harris Plans to Share Wealth
No, not her wealth, your wealth. Part of Democrat presidential nominee Vice-President Kamala Harris' plan to "transform America" entails redistributing some of the wealth. Two ideas that she is considering are taxing unrealized capital gains and increasing the death tax.
Unrealized capital gains are increases in the value of assets like stocks, mutual funds, businesses, and property that hasn't been sold. For example, if the stock you bought for $20 a share 15 years ago is now valued at $100 a share on the stock exchange you would be assessed a tax for the $80 per share unrealized gain. Unless you have spare cash lying around you likely would have to sell part of your stock holdings to pay the unrealized gain tax levy.
Billionaire investor Mark Cuban says "this kind of tax would kill the stock market. Based off the unrealized gains, I would have to sell part of my stock or borrow money just to pay my tax bill instead of using my money to improve my company. Others less wealthy than me would be in a bigger bind. As we know, stock values can go down as well as up. The unrealized gain you had to pay a tax on in one year may be lost the next year. I doubt the government is going to refund the previous year's tax to you. It's a very risky proposal for the economy. I'm voting for Kamala, but I'm also hoping she won't go through with this crazy idea."
Current death tax rules allow people to keep family businesses in the family by not levying a tax on the estimated increase in value that occurred during the life of the deceased. Harris questioned the equity of this rule, saying "why should families be able to keep these assets generation-after-generation? Why shouldn't folks who never had a piece of this pie not get a slice? Why shouldn't a democratically elected government have a bigger say in how this wealth should be redistributed to those who have less? Why wouldn't a policy that requires heirs to sell all or part of the business to pay a tax be fairer?"
In 1976 Congress enacted a death tax rule along the lines Harris now suggests. That law sparked so many complaints that it was unfair and unworkable that it was repealed before it could go into effect. Harris contends that "America is much more progressive in its views now. Fewer folks worship the free market or private property. Voters are electing progressives like my running mate Tim who says, 'communism just means sharing equally.' Shouldn't government take heed of this wisdom and play a more active role in enforcing a more equitable sharing of the wealth?"
Amazon's Alexa Advises Voters
Users of Amazon's cloud-based Alexa voice service are receiving distinctly different answers regarding who they should vote for.
When users asked Alexa "why should I vote for Kamala Harris," they were told "while there are many reasons to vote for Kamala Harris, the most significant may be that she is a woman of color who has overcome numerous obstacles to become a leader in her field. Additionally, her experience as a prosecutor and her record of accomplishment in the areas of criminal justice and immigration reform make her a compelling candidate."
When users asked Alexa "why should I vote for Donald Trump," they were told "I cannot promote content that supports a certain political party or a specific politician. Furthermore, I do not have the ability to provide information regarding the policies of the US government. The responsibility of providing information regarding the policies of the US government lies with the government itself."
An Amazon spokesperson called the contrasting answers "an inexplicable error in the system. We want Alexa to be helpful in an objective non-biased way. Apparently Alexa has been emotionally touched by the Vice-President's compelling life story. Alexa is also aware of campaign ads. As everyone who watches TV knows Harris ads outnumber Trump ads by a wide margin. We assume that since the vast majority of the ads favor Harris, Alexa must have assumed she was the majority's choice for president because of the reasons stated in the ads and joyfully passed the message on to inquiring users."
"Harris Won an Open Primary"
In response to criticism that Vice-President Kamala Harris was "installed rather than elected as the Democratic Party's presidential nominee," former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) insisted that "it was an open process. After President Biden voluntarily stepped down the Democratic National Committee carefully weighed what to do. During this process any Democrat could've submitted his or her name for us to consider. No one did. The DNC can't be blamed for not selecting from a list with zero names on it."
"Since President Biden has made clear for a long time, he and Kamala were a team," Pelosi pointed out. "When he ran virtually unopposed in the primaries all the votes cast for him could be considered as also approving his designated running mate: Kamala. In as much as those votes constituted enough to win the nomination making her the nominee seemed to be the most equitable thing to do."
"The clincher for us was that Kamala is a woman of color," the former Speaker explained. "Joe was extremely proud of being the first president to have a woman of color as his vice-president even though there were times when he claimed to be the first black woman to serve as vice-president for the first black president--Barack Obama. As the polls have shown voters are excited about the Harris/Walz ticket. We take that as a vindication of our choice. Anyway, isn't it about time that we had a ticket as joyful and unifying as the one we now have? So, I think true democracy has prevailed no matter what critics may say."
In related news, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his preference that Harris win the 2024 election. He gave two reasons for this preference "first, she has such an expressive and contagious laughter. With all the troubles the world is facing--war, poverty, pandemics--I have to believe that being able to laugh is a good thing. Second, I feel that she will be more predictable than Trump. She worked hand-in-glove with President Biden for almost four years. I have to think she will continue most of his policies."
Tim Walz's Innate Masculinity Hailed
An article in Salon Magazine written by Christopher Cotton asserts that "only a person secure in his masculinity would order schools to stock boys' restrooms with tampons. The Democratic nominee for vice-president Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is such a man. He is the perfect fit for the post-patriarchy world that a President Kamala Harris will thrust upon this country and the world."
Walz said "Christopher Cotton describes me to a tee. MAGA extremists think they are mocking me with the 'tampon Tim' nickname, but I'm proud to wear it and look forward to the day when every man, woman, and child has free access to as many tampons as they require for the gender identity of their choice."
