Our democracy has been curtailed and trampled on for decades, and it's not one party or the other. Our grandparents would be appalled by the power and control government has over our lives. Power in this country is not in the hands of ordinary citizens as originally intended by our Founders. It is in the hands of the obscenely rich and mega corporations. Remember, the government no longer serves the American People. It serves Wall Street.
Globally, world leaders see Trump as egotistic, a "drama king" and prone to aggrandizement, but at the same time, an astute businessman and tough negotiator. They also see him as something of a loose cannon, and therefore unpredictable. This is actually a very good thing when dealing with politicians.
Kamala Harris, on the other hand, is seen as weak. Politically naive and unintelligent. They know she has the lowest approval rating of any vice president in U.S. history. That means she's not popular and doesn't have a strong sustainable base. When you're dealing with cut throat politics and the likes of Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, Ali Khomeini, Xi Jinping, that's like chum to sharks.
However, to her credit, she can fall back on people know for their political astuteness and ruthlessness like Nancy Pelosi, Bill and Hilary Clinton, and Barack Obama. But in politics, even the President of the United States has only so many chips they can cash in. Unlike the president, when the sh*t hits the fan, you can bet they won't be standing in front with Kamala.
Kamala Harris wants to invest more money into the economies of Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala in order to promote more job growth, reduce poverty and improve their quality of life to the tune of over $1 billion dollars. She is also proposing incentives to U.S. businesses to further invest in Central America with a goal of adding over 90,000 new jobs. The combined government and business investment is expected to be around $5.2 billion dollars. Wouldn't that money be better spent on our own infrastructure?
In 2023, Honduras received $182 million in U.S. aid. El Salvador got just over $163 million dollars and Guatemala took in $212,670,434 million of U.S. taxpayer's money. Almost $181 million went to Mexico. (as an aside, Afghanistan received $881 million in 2023. The Taliban says "thank you").
Ms. Harris also proposes increasing pathways for migrants to become U.S. citizens, not "separating families (which was blamed on Trump, but actually began under President Obama). She also promises to reduce "abuses" and delays by those seeking asylum.
Currently, the U.S. has a population of about 65.2 million Hispanics. 19% aren't citizens. About 36.2 million are registered to vote, making them 14.7% of the voting population (the majority of them live in key electoral states like California, Texas, Florida, and New York). Every year, another 1.4 million become a U.S. citizen. Hispanics are the largest minority in America. In about ten years they'll be on par with white Americans of European origin.
In expanding the demographic, when asked about illegal immigration, the majority of Americans---55%--- have been pushing for a reduction since 2001. 51% want to deport all illegal immigrants. 53% would like to see a wall built on our southern border. 76% want more border patrol agents. However, 70% favoring giving illegal residents an opportunity to remain, but only if they become U.S. citizens.
When it comes to Hispanic voters, 75% say the border situation represents a serious crisis. However, 74% think Washington is handling the situation all wrong. 57% and 58% respectively believe the U.S. should create more opportunities to become citizens while making it easier for asylum seekers to enter the U.S. and obtain employment while waiting on a decision about their immigration status.
Concerning the war in Ukraine, Trump has promised to end the war "within 24 hours" through negotiations with Putin and Zelenskyy based on his "personal relationship" with each leader. However, Trump has been a little fuzzy about the details of any such agreement, although cutting military aid to Ukraine is one part of any deal (by happenstance, President Biden approved an additional $61 billion in military aid for Ukraine in April 2024).
Trump also believes NATO members need to pick up more of the tab when it comes to their defense. The U.S. contributes 16% of the NATO budget (not 2/3 as claimed by Trump). However, only 35% of NATO members are paid up. They've put the defense of their countries on credit.
Expanding the conflict with a major nuclear power like Russia can't be the smartest move to make. Her proposal amounts to a de facto direct threat to Putin. Ms. Harris's statements also seem to contain the implied approval to allow Ukrainian use of long range missiles deep into Russia if elected (Putin has promised an immediate and "appropriate" response which can't be good).
Her statements imply too that the U.S. will maintain its current role in NATO and will continue to press for full membership of Ukraine into the archaic military alliance (which was the basis of the war. Putin had repeatedly promised that he wouldn't allow Russia to be enclosed on its western front by NATO or allow missiles at near pointblank range of Moscow and other key cities).
According to a Pew survey, about 1/3 of Americans believe the U.S. is providing too much support to Ukraine while 25% believe the Ukraine is receiving about the right amount in U.S. military aid. Finally, 24% of those polled said Ukraine should be getting more aid. The remaining 18% doesn't have a clue.
Broken down by party, about 50% of Republicans and conservatives think Ukraine is getting to much aid. 16% of Democrats agree. While 24% of Conservatives think support of Zelenskyy is critical to U.S. national security, 49% of Democrats and liberals believe support of Ukraine is key to our national security. Older Americans (those who experienced the Cold War) are more worried about the war's escalation than younger adults (mainly Millennials and Gen Z).
Trump has said he supports a two state agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (which may involve guaranteed direct U.S. support in the event of an attack). He has previously said that he would cut off all aid to the Palestinians for their support of and by Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran.
He would suspend student visas and deport any foreign student who openly supports or promotes Hamas or other terrorist groups (opponents criticize him of censoring "free speech"). Trump also opposes rebuilding Gaza because devastation leveled was the result of the October 7th sneak attack and subsequent torture, burning and mass murder of innocent Israeli civilians by Hamas. (I guess it's like saying, "you caused the mess, you got what you deserved, now you clean it up").
As for Kamala, she comes down more so on the side of the Palestinians, although she has said she supports Israel's right to defend itself and opposes the Democratic plan to suspend military aid to Israel (there have been numerous protests, including direct and indirect action by the Left, against Israel for what they call "the Palestine genocide"). The U.S. has sent Israel some $34 billion dollars in aid since October 7th. Ms. Harris has said that she is "working with" Biden on a cease-fire agreement (it's unlikely she has been directly involved in any such plan and is just trying to build some foreign policy creds).
Ms. Harris has also spoken about the "devastating" numbers of dead as a result of the war launched by Hamas (just under 50,000 civilians has died thus far). She said she supports the right of Palestinians to "dignity, security, freedom and self determination", which was a indirect swipe at Israel and happens to be the same things Hamas opposes for its citizens in Gaza. Beyond that, Ms. Harris is pretty light on details as to how she would help bring about a ceasefire, prevent further attacks on Israel or cut off its military aid and to what extent, if any, the United States would help rebuild Gaza.
Politically, 49% of Democrats believe the IDF's actions constitute genocide. 21% disagrees with 30% being undecided. Among Republicans, 57% doesn't believe Israel is engaged in genocide. 18% said it was and about 25% weren't sure. The poll, taken by Economist/You.Gov, excluded responses by Independents. Looking at age, 49% of those between 18 and 29 years old said they thought Israel was engaged in Palestinian genocide in Gaza. A minority of 24% disagreed and 27% couldn't decide (hell, they can't decide on gender either).
When it comes to abortion, Kamala Harris supports Roe v. Wade and a women's right to chose. Trump, of course, opposed it and was instrumental in its overturn. Of course, that didn't stop abortions. They still continue. Since overturning Roe v. Wade, there has been a 21% increase in maternal pregnancy related deaths due to botched abortions. 45% of illegal abortions were categorized as "medically unsafe". The majority of the public---55%---still support Roe v Wade and believe it should be reinstated. 70% believe abortion should be allowed in most all instances. 80% said it should be legal in extreme circumstances.
So, how do you square up with Trump or Harris on illegal immigration? How about the Ukrainian-Russian war or the situation in Gaza? What about abortion? None of these issues are cut and dry. They each involve complicated issues and a maze of other issues. However, regardless of where Harris or Trump stand, it's Congress and who controls the majority of seats that are the decision makers.
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Sharply More Americans Want to Curb Immigration to the U.S.
Key facts about Hispanic eligible voters in 2024
Latinos Views on the Migrant Situation at the US-MexicanBorder
U.S. Department of State: U.S. Foreign Assistance by Country
Harris announces 1 billion US investment in Central America
Kamala Harris's immigration polices explained
Views of Ukraine and U.S. involvement with theRussian-Ukraine War
Harris strikes balance in pointed DNC remarks on war
Disapproval of Israeli Action in Gaza Eases Slightly in U.S.
More than one-third of Americans believe Israel iscommitting genocide, poll shows
How Donald Trump and Kamala Harris differ on theUkraine-Russian war
Unsafe abortion: unnecessary maternal mortality
Support for abortion access has risen since Supreme Courtoverturned Roe v. Wade, poll finds
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