Maggie's Farm

Trump calls Harris “dumb as a rock”. After the debate, Karl Rove asks, “What does that make him?”


After a preamble about how she might relate to the problems of the middle class, Harris then offers specific policy proposals, including a $50,000 tax deduction for starting a new business, tax credits for home builders to spur new home construction, down payment assistance of $25,000 for new home buyers, and an expanded child care credit of $6,000. Now, you might consider these poor policy choices, but that hardly makes her response that of an "airhead".

OneGuy: For anyone or just the Democrats and illegals?

As with all government benefits, Republicans are eligible. People who are undocumented would not until they seek legal status.

OneGuy: Again I ask; for anyone or just minorities and women?

It's directed at first time home buyers.

OneGuy: It is free money paid through the income tax system.

Sure. Children are the seed, and you reap what you sow.

OneGuy: She is reading a script that was written by her puppet masters.

She wasn't reading. Regardless, she proposed specific policies in response to a question about providing specific policies.

jack walter: Why on Earth would tax cuts increase production?

Tax cuts can redirect resources; and when there is excess productive capacity, tax cuts can stimulate overall demand. However, when productive capacity is limited, and when not compensated for with revenues or cuts in expenditures elsewhere, it can lead to inflation.

Anon: Word salad !

Even if you disagree, it represents specific empirical claims about the economy, so not "word salad." Also note that general tax cuts to the rich have a much lower stimulatory effect on demand than tax cuts directed to those of middle or lower income.

See Keynes, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, Palgrave Macmillan 1936

jack walter: Based on everything I hear in the news, tax cuts are just a way to give rich people more money.

Cuts in marginal tax rates usually benefit people with high incomes. The general stimulus is lower because the rich usually just set the money aside. Borrowing money to cut taxes just to satisfy the interests of the rich is self-defeating. Government should more or less (within a couple percent of GDP, and allowing for economic stabilization during downturns) tax enough to pay for ongoing expenditures, and only borrow for investments, such as in infrastructure.

jack walter: You sound like you think that taxes affect how much money people choose to invest and how they choose to invest it.

If you give tax breaks to someone who builds houses, though, it will tend to result in more house building because it lowers the effective cost of building, subject to the limitations about productive capacity.

One question with building three million more home is where the productive capability will come from when unemployment is already low. Immigration can fill some of the gap. Rises in wages can attract more workers into the industry. But then there are possible bottlenecks on inputs, such as lumber, piping, and copper. This can result in inflation as there might be too little supply to satisfy the demand. Once built, the hope is that it will reduce the cost of housing, addressing the cost of living problem. But then there's the question of misallocation. If the plan is wrong about the need for three million new homes, then the economic distortions may result in unused housing.

That does not mean the government shouldn't plan. All successful modern economies have government intervention in markets, whether it was the U.S. space program in the 1960s, China's entry into manufacturing, or the greening of Norway's economy. But it takes rational decision-making and the balancing of risk.

feeblemind: But outside of a nuclear strike, how could the Russians hit back at us?

Ukraine will presumably use American precision missiles to disrupt supplies heading towards the Russian front. Initially, Russia might respond—if they do respond—by attacking supplies heading towards Ukraine through Poland. This could trigger a NATO response, but more than likely, NATO would be cautious. Because of their exposure, Poland should be on board with any use of American precision missiles. But that's where there could be a widening of the war and all the risks that would entail.

Huh? Harris went to Munich to warn Europe of the impending Russian assault on Ukraine, to rally support, and to affirm American commitment to the defense of NATO.


Not "people" eating cats and dogs, but illegal Haitian immigrants in Springfield eating cats and dogs. Or, as Trump would say, "They". But Haitians in Springfield are largely legal immigrants who came there for work, the woman who ate the cat wasn't in Springfield, the woman wasn't a Haitian immigrant but a born-American with mental health problems.


The police report indicates that the accident occurred on a dark roadway with no streetlights when the victim made an "improper crossing". The driver was driving the speed limit. Furthermore, traffic accidents in Springfield have dropped since 2019, with older drivers being the most common cause.