Oh, Boy September 11, 2024 We have a ton of work to do but have a real shot at holding the White House and Senate and taking back the House. All we need is for young people to engage. They have more at stake than anyone; and I think they see in Kamala Harris the kind of energy and optimism that will get them to join Taylor Swift in showing up.* That would give us the trifecta we need to pass things most Americans want, like codifying Roe, sensible gun-safety measures, voter-protection legislation, $35 insulin even if you’re under 65, the bipartisan immigration solution Trump killed, funding for the IRS to collect taxes owed by billionaires and corporations, hiking the $7.25 federal minimum wage . . . maybe even an enforceable code of ethics for the Supreme Court (although this Court would presumably find that unconstitutional). Trump said last night the economy is horrible. In fact, of course, it is the envy of the world. (He may think it’s horrible because his stock is down from $79 to $16; but the market as a whole is at record highs.) We’re suffering inflation, he said, “like our country’s never seen.” Really? It was 7% in Biden’s first year, in the throes of COVID supply chain disruption, and has fallen ever since . . . Inflation Extends Cooling Streak to Hit 2.5% in August US inflation may soon undershoot Fed’s 2% target. The year Trump was born, it was 18%. Was he asleep in 1973 (8.7%), 1974 (12.3%), 1978 (9%), 1979 (13.3%), 1980 (12.5%) and 1981 (8.9%)? No one disputes that pre-COVID prices were lower. But Vice President Harris has her eye very much on that ball, whereas the 20% tariffs Trump proposes would not be paid by foreign governments — that’s not how tariffs work! — they would be paid by the American companies that import foreign goods . . . and then largely passed on to American consumers in the form of higher prices. The Vice President should have done a better job of explaining that this is what she meant by a “sales tax.” And that tariffs are literally, unquestionably, incontrovertibly, paid by the importers, not the exporters. But she is so right: tariffs on imported goods are, in effect, sales taxes on American consumers. There’s much more to be said about last night. Happily, everyone is saying it. Please join me in piling on. With cash, if you can (believe it or not, the campaign actually needs more and has effective ways to spend it), or with effort or with both. JOYFUL BONUS Trumpers CAN be reached . . . though I doubt many are as open-minded as this one (90 seconds). Watch! *Know a Gen-Z-er who wants to win two tickets and travel expenses to a Taylor Swift concert? Or a Shakira concert? Or P!nk? Send them this link.