Tuesday, August 20, 2024
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Tuesday, August 20, 2024

Milwaukee Press Club 'Excellence in Wisconsin Journalism' 2020 & 2021 Award Winners

Swifties for Trump: Dear Media, REAL Pro-Trump Taylor Swift Fans DO Exist

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This is an opinion piece.

Out of the many millions of Taylor Swift fans, the idea that some of them might support former President Donald Trump or be conservative is apparently so shocking to some in the elite news media that they simply can’t wrap their minds around the concept.

They’re so shocked that they’ve collectively decided, “They must all be fake!” Or “maybe there’s only 1!”

In case you missed it, Trump shared a collage of what appear to be some AI-generated photos mixed with 2 very real photos of a Wisconsin college student named Jenna Piwowarczyk, who is BOTH a fan of Taylor Swift and Trump. Interestingly, many national media outlets focused on the AI photos while ignoring or downplaying the real ones. Frankly, I wish Trump hadn’t mixed the two together, but the media’s spin is also very revealing.

I should know that they’re real. I took the two real photos that Trump shared. I first posted one of them on Wisconsin Right Now’s X page on June 18. It took until now for random X pages with large followings to amplify them (no idea why), and I shared a second one from my cell phone’s camera roll after they did when a variety of trolls falsely said they were fake. Here’s the main photo in my camera roll!

Jenna piwowarczyk

I’m, frankly, infuriated at the national and prominent media outlets that falsely implied that all of the photos Trump shared were AI, including mine, and I have requested corrections/clarifications from multiple of them. It’s remarkably difficult to find the correction policies and emails of national news outlet reporters! Other news outlets, especially the Wisconsin-based ones, correctly stated that some of the photos were real. Some news outlets reached out to Jenna or quoted her video. Good for them! They were fair.

But many did not.

The media also claimed that Trump falsely stated he was endorsed by Swift when he wrote “I accept,” but I think you could also read his post as saying that he accepted the support from Swift FANS. He did share an obviously satirical AI photo of Swift in an Uncle Sam suit saying, “Taylor wants you to vote for Donald Trump.” Does anyone really believe that Taylor Swift dressed up as Uncle Sam? C’mon. As always, Trump’s theatrical hyperbole flies over the media’s heads.

To be clear, Swift hasn’t endorsed anyone in the race. If she does, I know that some of her diehard fans would be very disappointed.

In their rush to ding Trump for sharing some AI photos, some major news outlets ignored or downplayed the fact that some of the pictures were real. In so doing, some news outlets chose a simplistic, biased narrative over a more complex and interesting story.

Jenna piwowarczyk
Jenna piwowarczyk and her dad heading to a taylor swift concert years ago.

I think the more complex and interesting story is that, within the Taylor Swift universe, just like in the country as a whole, there are young conservatives who like Swift AND Trump. (Hey, I like Bruce Springsteen’s music. I just can’t stand his politics. This isn’t that new.)

The voices of young conservatives don’t often get into the coastal news media and are especially ignored in the pop culture universe. It’s worth asking why.

People who live in Wisconsin, like I do, and who grew up in rural or conservative areas, like I did, are not at all surprised that a young person might like Trump and Swift, especially in today’s economy. Young people, many of whom lived through COVID lockdowns that robbed them of a normal high school experience, are worried about getting their first job, their first house, and even paying for groceries.

Jenna piwowarczyk
Jenna piwowarczyk in taylor gear years ago.

Jenna articulates best why she supports both of them.

“Taylor and Trump share their work ethic and accomplishment of the American Dream. Both worked incredibly hard to get to where they are today and demonstrate how the American free market and pursuit of happiness can lead to great success,” Jenna says.

“A Trump presidency is the best option for women and young people in 2024. His tough-on-crime policies keep women safe and criminals off the streets. College students like me are worried about getting jobs, paying for groceries, and getting our first house. I support Trump for many reasons, but first on the list is because of his economy,” she added.

Her full statement is here.

Other news outlets are acting like Jenna is the only Swiftie for Trump in the entire world. I doubt it would take them long to find other ones. If they bothered to look. I have a large social media following, including many conservatives, so I asked my Facebook followers if any of them are Swifties for Trump. It took literally 2 minutes to find some more. How come no one else could?

“I am! I was row 11 for Taylor Swift & have gone to all trump rallies in WI!” wrote one woman, Kelly Comp. Even a middle-aged male teacher I know revealed that he likes both Swift AND Trump. Another woman messaged me to reveal that her daughter is a Swiftie for Trump too. I asked Comp for more details.

“My name is Kelly Comp & I’m 30 years old! I live in Kenosha County, where I am employed as a Probation & Parole Agent. I have been a Swiftie since her original album in 2006!” she responded. “In recent years, Taylor Swift has been vocal about her political views, and while views ours do not always align, it doesn’t make me any less obsessed with her. Swifties for Trump truly is a movement that I’m excited to be a part of! We need Trump back in office and Taylor Swift on our radios and in our hearts! 🫶🏽💜✨” Comp’s LinkedIn cover picture is a photo of Swift. Her Facebook page declares, “Taylor Swift everything & Police Wife 💙” She has posted positively about Trump AND Swift on her page in the past.

Swifties for trump

Hannah Willmering, 24, a pre-nursing student at Waukesha County Technical College, is a “Swiftie for Trump” too.

“I have always been a huge Taylor Swift, but I am a Republican. You shouldn’t have to feel ashamed being a Taylor Swift fan even though she may not be one and you are another way,” she told WRN. “I have always been a conservative but in High School and honestly with friends sometimes I have never felt comfortable to be able to express my beliefs.”

Jenna Piwowarczyk, a Concordia College student from Wisconsin who attended Liberty University last year, wore the “Swifties for Trump” T-shirt in June to the Trump rally in Racine. It’s homemade. She fashioned it out of decals she bought at Walmart and affixed them to a white T-shirt.

When she showed up at the Trump rally wearing it, which I was at for Wisconsin Right Now, I thought it was really interesting so I took a bunch of photos and posted one on X. She got to meet Trump at the event, and he commented that her shirt was “great.”

Swifties for trump
Jenna piwowarczyk, jim piwowarczyk and trump.

Jenna is the daughter of Wisconsin Right Now’s co-founder. In the almost five years I have known her, she has always been conservative, and she has always been a Swiftie. She started a Young America’s Foundation chapter in her high school. Anyone who knows her knows that she has a political mind wiser than her years. She has also attended six Taylor Swift concerts and was once featured on local TV dressed up like Swift.

Jenna piwowarczyk
Jenna piwowarczyk

Since her photo went viral, others have shared positive support, including other conservatives who like Swift. But she has also been mercilessly trolled by some liberals, who even wished her physical harm or accused her of being a bot. Thanks, media.

Jenna explained her Swift support in a column she wrote for WRN on the topic in 2023. I remember when Jenna submitted the column, she was motivated by the disdain some conservatives were sharing about Swift on social media at the time. She wanted the conservative tent to broaden and embrace Swifties. She felt that the negative comments were dominating the conversation.

I suggest you read her column here, East Coast Media. You might learn a thing or two about young people’s opinions out here in the part of the country you don’t seem to really understand.

Biden's Alleged Offenses Monthly Payments to President Biden Hunter Biden laptop story Investigation into Biden Family Hunter Biden Plea Deal

Impeachment Report Lays Out President Biden’s Alleged Offenses

A newly released report from the House Ways and Committee alleges that President Joe Biden committed impeachable offenses in his role in his family’s alleged overseas business dealings.

“As described in this report, the Committees have accumulated evidence demonstrating that President Biden has engaged in impeachable conduct,” the report said.

The 291-page report lays out in detail what have at times been murky allegations against the president.

House Oversight Chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., has helped spearhead the investigation, uncovering and laying out evidence. He and Republicans on the impeachment committee argue that the Biden family, with the help and knowledge of the president, used the Biden family name around the world to rake in nearly $30 million from overseas entities in Ukraine, China, Romania and elsewhere in secretive influence deals.

“In order to obscure the source of these funds, the Biden family and their associates set up shell companies to conceal these payments from scrutiny,” the report said. “The Biden family used proceeds from these business activities to provide hundreds of thousands of dollars to Joe Biden—including thousands of dollars that are directly traceable to China.”

Biden has brushed off questions about his involvement in a scheme being highlighted in the Republicans' report. The administration has yet to release a formal response in reaction to the report.

A key question in the investigation has been, even if Hunter Biden and others monetized the “Biden brand,” how much did the president really know or participate?

“Witnesses acknowledged that Hunter Biden involved Vice President Biden in many of his business dealings with Russian, Romanian, Chinese, Kazakhstani, and Ukrainian individuals and companies,” the report said. “Then-Vice President Biden met or spoke with nearly every one of the Biden family’s foreign business associates, including those from Ukraine, China, Russia, and Kazakhstan. As a result, the Biden family has received millions of dollars from these foreign entities.”

The president has repeatedly brushed off these allegations, and so far Republicans have not gotten the needed votes to make impeachment a serious threat.

From the report:

First and foremost, overwhelming evidence demonstrates that President Biden participated in a conspiracy to monetize his office of public trust to enrich his family. Among other aspects of this conspiracy, the Biden family and their business associates received tens of millions of dollars from foreign interests by leading those interests to believe that such payments would provide them access to and influence with President Biden. As Vice President, President Biden actively participated in this conspiracy by, among other things, attending dinners with his family’s foreign business partners and speaking to them by phone, often when being placed on speakerphone by Hunter Biden. For example, in 2014, Vice President Biden attended a dinner for Hunter Biden with Russian oligarch Yelena Baturina.4 Following the dinner, Baturina wired $3.5 million to Rosemont Seneca Thornton, a firm associated with Hunter Biden. Then, months later, as Hunter Biden and his business associates continued to solicit more money from Baturina, Vice President Biden participated in a phone call with Baturina and Hunter Biden where Vice President Biden told Baturina, “you be good to my boy.” Moreover, President Biden knowingly participated in this conspiracy. Based on the totality of the evidence, it is inconceivable that President Biden did not understand that he was taking part in an effort to enrich his family by abusing his office of public trust.

“The Biden-Harris Administration has lied to the American people time and again to cover up and obstruct the investigation into tax crimes committed by a Biden family business enterprise that capitalized on political power,” Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee, said in a statement. “The American people have been shocked to learn the magnitude of the scheme going back to the President’s time as Vice President, when Biden family members were allowed to use Air Force Two as their own private business jet.

“None of this would have come to light had it not been for the two IRS whistleblowers who were tired of watching their investigation into the President’s son become obstructed, delayed, and denied the ability to move forward as the pursuit of truth demanded,” he added.

The whistleblowers in question are Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley and Criminal Investigator Joseph Ziegler, two IRS employees with nearly three decades of combined federal experience.

Those whistleblowers came forward and testified before Congress about Hunter Biden’s alleged tax crimes, saying that this case was unlike any other. One whistleblower testified that the Biden administration interfered in the investigation to protect Hunter and prevent a raid at the president’s Delaware home.

Earlier this year, Hunter, who still faces tax charges Biden was found guilty on federal gun charges.

President Biden has said he will not pardon his son.

Whether Biden falling out of favor with his own party in the presidential election will change that trajectory remains to be seen.

“Americans now know Joe Biden was ‘the brand’ the Bidens sold around the world to enrich the Biden family, and Joe Biden knew of, benefitted from, and participated in his family’s influence peddling schemes,” Comer said in a statement. “The entire Biden influence peddling model relied on Joe Biden’s presence—at meetings, on the phone, or at dinners—to demonstrate his family members’ influence over him, and he repeatedly provided it.”

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Supreme Court Blocks Request to Vacate Title IX Injunctions

Requests by the federal government to vacate injunctions over the Biden administration's controversial Title IX rule have been blocked by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Friday 5-4 ruling means the injunctions preventing implementation of the new rule in 26 states will be allowed to remain in force until the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals takes up the case in October.

The opinion said the court couldn't unhitch the majority of the new rule from the challenged provisions that would have added sexual orientation and gender identity to Title IX. Proponents of keeping Title IX as originally intended in 1972 celebrated the win, and reminded the fight continues until a final ruling.

In the unsigned decision, the majority said, "On this limited record and in its emergency applications, the Government has not provided this Court a sufficient basis to disturb the lower courts interim conclusions that the three provisions found likely to be unlawful are intertwined with and affect other provisions of the rule."

Justice Sonia Sotomayor said in her partial dissent that "every Member of the Court agrees" that the states are entitled to an injunction until the case is decided.

Attorneys general from Louisiana and West Virginia praised the ruling.

"The Supreme Court sees that the Title IX revisions being pushed by the Biden administration would have ended sex-based protections for biological women in locker rooms, bathrooms, sports and elsewhere, plain and simple," West Virginia Attorney General Morrisey said in a release. "This radical agenda from this administration is a retreat from the progress women have made."

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, who brought one of several lawsuits against the new rule, also celebrated the decision.

"I'm grateful that the Supreme Court agreed not to block our injunction against this radical rewrite of Title IX," Murrill said. "Other than the 19th Amendment guaranteeing our right to vote, Title IX has been the most successful law in history at ensuring equal opportunity for women in education at all levels and in collegiate athletics.

"This fight isn’t over, but I’ll keep fighting to block this radical agenda that eviscerates Title IX."

Illegal Border Crossings

New Poll Shows Trump, Harris Tied in Wisconsin

(The Center Square) – Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are tied in a new poll of Wisconsin voters.

In a head-to-head matchup between the Republican and Democratic nominees for president, the American Greatness/TIPP poll of likely and registered voters shows both Trump and Harris at 47% support.

When independent and third party candidates are added, Harris garners 46% support to Trump's 45%, within the poll's +/- 3.4% margin of error. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pulls in 6% support, with 2% undecided.

"The presidential race is very tight like 2020, within the margin of error," pollster Raghavan Mayur with TIPP told The Center Square. "It is probably the tightest among the battleground states."

Mayur said that the economy, immigration, and national debt/government spending are the key issues that could sway independent and undecided voters in the state, with 52% listing the economy as among their top three issues and 36% citing immigration and border security.

Within the economy, the price of food and inflation overall are the top concerns of voters, Mayur said.

"Independents are more closer to Republicans than Democrats in terms of issues," he said. "Further, 61% feel they are worse off than four years ago" while just 33% said they are better off and the remaining are unsure.

"Harris' relief rally/honeymoon advantage is nearly non-existent in Wisconsin," Mayur said.

Harris became the presumptive Democratic nominee shortly after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race July 21 under heavy pressure from top Democratic leaders. Democrats are set to make the nomination official at their national convention that begins Monday in Chicago.

The TIPP poll surveyed 1,015 registered voters in Wisconsin, of which 976 were likely voters. The poll was conducted August 12-14 and has a margin of error of +/- 3.4%.

Illegal Border Crossings Buses Carrying Migrants Northern Border Illegal Border Crossers Immigration Parole Illegal Immigrant Convicts Biden’s Immigration Policies

Illegal Border Crossings Surpass 12.5 Million Since Biden-Harris Took Office

U.S. Customs and Border Protection released monthly border apprehension data on Friday, saying, “statistics show lowest southwest border encounters in nearly four years.” CBP also claimed illegal border crossings were down by 34% from June to July and the drop is due to a presidential proclamation issued in June.

Troy Miller, a senior official performing the duties of the CBP Commissioner, said recent Biden-Harris policies led “to the lowest number of encounters along the southwest border in more than three years.”

Despite these claims, the total number of apprehended illegal border crossers surpassed 10.5 million in July with two months left in the fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.

That number excludes 2 million gotaways, those who illegally entered and evaded capture, bringing the total number to more than 12.5 million.

That is greater than the individual populations of 45 states. If illegal border crossers were a state, they’d be the sixth most populous state ahead of Illinois.

That’s up from illegal border crossers totaling more than the individual populations of 43 states in March, up from 23 states in June 2022, when The Center Square first began making the comparison to state, county and country populations.

No other presidential administration in U.S. history has ever reported even a fraction of 12.5 million in one term let alone multiple terms combined.

The total number of apprehended illegal border crossers since fiscal 2021 was 10,522,029, excluding the two million gotaways. Illinois’ population is an estimated 12,516,863.

As The Center Square has reported every month since early 2021, after President Joe Biden took office, the number of illegal border crossers increased. The publicly reported CBP apprehension data excludes gotaways, the tens of thousands identified as “inadmissible” released into the country through a CBP One phone app every month, and the tens of thousands released through parole programs created by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. More than a dozen of the programs were identified as illegal by the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security and used as evidence to impeach Mayorkas in February.

The CBP apprehension data total also excludes the hundreds of thousands brought in through parole programs from eight specific countries, including after the administration opened processing centers in Colombia and Guatemala to facilitate entry to the U.S.

“Despite the false narrative they’re attempting to project, the unprecedented border crisis the president and his ‘border czar’ have created continues to rage on,” U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., said. “This administration is orchestrating a massive shell game, encouraging otherwise-inadmissible aliens to cross at ports of entry instead of between them – thereby creating a façade of improved optics for the administration, but in reality imposing a growing burden on our communities.”

“Total encounters at our ports – land, sea, and air – are up exponentially this fiscal year compared to the Biden-Harris administration’s first year in office, and are on track to surpass last year’s total," Green added. "Since January 2023, more than 1.28 million inadmissible aliens have been granted entry to our country at official ports of entry through just the CBP One and CHNV mass-parole programs Biden and Harris created.”

Green said Biden-Harris border policies "have done damage that will take decades to remedy. And for the families of Americans like Laken Riley, Rachel Morin, and Jocelyn Nungaray, that damage will never be undone,” referring to two women and a 12-year-old girl who were murdered by criminal foreign nationals released into the country by the Biden-Harris administration.

Nationwide encounters show that 2,597,784 illegal foreign nationals have been apprehended this fiscal year, after 3.2 million were in fiscal 2023, the highest number on record. In fiscal 2022, over 2.7 million were apprehended, breaking records at the time, after nearly 2 million were apprehended in fiscal 2021, the first historic record.

The majority apprehended every year are single adults.

Southwest border encounters show 1,925,773 illegal border crossers were apprehended this fiscal year through July, after a record nearly 2.5 million were in fiscal 2023. That is after nearly 2.4 million were apprehended in fiscal 2022 and over 1.7 million in fiscal 2021, both records.

The benchmark for records is the unprecedented number apprehended at the northern border – the highest by far under this administration than any other in recorded history.

This fiscal year, 162,865 illegal border crossers were apprehended at the northern border. That’s after a record nearly 190,000 were apprehended in fiscal 2023, and nearly 110,000 in fiscal 2022. Both were record setters and a massive increase from 27,000 in fiscal 2021.

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Tim Walz’ ‘Stolen Valor’ Obvious, Says Congressional Candidate

The “whitewashing” of stolen valor claims leveled against Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz insult servicemembers, who know better than any how to spot a “coward” among them.

So says Pat Harrigan, the Army Green Beret vying for North Carolina’s 10th Congressional District seat in Washington, D.C., during a visit to the VFW Post 92 in Lower Burrell, Pa., just outside of Pittsburgh, on Thursday.

Appearing alongside Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, former President Donald Trump’s running mate on the Republican ticket, Harrigan said media claims that Walz misspoke when he said he deployed to war defy reason and logic.

During more than seven minutes of remarks, Harrigan implied that it was no accident that Walz printed the wrong rank on coins that he himself distributed. Nor did it seem likely that he never received final paperwork committing his unit to a deployment in Iraq, just before he quit.

“We believe it is unforgivable to do what Tim Walz did," he said. "When among others the command sergeant major who replaced him, the mother of one of his unit's fallen soldiers and the unit's chaplain are calling him a coward, how dare Tim Walz call it simply partisan attacks?

“And quite frankly, how dare you, the media, dismiss the men and women who actually know Walz’ character?”

Vice President Kamala Harris chose Walz as her running mate on Aug. 6, concluding a two-week search that considered other Democratic party favorites like Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, and Arizona U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly.

Harris ascended to the top of the ticket after President Joe Biden bowed out of the race on July 21 and promoted her as his successor. The party officially nominated her on Aug. 2 via a virtual roll call.

Since then, the duo has struggled by most accounts sans polling. Harris is criticized for dodging interviews and open question press conferences. Meanwhile, Walz faces scrutiny over his record during COVID-19 and the murder of George Floyd.

His military claims, however, have arguably resonated the most.

Video shows Walz claiming he retired as a command sergeant major from the National Guard and that he had carried “a weapon of war” in war.

Harrigan said he understands if people, particularly those who have not served in the armed forces, think it is “nitpicking” when “our veterans community reads his words and scream, ‘stolen valor.’”

“Without serving and deploying, I might not get it either,” he said as Vance, the first post-9/11 veteran on a major party ticket, stood behind him. “But I’m hoping that at the very least, by the time I sit down here today, you’ll understand why we are so passionate in our united voice that Tim Walz is a coward, who betrayed his men at their greatest time of need and is not fit to serve the United States of America as vice president.”

Harrigan said Walz' actions show he "does not care about the men who will pay for his mistakes,” noting that even his unit’s chaplain called him a coward.

He described Walz as an exaggerator and bad leader who abandoned the men and women under his care to further his political career.

“So, to the media listening, I appreciate that you can simply write off a remark from Tim that included, ‘When I deployed to war’ as a misspeak,” he said. “To those of us standing in this room, that cannot be a misspeak. It’s impossible for it to be a misspeak.”

Harrigan first deployed to Afghanistan at age 23, leading 350 Americans at an air-access-only combat outpost. He returned after volunteering for Special Forces and becoming a Green Beret.

On Super Tuesday, Harrigan emerged from a close primary defeating state Rep. Grey Mills, R-Iredell. He faces Democrat Ralph Scott Jr. and Libertarian Steven Feldman on Nov. 5.

kamala harris

Critics Blast Kamala Harris’ New Price Control Plan

Vice President and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris is taking fire for her new "price-gouging" ban that critics say is little more than communism-style "price controls" where government heavily regulates industries.

Harris’ effort to address elevated consumer prices hits at a key pain point for Americans, but the details of how Harris plans to go about fixing that problem will be the subject of close scrutiny when she lays out the plan at a North Carolina rally Friday. Harris is expected to unveil a broader economic plan at the same rally, but so far there are few details on specifically how she will address inflation. Prices have risen more than 20% overall since she and President Joe Biden took office.

Harris’ campaign this week touted the “federal ban on corporate price-gouging” to help Americans with high grocery prices and prevent "excessive" profits. Harris' campaign said she would also order the Department of Justice to take a look at mergers between grocers and food producers.

Critics of the plan immediately blasted it as “price controls,” anti-capitalism and noted similar ideas failed in other countries. They also argue Harris is blaming corporations for high prices when inflation fueled by government spending is really to blame.

“Price controls might sound good to some, but they do not work,” U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “They lead to supply shortages and in the end, higher prices. Looks like Kamala Harris is a communist at heart.”

Price gouging is currently already illegal, but the Biden-Harris administration has argued that corporations have taken advantage of elevated inflation to raise prices even higher.

“Tomorrow, Vice President Harris, a person who has never built a business, doesn’t understand profit and loss, has never met payrolls, and who has never competed in a consumer market, is going to propose federal price controls,” U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said in a statement. “That should terrify every American. She claims that Congress needs to ban ‘price gouging,’ which is already widely illegal and not the cause of high prices. The skyrocketing prices created by the Biden-Harris administration aren’t price-gouging, it’s inflation.”

Price controls are a feature of communistic “command and control” economies, the reason Harris will likely seek to avoid the term, if her plan will truly include price controls at all, and why such a strong reaction broke out against the plan this week.

“[Harris’] solution to the Harris Price Hikes she caused is big government on steroids – where Washington bureaucrats stick their hands into American businesses and say what they can and can’t sell a product for,” Scott said. “It never works because it causes companies to make much less of something – destroying supply and causing a mass shortage of goods.”

Billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy, who ran in the Republican presidential primary and is considered a potential cabinet appointee if former President Donald Trump is elected, called out Republicans on the issue, asking whether they would have “the spine” to critique Harris’ plan.

“The GOP has a wide-open opportunity to embrace capitalism again,” Ramaswamy wrote on X. “No, that doesn’t mean blindly reciting neoliberal shibboleths about spreading ‘democracy through capitalism’ abroad (that doesn’t work: see China). But it *does* mean embracing exceptionalism & merit over protectionism & patronage here at home. That’s the fork in the road ahead for our own movement.”

Polling shows that inflation remains a top concern for voters and small business owners. Inflation has slowed from its breakneck pace earlier in the Biden-Harris term, but some goods and services have continued to rise.

As The Center Square previously reported, roasted coffee prices rose 9.1% and dairy product prices increased 9.4% in the past two months, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Pork and “processed young chickens” prices saw slightly higher increases.

So far, Harris’ policy agenda has been sparse, and what record she does have on the border and her time as a prosecutor she has tried to distance herself from, making this new policy agenda crucial for her campaign.

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