As They Spiral Down, We Spiral Up

Harris surges ahead on the economy, while Rep. Comer and the GOP-led House waste time and money with their futile campaign to impeach the President

On my podcast this week, I spoke with Congressman Jared Moskowitz about the ludicrous efforts to impeach President Biden and, by extension, what Republicans have spent their time and political capital on in the 118th Congress. Moskowitz sits on the House Oversight Committee, so had a front-row seat for Chairman James Comer’s desperate scavenger hunt to find any reason to impeach the President.   

Comer spent two years levying baseless allegations, then reinforcing them a few hours later on Fox or Newsmax. Same old bad-faith outrage playbook. The committee’s 33 hearings on Benghazi and Hillary’s emails paid real political dividends, helping tarnish Secretary Clinton in 2016. The attempt to similarly malign President Biden has been far less effective, partly due to a chairman who turned all proceedings into a transparent charade lacking any substance.

The two-year effort is unlikely to affect the election…because President Biden is no longer running for re-election. 

Undeterred, Comer has remained on his soapbox, shouting ever-more unhinged conspiracies. Attempts to pivot the target of his futile scrutiny to Harris or to Tim Walz (who was briefly floated as a Chinese spy, likely due to those videos of him and Hope at the Minnesota state fair) didn’t work out too well, so the Oversight Committee has spent TWO YEARS and millions of dollars exposing…

Nothing.

The whole sham’s likely a sore reminder to Trump, who’s not too thrilled about his new opponent. It wasn’t easy coming up with crooked Joe OR sleepy Joe. Landing on Comrade Kamala on such short notice was about as taxing as anything Trump has done in years. No, the name doesn’t make sense. But hopefully Putin’s on board.

James Comer, waste of space that he is, is merely a synecdoche of the entire Republican party…if that’s what they’re still calling themselves. Yup, it’s the same lot who came into the majority in the House on promises of tackling inflation and lowering gas prices. (Did nobody tell them they must advance legislation to accomplish such matters?) 

This GOP-led House launched in a state of chaos, so mired in infighting and petty arrogance that the task of electing a speaker almost led to a saloon-style brawl in the well. And, as Moskowitz reiterates, it has only spiraled downwards. Have they accomplished anything? Well, on their second try, they impeached a cabinet secretary; held multiple people in contempt; slowed up foreign aid; and had some hard-hitting hearings to protect dishwashers and gas stoves…which is just to say, if you feel like this GOP-led Congress hasn’t done a thing for you, your families, or the nation, you are spot-on.

I can’t fathom or explain how this House has managed to be so exceptionally ineffective. Six weeks out from an election that could change the fabric of our country, and these Republican members are using their time to keep up efforts about a lame-duck President’s sham impeachment instead of doing anything to help with the issue that matters most to their constituents and to voters nationwide: the economy.

Recent polls offer a stunning revelation. Regarding the economy, Kamala Harris is leading Trump 44-42 in the Financial Times and 48-45 in an Echelon Insights poll. 

I rarely take a poll too seriously; I would obsess about them far too much if I did. I fully appreciate that good polling is a snapshot of a moment in time, rather than some all-seeing forecast. But the trend lines behind Kamala’s numbers regarding the economy are staggering, with real implications for the foundation of the GOP. 

Contrary to hard numbers, facts, or any empirical evidence, Republicans have long enjoyed an assumption that they can handle the economy better than their Democratic counterparts, affording them a false advantage on the issue for decades. In my book Shameless, I explore this wildly undeserved advantage, in part because I have never been alive to witness a Republican administration that has left office with a stronger economy, more jobs added, or a lower unemployment rate than a Democratic one. Despite that, fiscal responsibility has remained as defining and persistent a characteristic of the Republican brand as it is unfounded. It’s just one of those fallacies hardwired into our political belief system and seared into our brains. 

That’s why these latest polls are so remarkable. They suggest a long-held assumption has been broken and a veneer has been cracked; suggesting a real sea change sweeping in the direction of a candidate who can actually deliver.

Vice President Kamala Harris knows exactly what she is up against: a political party that has enjoyed a badge of economic superiority (with precisely no receipts), and an opponent whose PERSONAL branding is that of a career businessman who knows how to create jobs, rake in money, and inspire economic growth. In the unprecedentedly brief amount of time she’s had to build an entire campaign, she’s exposed that the party earned their badge of superiority by doing about as much work as it takes for a child to get their wing pin upon a cockpit visit, and that the once-lustrous Trump brand represents a mountain of debt, lies, and self-interest.

Harris, by very stark contrast, has a plan for our economy that will continue to grow the middle and working class. What’s more, she can deliver it in coherent sentences. That plan includes:

·   $25,000 for first-time home buyers

·   3 million new housing units built (lowering rental rates across the board)

·   Legislation to stop predatory investors (she knows their type), who buy rental units and collude over prices

·   A national ban on price gouging for food, plus authority for the FTC to go after companies responsible for it  

·   $50,000 tax breaks for new small businesses

·   $6,000 tax credits for families with newborns

·   Restoring the Democrats’ $3,600 tax credit for middle and low-class families

·   Assurance that any household earning $400k or less will not see higher taxes

That is a mere sampling of her ambitions. Her plans take the best elements of the Biden administration (which has led the US to the strongest economy in the world, a record-high stock market, and record job growth), while adding even MORE policies to enrich the middle class.

These goals, while inspiring, really start to shimmer when placed on a split-screen beside (take your pick) Trump’s record when he was president OR his “plan,” which effectively amounts to slapping tariffs on every item entering the US. Today’s Donald Trump doesn’t seem to understand that tariffs do not mean that we would suddenly rake in exorbitant money, which would magically land in a sizable piggy bank kept in his bathtub at Mar-A-Lago. 

Tariffs are a tax passed on to the consumer. The only people who would pay more would be Americans. End of story. Tariffs are a TAX ON AMERICANS. Everyday foreign products—your shoes, your electronics, your baby’s crib—would effectively receive a Trump tax of 10, 20, 100, even 200% of what you’re paying today. Because this chump doesn’t understand the economy or just does not give a shit about your daily costs skyrocketing.

While the Biden-Harris administration continues to make notable strides toward bettering the livelihoods of everyday Americans, and the Harris-Walz campaign works wonders at devising and communicating their intentions to make those livelihoods even better, the Republicans in the House (who aren’t distracted by trying to impeach Biden for no reason) continue to criticize him over the worldwide phenomenon of inflation.

One tiny problem: inflation is not only down to the target 2% range, but it decreased without a recession. The nightmare economy the Democrats inherited from Trump was handled masterfully and, truly against all odds, was turned around by this administration. Let’s be very clear about that. The economy was a goddamn mess when Trump left office. And he’ll do it again.

Imagine the sweet satisfaction

Look, I understand the allure of having a businessman in office, but ideally it might be the kind of businessman who hasn’t tanked a casino—which is borderline impressive—or one whose businesses haven’t filed for bankruptcy SIX TIMES. You know, the type of CEO who doesn’t have a storied past of running just about all of his companies INTO THE GROUND. Let me ask you:

Have you flown on Trump Airlines?

Been refreshed by Trump water?

Nourished by a hearty serving of Trump Steaks?

Gotten a bit loose off of Trump wine? How about Trump Vodka? 

Foregone the evening news for a round of Trump the Game? 

Learned a damn thing at Trump University? 

No? Well, that’s most likely because none of these businesses still exist. At best, they went belly-up, but most were scams. 

And just as a side-note, who do we think will foot the bill if we elect this alleged businessman who owes half a BILLION DOLLARS (because the Trump Organization was eyeballs-deep in fraud and at the helm is a man who gropes women in dressing rooms, brags about that behavior, was held accountable, and is trying to evade the law by running to be your president)? 

You will pay for it. We will pay for it. In so many ways. 

Trump would run the country as he has run these businesses. He would obliterate the Republican party as we knew it, and has already (to give him his due) exposed the myth of the GOP as the party of fiscal responsibility.    

Thankfully, the silver lining here is that Americans appear to be catching on. While Trump is ranting about how the Vice President is mentally impaired (the same Vice President who had you for dinner at the debate?), or while Trump is using his air time to obsess to a very weird degree about Harris’s stint at McDonalds…she is rising above his utter nonsense and has now overtaken his lead on what he has long trumpeted as being his strongest issue. 

Let’s keep that momentum going, stay focused, and stay organized. We have the power to ensure that our country and our democracy as we know it does not become another failed Trump business. In November, we’ll have the power to prevent Trump from bragging to Vladimir and Viktor that he was the most forceful wrecking ball the US economy had ever seen. 

We’re not going back. 

I’ll be here tomorrow to preview the week ahead and consider the stakes of Tuesday’s uniquely consequential VP debate.