Trump is claiming Harris is “totally against the Jewish people”. Doug would like to have a word.
(And that was indeed a quote, not framed as anti-Israel or too weak on Hamas).
Welcome to the Straight Dope Message Board! Your post in a thread about Republicans demonizing Harris really went off on an odd tangent. I would like to remind you that the current population of the United States exceeds 333,000,000 and of those fewer than 3,000,000 are Native Americans.
No, Kamala Harris Didn’t Say ‘the Problem of Solving a Problem Is Not a Problem’
The purported quote continued, “but when a problem solves a problem without any problem, then the problem is not at all a problem.”
and there is more
Educate me please: exactly how bad is the immigration problem in reality?
How bad of a job did the Biden administration (and by reflection and association Harris) do with it, in particular by reversing Trump era actions without plans in place to handle the influx? This before the bipartisan bill ever came up.
I am a Biden fan but I have few answers to those who don’t plan to vote Trump but are thinking Biden did poorly there and Afghanistan (along with too little pressure on Bibi and way too late.)
What is the best defense to those charges?
The people who believe there is an immigration crisis for which the Democrats are responsible will never be convinced there is not an immigration crisis for which the Democrats are responsible. It’s an article of faith.
See also “Brexit voters.”
As a Texan who’s a Biden fan – it’s a real problem, just not for the “great displacement” conspiracy theories that MAGA go on about. There are specific costs that migrants create for property owners and local governments and service providers in South Texas. Migrants have caused damage to property near the border. They create costs for hospitals that have to provide uncompensated care and for law enforcement and jails that have to deal with those that commit crimes. Local schools have to provide free education to migrant children and as well as other social services. These are real costs in already pretty poor communities.
That’s why Abbott’s busing scheme was actually fairly clever – it underscored that while regulating the border is a federal responsibility, it was Texas communities that are bearing the frontline costs. If New York is struggling to deal with the arrival of migrants on chartered buses, imagine what Laredo has been dealing with for years.
Facts. If facts don’t work, nothing else will.
That’s helpful. Thank you.
Not bad at all. It was made worse by a GOP law that prohibits asylum seekers for working for IIRC 120 days instead of just 30. But that was the GOP.
If we really wanted to stop immigrants from taking good jobs , we would end the H1b visas.
Remember the MAGAs thing there are “Open Borders”. I have suggested they go into Mexico and try to walk back in without any form of ID, along with a mild bit of contraband- say three liters of booze and some firecrackers- I mean, since we have an Open border it should be a cinch. But for some odd reason they never take me up on it.
I notice the prices of california produce seems to be rather steady which suggests the Migrant farm workers are doing their jobs.
I worked on a project with those Migrant farm workers (we could not ask if they were in the country legally, we were helping them with their taxes) and I have never met such honest hardworking people. Hell, we need more like them.
Also note they pay INTO Soc sec but cant take out.
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And why was that, when these migrants wanted nothing more than to work? Because the GOP congress passed a law prohibiting them from working for a fairly long period. They would love nothing better than to start working in the fields the day they arrive- a job they do better than people born here- and for less money. And all those MAGA hate wearing farmers and ranchers down there- they hire lots of migrants- and they dont ask many questions either.
It’s not even a “problem”, it’s a matter of us exploiting them and blaming our victims. With a hefty dose of racism. If we actually “solved the problem of illegal immigration” it would cause economic dislocation and a funding crisis due to the loss of a work force that does jobs Americans refuse to do and the sudden loss of all those taxpaying undocumented immigrants (who pay taxes without receiving services).
None of this matters as far as demonizing Harris goes however, since facts are utterly irrelevant to the Right. They’ll happily make up lies about thing she has supposedly done to make the “problem” worse and throw around yet more lies about the problems caused by immigration. Remember Trump and “Mexican rapists”?
The discussion I am having is not with those of the Right. These were two women colleagues who will likely vote Harris because they dislike Trump but don’t get why I am such a fan, of her, and of the job Biden did. Their complaints about Biden being immigration, Afghanistan, and Gaza.
Here’s a perspective on the withdrawal from Afghanistan with which I largely agree:
Lots of the failure points were already baked in, thanks to Trump. Biden knew the risks, but he felt that getting out was a long overdue correction to a mess that had to be cleaned up. I liken his dilemma to being the goat in a game of musical chairs.
Republicans are masterful at creating horrible problems that Democrats are left to clean up, then blaming the Dems when things predictably go south.
Actually the pro-legal asylum left arguably has more to be pissed about than the right. The Biden administration was not as big of an improvement from the Trump administration as one might assume. A half-hour from This American Life on NPR from 2023:
I am deeply disappointed with Harris’ dodging her responsibilities as Border chief.
I fully understand there isn’t a way to fix it entirely. People living in countries with poor economies are naturally going to be attracted to the opportunities offered in the US.
Harris was appointed to that position for a reason. I think The President was looking for ways to manage the crisis and open up ways to legally immigrate.
I expected to see leadership from Harris. Bring in experts. Listen to the concerns of the Ranchers along the border. Report back to the President and implement whatever policies he wanted.
Instead it appears that she totally sidestepped an important responsibility. IIRC she made one brief inspection at the border crossing in the past three years.
Harris has the delegates for the nomination. I’m certainly going to support her candidacy. I also have concerns about her willingness to make the tough decisions and provide leadership as President. Harris can’t be overly concerned about being popular in the polls. She can’t run away from every tough issue that doesn’t have a neat solution.
I can only hope that Harris will mature and grow into the role of the President. A lot of responsibilities will land on her shoulders. She has to adapt and learn quickly.
What position do you believe she was appointed to?
I ask because she was not appointed “border czar”.
The term “border czar” was a creation of Republicans and certain media outlets.
There is no such position.
I dunno, I spend a lot of time on FB and I haven’t seen it much.
Roberta Jacobson was the first person appointed and she stepped down on April 9, 2021. Biden gave a press conference and asked Harris to fill the role.
Border Czar is a media term.
The link to Biden’s press conference is embedded in that quote. He gave Harris a clear opportunity to take leadership and manage the border under his authority.
I support Harris because she’s the best option thats available. I hope she grows into the role of the Presidency.
But what is the actual position? Best I can find is that Jacobson was asked to manage Mexico-U.S. border affairs at the NSC.
Harris was asked to handle diplomacy with Central American countries that have been the source of a lot of the migration.
There is no position. There is no “Border Czar”.
How do the MAGAts demonize her for performance in a position that is made up? Yeah, I know - they are liars and racists, but still it should be easy to refute just because it doesn’t exist.
I recently flew back to Canada from Las Vegas, and US customs required us to go through a face scan before getting on the plane. That’s new since the last time I traveled. And that was to leave the country. Open borders my ass.
This is only my perception and opinion from following the border story for a few years.
It seems to me that Harris saw the border issue as damaging to her popularity and political future. Whatever she did would get criticized and hurt her future ambitions.
If that’s how she felt, why accept the role? The President needed someone that would take charge and the hell with any political fallout.
Some fault falls on Biden. He was aware that Harris had ambitions for 2028. That’s usually true of every VP. They want the Presidency after the current administration ends.
This issue is only the first of many that will define Harris. I’m very interested in seeing how her presidency will be viewed in 2027. God help us all if she doesn’t win.
It’s always a crap shoot when someone is elected. What they say in the campaign and how well they actually perform is unpredictable. The world events they face can shift the direction they wanted to take.