Kamala Harris is a genius! She figured out how to solve the border crisis!

[Tiny]

Kamala Harris received a lot of criticism from Republicans because of the sorry state of the border. This however is unfair. President Biden didn't encharge Kamala with enforcing the law at the border. Rather he asked her to work on improving economic conditions in Latin American countries, so that people wouldn't feel compelled to leave their homes and families, to make the dangerous trek northward in search of a better life.

Well, by golly, even though her brief didn't involve the border, she's come up with a real out-of-the-box solution!

OK, you're going to think I'm changing the subject now, but I'm not. Please bear with me. This is from Noah Smith's substack the other day. Smith is about as far left as you can get for a mainstream economist. Think Paul Krugman. Actually Krugman is one of his fans. Here are some excerpts from what Smith has to say about Kamala's recent proposal to impose price controls on food and groceries:

Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday will unveil a proposed ban on "price gouging" in the grocery and food industries, embracing a strikingly populist proposal in her most significant economic policy announcement since becoming the Democratic Party's nominee.

In a statement released late Wednesday night, the Harris campaign said that if elected, she would push for the "first-ever federal ban" on food price hikes, with sweeping new powers for federal authorities.

Harris's plan will include "the first-ever federal ban on price gouging on food and groceries setting clear rules of the road to make clear that big corporations can't unfairly exploit consumers to run up excessive corporate profits on food and groceries," the campaign said in a statement.

The exact details of the campaign's plan were not immediately clear, but Harris said she would aim to enact the ban within her first 100 days, in part by directing the Federal Trade Commission to impose "harsh penalties" on firms that break new limits on "price gouging. " The statement did not define price gouging or "excessive" profits.

Price controls on food are a really terrible idea. The best-case scenario is that the controls are ineffectual but create the legal and administrative machinery for far more harmful controls in the future. The worst-case scenario is that they cause shortages of food and groceries, leading to mass hardship, exacerbating inflation, and setting America up for increased political instability.

....It's also a very bad sign that Harris intends to use executive power to implement price controls. She appears to believe that the Federal Trade Commission can impose penalties on companies that "price gouge" i.e. , that raise their prices more than the administration believes is warranted. I am not a lawyer, but the idea that the FTC can go in and simply tell a Kroger's in Michigan what price to charge for eggs seems like a vast expansion of the agency's powers.

....(Harris' proposal), if it succeeded, it would create the legal machinery for the kind of disastrous spiral of price controls, hoarding crackdowns, and shortages that brought down the economy of Venezuela.

....When people hear the words Soviet Union and Venezuela in connection with the U.S. economy, they often roll their eyes. Those regimes were dysfunctional in a very large number of ways price controls were only a piece of the story in each case. But that doesnt mean basic economic operates differently in the USSR or Venezuela than it does in America. The economic logic of price controls in a competitive industry like groceries is basic Econ 101 supply-and-demand stuff. The good old Econ 101 supply-and-demand model doesnt work in all cases, but its very good at explaining exactly why price controls cause shortages in highly competitive industries.

Yes, we've all grown tired of libertarians and free-market types shouting "It's just Econ 101, bro. Do you want to be the Soviet Union?" every time anyone proposes a government intervention in the economy. But in this particular case, they happen to be correct! (Tiny's note: The Libertarians and Free-Market types are right far more often than Smith cares to admit. But Kamala's proposal is a bridge too far for even him.)

https://www.noahpinion.blog/

This is a stroke of brilliance! Kamala Harris doesn't have to bring the economies of Latin America up to the level of the USA to stop illegal immigration! All she has to do is bring the USA down to the level of Venezuela, or the old Soviet Union before its breakup and Putin's reforms! And her price controls on food will be a great start!

Kamala 2024! Get it Done!

Acknowledgements: This is based on James Freeman's idea in an editorial in the WSJ. And I would like to thank a nameless eccie contributor for turning me onto Noah Smith's blog.

[BillysEatinIt]

I lost 90 seconds of my life looking at this that I will never get back. My only consolation is that you must have wasted far, far more time "creating" this.

[Tiny]

Originally Posted by BillysEatinIt

I lost 90 seconds of my life looking at this that I will never get back. My only consolation is that you must have wasted far, far more time "creating" this.

Yes, I spent 30 minutes! Please stay on topic Billy. The subject is not your time management skill, or lack thereof.

[Salty Again]

... Glad to see you back, Tiny.

... Thanks for posting that article. ... As you mention, it's
yet-another "genius" plan of Kamala's. ...

#### Salty

[BillysEatinIt]

You know what? I was WRONG. My profound apologies. I just realized that this is potentially the best thread ever started here.

I mean, look. We already got Salty to waste a couple minutes here. That's less time he has to post GA Election stuff now. We are off to a damn good start! If this works out, we can pull all of the usual suspects into this thread and they won't be able to post anywhere else! Overnight the IQ of this Board will skyrocket.

This could be freakin awesome!

So Tiny, don't be so modest, my friend. It is not Kamala that's the genius. It's you! And this thread. But realize that it's going to take some more work on your part. Michael8912 just posted a hilarious thread about dead people voting. Some super original work! He might suck up a bunch of views from you.

But keep working at it! The more time you spend on this, the better it will all be, I'm sure. Really.

Or you could head over to Michael's thread. Highly recommended! Spend as much time there as you can! You too Salty!

[Tiny]

Originally Posted by BillysEatinIt

You know what? I was WRONG. My profound apologies. I just realized that this is potentially the best thread ever started here.

I mean, look. We already got Salty to waste a couple minutes here. That's less time he has to post GA Election stuff now. We are off to a damn good start! If this works out, we can pull all of the usual suspects into this thread and they won't be able to post anywhere else! Overnight the IQ of this Board will skyrocket.

This could be freakin awesome!

So Tiny, don't be so modest, my friend. It is not Kamala that's the genius. It's you! And this thread. But realize that it's going to take some more work on your part. Michael8912 just posted a hilarious thread about dead people voting. Some super original work! He might suck up a bunch of views from you.

But keep working at it! The more time you spend on this, the better it will all be, I'm sure. Really.

Or you could head over to Michael's thread. Highly recommended! Spend as much time there as you can! You too Salty!

Please Billy, this thread is about Kamala Harris’ brilliance, immigration, Venezuela and price controls. If you want to talk about dead people voting, please start your own thread, preferably in the sand box. Dead people don’t vote so that kind of garbage is in the same category as UFO’s. It doesn’t belong in a serious political discussion like this one.

On to weightier matters. There is one downside that I didn’t think of until just now. What’s going to happen to all the hot, big breasted Venezuelan and Cuban strippers in our titty bars if Kamala succeeds in turning the USA into another Venezuela? Will they go home! I hope not! Maybe they’ll go to places like Spain instead. While not ideal that’s better than having to travel to Cuba or Venezuela to see them. Those places are real hell holes right now. Spain’s nice, and the women in the girly bars all have sex with customers.

[BillysEatinIt]

I realize that I have misunderstood you, Tiny. My apologies. But I still say that it is YOU that are a genius. I am convinced!

Carry on!

(Hey...is that true about Spain? Fuck! How did I not know? Please note that this question IS on topic! I promise to respect that going forward!)

[1blackman1]

I remember when Tiny was a decent poster that could at least make interesting political discourse. Those days are missed.

[Michael8219]

Tiny is right! But if you watched Kamal speak she said “price gauging” instead of price gouging…

Evidence that 1) obummer and his minions are the puppeteers, and 2) Kamal is just as slow, if not slower, than creepy Joe.

I better go buy some seeds and a greenhouse shortly. Wait, if it gets spotted by the KGB (Kamal’s Government Bozos), they’ll commandeer some of my tomatoes and okra.

Slightly off topic. I only read and saw literally three minutes of the Monday night production in corrupt Chicago. Joe crying, 2nd man crying, some TX rep crying, everyone crying.

Wait till they implement their price gauging scheme, then you’ll be crying. Your government cheese will be just a slice and the containers will be full of Soylent Green. Gots to go pick out my government condo with “furniture.”

[txdot-guy]

Tiny is a little over the top here but he’s not wrong. Price controls are a really bad way to solve this economic problem. I think his post is written this way merely to make people pay attention to the issue and he appears to have been successful.

The truth is that our food supply and distribution system in the united states is vast and complex. Monkeying around with price controls will have unintended consequences and effectively throw a spanner into the gears.

If the goal is to make food more affordable for those who need it maybe an expansion of The Emergency Food Assistance Program would be helpful. https://www.fns.usda.gov/tefap/tefap-fact-sheet. Or a program to help form and support local food banks. Or providing free breakfast and lunch for students. All these things can help us stretch our food dollars.

Or perhaps they should campaign on the work that’s already been done so that people can see what has already been working. I’m not necessarily opposed to some income redistribution but price controls are not the way to do it.

[BillysEatinIt]

You guys need to fully embrace the Tiny mindset (that's kind of a pun, if you think about it! Not intended though)

I believe that Tiny actually cares much more about Cuban and Venezuelan tits than the rest of this madness. And we should all!

[Michael8219]

Ok now you’re talking. Milk for everyone and straight from the tap. But do I get to choose my milk provider?

[farmstud60]

Originally Posted by BillysEatinIt

I lost 90 seconds of my life looking at this that I will never get back. My only consolation is that you must have wasted far, far more time "creating" this.

But it exactly right.


Look up why there was a Soviet Union grain robbery is what they called in 1972 or 1973

[BillysEatinIt]

Originally Posted by Michael8219

Ok now you’re talking. Milk for everyone and straight from the tap. But do I get to choose my milk provider?

I don't know about you, but I'm going to Spain to get some straight from stripper tatas...

[Tiny]

Originally Posted by 1blackman1

I remember when Tiny was a decent poster that could at least make interesting political discourse. Those days are missed.

While you're second to none when it comes to legal issues, you just don't know as much about Latin America, economics or Cuban strippers as I do Blackman. So you're jealous, because you never could have written my post. Don't get envious, get even. I'm sure you could bone up on the issues and write something similar about Trump. For example his tariffs. Or his proposal not to tax tips. Your arch enemies the plaintiffs' attorneys will love that! They'll just start calling their contingency fees tips and live tax free! Or how about J.D. Vance's proposal to hand out $5,000 tax credits to families making $150,000 a year?

Oh, but I forgot. Biden saw Trump's tariffs and raised them. Kamala's proposing to pass out $6,000 tax credits instead of the $5,000 proposed by Vance. And she's not going to tax tips either!

Aren't election years great!

Despite your vitriol, I still love you Blackman, just like I love all of God's children.

Seriously, the tax credit might be a good idea if it just applied to people like single mothers with low incomes, but undoubtedly that's not the way it would work.