Where are the specific policy proposals from either candidate?
By Ramesh PonnuruAugust 26, 2024 at 1:56 p.m. EDTThe morning after the Democratic convention, the Republican Governors Association came out swinging: “4 Days of DNC and Not One Dem Policy to See,” blared its statement. It’s a fair critique. Vice President Kamala Harris has been so light on detail that even her supporters can’t agree on whether she is proposing price controls. As the RGA statement noted, her campaign website doesn’t even have a policy page. When her convention speech turned to policy, she gave us destinations instead of a route: She promised to “end America’s housing shortage” but didn’t say how.
But where are the policies on the other side? Donald Trump’s own campaign website touts the newly stripped-down Republican platform as his agenda. Most of it consists of promises such as “Republicans will immediately stabilize the Economy by slashing wasteful Government spending and promoting Economic Growth,” with no further explanation. “Republicans will end the global chaos and restore Peace through Strength, reducing geopolitical risks and lowering commodity prices.” So, that’s that, I guess.
He also vows to “keep the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency.” (That was all in capital letters in the original; you’re welcome.) He says nothing more about the subject, even though both he and his running mate have spoken favorably about devaluing the dollar.
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Trump stayed vague about a lot of policy issues even when he first ran in 2016. He had a seven-point plan on health care back then. Sure, it was vague and ignorant: He promised to introduce health savings accounts into American law, where they had already........