Tuesday, August 27, 2024

Fwd: The Morning: 21 questions for Harris



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From: The New York Times <nytdirect@nytimes.com>
Date: Tue, Aug 27, 2024 at 3:35 AM
Subject: The Morning: 21 questions for Harris
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Plus, the Telegram founder, an attack in Ukraine and an Oasis comeback tour.
The Morning

August 27, 2024

Good morning. We're covering unanswered questions about a Harris administration — as well as the Telegram founder, an attack in Ukraine and an Oasis comeback tour.

Vice President Kamala Harris. Eric Lee/The New York Times

What would she do?

Kamala Harris has largely avoided answering questions since her campaign began: She hasn't participated in a town hall or given an extended media interview.

She and her aides say she will do one soon. In the meantime, I've worked with my Times colleagues to put together a list of 21 questions that could help the country understand how she would govern. Here they are, separated into four categories.

Economic policy

Houses in various stages of construction.
Construction in Alabama. Micah Green for The New York Times

1. Madam Vice President, your agenda revolves around helping the middle class — such as offering a credit of up to $25,000 for first-time home buyers and increasing the child tax credit. You haven't said much about some big related issues, though, including paid leave and universal preschool. Will you try to revive President Biden's plans?

2. You support raising taxes on households that make more than $400,000. But these tax increases may not be large enough both to pay for your agenda and to reduce the federal debt, as you've promised. How would you reduce the debt?

3. Biden has been more populist than other recent Democratic presidents. He's skeptical of free trade and has subsidized manufacturing. Are you as populist as he is? Or are there any policy areas in which you would return to a more market-friendly, neoliberal approach?

4. Biden has cracked down on monopoly power, and a central player in this fight is Lina Khan of the Federal Trade Commission, who has focused on Big Tech. Some of your campaign donors in Silicon Valley want you to fire her. Would you?

5. The Biden administration made an important change on climate policy, emphasizing subsidies for clean energy rather than taxes on dirty energy. This approach is more politically popular. Is it delivering fast enough climate progress?

6. You support the PRO Act, which would make it easier for workers to join unions. Recent Democratic presidents have supported similar bills — but failed to pass them. How would you give wary labor leaders confidence that the PRO Act will be a priority?

7. You've blamed corporate price gouging for high grocery prices. Many economists disagree, arguing that the industry has too much competition for widespread gouging to be a problem. Can you explain how your anti-gouging policy would lower prices?

8. The U.S. government has done little to regulate social media, and social media has contributed to some big problems, like polarization and loneliness. Now we have a new technological force: A.I. How would you regulate it?

Social issues

A woman sits on an examination chair in a clinic.
A woman receiving abortion care in Arizona. Caitlin O'Hara for The New York Times

9. Would you support eliminating the filibuster to pass a bill that restores nationwide abortion rights?

10. You have changed your position on immigration. You once called for decriminalizing illegal border crossings. Now you are an immigration hawk who promises to secure the border better than Donald Trump would. Can you explain your evolution?

11. Four years ago, you said, "It is actually wrong and backward to think that more police officers will create more safety." Do you still believe that?

Foreign policy

A rocket launcher fires while a service member covers his ears.
Ukrainian servicemen in the eastern Donetsk region. Daniel Berehulak/The New York Times

12. Many Ukraine supporters think the Biden administration has been too cautious with its aid. Would you be more aggressive with the kind of weapons you sent?

13. Military analysts are skeptical that Ukraine can ever regain all of its prewar territory. How does this war end?

14. It can be hard to see a path to peace for Israelis and Palestinians. How would you both alleviate Palestinian suffering and protect Israel from the enemies that seek its destruction?

15. The Biden administration initially distanced itself from Saudi Arabia but has since signaled that the U.S. needs the Saudis — much as the Trump administration believed — both to help moderate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to counter Iran's aggression. What would your Saudi policy be?

16. Iran has made progress toward being able to build a nuclear weapon. If intelligence agencies told you that Iran was building a weapon, would you order a military attack? Or can the world live with a nuclear-armed Iran?

17. Taiwan is a thriving democracy that China evidently wants to conquer. Biden has said that the U.S. would fight to defend Taiwan if China attacked. Still, some experts doubt the U.S. would. If China did invade, what would you do?

18. Trump frequently criticizes U.S. allies for not pulling their weight. Do you think Western Europe, Japan and Canada spend enough on their militaries? If not, how would you pressure them?

Politics and more

19. Donald Trump can sound unhinged, telling frequent lies and rejecting basic democratic traditions. Yet millions of Americans — including more voters of color than in the past — support him. Why do you think so many people are frustrated enough that they find Trump appealing?

20. Your campaign spends less time describing Trump as an existential threat than Biden or Hillary Clinton did and more time ridiculing Trump. What do you think are the most effective ways to persuade swing voters that he shouldn't be president?

21. Are there any U.S. presidents you particularly admire — besides Biden, Barack Obama and the typical answers of F.D.R., Lincoln and Washington — and why?

More on the election

  • Kamala Harris is a change candidate who is proving tough for Donald Trump to attack. Nate Cohn analyzes if her lead will last.
  • Jack Smith, the special counsel, asked a federal appeals court to revive the classified-documents case against Trump. A Trump-appointed judge threw out the case last month.
  • Trump visited Arlington National Cemetery to honor soldiers killed in a bombing during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. He criticized Biden and Harris for the exit. Harris said she mourned the soldiers' deaths and called Biden's decision to withdraw "courageous and right."
  • Democrats sued Georgia's election board over its rules letting officials conduct "reasonable inquiry" before certifying election results, arguing that the rules invited chaos.
  • Jill Stein, the Green Party presidential candidate, will be on the ballot in Wisconsin, the state's Supreme Court ruled. She could pull votes from Harris.
  • Jason DeParle, who covers poverty, compared the Trump and Harris plans for housing, health care and food assistance.

THE LATEST NEWS

More on Politics

People walk in front of a barn.
Lawmakers in Butler, Pa. Kristian Thacker for The New York Times
  • Members of the bipartisan House task force investigating the Trump assassination attempt visited the site of the shooting. Lawmakers walked the grounds and climbed onto the roof from which the gunman fired.
  • A federal judge paused a Biden administration program aimed at giving citizenship to undocumented immigrants married to U.S. citizens, siding with 16 Republican-led states.
  • An Arizona police association that endorsed Trump for president endorsed Ruben Gallego, a Democrat running for U.S. Senate, over Kari Lake, a Trump ally, The Hill reports.

Telegram

A man speaks on stage in a black shirt.
Pavel Durov, the Telegram founder. Jim Wilson/The New York Times

War in Ukraine

More International News

Other Big Stories

Opinions

Be skeptical of what the polls say about the 2024 election. They're an art as much as they are a science, Kristen Soltis Anderson writes.

The U.S. has finally held the banana company Chiquita accountable for its dealings with Colombian paramilitaries. Colombia can do the same, Ignacio Gómez G. writes.

Here are columns by Paul Krugman on the politics of inflation and Pamela Paul on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Trump endorsement.

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MORNING READS

A runner in a track uniform with
Team Army athlete Henry Escobedo and running guide Preston Gantt. Jacob Langston for The New York Times

Warrior Games: Disabled troops used to have to leave the military. Now some compete for gold.

Later marriages: In China, which has more people 65 or older than any other country, more people are looking for a chance at love.

Sex education: To avoid temptation, Hong Kong tells teenagers: Play badminton.

Ask Vanessa: "Is it better to be over- or underdressed?"

Environment: Your water bottle claims to be made of mostly recycled plastic. But it may not be.

Travel: To explore Kenya, join a local hiking club.

Lives Lived: Tom Brown Jr. was considered the U.S.' foremost authority on wilderness survival, having taught thousands of people how to track deer, fletch arrows, forage for food and thrive in the great outdoors. He died at 74.

SPORTS

High school football: Caden Tellier, a quarterback in Selma, Ala., died after suffering a head injury during his team's first game of the season.

N.F.L.: The Dallas Cowboys agreed to terms on a contract extension with the star receiver CeeDee Lamb, ending a long holdout.

M.L.B.: The Boston Red Sox catcher Danny Jansen became the first player in league history to appear in the same game — playing for both teams. See how it happened.

U.S. Open: Coco Gauff, Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka all advanced in straight sets. Gauff is trying to become the first repeat women's Open winner since 2014.

ARTS AND IDEAS

Two men, with long brown hair and sunglasses, sit in front of a black table with microphones pointed toward them. Behind them, a backdrop has "Oasis" printed on it.
Liam and Noel Gallagher in 1999. Shutterstock

The band Oasis announced a reunion tour after 15 years of fighting between its two leaders, Liam and Noel Gallagher, who are brothers.

The band split up in 2009 — "I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer," Noel said at the time — and over the years the Gallaghers have continued to lob public insults at each other. They seem to have reconciled enough to plan a comeback tour for summer 2025, in Britain and Ireland.

More on culture

THE MORNING RECOMMENDS …

Christopher Testani for The New York Times

Add tzatziki to this chickpea salad.

Make caregiving more manageable with these books.

Travel with a great backpack.

Stop washing your jeans so often.

GAMES

Here is today's Spelling Bee. Yesterday's pangram was holiday.

And here are today's Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku, Connections and Strands.

Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. —David

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