Evening in Westchester

Aye

Aye

Two Truths and Endless Lies: Vox Libertatis Fact Checks the 2024 Democratic #PrimaryDoOver Debate Chris Hayes: ‘Biden’ ‘first in decades to enact’ ‘gun reform, yet much more action is needed.’ False. More gun control is not required, nor is it lawful. See the Bill of Rights: ‘A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.’ Calloway-Kincaid, Kahiola & Coleman: ‘[Gun Control] is not about infringing on Second Amendment rights.’ False. See above. Senator Storm wins this round for being the only one not to pretend and white wash this. Rafael Coleman: ‘I'm the only that has passed any bill in the Senate this Congress.’ False. While Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has certainly taken a liking to the young Senator and brought up several of his bills, only one has passed the Senate. And Senators Albion, Avraham, and Reyes have done so as well. And Senator Sizemore (D-PA) has passed the most. John Baker: ‘Coleman’ ‘endorsed a policy that was supported by fmr. President Trump.’ True. Senator Coleman calls for a temporary partial closure of the Southern Border to non-essential migration for 6-18 months. President Trump not only supported the position but did exactly that. Rafael Coleman: ‘I don't care if you're in California, Colorado, South Carolina or New York, every state is a border state now.’ True. Colorado borders Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Utah, for example. National borders are a different story though. Kahiona: ‘This plan put forward by Coleman is’ ‘out of the playbook of Donald Trump’ ‘except it would probably be too radical for even them!’ Partially True. Not quite. It is very much a Trump policy, but he actually did it, the Muslim ban, and threaten mass deportations, so while Coleman’s plan is radical, Trump supporters would not think so. Chris Hayes: ‘I’m high.’ True. DNA Cake Auto. And it was delightful. Our attorney suggested we take this out but I’m rock ‘n’ roll, bitch. Storm: ‘Closing the border is not the answer—it harms our economy[.]’ True. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimated that closing the border with Mexico would cost the economy ‘tens of billions of dollars per day[.]’ Kahiona: ‘Closing the border will be a disaster the likes of which we have not seen in decades.’ False. While closing the border will indeed be a disaster (see above), Kahiona should have stopped before the hyperbole. We have seen it put into action quite recently, actually, and ironically in response to a disaster the likes of which we have not seen in decades. To Kahiona’s point, it was about as effective as most COVID-mitigation policies. MSDNC Audience: ‘Boo.’ True. The candidates were right to be booed multiple times. Pale, Skinny Blonde Kid in a DSA T-Shirt, Black Skinny Jeans, with Gauges in his Ears: ‘Democracy is on the line and you f-ckers are selling us out with games’ True. We think the statement speaks for itself. Chris Hayes also agreed that ‘Perhaps democracy [is on the line] as well.’ Calloway-Kincaid: ‘While former President Trump’s tariffs were supposed to boost American industry, they often had the opposite effect, driving up prices on consumer goods and materials.’ True. Four out of four candidates at the Democratic debate agreed with the Tax Foundation’s analysis of the Trump/Biden tariffs, even Senator Kahiona, which brings us to: Trujillo Kahiona: ‘The Tax Foundation is not partisan in any way shape or form.’ True. The Tax Foundation is a nonpartisan (not affiliated with any party) think tank that analyzes various state and federal tax plans and were mentioned for their simple calculation of the average cost of the Trump/Biden tariffs to American households; a premise that Senator Kahiona agreed with as she correctly called them a ‘disaster’ and state that ‘midwestern farmers and manufacturing workers have been hit hard by tariffs[.]’ Meanwhile, John Baker’s recap of the night interpreted her statement slightly differently, and stated that the Tax Foundation was Libertarian. They are not. Like most economists, the Tax Foundation generally concludes with the less is more approach, and is often critical of excessive and unnecessarily complex tax plans with unintended consequences, but their analyses have also been favorable of more efficient taxes like consumption taxes. Libertarians, however, understand that all taxes are theft and should be abolished. The government does not have the right to seize your property and redistribute it. Kahiona: ‘Democrats have a clear plan of how to move America past inflation[.]’ True. Senator Kahiona, a Democrat, did propose raising taxes (wealth tax) and unemployment ($17 minimum wage), which would slow economic growth and thereby inflation. See also, the Phillips Curve. Coleman: ‘Medicare for All’ is’not pragmatic and not possible in the current US Senate.’ True, but... then Coleman says ‘we can make a public option happen.’ Neither will have enough votes to overcome cloture in the next session, not even through reconciliation if they somehow eek out retaining majority control of the Senate. There are still members of their caucus around like Senator Tom Carper of Delaware who rightfully opposed a public option in the ACA. Kahiona: ‘Medicare for All is more cost-effective than any iota of the system we have right now.’ Patently False. Repeating the same argument over and over again does not make it any more true. For reasons we have already stated, proponents do not present the full picture when they compare Medicare to the rest of the private market. It covers a very different population and multiple independent analyses, including CBO, estimate that Medicare for All will still cost taxpayers trillions in new spending, even above and beyond any alleged potential administrative savings. Instead, Senator Calloway-Kincaid is right here when she says that a government-run system won’t tackle the underlying cost drivers in our healthcare system and that the shift to Medicare-for-All would cause massive disruptions. We will dive deeper into the problems with Medicare in an upcoming brief. Rafael Coleman and Osiris Storm: The Coleman-Storm Slugfest Extravaganza. Senators Storm and Coleman watched the Koenig-Allred slugfest last night and said hold my white zinfandel. Here are just some highlights: Storm: ‘Coleman is a great guy, but I read his platform and his healthcare policy is missing actual policy.’ False. Senator Coleman’s platform suggests a public option, allowing Medicare to negotiate prescription drugs, expanding telemedicine and reproductive health access. Much of his policies are no good, but they are there, in this case. Coleman: ‘And let's not forget that the person throwing all the shade on the stage tonight is the same guy that endorses national rent control.’ True. Storm’s platform does include establishing national standards for rent control. Coleman further does well here to note some of the flaws with such a proposal, as we have touched upon previously. Storm: ‘Look at [Coleman’s] platform. Israel isn’t mentioned once, or any foreign policy for that matter.’ Partially true. Coleman’s platform does not mention Israel, or Palestine for that matter, but it does note he would like to ‘strengthen alliances and restore global leadership by reaffirming our commitments to NATO, the United Nations, and key international partnerships.’ Certainly no foreign policy treatise, but it is there. Kahiona: ‘However in the past few months, we have seen equally terrible images coming out of Gaza, as families and innocent people have died from the cruelty of Hamas and the reckless actions of the Netanyahu Government.’ True. Thousands of innocent people have died on both sides and the outcome of any war rarely justifies the loss of life. Kahiona: ‘I am the only candidate on this stage with a clear, balanced plan for Israel and Palestine—supporting Israel's right to defend itself, while pushing for humanitarian aid and protection for Palestinian civilians.’ False. That’s literally what every candidate on the stage said their plan was. Calloway-Kincaid: ‘You both have speaking tirelessly and there are two other candidates here!’ True. Senators Storm and Coleman spoke a combined 50 times and Senators Calloway-Kincaid spoke a combined 31 times. Senator Kahiona had the fewest responses at 14 and Senator Storm had the most at 26. Goldie: ‘At least two of the four people on this panel are high.’ True. There is reason to expect that there were more, but only two were confirmed. Sometimes weasel words and qualifiers like ‘at least’ help craft a political narrative, friends. Other marijuana/drug responses: Kahiona: ‘The War on drugs is a failed archaic policy of the past, and there are drugs, including prescription drugs that are harming and killing people every day across this nation.’ True. Kahiona: ‘Marijuana is not a problem drug and science and studies have proven this.’ True. Calloway-Kincaid: ‘As President, I’m committed to ending the failed war on drugs, which for decades has disproportionately targeted African American and Hispanic communities.’ True. Calloway-Kincaid: ‘This war has done far more harm than good, filling our prisons and destroying lives over minor, nonviolent offenses, especially related to marijuana.’ True. Coleman: ‘The fact that 38 states have legalized medical marijuana and 24 states have legalized it for recreational use shows a clear disconnect between federal law and the will of the American people.’ True. I wonder where he got those numbers from. John Baker: ‘Senator Storm, You've endorsed a a fifteen dollar minimum wage, but when adjusted for inflation that is even lower than the twelve dollar minimum wage that Hillary Clinton called for.’ True. A nominal $12 wage in 2016 is about $15.68 today, in real terms, which is one of the many reasons why the government setting a price floor is not an effective means of dynamically responding to the market to ensure optimal wages for workers. See more. Kahiona: ‘Well Chris, I emphatically support raising the federal minimum wage to $17 an hour, and tying it to inflation. That is not changing once I enter the Oval Office.’ True. The minimum wage is not changing to $17 if she gets to the White House, for reasons Senator Calloway-Kincaid eloquently pointed out. Kahiona: ‘I ask for your support in this journey to bring hope, dignity, and progress back to the White House[.]’ True. Hope, dignity, and progress are currently severely lacking in the White House. Editor’s Note: We agree with the pundits that Coleman and Storm’s barbs did not do themselves any favors. We think senator Calloway-Kincaid did the best though because her platform does not sound like it was written by Che Guevara and she was not afraid to push back on her colleague’s more extreme positions. We almost wish she would actually show up to vote once in a while. We also want to thank MSDNC for allowing independent media into the debate. Goldie said he enjoyed the after party and that ‘the panelists are all good people, even if they are pinko commies.’ Faux News, meanwhile, declined our request to participate. Shame on Faux News. #ChooseFreedom