► It’s debate night! Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump will face off tonight at 7:00 (Mountain Time) in Pennsylvania. Trump will no doubt spend a lot of time talking about his plan to increase tariffs as a catch-all solution for every problem, but as the New York Times explains:
Mr. Trump has long maintained that imposing tariffs on foreign products can protect American factories, narrow the gap between what the United States exports and what it imports, and bring uncooperative foreign governments to heel. While in office, Mr. Trump used the threat of tariffs to try to convince Mexico to stop the flow of undocumented immigrants across the U.S. border, and to sway China to enter into a trade deal with the United States.
But in recent weeks, Mr. Trump has made even more expansive claims about the power of tariffs, including that they will help pay for child care, combat inflation, finance a U.S. sovereign wealth fund and help preserve the dollar’s pre-eminent role in the global economy.
Economists have been skeptical of many of these assertions. While tariffs generate some level of revenue, in many cases they could create only a small amount of the funding needed to pursue some of the goals that Mr. Trump has outlined.
In other cases, they say, tariffs could actually backfire on the U.S. economy, by inviting retaliation from foreign governments and raising costs for consumers. Economic research has indicated that the cost of tariffs tend to be borne by American businesses and households, rather than foreign companies. [Pols emphasis]
► The latest battleground polling from Morning Consult shows a tight race in key battleground states:
► The 2024 General Election ballot has been certified by the Colorado Secretary of State’s office. Click here to see the official list of candidates whose names will appear on the ballot. Here’s a look at the statewide ballot measures that have officially qualified, via the SOS:
The following amendments and propositions were referred by the legislature:
♦ Amendment G – “Modify Property Tax Exemption for Veterans With a Disability” (HCR23-1002) proposes to change the Colorado Constitution.
♦ Amendment H – “Judicial Discipline Procedures and Confidentiality” (HCR23-1001) proposes to change the Colorado Constitution.
♦ Amendment I – “Constitutional Bail Exemption for First Degree Murder” (HCR24-1002) proposes to change the Colorado Constitution.
♦ Amendment J – “Repealing the Constitutional Definition of Marriage” (SCR24-003) proposes to change the Colorado Constitution.
♦ Amendment K – “Modify Constitutional Election Deadlines” (SCR24-002) proposes to change the Colorado Constitution.
♦ Proposition JJ – “Retain Additional Sports Betting Tax Revenue” (HB24-1436) proposes a statutory change.
♦ Proposition KK – “Firearms and Ammunition Excise Tax” (HB24-1349) proposes a statutory change.
The following amendments and propositions were citizen-initiated:
♦ Amendment 79, “Right to Abortion,” proposes to change the Colorado Constitution.
♦ Amendment 80, “School Choice in K-12 Education,” proposes to change the Colorado Constitution.
♦ Proposition 127, “Prohibit Trophy Hunting,” proposes a statutory change.
♦ Proposition 128, “Concerning Eligibility for Parole,” proposes a statutory change.
♦ Proposition 129, “Establish Qualifications and Registration for Veterinary Professional Associate,” proposes a statutory change.
♦ Proposition 130, “Funding for Law Enforcement,” proposes a statutory change.
♦ Proposition 131, “Concerning the Conduct of Elections,” proposes a statutory change.
In addition to the 14 statewide measures, local initiatives will be considered by some voters. County Clerks have the most complete information on local ballot contests.
Westword has more on the 14 statewide ballot measures.
► Evans is also answering questions about a recent endorsement he received from a former Libertarian candidate in CO-08. As The Colorado Sun reports in its “Unaffiliated” newsletter:
Republican state Rep. Gabe Evans last week welcomed the endorsement of Libertarian candidate Eric Joss in the 8th Congressional District.
“Eric, from the bottom of my heart, I appreciate you and I look forward to continuing this working relationship that we’ve built,” Evans said during a news conference.
But Evans, an Army veteran and former policy officer, may find political danger in tying himself too closely to Joss.
A look at the Libertarian’s social media feed shows it has some recent anti-police, anti-trans and misogynistic posts. A sampling of what he has shared on X over the past few months:
♦ “I prefer my cops to be fat, slow, and stupid. And disarmed.”
♦ Responding to an X poll questioning “does (all cops are bastards) include the horses and dogs,” Joss replied: “The animals can be rehabilitated. The cops, not so much.”
♦ U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen, D-Lakewood, posted a photo in which she posed with state Reps. Lindsey Daugherty and Brianna Titone, state Sen. Rachel Zenzinger and Jefferson County Commissioner Tracy Kraft Tharp. The caption said “so great to join these women at their monthly town hall.” Joss replied “I only count four,” a reference to the number of women in the photo. Titone is transgender.
♦ Replying to a picture of a woman with a heavily tattooed face and the caption “what’s her job,” Joss replied: “Jizz target.” [Pols emphasis]
Classy guys.
► Illegal immigrants are not, in fact, eating your pets. Charles P. Pierce of Esquire hammers Republican Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance for making this suggestion:
Republican vice-presidential candidate J. Divan Vance, having finally resolved his dilemma as to which doughnut he should order, has moved on to amplifying odious bullshit about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, which, for the moment anyway, has replaced Aurora, Colorado as the center of fraudulent conservative ooga-booga about the otherwise difficult-to-discern alleged migrant takeover of the United States. The latest rube-bait concerns a completely made-up allegation that the members of Springfield’s Haitian community have taken to eating household pets. ..
…This is the kind of lie that is as old as xenophobia itself. Jewish immigrants will steal Christian babies and poison the wells in Memphis with yellow fever. The Irish in Boston are simian drunkards whose convents hold lewd and lascivious rituals. (Burn them!) The Germans in Milwaukee were prima facie disloyal. And that’s not even to mention the many lies told about native-born Black people down through the centuries, and the perpetual notion that the actual indigenous people of the continent were “savages”. But it’s still grimly fascinating to study what people in this country actually will believe in service of their prejudices. Lord, as the Texas poet once said, you’d think there’s less fools in this world.
Officials in Springfield, Ohio, said Monday they have not received any credible reports of Haitian immigrants abducting and eating pets, despite viral claims on social media that have been amplified by Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance and others.
References to the claim, which allege Haitian migrants have been eating cats, as well as ducks and geese, have garnered millions of views on X, with Vance’s X post racking up 9.2 million views alone, as of Tuesday morning. Vance, the Republican senator for Ohio, said he had previously raised the issue of Haitian immigrants “causing chaos all over Springfield,” adding, “Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country.”
We’ll give JD Vance credit for this: Just when you think he can’t possibly say something more ridiculous, he goes out of his way to prove you wrong.
Click below to keep learning things…
Check Out All This Other Stuff To Know…
► Polling in key U.S. Senate races shows good news for Democrats. Here are the latest numbers from Morning Consult:
► The “Unaffiliated” newsletter from The Colorado Sun checks in on fundraising numbers in key state legislative races.
► Aurora’s new police chief takes over at another difficult time for the city. From The Aurora Sentinel:
Aurora swore in its seventh police chief in five years Monday afternoon amid even more bitter discord than the already turbulent city government is used to.
Todd Chamberlain, a 34-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department, takes control of Aurora’s beleaguered police department while the city has been making national and international headlines as the epicenter of an election-season frenzy over undocumented immigrants in the U.S..
Far-right Aurora Council Member Danielle Jurinsky has for the past six weeks fomented both fear and anger over what she has described, often without basis, as lawlessness among Venezuelan migrants locally and rampant violence by members of a Venezuelan prison gang, Tren de Aragua, otherwise known as TdA.
As Rachel Krausereports for 9News, Aurora residents are still not happy about the opaque process that led to Todd Chamberlain’s hire:
Many in the community have spent years telling the city and police they want transparency and a voice in what’s happening around Aurora. Seeing Chamberlain, a former Los Angeles Police Department commander, put into power without any say from the community, they say, erodes the public trust even further…
…MiDian Shofner, CEO of Epitome of Black Excellence & Partnership, took those questions straight to Chamberlain.
“Why would you accept a position knowing that there wasn’t community involvement?” Shofner asked Chamberlain.
That question is one many in the Aurora community are asking of the city’s sixth chief in five years. He’s tasked with leading a department that’s been plagued with issues and operating under a consent decree for how it polices the community.
“Why should we trust you? What do we go back to our communities and say?” Shofner asked.
“Get to know me,” Chamberlain said.
“No, not get to know you, but why should we trust you?” Shofner again asked.
“You should trust me again because I’m here to serve you,” Chamberlain said.
But trust is in short supply around Aurora right now.
► As Lindsey Toomer reports for Colorado Newsline, Attorney General Phil Weiser is warning Coloradans about deep fakes related to the 2024 election:
The Colorado Legislature passed a law this year that requires political candidates to clearly label advertisements that feature content generated by AI. That includes fake voices, videos and images created by a computer to look or sound like an individual, which are known as deepfakes. The law is focused on identifying AI-generated political content, rather than controlling its distribution.
Weiser, a Democrat, issued a public advisory with information to help voters distinguish content made with AI from real content and to educate Coloradans on the requirements of the new law. The advisory encourages consumers to check if a political communication includes disclosure of a deepfake and verify through a trusted source whether any communication includes a deepfake. It also warns that “bad actors” will attempt to influence public opinion through methods not covered by the law.
“Because images, videos, and audio created with artificial intelligence are becoming difficult to distinguish from the real thing, you should be cautious when forming opinions based on what you see and hear online, on TV, and receive in the mail,” Weiser said in a statement. “The sad reality is that even AI-powered tools designed to detect these deepfakes have difficulty catching them. I encourage voters to do your research, get your news and information from trusted sources, and be mindful that the sophistication of AI means you can’t always believe what you see and hear anymore.”
► As POLITICO reports, House Speaker Mike Johnson has already lost support for his government spending plan tied to legislation making it double-illegal for non-citizens to vote:
Johnson is vowing to move forward on his spending plan, even as it appears to be on the verge of collapse.
Johnson argued in a private Republican conference meeting Tuesday morning that GOP lawmakers should line up behind his pitch to link a six-month spending patch to a conservative-favored bill requiring proof of citizenship in order to register to vote, according to three Republicans with knowledge of the matter. And even as some Republicans privately doubt the bill’s ability to clear the House, Johnson said he is — at least right now — still planning to call a vote on the floor Wednesday…
…His private sales pitch didn’t seem to have much of an effect. At least six Republicans are already publicly opposed to the stopgap plan, known as a continuing resolution or a CR, enough to sink it on the floor unless it gets some backing from Democrats. A handful of Democrats previously voted in favor of the proof-of-citizenship bill, known as the SAVE Act, but it’s unlikely that the minority party would want to swoop in and save a Republican plan on the House floor. So far, Democratic leaders have refrained from instructing their members how to vote.
After the GOP meeting, more Republicans indicated on Tuesday that they are likely to oppose Johnson’s plan, raising the odds that a floor vote would mean a high-profile defeat just months before the election. And it carries personal risk for him, as he plans another speakership bid — he’d have to choose between an embarrassing cave to Democrats or flirting with a government shutdown on Oct. 1.
As even high school students will tell you, it is already illegal for non-citizens to vote in the United States.
►Dana Goldstein of The New York Times considers whether a popular Republican proposal to shut down the Department of Education is even possible. Paradoxically, Donald Trump has also suggested that he would use the same department to investigate nonsense accusations of promoting transgender lifestyles.
► Richard Fontaine examines how to fight election interference from foreign governments in an Op-Ed for The Washington Post:
New revelations that Russia has mounted a sophisticated, covert campaign to influence the 2024 U.S. election are shocking but not surprising. They follow recent efforts by Iran to hack the Trump and Harris presidential campaigns and leak internal Trump campaign documents. These latest attacks will not be the last. U.S. adversaries see election interference as a low-cost, potentially high-reward way to damage undesired candidates, shift public sentiment on key policies or simply sow division and distrust…
…Democratic governments have done much to protect themselves in recent years. Still missing, however, is a mechanism for collective action. Would-be meddlers remain free to attack democracies one by one and governments struggle to defend open societies. By acting as one, the democracies can improve their defenses and increase deterrence.The right model already exists. NATO’s Article 5 provides that an attack on one ally will be considered an attack on all, and that each member will aid the victim with “such action as it deems necessary.”
A coalition of key democracies — the Group of Seven members, NATO countries and other like-minded countries such as Australia, New Zealand and South Korea — should adopt a similar mechanism to handle political interference. In a multilateral agreement, they should declare their intent to consider a significant, state-based attack on one member’s democratic processes to be an attack on all, and they should pledge to collectively respond to the attack.
September 10, 2024 10:31 AM UTC
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The 2024 General Election is now just 55 days away. Let’s Get More Smarter! 
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