Immigration, Inflation, and Abortion

Spectator

By Stephen Tuttle | Oct. 26, 2024

Thankfully, it’s almost over—the absolute blizzard of misinformation, disinformation, and blatant lies. Let’s see if we can sort through some of it.

National Republicans have made immigration a top-of-the-line issue, and legitimately so. No president has had an effective immigration policy in decades, and Joe Biden has been no exception.

Donald Trump says he will “deport millions” if elected, but he wasn’t that tough on illegal immigrants while he was president. Barack Obama deported more illegal immigrants than Trump, George W. Bush deported more than Obama, and Bill Clinton deported more than Bush. And according to migrationpolicy.org, Joe Biden is on pace to equal Trump’s deportation record. (We have to be careful about language here as politicians like to play with the words “removal” and “return” as different actions, though both involve expelling someone here illegally.)

Kamala Harris says she will “secure” the border. It is true enough the Democrats have been weak on immigration policy, but it’s a lie that we have “open borders” and an ugly insult to the men and women in the Border Patrol trying to secure that border with inadequate personnel and funding.

Reality is that Donald Trump will not deport “millions and millions” of illegal immigrants already here for the simple reason he doesn’t know who they are, where they are, or how to find them. Kamala Harris says she will “secure” the border, but she won’t absent unlikely bipartisan legislation that requires it.

(Locally, Congressman Jack Bergman climbing on the illegal-immigrants-are-invading train is offensive. Is there a lot of crime being committed in CD1 by illegal immigrants? Are they taking jobs? Are Canadians sneaking across the border?)

It seems as though every candidate at every level from the statehouse up is going to “reduce prices” and magically increase affordable housing. No, they won’t. No individual politician at any level has the power to reduce the cost of living on their own. Even the president has extremely limited influence on consumer prices.

Trump likes to claim his presidency had the lowest inflation, the best unemployment, and the best economic growth in history. No, no, and no. Inflation was lower in the 1950s, as was unemployment, and even Biden's economy has grown faster than did Trump’s. (Note in fairness: The last year of Trump's presidency included the pandemic and the loss of some seven million jobs.)

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was at 2.4 percent at the end of September (it was 1.9 percent Trump’s last month in office), unemployment is 4.1 percent, and we’re averaging 205,000 new jobs monthly for the last 12 months (unemployment was an aggregate 5.0 percent for Trump's term in office). Standard & Poors Global says the U.S. economy is currently growing at a sustainable 2.6 percent annually (annual economic growth during Trump’s four years in office was 2.3 percent).

Harris tells us she’ll “lower prices” and stop price gouging. Defining “gouging” is a bit tricky, would require legislation, and lowering prices is a fantasy. Trump, meanwhile, is fixated on tariffs, which will increase American consumer prices on most every import. He’s currently talking about 10-20 percent tariffs on all imports, 60 percent on Chinese imports, and 100 percent on cars and car parts imported from China or Mexico. Paying more for everything made elsewhere...well, just look at the “Made in...” tags in your house and imagine it costing 10 to 100 percent more.

The reality is economies have lives of their own and are influenced by any number of domestic and international events. Harris won’t be able to exert much control over consumer prices, but Trump’s tariffs will definitely increase prices. Neither party nor candidate has a clue on reducing spending—this year’s budget deficit will be at least $1.8 trillion (that’s $1,800,000,000,000)—and we still have no willingness to fix Social Security or Medicare.

Which brings us to reproductive rights. Trump’s position on this issue has been spectacularly diverse over the last quarter century.

In October, 1999, on NBC’s Meet the Press, Trump said, “I am very pro-choice.” Then, in 2011, speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) convention said, “I am pro-life.” In March of 2016, at an MSNBC town hall, he said “...there has to be some form of punishment” for women seeking or having abortions. While president in January of 2018, Trump advocated for a national 20-week abortion ban and bragged that he had “overturned” Roe v. Wade. In April of 2024, at a Fox News town hall, he said he would “protect all life without compromise” but then said we should leave the decision up to the states. Just a month ago he said he would veto a nationwide abortion ban. Downright dizzying.

Harris has been boringly consistent—always pro-choice and supports federal legislation protecting the right to choose.