Staff Reports
Kamala Harris has entered the political arena once again, attempting to make a splash with a new policy announcement that seems eerily reminiscent of an idea put forth by Donald Trump. During a recent rally in Las Vegas, she proclaimed her intention to eliminate taxes on tips received by service and hospitality workers. Such an announcement would be commendable if her track record didn’t reveal a stark tendency for opportunism and flip-flopping that rivals a high school debate champion.
This latest move from Harris follows a month-long silence where she seemingly forgot how to develop a coherent policy platform. Instead of coming up with original ideas, she has opted to pilfer a popular suggestion that Trump had previously endorsed. In an election cycle fraught with absurdity, her attempt to leverage Trump’s stance reveals not only a lack of originality but also a desperation to connect with the voters she seeks to woo in Nevada.
Kamala just announced she is stealing President Trump's "NO TAX ON TIPS" proposal.
But like everything else she says, it's a pure political calculation she'll never actually do — but President Trump WILL. pic.twitter.com/8MiJ8eFreu
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) August 11, 2024
Adding to her embarrassment, Harris mispronounced “hospitality” during her big announcement about hospitality workers. While she champions a policy that supposedly aims to help these workers, one has to wonder if her focus-grouped messaging is more about looking good on camera than really understanding the needs of the service industry. It’s a classic case of a politician way too attached to the teleprompter and not enough in touch with reality.
To put things in perspective, Harris’s track record on various issues has been one of constant flip-flopping. She has shifted her stance on numerous significant policies, including fracking, gun control, and even immigration. Now, her sudden enthusiasm for eliminating taxes on tips is almost laughable when considering that she played a key role in expanding the IRS through the Inflation Reduction Act. This initiative provided the agency with generous funding, including the hiring of nearly 87,000 new agents, purportedly to pursue tax cheats. Ironically, this very same agency has proposed a program to crack down on unreported tips, the very income she claims she wants to protect from taxation.
Voters need to consider whether Harris will genuinely make good on her promise or if this is yet another case of political theater. Her track record suggests that any commitment to reducing tax burdens on service workers is less than credible. Those in the service industry might want to think twice before believing that this bait-and-switch will lead to real benefits. The political landscape is littered with promises, and Harris’s history of abandoning her positions for something more palatable to the audience is concerning.
The media’s reaction to Harris’s policy pivot is predictable. With the Washington Post likely to sing praises about her newfound “common sense,” it contrasts sharply with the scrutiny the idea would have faced if a Republican had proposed it. Nevertheless, the underlying motive is transparent: winning Nevada is crucial for both candidates, given its high concentration of service workers reliant on tips. Despite the political savvy of Harris’s announcement, any service worker who buys into her promises, disregarding her history, may find themselves sorely disappointed when the votes are counted, and the realities of her governing style come to light.
