Kerby Anderson
You only get one chance to make a good first impression. Americans were trying to get a first impression of Kamala Harris before the Democratic National Convention. Yes, they knew something about her as vice-president, but now she was running for president.
Her first decision about personnel for her future administration was to pick Governor Tim Walz as her vice-presidential running mate. He was one of the most liberal governors or senators she could have picked.
Her first policy statement was a speech on price gouging given the Friday before the convention. Her solution was price controls. The headline of a Washington Post op-ed was: “When your opponent calls you ‘communist,’ maybe don’t propose price controls.” On radio, I suggested she might want to give her speech in the original Russian.
Price controls were a failure in the Soviet Union, in Venezuela, and even in the US when President Richard Nixon tried it decades ago. Giving more “authority” to the Federal Trade Commission to punish grocery companies who charge too much won’t solve the problem of high prices. I suspect the speech was more about trying to placate the base and appeal to swing voters by showing she “cares about people.”
Price controls won’t happen, but this is a teachable moment. Why are price controls a bad idea? First, they distort the market. The aforementioned op-ed explained it “would lead to shortages, black markets, and hoarding, among other distortions.” Second, it is hard to find price gouging as the problem. Last year, profit-margins in the grocery industry were at a low of 1.6 percent.
Kamala Harris was trying to remove one of her liabilities before she sat down for interviews. Inflation is a problem, but price controls aren’t the solution.

Penna Dexter
School choice is a 2024 election issue and we need to hear more about it from candidates seeking public office. Gaining educational freedom is an important goal for families who live in neighborhoods with sub-par public schools. This is why black voters, more than any other race, support school choice. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Joshua Robertson, senior pastor of the Rock Church in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, encourages the presidential candidates in both major political parties to “listen to these constituents when it comes to educational freedom.”
Pastor Robertson, who is also CEO of Black Pastors United for Education, points to Morning Consult survey data which states that nearly 80 percent of black voters endorse policies like education savings accounts and vouchers. These plans allow public education funds to follow students to the schools or services that best fit their needs. He says black communities “need courageous leadership that will equip our students to thrive.”
And yes — Democrat candidates do need courage to face the opposition. While 71 percent of all voters support greater access to better education options, teachers’ unions stand in the way, claiming that choice harms public schools financially. Pastor Robertson responds to that concern, stating: “We want properly funded public schools and education freedom at the same time. It’s possible if our leaders don’t play politics.”
In an interview before the presidential debate this past June, Donald Trump said, “I’m a big fan of school choice. I think school choice is a great thing.” He added, “School choice is a big deal, and we’re going to get it.”
Actually, we are getting choice in some states.  And the recently-adopted Republican platform endorses universal school choice.
As Kamala Harris courts the votes of black Americans, she hears the cries for educational freedom. Pastor Robertson says he’d like to see her party “earn our votes” by backing school choice.
It’s wise policy and smart election strategy. 

Kerby Anderson
At a conference last month, two presidential candidates talked about establishing a strategic reserve for America’s finances. Both Donald Trump and Robert Kennedy, Jr. spoke to a bitcoin conference and called for the establishment of a “Bitcoin Strategic Reserve.” In addition, Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) explained her Bitcoin Reserve legislation to the audience that also included other members of Congress and CEOs of companies and billionaire investors.
Not so long ago, conversations about bitcoin were taking place in the periphery of society. No longer. Two presidential candidates spoke at the conference, and even the presidential campaign for Kamala Harris has been talking about cryptocurrency. Consider just a few of the comments by the two candidates.
Kennedy referred to a Bitcoin Strategic Reserve as “corruptions’ greatest foe.” He also said bitcoin is “anti-war.” Trump promised to make America a nation that leads in bitcoin. He also called for an end to “Operation Chokepoint 2.0” and for an end to the development of a CBDC.
One of the other speakers, Michael Saylor (Former CEO of MicroStrategy), refers to this idea as the Louisiana Purchase of our generation. He reminds people that, “Thomas Jefferson purchased the Louisiana Territory for $15 million in 1803 and nearly doubled the size of the United States. William Seward paid $7 million for Alaska that has a trillion dollars of oil underneath it.”
Will a strategic reserve be implemented in the next few years? It deserves attention and should be debated in Congress after the November election.