July 30, 2024
Permission to republish original opeds and cartoons granted.
Harris’ ‘Equal Outcomes’ Is Dangerous To Your Rights
By Rick Manning
“There’s an attack right now on diversity, equity, and inclusion… where supposed, so-called extreme leaders are suggesting it’s a bad thing to care about and pay attention to inequities, to say DEI is a bad thing, when in fact, if we want fair outcomes, we must understand what are disparities and then accommodate and adjust for those disparities, if we want equal outcomes.”
That was Vice President Kamala Harris outlining her vision for equity and “equal outcomes” at a panel at Hampton University in Virginia in Sept. 2023.
Equity sounds like such a benign concept, often confused with its sister word, equality. But the two words have very different meanings.
Equality is equal opportunity under the law. Where every American can achieve according to their abilities and the work they put into it regardless of race, color, creed or religion.
Equity means equal outcomes. Where every American is allocated the same amount of wealth regardless of their achievement, effort or value they add.
Harris understands this important distinction because she stated, “if you don’t start on the same base — everybody can have an equal amount — you’re still not going to end up on the same base, right? If we want equal outcomes, we need to take into account not everybody starts out on the same base. And we have to make adjustments.”
Why does this matter?
Because this is no different than Karl Marx’s “From each according to his ability to each according to his needs” in his 1875 Critique of the Gotha Programme.
This is the presumptive Democrat nominee for president, Kamala Harris, on record as supporting equity over equality, where she declared that she wants to “put equity firmly at the center of our economic policy,” as she told U.S. Department of Treasury in Dec. 2021.
While it should not come as any surprise that the left favors redistribution of wealth and the right less so, it used to be rare for a candidate to so blatantly declare the desire to use government to force “equal outcomes.” But post-fundamental transformation neo-Marxism is the new normal and Kamala Harris’ support for equal outcomes should not surprise.
When taken in the context of the insistence by the left that they are “defending” democracy, it is important to remember that true democracy can be explained as two big kids coming up to a third kid and voting two to one to take his bicycle, which was why the Framers settled on a constitutional limited government instead with the separation of powers and property rights duly protected under law.
Vice President Harris' constant refrain about reimagining the world “unburdened by what has been,” as she told administration officials at the Eisenhower Office Building in March 2022, clearly demonstrates her willingness to use draconian measures to achieve equity through forced redistribution by a government unmoored from constitutionally restrictions.
In this broader context it becomes more obvious that using government to achieve equal outcomes ends the precept of equal treatment under the law, since when outcomes are unequal, whether on the basis of race, sex or something else, the government must, per Harris, “adjust for those disparities.”
Equal outcomes means that the doctor who sacrificed and went to school for a decade receiving extensive training while sacrificing the first thirty years of his or her life to become a brain surgeon should be compensated the same as a drugged out high school drop-out who contributes nothing of value.
Equal outcomes means that the inventor who poured his heart, soul and wealth into creating a new way to convert hydrogen into fuel for private vehicles should have that invention forcibly taken away by the government and made free for anyone to use with the inventor getting no extra compensation or value for his dedication, investment and sacrifice.
Equal outcomes means that everyone playing in the National Basketball Association gets paid the same as anyone in any other job. But, since the decision of who gets to play in the NBA will be made based upon a talent-blind selection system, it is doubtful that anyone would watch it anyway.
Equal outcomes means that the student who studies to get grades to allow them to go to the college of their choice will then be put into a weighted merit-free lottery of all students to determine admissions.
So, under this equity equation why would anyone strive to achieve?
They wouldn’t. This is why societies which try to force equal outcomes fail.
What Kamala Harris and her ilk won’t tell the voting public is that she supports unconstitutional affirmative action college admissions standards which discriminate against Asian-American and white students in clear violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and the Fourteenth Amendment.
She won’t tell you that equity is the excuse for lowering qualification standards so that underrepresented groups can qualify for a job that they physically cannot perform. In fact, the entire Diversity, Equity and Inclusion movement is designed to force hiring quotas that have little to do with the ability to succeed in the job in clear violation of the Civil Rights Act and the Fourteenth Amendment on the same basis.
And it should surprise no one that a candidate chosen for the Vice Presidency due to the color of her skin and sex, should embrace the same standard that led to her ascension.
Kamala Harris is the completion of the fundamental transformation of America. The only question is whether the country reject her radical ideology — or embrace it.
Rick Manning is the President of Americans for Limited Government.
To view online: https://dailytorch.com/2024/07/harris-equal-outcomes-is-dangerous-to-your-rights/
Poll: Trump still leads Harris nationally by four points after dumping Biden
By Robert Romano
Two steps forward, one step back.
That might be the reaction of some Democratic leaders following President Joe Biden being deposed by his own party in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris, now the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee, without a single vote being cast as the latest Harvard-Harris national poll taken July 26 to July 28 shows former President Donald Trump still leading Harris 52 percent to 48 percent.
That’s no better than Biden’s showing in the same poll taken June 28 to June 30 following Biden’s disastrous debate performance June 27, wherein Trump led 52 percent to 48 percent.
In the June poll’s crosstabs, Trump garnered 94 percent of Republicans, 10 percent of Democrats and 53 percent of independents. And in the July poll, it’s virtually the same, with Trump garnering 94 percent of Republicans, 9 percent of Democrats and 53 percent of independents.
On sex, Trump was beating Biden among males 51 percent to 41 percent, while Biden led females 45 percent to 41 percent. Today, Trump leads males 53 percent to 41 percent, while Harris’ lead among females is 48 percent to 44 percent.
On race, Trump led Whites 53 percent to 36 percent, while Biden led Blacks 65 percent to 23 percent. On Hispanics, Trump had a slight lead, 46 percent to 42 percent. Today, Trump leads Harris among Whites 54 percent to 49 percent, while Harris leads Blacks 67 percent to 25 percent and Hispanics 47 percent to 44 percent.
On age, Harris now leads 18-to-24-year-olds 45 percent to 43 percent, 25-to-34-year-olds 48 percent to 43 percent and 35-to-44-year-olds 47 percent to 46 percent, while Trump leads 45-to-54-year-olds 49 percent to 44 percent, 55-to-64-year-olds 54 percent to 39 percent and 65-year-olds-and-older 50 percent to 45 percent.
So, the predominant factors favoring Trump out of the gates — with the newly minted candidate Harris as the presumptive Democratic nominee — is a pronounced gender gap, where Trump leads men by 12 points while Harris only leads women by 4 points. And a generational gap, where Trump leads older Americans by about 10 points, while Harris’ lead among younger Americans is only about 4 points.
Now, those are factors that might change going forward, but with a little more than three months before Election Day, there will be just a few opportunities for Harris to either reintroduce herself or change public attitudes about her at the Democratic Party nominating Convention Aug. 19 to Aug. 22, or at the upcoming presidential debates, the next which is scheduled Sept. 10.
That’s really not a lot of time. One of the benefits of a robust primary process is that it gives voters the opportunity to become acquainted with a candidate and to build a base of support. However, out of the gates, Harris appears to be maintaining the base of support that Biden had — for now. And time will tell if that base is strong, or if it implodes upon closer examination. Stay tuned.
Robert Romano is the Vice President of Public Policy at Americans for Limited Government Foundation.
To view online: https://dailytorch.com/2024/07/poll-trump-still-leads-harris-nationally-by-four-points-after-dumping-biden/