Vice President Kamala Harris won't release her official campaign policies. So we have to judge her on the basis of her past policies.
It is true that she adopted the most left-wing, radical ideas of any presidential candidate -- more radical than socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). It is also true that, as a local and state prosecutor, she occasionally adopted absurdly hard-line policies on particular issues, like school truancy, that exceeded anything a conservative prosecutor would have done.
The reality is that she has no particular moral core. She does what she thinks will get attention and advance her career. Her instincts are left -- far, far left -- but she is essentially just a power-hungry political climber.
Regardless, here are the craziest policies Harris has embraced, mostly on the far left and some on the far right.
1. Medicare for All. Harris adopted a fully socialist health care policy when she ran for president in 2019, thanking Sanders for pushing the idea. She flip-flopped on the idea of whether her policy would require ending the private health insurance industry, which cost her significant credibility with the public. She later claimed that there would be some role for private companies -- although if California's treatment of insurance companies is any indication, in practice what that would mean is setting price caps and regulations that force private insurance companies to close.
2. Green New Deal. Harris was a co-sponsor of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's (D-NY) sweeping legislation, which not only sought to ban fossil fuels but also to socialize the entire U.S. economy, issuing payments for those who were "unwilling" to work. Harris also said she would ban fracking -- a pledge her campaign is now working feverishly to deny as she courts voters in swing-state Pennsylvania -- and that she would ban plastic straws and consider limiting meat. There was no environmental policy too crazy for Harris, whose state suffers high energy costs and power shortages.
3. Open borders. Harris championed "sanctuary" policies in San Francisco and California. The so-called "border czar" -- a title she now claims she never had -- was in favor of letting anyone into the country, shutting down detention centers, abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and giving free healthcare to illegal aliens. As Vice President, Harris was supposed to deal with the so-called "root causes" of migration, which were deemed to originate in Central America. She barely visited the border, and soon migrants were coming to America from all over the world.
4. Targeting truancy. As San Francisco District Attorney, and later as California Attorney General, Harris went after the parents of children who were missing school. She threatened parents, and some were even arrested (which, later, she falsely denied). The policy did little to stop truancy, but it had a massive, and negative, impact on black and Latino parents. This issue came up during Harris's presidential campaign in 2019, but has been memory-holed by Democrats.
5. Keeping non-violent offenders in prison. Then-Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) derailed Harris's campaign in 2019 by pointing out that she had locked up thousands of people for marijuana possession. But Harris's record is far worse. For many years, she resisted a Supreme Court order to release thousands of non-violent convicts from California prisons. One of her arguments was that the state needed the labor they provided. Meanwhile, Harris cut soft plea deals with violent criminals and refused to seek the death penalty for a cop killer. Later, she backed ending cash bail in California.
In sum: Harris is not a leader capable of governing. Her trademark is adopting radical ideas past the point of absurdity.
This week's portion is one of several in Deuteronomy in which Moses lays out the rewards for keeping God's commandments, and the punishments for not doing so, upon entering into the Land of Israel and dwelling therein.
Three points stand out: one, that Moses begins with the blessings, not the curses; two, that he admonishes the Israelites not to think their future success comes from their own efforts; and three, that this is a rain-watered land.
Unlike Egypt, Moses says, where the Nile causes crops to grow almost without effort, rain-dependent Israel requires careful attention, cultivation, and planning. It also requires a spiritual mindset attuned to heaven, not earth.
Back in DC, and while summer is slowing down, we are picking up the pace!
We'll start by speaking to Breitbart News Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow about his new book, "Breaking the Law," documenting the Democrats' lawfare system.
Next, we'll talk about the recent Armenia-Azerbaijan peace deal, and the forthcoming meeting between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska -- what might its prospects be?
We'll talk about the gerrymandering fight; the NFL/ESPN deal; and the return to campus, plus the ongoing effort to demonize Israel for having the chutzpah to fight terrorists who continue to hold Israeli hostages and plan attacks.
With:
Alex Marlow -- Breitbart News editor-in-chief, author of "Breaking the Law"
Frances Martel -- Breitbart News foreign policy editor, on Azerbaijan-Armenia
John Hayward -- Breitbart News foreign correspondent, on Russia talks
Dylan Gwinn -- Breitbart News sports editor, on NFL/ESPN deal
Hans von Spakovsky -- election expert, on ...
This week's portion coincides with Tu B'Av, the 15th of Av, the Jewish version of "Valentine's Day." Traditionally, any unmarried men and women who wanted to find a partner would go outside the city and dance in separate circles until they had caught the eye of someone with whom they wanted to connect.
Fittingly, the Torah portion contains the central prayer of the Jewish faith -- the Shema, which is followed by the commandment to love the Lord (6: 4-5)
The additional reading, from Isaiah 40, begins: "Be comforted, be comforted, my people." It inaugurates seven weeks of such readings of comfort, leading up to the Jewish New Year. The message: this week is all about reconnecting.