Lean in close, and I'll tell you a secret: Kamala Harris' best idea is actually Donald Trump's.
As a Republican who can't stand Trump, I'm loath to say that, but it's true.
It's routine for politicians running for president to lay out a policy agenda and to make promises. Heck, we're even used to how often they break those promises once they're in office.
But rip off your opponent and pass his idea as your own? It's a bold strategy.
At a campaign stop Saturday in Las Vegas, Harris championed a proposal to eliminate federal income taxes on tips. Good idea. I wonder who thought of it first?
It's a plan that Trump has been talking about for months. In fact, Trump talked about eliminating the tax at his own campaign rally in Nevada − in early June.
When CBS News reported on Harris suddenly touting a Trumpian tax cut, they said she was merely "echoing" her rival.
Of course, Trump doesn't own the idea of ending taxes on tips. But neither President Joe Biden nor Vice President Harris has taken action on eliminating the tax while in office the past four years.
Biden cutting taxes? It's laughable. In fact, he's proposed the opposite.
Trump's idea to eliminate taxes on tips is popular because it appeals to everyday voters struggling to make ends meet, in large part because of an inflation rate that soared under Biden's stewardship of the economy.
Now, Harris has ripped off Trump without so much as a nod in his direction. And to make it worse, much of the news media hasn't called her on it. If Trump did that, he'd be called a thief.
I know Trump is awful.But he's still better for America than Harris.
Did Harris forget she's the incumbent vice president?
But Harris didn't just steal a proposal from Trump. She's also on the campaign trail promising to do things she could have done in the past four years.
At the same campaign stop in Las Vegas, the Democratic presidential nominee rattled off a list of things she would accomplish if elected in November. "When I was a United States senator, we fought together for paid family leave and medical leave," she said. "And it is my promise to everyone here, when I am president, we will continue our fight for working families of America. Including to raise the minimum wage and eliminate taxes on tips for service and hospitality workers."
Later, Harris touted a future focused on "affordable health care, affordable child care and paid leave."
"When I am president, I will continue that work to bring down prices," she said. "I will take on big corporations that engage in illegal price gouging, corporate landlords that unfairly raise rents on working families, and take on big pharma and cap the cost of prescription drugs for all Americans."
All of that sounds like a social utopia. But if these are such good ideas, why haven't she and Biden implemented them already? It's like she's forgotten she is the incumbent vice president.
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Harris' claims about the border are laughable
For most politicians, their record is a boon, not kryptonite. As soon as they compile a reasonable list of accomplishments, they tout it wherever they go. But not Harris.
As we say in Texas, she's acting like this is her first rodeo while also saying she's a seasoned rider.
“I was attorney general of a border state," Harris said at a rally on Friday in Arizona. "I went after the transnational gangs, the drug cartels and human traffickers. … We know our immigration system is broken, and we know what it takes to fix it.“
As a Texan who has seen and reported on conditions at the border firsthand, Harris' claim is a joke.
The chaos at the border is largely due to policies Biden implemented immediately after moving into the White House. He should have reversed those decisions as soon as the data showed that migrant crossings had surged to a record level.
For Harris to speak like she had nothing to do with our "broken" immigration system and border security is to absolve herself of the responsibility for issues she and Biden actually made worse.
The question for Harris isn't what will she do for America. It's what has the vice president done?
Harris is crisscrossing the country acting like she's not had the past four years to push her ideas as Biden's No. 2. Then she lifts Trump's tax cut proposal and claims it as her own. It's such a bold strategy that I almost give her kudos for trying.
But voters should ask why Kamala Harris' promises and her record as vice president don't add up.
Nicole Russell is an opinion columnist with USA TODAY.She lives in Texas with her four kids.Sign up for her newsletter, The Right Track, and get it delivered to your inbox.
