Well, it’s crunch time. Ballots have gone out in Arizona, and I’ll soon be looking at mine. At 86, waiting to vote isn’t an option. Decisions: Dececions. Over the past weeks, I’ve examined several issues to determine the right course and where Trump and Harris stand. I explored the economy, abortion, and Education.

Surprisingly, both candidates advocate industrial policies bordering on mercantilism: tariffs, subsidies, and tax breaks for the favored. With each announcing new expensive policies almost daily, knowing which will ultimately add the most to our staggering national debt is impossible. Trump stands to retain a business-friendly tax structure. In the long run, an effort to rein in regulations may do more for an economy that increasingly finds itself unable to complete anything. Harris continues piling on rules at a record pace, advocating making the rich “pay their fair share,” whatever that means.

Trump is punting the abortion issue to the states to decide. Harris selected a running mate who signed a bill in Minnesota allowing elective abortions up to birth. No one cares about the little living human. By the second trimester, we certainly know they’re living humans. Some people want to give more rights to octopi than these little people. Neither has dealt with abortion’s future issues affecting gays, autistic, and others.

While a massive problem, Education receives little or no attention from Trump or Harris. Why do we have a Department of Education if this isn’t a national issue? If the children are our future, the outlook is grim.

The last area to examine may be spiraling out of control. Readers know I have agreed with very little the present administration has done on the world stage. From the relatively quiet world the Biden administration inherited, its actions in Afghanistan, Ukraine, and the Middle East have created spreading conflicts. In addition to our loss of position in places such as Africa and South America, I see a need for immediate reappraisal, which will lead to coarse corrections.

We hear Trump pronouncements claiming he’ll settle everything overnight. Kamala can’t think of anything she’d do differently than Joe Biden. Trump must know surrender in Ukraine settles nothing. Biden’s policies got us into this mess, so continuing them is madness.

So far, neither Russia nor Iran has suffered extensively on their home territory. Until they feel the pain, nothing will change in our favor. Will Trump be OK, our friends striking deep into Russia and Iran? So far, the Biden administration hasn’t done this, claiming it would widen already-spreading wars. As a previously unthinkable World War III looms, the candidates offer only confusion.

With only two viable choices, selecting between them is a joyless exercise. Lamenting that the two major parties had better people to nominate doesn’t help. Donald and Kamala are our choices. Wildly spending vast sums, we have to borrow on favored projects can give the illusion of a robust economy. That is, until you realize inflation and higher interest rates leave you further from your goals.

In the 1970s, the economy appeared good enough to re-elect Richard Nixon in a landslide. That decade ended with double-digit inflation, interest rates, and a recession. There is no free lunch.

While combining top-down industrial policy and printing money always ends badly, at least Trump has made noises about government regulatory reform. He promises to appoint Elan Musk to point out where to use the scalpel on the bloat and acknowledge the costs of not getting anything done. Kamala sometimes talks about cutting red tape; it’s hard to believe her as the Biden-Harris administration continues to add, not subtract, regulations. Trump cut rules while in office, giving him a better economic position.

Neither has taken abortion seriously, but Harris’ position of allowing on-demand late-term abortions threatens future diversity while doing nothing to achieve a needed increase in our birth rate. At least Trump leaves it to the states where these “Labratories of Democracy” may result in a realistic rather than an emotional approach.

At least Trump has distance from the teacher’s unions. These pillars of the Democratic party, like most unions, are the source of decline. Until Education gets out from under their thumb, we’ll continue to lag behind other nations.  

New Directions in our foreign Affairs are a no-brainer because we can’t continue down our present path. Again, Kamala sees nothing she’d do differently, leaving Trump the choice by default. Further, even though he presents an erratic front, he did do enough while in office to keep the lid on most violence. Rather than destroying NATO) his demands for members to spend more on defense made it more robust. He also strengthened our military, while defense spending declined in real terms under Biden-Harris. The supposed friend of Putin stopped Russia’s most lucrative project, Nord Stream II.

The Abraham Accords revealed Trump as a peacemaker. Rather than extending them to Saudi Arabia, Biden-Harris labeled the kingdom a pariah. While seeing the error of its ways, rather than expanding peace, we have spread war.

What’s needed is an extension of the trade group I wrote about in the last post. Even some top Democrats, such as Rahm Emanuel, think so, but neither Trump nor Harris seems interested in such an alliance.

I’ve abstained from commenting much on the border because the change from a situation under Trump’s control to its current mess is evident and well-covered.

While Trump’s narcissism is exhausting, and his governing style can be erratic, he still seems a better choice than someone unable to tell us what she thinks and what her policies are. The anointed one is a mystery without essential political talent. One mystery is the people’s overall quality in a new Trump administration, but Harris lines up with the failed Biden types.

In any case, Trump will be gone in four years, while Harris could be serving word salads for the next eight years. Less of either may be the best reason for your vote.