Rude awakening for US voters when Harris ‘joy bubble’ bursts

The intelligence of American voters is being insulted by the Democrats with the “joy bubble” narrative they’ve created around Kamala Harris. Indeed for “Mamala” Harris, the co-owner to every bad Joe Biden decision – including the highest levels of illegal immigration – and Tim Walz, the hard-left governor now promoted as the schmaltzy “Coach Walz”, to play along with their makeovers is “fraudulent hypocrisy”, as Gerard Baker notes. This not only demeans voters but also demeans themselves.

But you can’t fool all of the people all of the time. Adam Creighton recently wrote of an Uber trip to the Democratic National Convention. Creighton’s driver, a Democrat voter in 2016 and 2020 but not a Harris voter in 2024, nailed it, saying: “It just bothers me when I hear her saying she’s going to do all these things on day one when she’s basically the president now.”

Mandy Macmillan, Singleton, NSW

The Kamala Harris joy bubble reminds me of the joy and euphoria surrounding the rise of the teals following the 2022 federal election. Who could forget it?

It’s a pity Harris supporters haven’t taken note of the abysmal failure of the teal movement where, along with the strong influence of the Greens in determining government policy, the Australian economy, living standards and social cohesion have gone only one way – downwards.

It’s inevitable that bubbles based on useless virtue signalling and sanctimonious platitudes will burst and, tragically, countries such as Australia find out the hard way before they do.

Under Harris the US will be in trouble. All the more reason for a pragmatic government under Peter Dutton to help minimise the fallout.

Ron Hobba, Camberwell, Vic

Mining the benefits

Given mining’s critical importance in determining our standard of living, common sense suggests Rowan Callick’s warning (“Mining’s our bread and butter – don’t take it for granted”, 23/8) would be heeded by all and sundry.

Worryingly for our long-term economic welfare, it’s not. Indeed, some of Labor’s Left and virtually all of the Greens demonstrate an almost pathological distaste for all things mining. You could almost tolerate this extreme angst if the individuals in question chose to eschew the bountiful economic benefits of our mining sector and instead lived in primitive communes. But of course they don’t and their breathtaking hypocrisy continues on full display.

Bob Miller, Leederville, WA

As a now retired geologist with nearly 50 years experience in the minerals exploration and mining industries in Australia and internationally, I read with great interest Rowan Callick’s article and suggest that it should be compulsory reading on all social media outlets. It concisely summarises the issues facing the industry in Australia, and should also include the oil and gas industry. The importance of the mining industry was recently highlighted when a drop in the price of a single commodity, iron ore, held huge ramifications for the federal budget. I suspect that the industry’s importance will be appreciated only belatedly with the increasing stagnation of Australia’s standard of living.

Peter Leaman, Kenmore, Qld

Retirees penalised

Australia is becoming a country that penalises effort and achievement. That’s the only conclusion one can draw given the Albanese government’s proposal that self-funded retirees, or people who don’t draw a government pension, should pay for their care in old age (“Self-funded retirees’ $40k extra bill for nursing home user-pays”, 23/8).

The vast majority of self-funded retirees have worked hard all of their lives and saved for their retirement so that they are not a burden on the social welfare system. They wear this status as a badge of honour. Why would the government penalise these people, at the most vulnerable time of their lives, and perhaps push them closer to expending all of their funds to make a few dollars through an attack that amounts to a form of class warfare?

Nursing homes are not the Garden of Eden. They’re places many people would assiduously avoid, preferring to be in their own homes with family or other care. However, if people choose or are forced into such a facility, they shouldn’t have to produce their bank statements to determine if they’ll pay tens of thousands of dollars more than the person in the room next door. It’s un-Australian.

Tim Sauer, Brighton East, Vic

So Anthony Albanese is once again going to penalise those self-funded retirees who haven’t cost the government anything by making them pay more to be placed in an aged-care facility. Must be an election coming on! A pity he doesn’t look at pensioners who game the system by working full time and getting paid cash in hand so they can claim a pension with all the lurks.

Sheila Duke, Bulimba, Qld