Vice President Kamal Harris recently made a strong suggestion that the public should start buying Christmas gifts now instead of waiting for later in the year—and there’s a good reason for this. Ports in theUnited States, particularly on the West and East Coasts, have a processing backlog which is leading to supply chain breakdowns. Ocean cargo port congestion is being blamed and as many as 7 of 10 of the United States’ busiest ocean ports are affected. The Marine Exchange of Southern California commented on Twitter that combined data from the Southern California ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach on Aug. 31, reported that four new shipping records were set since Aug, 27. On Aug. 30, there were 129 ships in the vicinity of ports, an increase of five over that weekend—a total of 73 ships anchored offshore. Why such a backlog during this time of year? The answer is partly …