In her first speech on economic policy, Kamala Harris called for help for millions of new homes and first-time homebuyers, tax cuts for households and a ban on grocery “price gouging.”
The Democratic presidential candidate’s plan builds on ideas from the Biden administration and aims to address voters’ concerns after soaring prices since 2021.
Many of the proposals would require congressional action, and similar ideas have stalled in the past.
Donald Trump said the vice president has spent more than three years in government delivering on her promises, which his campaign called “dangerously liberal.”
“Where did she go? Why didn’t she do this?” he asked.
Ms Harris fired back in a speech in North Carolina on Friday: “I think if you want to know who someone cares about, look at who they fight for.
“Donald Trump fights for billionaires and big corporations. I will fight to return money to working and middle-class Americans.”
The campaign’s proposals include a “first-ever” tax credit for builders who sell their homes to first-time buyers, as well as up to $25,000 in down payment assistance for “qualifying” first-time buyers, a move her campaign estimates It may reach 4 million households within four years.
She also called for capping the monthly price of the diabetes drug insulin at $35 per person, finding ways to cancel medical debt and giving families a $6,000 tax credit the year they have a child.
She supports a federal law prohibiting companies from charging exorbitant prices for groceries and urged Congress to act on a bill that would ban landlords from using services that “coordinate” rents.
Democrats and their allies hope Ms. Harris will be a stronger and more trustworthy messenger on economic hardship than President Joe Biden.
Robert Weisman, co-chairman of consumer watchdog Public Citizen, described Ms Harris’ plan as a “pro-consumer, anti-corporate abuse agenda”.
“this [Biden] The government does talk about it, but they are not pushing the proposed measures as aggressively as Harris has done,” he said.
But pollster and poll partner Micah Roberts said inflation is likely to remain a challenge for Democrats, noting that voters have long trusted Trump and Republicans more on economic issues.
Roberts, the Republican member of the bipartisan team who recently conducted a survey on economic issues for CNBC that found Trump still has a significant lead over Harris, said: “Trump has maintained an advantage on this for more than a year.
Without dramatic changes, “it’s hard for me to believe” that profit margins would suddenly shrink, he said.
While analysts say some of Harris’ proposals, such as a ban on price gouging, may be popular, they have also drawn criticism from some economists.
Many states already ban price gouging and enact it during emergencies such as hurricanes.
But economists say the term is difficult to define and expanding such rules could ultimately backfire by discouraging companies from producing more when supplies are short.
Michael Salinger, a professor of markets, public policy and law at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business, said he discussed a similar ban when he was chief economist at the Federal Trade Commission during the George W. Bush administration.
“I thought it was a bad idea then, I think it’s a bad idea now,” he said. “Implementing controls on competitive markets will lead to shortages – that has been our experience.”
He said other plans by the Harris campaign would also face questions because of the cost.
For example, a proposal to increase the child tax credit to $3,600 would cost more than $1 trillion, according to Congress, which temporarily did so during the pandemic and chose not to extend it. some estimates.
That cost didn’t stop Trump from choosing Vice President Vance to support a larger tax credit expansion as populism prevails in both parties.
Professor Salinger said Trump’s other economic plans are unlikely to address inflation.
Economists predict that the impact of increased drilling will be limited given the global nature of energy markets, and warn that Trump’s pledge to impose tariffs of 10% or more on imported products will drive up prices.
For now, price increases have been slowing as the impact of pandemic-era supply chain issues and the war in Ukraine recedes.
The U.S. Labor Department said this week that the inflation rate, which tracks the pace of price increases, was 2.9%, the smallest annual increase since March 2021.
Although prices have increased by about 20% since January 2021, this growth rate is getting closer to the normal level of 2%.
“The issue that people object to is that even if inflation falls, prices remain higher, which is true, but prices rise because of the natural working of market forces,” Professor Salinger said.
“Trying to stop market forces from working is a lot like trying to stem the tide,” he added. “You just can’t do it.”
