Janice R. Andrews
Vice President Kamala Harris, who is currently the Democratic Party’s presidential contender, unveiled an expansive and populist economic program on Friday in North Carolina that is primarily focused on relieving the financial pressures that millions of Americans bear. This is a pivotal point in Harris’s campaign as she tries to set forth her vision for leadership and set herself apart from the newly elected Democratic nominee, Joe Biden.
In her remarks, Harris said, “Today, by nearly every measure, our economy is the strongest in the world.” But many Americans do not yet see that level of advancement in their lives, as far as we are aware. It still feels too difficult to go ahead and the costs are too expensive. With these remarks, Harris appealed to a widely held worry among voters: even in the face of improving economic trends, a large number of Americans still face financial hardships due to high living expenses.
Harris at Stakes
Voters continue to place a high importance on the economy as the country approaches a hotly contested election. An increase in inflation is one of the COVID-19 pandemic’s aftereffects that has left many Americans feeling strapped for cash. For Harris, this setting offers both a difficulty and an opportunity.
Harris has an opportunity to rewrite the Democratic narrative on the economy, according to recent polls. 42% of Americans, according to a Financial Times survey conducted earlier this week, believe Harris when it comes to economic matters, almost exactly matching the 41% who believe the Republican contender, former President Donald Trump. Furthermore, Harris has closed the six-to nine-point deficit that Biden and Trump had on economic credibility, according to the Washington Post.
These figures imply that, despite the fact that Harris does not yet have the upper hand against Trump on economic matters, she has been effective in starting a wider dialogue with voters. She took use of the occasion on Friday to lay out how, as president, her economic priorities will diverge from Joe Biden’s and more closely correspond with the worries of common Americans.
“The expenses mount up,” stated Harris. groceries, housing, transportation, school supplies, and prescription drugs. After that, at the end of the month, not much is left for many families. “As president, I will address the high expenses that are most important to the majority of Americans,” she said.
Economic Policies Suggested by Harris
In her address, Harris and her team announced an extensive package of over a dozen economic reforms, all aimed at bringing down living expenses. Important suggestions consist of:
- Tackling Grocery Price Gouging: Harris wants to provide the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) the authority to penalize food retailers that raise prices in a “excessive” manner, especially while the economy is struggling.
- Eliminating Medical Debt : One of the proposals in Harris’s plan is to purchase outstanding medical debt with government dollars and have it forgiven, providing assistance to millions of Americans who are struggling to pay for healthcare.
- Insulin Cost Cap: She suggests raising the current Medicare cap to $35 per month for all Americans to cover the full population’s out-of-pocket insulin costs.
- Reducing the Price of Prescription Drugs: In an effort to lessen the financial burden on people with long-term medical illnesses, Harris’s plan would cap the amount of money that Americans might spend out of pocket each year on prescription medications at $2,000.
- First-time homebuyer assistance with down payments: To solve the housing market’s affordability issue, Harris aims to help over a million first-time homeowners with a down payment of up to $25,000.
- Building More Accessible Housing: In addition to increased tax breaks for developers that provide affordable rental housing, her program calls for the construction of three million additional housing units over the course of the next four years.
- Regulating Corporate Landlords: Harris intends to stop Wall Street investors who purchase single-family rental properties in bulk from receiving tax breaks, as well as to stop corporate landlords from arbitrarily raising rents through the use of algorithmic price-setting tools.
- Expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit: Harris suggests increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit by up to $1,500 for lower-wage workers and providing a $6,000 child tax credit for the first year of a baby’s life.
These programs, which include everything from housing and healthcare to food and childcare, are designed to address certain aspects of the high cost of living. Furthermore, almost all of Harris’s recommendations take a populist stance, emphasizing the need for government action to shield customers from price-gouging business tactics.
Harris remarked, “I know that most businesses are creating jobs and playing by the rules.” “But some aren’t, and when that happens, we have to act.” She promised to “go after the bad actors” if elected president, citing her expertise against corporate price-fixing while serving as California’s attorney general.
Differences between the Economic Plans of Biden and Trump
While maintaining some major additions, many of Harris’s ideas build upon the work of the Biden administration. For instance, Harris’s proposal provides these benefits to all Americans, but Biden’s administration has limited the cost of insulin and the amount of money Medicare beneficiaries must pay out-of-pocket for prescription drugs. Furthermore, by suggesting the development of 3 million housing units, she hopes to surpass Biden’s target of 2 million homes.
Undoubtedly, Harris’s economic agenda is more populist than Biden’s, indicating a move toward measures that directly oppose corporate power in favor of the interests of consumers. In addition to her proposed $6,000 baby tax credit, she wants to bring back Biden’s $3,600 kid tax credit for lower- and middle-class families, which was implemented during the epidemic.
Economists disagree on the effectiveness of several of Harris’s suggestions, such as the prohibition on price gouging. There are worries that putting such policies into action without ballooning the debt would prove difficult, especially in light of Harris’s vow to keep taxes on Americans making less than $400,000 per year flat.
Congress will be a major obstacle for Harris. Many of her plans would have a difficult time passing into law if the Democrats don’t hold sizable majorities in the House and Senate.
Harris’s Evaluation on Trump’s Economic Plan
Harris harshly blasted Trump’s economic program, which is mostly focused on protectionist tariffs, in contrast to her own proposal. Trump claims that raising taxes on Chinese goods by 60% and imposing a blanket 10% tax on all imports will stimulate American industry.
However, the Peterson Institute for International Economics estimates that these tariffs might add an extra $1,700 to the yearly costs of a typical middle-class American household. In her address, Harris took advantage of this to warn that Trump’s plans would drive up the cost of necessities.
According to Harris, “Trump wants to impose what is effectively a national sales tax on everyday products and basic necessities.” It will result in increased costs for almost all of your everyday necessities. A Trump-era gas tax. A Trump tax on food. A Trump tax on clothing. A Trump levy on nonprescription drugs. He intends to raise the already excessively high everyday prices even further.
Harris also criticized Trump’s proposal to further reduce the corporate tax rate from 21% to 15% and to extend his 2017 tax cuts, which mostly benefited top incomes. She presented Trump’s economic plans as benefiting corporate interests and the rich at the expense of the working class in America.
Harris asserted, “Look who someone fights for to find out who they care about.” “Donald Trump battles for big business and billionaires. I’ll strive to return money to American workers.
Trump’s Reaction
Trump said that Harris’s economic ideas were too liberal and compared them to those of Venezuela’s left-wing president, Nicolás Maduro. “She is running on the Maduro plan,” Trump declared during a Bedminster, New Jersey, press conference. It’s known as the Maduro plan. similar to anything directly from the Soviet Union or Venezuela.”
Trump may be right when he criticizes Harris, but a sizable majority of voters seem to support her populist policies. 77% of Americans, including 87% of Democrats, 80% of independents, and 65% of Republicans, agreed in a recent Data for Progress poll that the United States should do more to stop business activities that unfairly raise costs on consumers.
Results
Kamala Harris’s economic proposal is a bold and populist vision intended to solve the financial issues that American households face as the 2024 presidential election draws near. Even while some of her ideas could run afoul of the law or be met with resistance, her emphasis on bringing corporate power under control and bringing down living expenses might resonate well with people.
The next several months will show how well Harris’s economic plan compares against Donald Trump’s opposing viewpoint and whether it can get enough support to influence voters. Whatever the result, Harris’s idea has already ignited a critical discussion about the path the American economy should take going forward and the role that the government should play in guaranteeing economic justice.
