Harris goes populist on economy in bid for votes

The mystery of Vice President Kamala Harris‘s plans for office is slowly receding, replaced in turn by fierce debate over what those plans will mean for the average voter.

Harris began lifting the veil of secrecy from her campaign, especially when it comes to the economy, with a series of proposals laid out at the end of this week. What emerged was a decidedly populist economic plan.

Her first big rollout was for a federal “price-gouging” ban designed to combat lingering high prices. Details haven’t been released yet, but the plan would empower the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general to impose “harsh penalties” on companies who break the rules.

“I know most businesses are creating jobs, contributing to our economy, and playing by the rules, but some are not,” Harris said at a Friday rally in battleground North Carolina. “As president, I will go after the bad actors, and I will work to pass the first-ever federal ban on price gouging on food.”

While Harris backers say the plan would rein in corporate greed, critics likened the proposal to failed price control schemes which have been tried by historic figures like President Richard Nixon. Former President Donald Trump’s campaign called it a deflection from Harris’s own role fueling inflation.

“Her policies are what caused the inflation crisis, and the American people, I think, are just too smart to buy this garbage,” Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) said. Trump held a press conference Thursday afternoon in front of a cluster of groceries, reading out how much the price of each had risen since Harris took office.

The Harris campaign debuted several more ideas Thursday evening and Friday morning.

They include a plan to build 3 million new homes, with tax incentives for home buyers and for developers to build “starter homes,” $40 billion to help local governments find solutions to housing undersupply, and the removal of tax benefits from corporate housing investors. President Joe Biden previously proposed 2 million new homes and $20 billion in incentives.

Harris wants to create a $25,000 down payment support for first-time homeowners. She also proposed a $6,000 child tax credit for the parents of newborns and reviving the pandemic-era $3,600 tax credit for older children, echoing a similar plan from Vance.

A final set of ideas included cutting taxes to lower health insurance premiums on the Affordable Care Act marketplace and a plan to cancel medical debt. Harris’s campaign did not release a price tag for the policy proposals, but progressive economists were pleased with what they saw.

“This is a step in the right direction addressing concerns people have about high costs, especially on housing and health care,” said David Madland, a senior economist with the Center for American Progress.

Madland said he’s still learned details of the proposals, but supported them in broad strokes, such as the idea to cap grocery prices.

“There’s big concern about really high prices for some groceries, and there’s at least some evidence that the rapid rise in those prices has happened due to market power,” Madland said. “Where you can limit their ability to gouge consumers, I think that’s a step in the right direction.”

Democratic strategist Brad Bannon agreed.

“I wish Joe Biden had been more aggressively populist a long time ago. I’m very happy,” he said. “This is a very aggressive, populist proposal talking about tax cuts for families who are having a tough time making a financial go of it. I wish President Biden had done something like this.”

Budget hawks were less enthused. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates Harris’s policies would add up to $2 trillion to the national debt over a decade, and her previously announced plans to eliminate taxes on tips and raise the minimum wage would add up to another $200 billion.

Harris’s campaign says it can create offsets by raising taxes on corporations and high-earning individuals, though it has not laid out specifics.

CRFB also noted the broad similarities between Harris’s ideas and those announced by the Biden-Harris administration in March.

Trump is working to tie Harris to Biden as well, telling voters that her “day one” in office came in January 2021.

​​“Just remember, she goes to work every morning in the West Wing,” Trump told a crowd during a Wednesday rally in Asheville, North Carolina. “Her desk is 10 steps from the Oval Office.”

Team Harris says Trump will make the economy worse and spike inflation himself through plans like a 20%-across-the-board tariff on goods coming into the U.S.

“Two days ago, Donald Trump was here in North Carolina,” Harris said. “He said he was going to talk about the economy. I think you all watched, you know what I’m about to say, but he offered no serious plan to reduce costs for middle-class families, no plan to expand access to housing or healthcare, and that, actually for most of us, was not surprising because we already know his plans.”

The Trump campaign counters with a kind of scoreboard argument, saying that inflation averaged 1.9% during his four years in office and 6.5% during the Biden-Harris years. Voters tell pollsters they are more confident in Trump to handle the economy — a top priority for them this cycle.

Republicans say increased government spending such as the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, on which Harris cast the deciding vote in the Senate, directly fueled inflation that peaked at 9.1% in June 2022.

There is no daylight between Kamala’s plan and the four years of economic failures our country has endured under Joe Biden,” Club for Growth president David McIntosh said. “As President, Kamala Harris would continue to promote socialist spending schemes drive inflation even higher, especially in the housing market, and push the United States into a recession.”

However, Democrats are pleased with the ideas, with Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) saying they show that Harris “gets it.”

“Her economic agenda goes after the expenses that hit American families the hardest,” Wyden said, “housing, health care, and raising children.