Kamala Harris has been pushing policy proposals this week.
In a campaign speech Friday in North Carolina, Vice President Kamala Harris promised to “make it a top priority to bring down costs”. If she becomes president, her top priority would be cutting food and housing costs. She would also need to lower prescription drug prices and expand the child tax credit.
Harris said the Biden administration has progressed in this area since COVID, but it’s not enough. “many Americans don’t yet feel that progress in their daily lives.”
“As president, I will take on the high costs that matter most to most Americans, like the cost of food. We all know that prices went up during the pandemic, when the supply chains shut down and failed, but our supply chains have now improved and prices are still too high.”
Harris said she would work with Congress. Together, she plans to enact “federal ban on price gouging on food and groceries”. Rules need to be put in place “to make clear that big corporations can’t unfairly exploit consumers” to increase their profits.
She would also seek new powers for the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general to impose “strict new penalties on companies that break the rules”.
The Trump campaign has criticized the idea.
“It’s hard to overstate how disastrous of an idea it is to let D.C. bureaucrats dictate the price of groceries in cities, suburbs, and rural communities across the country — dismantling necessary supply-and-demand signals of the free market and ultimately leading to higher prices for consumers.”
Kamala Harris’s plans
However, Harris has touted her plans to create tax breaks for developers. She would provide a $25,000 subsidy for first-time homebuyers.
Harris has also promised to cut “needless bureaucracy and unnecessary regulatory red tape” She vowed to create a “a stable business environment with consistent and transparent rules of the road.”
She also plans to expand “$6,000 in tax relief to families during the first year of a child’s life”. On medications, Harris would seek to extend the $35 monthly cap on Medicare insulin to everyone.
Harris ’s criticism
Harris criticized Trump, who wants to impose across-the-board tariffs on imported products.
“He wants to impose what is, in effect, a national sales tax on everyday products and basic necessities that we import from other countries that will devastate Americans,” she said. “It will mean higher prices on just about every one of your daily needs. A Trump tax on gas. A Trump tax on food. A Trump tax on clothing. A Trump tax on over-the-counter medication.”
She also criticized the Republican nominee’s efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
Kamala does not support Trump’s plans to extend tax cuts for high-income earners.
In turn, Harris added that “in the weeks to come, I will address in greater detail my plans to build an opportunity economy.”
According to her, the 2024 elections will involve a choice between “two very different visions for our nation.”