Harris woos voters with price-cutting plans

RALEIGH

Kamala Harris unveiled an economic plan on Friday that includes many popular measures to reduce costs for Americans while attacking powerful companies for price gouging, fleshing out her election program ahead of the Democratic Party convention.

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In her speech in North Carolina – a key swing state – Harris, who entered the race against Donald Trump less than a month ago, laid out for the first time a vision for fighting inflation that had angered voters towards her boss, President Joe Biden.

She promised to work for an “economy of opportunity” and said: “Building the middle class will be a critical goal of my presidency.”

To connect with voters angry at Biden, Harris talked about her humble background, pointing out that she worked at McDonald's while in college.

She acknowledged that “while our economy is by any measure the strongest in the world, many Americans have not yet felt that progress in their daily lives.”

She followed Trump's populist approach and proposed strong tax cuts for families with children, easier access to government-subsidized health care and support for first-time home buyers.

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In addition, the White House announced on Thursday that it had negotiated reduced prices for retirees when purchasing common medications from major pharmaceutical manufacturers.

Harris also called on Congress to pass a first-ever federal ban on so-called “price gouging” by food companies that raise their prices in unjustified ways.

With the party's convention beginning in Chicago on Monday, the proposals were designed to bolster a comeback campaign that has drawn widespread enthusiasm from the Democratic Party over Harris's enthusiasm, but provide few details on how she will govern.

The vice president, who is aiming to become the country's first female president, hopes the headline-grabbing proposals will allow her to distance herself from Biden's unpopular handling of the price increases that have hit average Americans in the wake of the Covid pandemic.

Trump and Republicans are trying to link Harris to 81-year-old Biden, who abruptly withdrew his candidacy for re-election on July 21 and endorsed his vice president.

“Kamala Harris has been in office for three and a half years and all she has done is ruin the economy. Kamala can't get rid of the stench of Bidenomics,” the Trump campaign team said.

The Trump campaign spoke of an “inflation nightmare for American families” and claimed that “Harris' vision is Soviet-style communism.”

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In reality, inflation is on a steady downward trend, while the US economy has avoided a widely feared recession thanks to strong employment growth and record stock market values.

However, the after-effects of COVID-related upheaval are still being felt by the average consumer, ranging from the prices of certain food items to high interest rates for home buyers.

It is still unclear how Harris' generous tax breaks will be financed.

The bipartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimated that Harris's measures would cost more than $1.7 trillion over the next decade.

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• Billionaires vs. middle class?

Harris, 59, is adopting some of Trump's populist strategies, including a proposal to eliminate taxation on tips for restaurant workers.

At the same time, Harris draws a contrast with the economic vision of 78-year-old Trump, whom she portrays as a millionaire who risks drastically increasing costs for Americans with his proposal to impose tariffs of 10 to 20 percent on international imports.

“Donald Trump is fighting for billionaires and big corporations… I will fight to give working Americans and the middle class their money back,” Harris said.

She added that Trump's plan to impose general trade tariffs in line with his protectionist policies would result in importers passing on prices to consumers.

“He essentially wants to introduce a national sales tax,” she said.

Much of Biden's economic policy agenda will be passed directly to the Harris campaign.

This includes his promise to eliminate so-called “junk fees” that lure customers with low prices before charging additional fees, and he will stick to his promise of no tax increases for people earning less than $400,000.

Until recently, polls showed that voters clearly preferred Trump to Biden on economic issues.

However, Harris is already closing that gap, and a new poll from the University of Michigan even puts her ahead.

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