Harris rolls out populist proposals in first economic speech

Economic:- Kamala Harris unveiled plans for a federal ban on food and grocery "price gouging," a tax credit that would provide $6,000 per child to families for the first year of a baby's life, and up to $25,000 toward a down payment for first-time homeowners — populist proposals the vice president has embraced since becoming the Democratic Party's presidential nominee.

"When I am elected president, I will make it a top priority to bring down costs and increase economic security for all Americans," Harris said Friday during a campaign event.

In her first speech on economic policy, Harris outlined her proposals, including cutting taxes for more than 100 million middle-class and lower-income Americans.

Her speech addressed plans to combat rising grocery and housing prices — key concerns for voters. She addressed supporters at a rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, a battleground state that she and former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, are vying to win in the November presidential election.

"As president, I will take on the high costs that matter most to most Americans, like the cost of food," she said.

A day earlier, Harris made her first public appearance with President Joe Biden since he announced he was stepping aside from the race and endorsed her as the Democratic nominee. The pair promoted the administration's success in negotiating with pharmaceutical companies to lower the cost of prescription drugs, in an official event that had the tone of a campaign rally.

"Folks, I have an incredible partner in the progress we've made," said Biden. "She's going to make one hell of a president."

The administration's theme of keeping excessive corporate profit in check is something that Harris is continuing in her campaign.

On Friday, Harris highlighted efforts to ensure "big corporations can't unfairly exploit consumers to run up excessive corporate profits."

She specifically called out what her campaign termed the "highly consolidated" meat processing industry.

"Ground beef is up almost 50%. Many of the big food companies are seeing their highest profits in two decades," the vice president said.

Her campaign said that the "lack of competition gives these middlemen the power to drive down earnings for farmers while driving up prices for consumers."

Trump's comments

Speaking to reporters Thursday, Trump called Harris' proposal "communist price controls."

"They don't work, they actually have the exact opposite impact and effect," he said. "But it leads to food shortages, rationing, hunger, dramatically more inflation."

Hours before Harris’ economic policy speech, the Trump campaign released a memo titled "Comrade Kamala Goes Full Communist."

Harris characterized Trump's economic plan as giving tax cuts to the wealthy.

"Compare my plan with what Donald Trump intends to do. He plans to give billionaires massive tax cuts year after year, and he plans to cut corporate taxes by over a trillion dollars, even as they pull in record profits," she said.

In the United States, the Federal Reserve sets interest rates independently, and presidential policies do not have much influence on lowering prices, at least in the short term.

"It is highly unlikely that any single policy introduced by a president could have a significant enough impact to bring inflation down from its current level to the Federal Reserve's long-term target for the economy, which is 2%," said Andrew Lautz, associate director for the Bipartisan Policy Center's Economic Policy Program.

On Wednesday Trump said he plans to bring down prices by eliminating "every single costly job-killing regulation," without providing specifics. He also said he will fight rising prices by boosting oil and gas production.

While increasing the energy supply could have a downward influence on prices and, in turn, on inflation, it won't happen quickly, Lautz told VOA.

Inflation is lower

While Americans are still feeling the pain, last month U.S. year-over-year inflation dipped under 3% for the first time since March 2021. Unemployment remains low, retail sales figures are upbeat, and most economists no longer warn of recession.

Still the overall health of the economy remains a key concern for voters and a point of attack on the campaign trail.

"The only thing Kamala Harris can deliver is horrific inflation, massive crime and the death of the American dream," Trump said.

Both candidates have also promised to slash federal taxes on tips received by workers in the service and hospitality industry.

Critics say that proposal won't help fast-food servers or other low-income workers who don't get tips. They also say it is vulnerable to abuse.

"How can we be sure that it's deserving working people, as opposed to opening the door to a whole bunch of other people who might treat their bonuses and performance fees like tips and exempt themselves?" said Steven Rosenthal, senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center.

Such proposals are common during presidential campaigns, Rosenthal said. "We often see a race to the bottom, with the candidates trying to outbid themselves for how many tax cuts they can promise."

If enacted, those promises will be costly at a time when the country needs to seriously think about fiscal responsibility and deficit reduction, said Lautz.

"We are at nearly $28 trillion in federal debt held by the public," he said. "The Congressional Budget Office estimates that's going to increase by another $20 trillion or so over the next decade."

Neither campaign has provided an estimate of how much their economic proposals would cost American taxpayers.

Trump previously held a commanding lead among voters on key economic issues, with various polls showing that Americans think they will be better off financially under Trump than Biden.

A survey conducted for the Financial Times newspaper and the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business published this week, however, found that 42% believe Harris would be better — a figure up seven points from Biden's numbers in July. VOA/SP