Vice President Kamala Harris laid out her plans for the U.S. economy Friday during a rally in Raleigh, N.C. Her talk focused on supporting the middle class and bringing down costs.
“Building up the middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency, because I strongly believe when the middle class is strong, America is strong,” she said.
Here are some of the hard figures Harris provided regarding her plan:
· She said her administration would build on 16 million jobs created during current President Joe Biden’s term
· Harris said they will work to make sure inflation keeps getting lower after finally dipping below 3%
· She said that her administration will “end America’s housing shortage by building 3 million new homes and rentals that are affordable for the middle class”
· Harris said the administration “will provide first-time homebuyers with $25,000 to help with the down payment on a new home”
· She said more than 100 million Americans will get a tax cut via the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit
· Harris said those programs will be expanded to provide $6,000 in tax relief to families during the first year of a child’s life
Harris also compared her plan with some numbers related to the plans of the GOP presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump. She said his plan would “cost a typical family $3,900 a year,” and that the conservative Project 2025 agenda would “add around $1,200 a year to the typical American mortgage.”
“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,” said Harris of Trump. “And that’s on top of the $2 trillion tax cut he already signed into law when he was president, which, by the way, overwhelming- — overwhelmingly went to the wealthiest Americans and corporations and exploded the national deficit.”
She also gave a shout out to unions, a group that Trump landed in hot water with this week after a streamed talk with Elon Musk on X. However, both Trump and Harris agree on one thing – reducing or eliminating taxes on tips, something first suggested by Trump. CNN said that plan would cut billions of revenue now flowing to the government.
In her speech, Harris mentioned her work to go after companies for illegally keeping prices high when she was attorney general in California. She also touted her work to get money for California families during the foreclosure crisis.
“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,” she said.
Beyond food and other household items, Harris mentioned high real estate prices and singled out corporate landlords for bulk buying units and renting them at high prices. Some of these corporate landlords collude to set artificially high prices using algorithms and price-gouging software, she said.
“I will fight for a law that cracks down on these practices,” Harris told the crowd.
What have people been saying about it?
As to be expected, Trump slammed the plan in a Truth Social post.
“If you think things are expensive now, they will get 100 times WORSE if Kamala gets four years as President. Under her plan, Kamala will implement SOVIET Style Price Controls,” he said. “She will abolish private health care, and make California’s ridiculous tax policies the law of the land, meaning EVERY American will be taxed up to 80% of their income! If you want more CASH and less TAX, VOTE TRUMP!!!”
The Washington Post’s editorial board also gave a negative view of the plan.
“Vice President Kamala Harris’ speech Friday was an opportunity to get specific with voters about how a Harris presidency would manage an economy that many feel is not working well for them,” the board wrote.
“Unfortunately, instead of delivering a substantial plan, she squandered the moment on populist gimmicks.”
CNN said that both Trump and Harris’ economic plans “have a populist bent” and both would require Congressional approval to follow through on many of their promises. Mark Baran, managing director at consulting firm CBIZ MHM’s National Tax Office, said: “It’s optimistic and targeted to improving the middle class; however, we have yet to see details, and it’s unclear how the congressional elections will impact the likelihood of passage,” according to USA Today.
Furthermore, CNN noted that presidents don’t have many tools for keeping inflation down, as that is usually tackled by the Federal Reserve Bank through interest rates (which can also cause consumer financial woes).
“Economists who spoke to ABC News offered up a mixed assessment of the newly released agenda,” said the outlet of Harris’ plan. “Some experts lauded the effort to slow rising costs and restrain corporate power in key sectors, while others criticized what they consider a misguided attempt to override market forces that risks worsening the nation’s debt.”
As of Saturday, Harris was polling ahead of Trump at 46.2% to 43.7%, according to data gathered by FiveThityEight.