Following Vice President Kamala Harris‘ new economic policy proposal that she recently announced during a campaign rally, several members of the Democratic Party were confronted on Sunday about criticism surrounding her plan.
Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee, took the stage at a rally in the swing state of North Carolina on Friday as she introduced several proposals aimed at bringing down the cost of groceries, the housing market and other essential goods. The vice president’s plan includes tax cuts, a federal ban on price gouging by food producers and offering down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers who qualify.
“As president, I will take on the high costs that matter most to most Americans, like the cost of food,” she said. “We all know that prices went up during the pandemic when the supply chains shut down and failed. But our supply chains have improved and prices are still too high.”
The economy has become a key issue for voters as Harris and former President Donald Trump, the GOP’s nominee, aim to address the issue. Trump, who spoke about his economic proposals at a Wednesday rally in North Carolina, said he would expand his stance on tariffs on foreign countries as he criticized Harris’ proposal on Thursday, likening it to “Maduro-esque price controls” that have crippled the Venezuelan economy.
Trump’s response comes as Harris has received criticism for promising to go after price gouging as a way to tackle inflation as economists warned the plan could backfire, and likely does not address the root problems of it.
Newsweek has reached out to Harris’ campaign via email for comment.
In an interview appearance on Sunday on NBC News’ Meet The Press, Democratic Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer was asked by host Kristen Welker if Harris’ plan to ban price gouging is “anything more than a gimmick?” a reference to The Washington Post’s editorial board’s criticism of the plan.
According to the Post’s opinion column on Friday, it accused Harris of being “less forthright” with voters about the reasons why prices remain, adding that Harris “squandered the moment on populist gimmicks.”
“I think it speaks to Kamala Harris’ values that she wants consumers to keep more money in their pockets…We know we got to have business growth in this country…We also know that you can’t gouge and hurt the American consumer to pad your bottom line and I think there is a balance there,” Whitmer said.
Continuing to push, Welker asked, “So you think it’s a smart policy?”
Whitmer responded that she thinks “any effort we make to keep more money in Americans’ pockets is worth walking the path.”
In an interview appearance on CBS News’ Face the Nation, Democratic Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear was asked by host Margaret Brennan about if he knows how Harris’ plan would work.
“I do because I’ve been an attorney general just like the vice president…this isn’t about trying to price-fix. It’s just making sure that the economy is operating the way it should, that this is really supply and demand,” Beshear said.
However, Brennan noted Republican criticisms that accuse Harris of advocating for price controls like in communist countries and asked Beshear to explain “how you define what an excessive price is if you don’t have a benchmark?”
Beshear responded: “First, these are types of statutes that exist in state law…This has to be evidence-based. Ultimately, you bring an action, and you have to prove it in court. So, you have to have the evidence that this is beyond supply demand—that this is people taking advantage of us.”
In an appearance on CNN‘s State of the Union, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries doubled down on Democrats‘ support of Harris’ economic plan stating it is a “very important plan to make sure that we are lowering costs for everyday Americans.”
CNN host Jake Tapper then asked, “Is it part of the problem when it comes to high prices and inflation, the fact that you and your colleagues on Capitol Hill, along with both President Trump and Biden, infused the economy with perhaps too much cash because of the pandemic?”
In response, Jefferies pointed towards challenges “inherited” from the former president, adding that one of those challenges is price gouging.
“It’s fair to say that part of the challenge that many everyday Americans have felt is that price gouging is occurring by some bad actors and its reasonable for us to look into how we can stop it from occurring. Harris is simply saying we have to make sure that markets are properly functioning,” the House minority leader said.
Meanwhile, when asked by ABC News’ This Week host Martha Raddatz if Democratic Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth is “comfortable” with Harris’ economic proposals that could possibly add to the federal deficit, Duckworth said, “I am comfortable with that because what we need to do is get rid of the Trump tax cuts for the wealthy…This is all about balancing things out.”
Among the biggest policy ideas floated by Trump is the extension of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), which is currently due to expire in 2025. When it was first enacted under his presidency in 2017, it created a single flat corporate tax rate of 21 percent.
