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Kamala Harris unveils economic plan — including a whopping $1.7T in handouts, fed ban on grocery store ‘price gouging’
Vice President Kamala Harris kicked off her campaign speech in North Carolina on Friday announcing her new economic plan that would give about $1.7 trillion in handouts to those struggling in the current Biden-Harris economy and set price controls on groceries.
Her economic plan includes measures to ban federal “price gouging” — stopping sellers from setting unfair prices on groceries — as well as giving $25,000 to help first-time homeowners with their down payments and up to a $6,000 tax break for lower- and middle-income families who have a child in their first year of life.
The Trump campaign has especially taken issue with her price control policies, calling them “communist” and comparing her proposals to those of authoritarian leaders in Venezuela and Cuba.
“When the government comes in and takes over food production and sets prices, that inevitably leads to food shortages and even famines,” economist Kevin Hassett said in a Trump campaign press call.
Economist Stephen Moore added in the call that “the average margin for a grocery store or 7-Eleven [selling] food is between 2 and 3 percentage points,” predicting that “many of them will go out of business” with price controls.
“We know that many Americans don’t yet feel that progress in their daily lives, costs are still too high, and on a deeper level, for too many people, no matter how much they work, it feels so hard to just be able to get ahead,” Harris said in Raleigh at her campaign stop.
“As President, I will be laser focused on creating opportunities for the middle class that advance their economic security, stability and dignity. Together, we will build what I call an opportunity economy.”
The proposed plan is estimated to cost $1.7 trillion over the next decade, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. The estimated cost does not include the grocery price controls and mostly comes from her increase on the Child Tax Credit.
“The middle class is one of America’s greatest strengths, and to protect it, then we must defend basic principles, such as, your salary should be enough to provide you and your family with a good quality of life,” Harris said in her speech.
The Trump campaign has stressed that Harris is currently in office as vice president and has presided over the economy for the last three and a half years.