In latest blow to Trump, Harris unveils ambitious middle-class economic plan

Washington: Kamala Harris has vowed to crack down on soaring grocery prices, make housing more affordable and cut taxes for families if she becomes the next US president, under an ambitious economic plan designed to draw another stark contrast with Donald Trump.

As the November 5 election nears, the US vice president has made a direct pitch to middle-class and working voters, many of whom have struggled during the years of the Biden-Harris administration due to inflation and cost-of-living pressures.

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign event in North CarolinaCredit: AP

“As president, I will be laser focused on creating opportunities for the middle class that advance their economic security, stability and dignity,” she said, in the first major policy speech of her campaign.

“Together, we will build what I call an ‘opportunity economy’ – an economy where everyone can compete and have a real chance to succeed. Everyone, regardless of who they are or where they start, has an opportunity to build wealth for themselves and their children.”

Amid basic staples such as bread and minced beef now costing 50 per cent more than they did before the pandemic, Harris proposed creating the “the first-ever federal ban on price gouging on food and groceries”, along with new penalties for “opportunist companies” that exploit consumers.

But the Trump campaign immediately branded this as a “price fixing scheme” that would make life even harder for Americans.

Donald Trump speaks at a news conference on Thursday with groceries on display.Credit: AP

“It’s hard to overstate how disastrous of an idea it is to let DC bureaucrats dictate the price of groceries in cities, suburbs, and rural communities across the country – dismantling necessary supply-and-demand signals of the free market and ultimately leading to higher prices for consumers,” Trump’s campaign said in a statement with the headline “Comrade Kamala Goes Full Communist”.

Harris’ populist but uncosted economic plan also includes considerable tax credits and incentives to bring down the cost of buying a home, renting, or raising a family – however these proposals would likely need to pass the US Congress to become reality.

Her agenda builds on many “Bidenomics” initiatives she pushed alongside president Joe Biden, but places a much stronger emphasis on the need to bring down cost-of-living pressures.

One of the problems Biden faced during his term was that the economic gains he’d made – millions of new jobs; record infrastructure investment; supply chain improvements – did not cut through because Americans were still struggling with soaring costs.

Harris visits Bayleaf Market in Raleigh, North Caroline with Governor Roy Cooper.Credit: AP

To tackle the US affordable housing shortage, Harris said she would work with industry to build 3 million new housing units and would also provide the first-ever tax incentive for home builders who build starter homes for first-time homebuyers.

A new $US40 billion fund would be created to spur “innovative” housing, while working families who have paid their rent on time for two years and are buying their first home would get up to $US25,000 in down-payment assistance.

A tax credit of $US6000 credit would be provided for families with children in the first year of life, and the cost of insulin would be capped at $US35 for everyone, along with out-of-pocket expenses for prescription drugs at $US2000.

Harris’ speech only lasted about 35 minutes and was devoid of details about how her policies would be implemented or how much they would cost.

Nonetheless, it was designed to paint Trump as someone aligned with billionaires and corporate executives who would make life more expensive for working Americans, especially with his plan to impose higher drastic tariffs on imported goods and give tax cuts to high-income households.

“Now is the time to chart a new way forward,” she said.

Trump, however, attacked Harris’ economic credentials with a pre-emptive press conference in New Jersey the day before her announcement, describing her price control proposals as a “Maduro plan” (a reference to Venezuelan socialist Nicholas Madura) and branding the Inflation Reduction Act that she helped pass as a con “con job”.

Surrounded by a table full of grocery items, he also declared: “Harris has just declared that tackling inflation will be a day one priority for her. It’s going to be day one. But day one, really, for Kamala was 3½ years ago. Where has she been? Why hasn’t she done it?”

Harris’ speech was delivered in North Carolina, a battleground state that Democrats now believe they could wrest from Republicans – thanks to its fast-growing urban population and its high number of independent voters.

Unaffiliated voters in North Carolina now account for more than a third of the 7.3 million voting population, and as this masthead revealed in March, the state has become the focus of a Republican strategy called “Operation Domino” to return Trump to power.

The economy and immigration are consistently rated as two of the top issues for voters in North Carolina and elsewhere.

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris waves as she boards Air Force Two at Raleigh-Durham International Airport after delivering her speech.Credit: AP

Until recently Trump had always been viewed as a better economic manager. However, last week, a surprise poll by the Financial Times and the University of Michigan Ross School of Business put Harris one point ahead when it comes to the economy.

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