By Nandita Bose
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Kamala Harris is laying out proposals to chop taxes for many People, ban “price gouging” by grocers and enhance inexpensive housing throughout her first main economy-focused speech because the Democratic presidential candidate on Friday.
The U.S. vp is touring to Raleigh, North Carolina, to stipulate an agenda for her first 100 days in workplace, the place she’s going to name for increasing the kid tax credit score to $6,000 for households with new child youngsters, reduce taxes for households with youngsters and decrease prescription drug prices, Harris marketing campaign officers mentioned.
She goals to attract a distinction together with her Nov. 5 election opponent, Republican Donald Trump, on tariffs and taxes, they mentioned. However she may discover her agenda runs into resistance from each firms and Congress, who rejected comparable proposals after they got here from President Joe Biden.
Harris’ financial agenda broadly mirrors Biden’s and goals to enchantment to a broad section of the working public who usually see Republicans as higher financial stewards and are anxious over each larger prices and their financial prospects.
A few of her insurance policies, together with those on housing and groceries, have come underneath assault as ill-considered and overly liberal populism by Republicans and a few trade teams.
Inflation fell to beneath 3% for the primary time in practically 3-1/2 years in July, however costs of groceries and client items stay properly above their pre-pandemic ranges.
The Trump marketing campaign has additionally been mulling new tax cuts for middle-class households, and Trump proposed eliminating taxes on tipped wages – one thing Harris did as properly in Las Vegas final week.
Some progressive financial concepts ballot properly with voters, however they’ve confirmed robust to move into regulation. Most of Harris’ and Trump’s financial priorities must safe majority assist in Congress. A toddler tax credit score invoice handed the Home however stalled within the Senate this yr.
Not all components of Harris’ financial agenda will make it to the Friday speech. Her marketing campaign needs to keep away from dividing voters and attracting assaults from enterprise teams over granular particulars, and can be “strategically ambiguous” in areas similar to power, her aides and advisers mentioned.
Harris not helps measures from her short-lived 2020 presidential bid similar to a fracking ban, or Medicare for All, that had been meant to win progressive votes, her advisers mentioned.
TWEAKING BIDEN’S POLICIES
The proposals are bigger variations of worth gouging, housing plans and tax cuts already launched by Biden.
Harris’ plan will embrace “the first-ever federal ban on price gouging on food and groceries,” which her marketing campaign says goals to cease massive firms from unfairly exploiting customers whereas producing extreme company income.
She’s going to direct the Federal Commerce Fee to impose “harsh penalties” on companies that break new limits on worth gouging, marketing campaign officers mentioned.
She will even launch a plan calling for 3 million new development models, define a sequence of tax incentives and different measures to encourage constructing properties for first-time homebuyers and supply a $25,000 credit score for such consumers. Harris additionally goals to broaden rental help, ban rental price-fixing and cease Wall Road companies from shopping for properties in bulk.
Harris will push to decrease healthcare prices, cancel medical debt and tout how her administration negotiated down the costs of 10 top-selling prescribed drugs utilized by Medicare by as a lot as 79%.
She will even draw contrasts with Trump on tax coverage and tariffs and keep Biden’s promise to not increase taxes on individuals who make $400,000 or much less a yr, her marketing campaign mentioned. Trump slashed the company tax charge to 21% from 35% and applied different tax breaks which are set to run out subsequent yr.
Trump has promised to make the tax cuts everlasting and instructed new across-the-board tariffs on imports, an concept Harris rejects. Trump’s marketing campaign on Wednesday tied Harris to Biden’s financial document.
