Kamala Harris on Budget & Economy Democratic candidate for President (withdrawn); California Senator

A new approach: national ban on price gouging

Endorsed by 400+ economists and policymakers

"The choice in this election is clear: between failed trickle-down economic policies that benefit the few and economic policies that provide opportunity for all," the endorsement document reads. "It is a choice between inequity, economic injustice, and uncertainty with Donald Trump or prosperity, opportunity, and stability with Kamala Harris, a choice between the past and the future. Nonpartisan researchers have predicted that if Donald Trump successfully enacts his agenda, it will lower GDP growth and increase the unemployment rate."

Build an "opportunity economy", not Trump Tax of $4000

HARRIS: I believe in the ambition, the aspirations, the dreams of the American people. I have a plan to build what I call an opportunity economy. We know that we have a shortage of homes and housing, and the cost of housing is too expensive for far too many people. We know that young families need support to raise their children. And I intend on extending a tax cut for those families of $6,000. My opponent has a plan that I call the Trump sales tax, which would be a 20% tax on everyday goods that you rely on to get through the month. Economists have said that Trump's sales tax would actually result for middle-class families in about $4,000 more a year because of his policies.

TRUMP: I have no sales tax. That's an incorrect statement. We're doing tariffs on other countries. I had tariffs and yet I had no inflation. Look, we've had a terrible economy; we have inflation like very few people have ever seen before.

I am offering an opportunity economy

TRUMP: Look, I went to the Wharton School of Finance and many of those top professors, think my plan is a brilliant plan. She doesn't have a plan. She copied Biden's plan. And it's like four sentences, like run-Spot-run. Four sentences that are just "oh, we'll try and lower taxes." She doesn't have a plan. Take a look at her plan.

Provide first-time homebuyers up to $25K for down payments

Post-COVID, we brought inflation down to less than 3%

HARRIS: First of all, we had to recover as an economy, and we have done that. I'm very proud of the work that we have done that has brought inflation down to less than 3%, the work that we've done to cap the cost of insulin at $35 a month for seniors. Donald Trump said he was gonna do a number of things, including allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices. Never happened. We did it.

Q: So you maintain Bidenomics is a success.

HARRIS: I maintain that when we do the work of bringing down prescription medication for the American people, including capping the cost--of the annual cost of prescription medication for seniors at $2,000; when we do what we did in the first year of being in office to extend the child tax credit so that we cut child poverty in America by over 50%; I'll say that that's good work. There's more to do, but that's good work.

Lower cost plan: housing; groceries; medical; and taxes

But just because her strategy is understandable does not make it sensible. Her prescriptions risk taking America further down the road of self-defeating economic policies. Ms Harris's cost-of-living plan may open a new phase in the worrying odyssey. She takes aim at four categories of costs: housing; groceries; medical; and taxes. Although some of her ideas are good and helpful, many more would end up weighing on growth and driving up prices--the exact opposite of their intended effect.

FactCheck: no evidence for pandemic price-gouging

Although Ms Harris's promise to crack down on unfair mergers and acquisitions in the food industry that lead to less competition and higher prices is unobjectionable, in reality it is little more than a restatement of America's existing anti-monopoly policy. The Federal Trade Commission is, for instance, currently embroiled in a legal battle to block the biggest supermarket merger in American history.

Economic numbers conceal more than reveal

Prosecuted fewer foreclosure fraud cases than smaller states

Her Mortgage Fraud Strike Force opened in 2011, employing twenty-five lawyers and investigators with a budget of more than $2 million to go after foreclosure fraud. The strike force managed to prosecute just ten cases in three years, an East Bay Express investigation in 2014 found. It had filed fewer lawsuits than attorneys general in smaller states with fewer victims, and even fewer than some county district attorneys. Yet California led the country in terms of such scam operations.

$20B for struggling homeowners during mortgage crisis

Provide protections for homeowners in bank dealings

Provide protections for homeowners in bank dealings

Voted YES on $900 billion COVID relief package.

NPR summary of HR133:

• $600 checks for every adult and child earning up to $75,000, and smaller checks if earning up to $99,000.
• Unemployment: extend enhanced benefits for jobless workers, $300 per week through March.
• Rental assistance: $25 billion to help pay rent; extends eviction moratorium until Jan. 31.
• SNAP assistance: $13 billion for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
• PPP loans: $284 billion for Paycheck Protection Program loans, expanding eligibility to include nonprofits, news/TV/radio media, broadband access, and movie theaters & cultural institutions
• Child care centers: $10 billion to help providers safely reopen.
• $68 billion to distribute COVID-19 vaccines and tests at no cost.
• $45 billion in transportation-related assistance, including airlines and Amtrak.
• $82 billion in funding for schools and universities to assist with reopening
• $13 billion for the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program for growers and livestock producers.

Argument in opposition: Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV-2) said after voting against H.R. 133: `Congress voted to spend another $2.3 trillion [$900 billion for COVID relief], which will grow our national debt to about $29 trillion. The federal government will again have to borrow money from nations like China. This massive debt is being passed on to our children and grandchildren. With multiple vaccines on the way thanks to President Trump and Operation Warp Speed, we do not need to pile on so much additional debt. Now is the time to safely reopen our schools and our economy. HR133 was another 5593-page bill put together behind closed doors and released moments prior to the vote.`

Legislative outcome: Passed House 327-85-18, Roll #250, on Dec. 21. 2020; Passed Senate 92-6-2, Roll #289, on Dec. 21; signed by President Trump on Dec 27 [after asking for an increase from $600 to $2,000 per person, which was introduced as a separate vote].