Vice President Kamala Harris on Aug. 16 unveiled a three-step plan aimed at reducing costs for Americans, a core focus of her campaign’s economic messaging.
Speaking at the Wake Tech Community College in Raleigh, North Carolina, Harris promised to focus on building what she called an “opportunity economy” aimed at strengthening the middle class.
To do so, Harris proposed a federal ban on price gouging, tax cuts—including an Earned Income Tax Credit and a Child Tax Credit—and a housing initiative that prioritizes building homes affordable to the middle class while providing a $25,000 subsidy on a new home for first-time buyers.
This was her first major policy speech since accepting the Democratic Party’s nomination.
“I grew up in a middle-class household for most of my childhood,” Harris said.
Echoing President Joe Biden, she emphasized that building up the middle class would be a cornerstone of her presidency, stating: “I strongly believe that when the middle class is strong, America is strong.”
Harris said that in the coming weeks, she will provide greater detail of her plans to build an “opportunity economy.”
While inflation pressures have eased in recent months, Harris acknowledged that many Americans are still struggling with high costs.
“When I am elected president, I will make it a top priority to bring down costs and increase economic security for all Americans,” she said.
She noted that despite improvements in supply chains since the pandemic, prices for goods like bread and ground beef remain significantly higher, with some companies seeing record profits.
While many businesses are playing by the rules and contributing to the economy, she added, some are not passing savings to consumers.
“As president, I will go after the bad actors, and I will work to pass the first-ever federal ban on price gouging on food,” she said.
“My plan will include new penalties for opportunistic companies that exploit crises and break the rules,” she said, adding that her economic plan will support smaller food businesses to foster more competition within the industry.
The Trump campaign responded via email, criticizing the price control scheme she offered.
“Her plan would only exacerbate the damage she has already done to our country,” it said.
During her speech, Harris also highlighted the importance of cutting red tape, a priority that former president Donald Trump has long promoted.
She criticized Trump’s tariff proposals, however, which call for a 10 percent tariff on all imports into the United States and a targeted 60 percent tariff on China.
Harris said her opponent’s proposals are “in effect, a national sales tax on everyday products and basic necessities that we import from other countries that will devastate Americans.”
She alleged Trump’s tariffs would “cost a typical family $3,900 a year.”
Tax Cuts
Harris proposed giving more than 100 million Americans tax cuts to strengthen the middle class—the Earned Income Tax Credit, and the Child Tax Credit.The latter was first enacted in 1997 and provided up to $2,000 per child to about 40 million families yearly under the Biden administration.
A temporary extension of the credit was passed in 2021, and Senate Democrats recently tried to pass a bipartisan bill to expand it.
Under the new Harris plan, the credit would be expanded to $6,000 to provide “tax relief to families during the first year of a child’s life.”
“Think what that means, that is a vital, vital year of critical development of a child, and the cost can really add up.
“Especially for young parents who need to buy diapers and clothes, and a car seat, and so much else, and we will do this while reducing the deficit,” Harris told the crowd.
Housing Proposals
Harris also outlined plans to make housing more affordable for average Americans.“There’s a serious housing shortage in many places, it’s too difficult to build, and it’s driving prices up,” she said.
“As president, I will work in partnership with industry to build the housing we need, both to rent and to buy.
“We will take down barriers and cut red tape, including at the state and local levels.”
To end the housing shortage, Harris pledged to work with developers to build 3 million new homes and rentals that “are affordable for the middle class” by the end of her first term.
She criticized investors and corporate landlords for buying hundreds of houses and apartments and then turning around to “rent them out at extremely high prices,” making it difficult for “regular people to be able to buy or even rent a home.”
Harris suggested passing a law to crack down on corporate landlords that work “with each other to set artificially high rental prices” with software algorithms, calling it “anti-competitive” and responsible for driving up housing costs.
Lastly, the vice president proposed giving first-time home buyers a $25,000 subsidy to help with the down payment on a new home.
She said it would “help more Americans experience the pride of homeownership and the financial security that it represents.”
David Bahnsen, managing partner and founder of the investment firm The Bahnsen Group, said Harris’s housing downpayment subsidy could drive up home prices.
Harris also alleged that under Trump’s policies, mortgages would increase by “around $1,200 a year” for average Americans.
Trump campaign officials held a call with reporters on Aug. 16 to address Harris’s remarks.
Kevin Hassett, who served as an economic adviser during the Trump administration, argued that Harris’s proposals “could cause an enormous amount of damage to the economy” and reveal “a desire for the government to take over the economy.”
Hassett added that Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, are “doubling down on the type of policies of the Biden administration that ignited inflation.”
During the call, economist Stephen Moore said the average homebuyer is saddled with a mortgage rate “roughly double what it was when Trump left office.”
“Giving people more money to meet their down payment is putting a Band-Aid on a cancer patient,” Moore said. “The big problem is people can’t afford the mortgage payments.”
