2024-08-17 23:36:36
US Vice President Kamala Harris has unveiled a sweeping set of proposals to reduce Americans’ spending on housing and food as she battles for votes ahead of the presidential election. Its plans include support for the purchase of first properties or the extension of tax credits for children. According to the American media, it largely follows the program of the current president Joe Biden.
The Harris campaign focused on plans for a possible White House run in more detail for the first time since Biden withdrew from the election on July 21, clearing the way for his vice presidential bid. The New York Times describes the announced economic program as a new adaptation of Biden’s policy rather than a completely new vision. However, The Washington Post talks about an “aggressively populist” agenda, which in some points goes further than Biden’s ideas.
In an appearance in the state of North Carolina where she presented her plans, Harris said she wants to build an “economy of opportunity” where anyone has a “real chance to succeed.”
Already within the week, Harris announced that she would enforce a “ban” on excessive food price increases, although the details of how such a mechanism would work are not very clear. Food prices in the U.S. have risen about 20 percent over the past four years, with Biden and Harris arguing that companies’ drive to maximize profits has played a big part in that. According to the NY Times, most economists consider other factors to be more important.
The rising cost of living is a central theme of the election campaign, in which Republican candidate and former president Donald Trump promises to make life in the US “affordable” again. Harris is now responding, among other things, by proposing that some people receive a subsidy of $25,000 (almost CZK 600,000) when buying their first property, and by measures to support the construction of houses.
“Prices are still too high,” the vice president said at a rally in Raleigh. Among the proposals he wants to fight against high expenses is the expansion of tax credits for parents, specifically to $6,000 in the first year after the birth of a child and up to $3,600 in subsequent years, the AP agency wrote. Other points are related to health care, where Harris wants to forgive the health care debt of millions of Americans and expand the limits imposed by Biden on patient spending on prescription drugs.
As the AP noted, many of the plans would require congressional approval and could fall apart if Harris is elected. “Overall, the plan follows many of the priorities of the Biden administration, but with a noticeable shift away from the emphasis on job creation and infrastructure to issues more closely related to easing the cost of living,” sums up the AP.
The US, like many other countries, experienced a significant increase in prices following the covid-19 pandemic, and according to experts, a number of factors played a role, including pandemic measures to support the economy. Inflation has been falling for a long time, but Harris faces Trump’s criticism in the campaign that she “broke the economy”. According to WP newspaper, Democrats are increasingly convinced that applying “populist economics” is a key step on the way to victory in November.
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