Kamala Harris’ Big Economic Speech Breaks With Biden And Continues His Legacy

Vice President Kamala Harris will propose a ban on price gouging by food companies, along with incentives to build new housing and a significant expansion of the child tax credit at a campaign rally in North Carolina on Friday as the Democratic presidential nominee hones her economic message.

Harris plans to announce that, during her first 100 days as president, she would call for the the “first-ever federal ban on price gouging on food and groceries” so that big corporations “can’t unfairly exploit consumers to run up excessive corporate profits on food and groceries.” She will also propose building 3 million additional homes in her first term, spurring construction with an $80 billion federal fund. And she will push to expand the child tax credit to $3,600 per child, including a $6,000 credit for children in their first year of life.

The proposals reflect a distinct focus on the high cost of living, a key frustration for consumers after years of price increases. Even though inflation has slowed, unemployment remains low and gross domestic product is expanding, people remain focused more on daily price changes they see in grocery stores — a major vulnerability for Democrats this November.

“Vice President Harris has made clear that building up the middle class will be a defining goal of her presidency,” the Harris campaign wrote in a fact sheet explaining her proposals. “She will deliver for Americans who are demanding a new way forward towards a future that lifts up all Americans so that they can not just get by, but get ahead.”

Democrats had occasionally grown frustrated with President Joe Biden’s campaign for repeatedly trying — and mostly failing — to sell the country on his economic record by focusing on the low