The Washington Post editorial board rejected Vice President Kamala Harris’ economic proposals, telling readers she “wasted time on populist gimmicks” instead of offering a substantive plan.
in A poignant sentence Published on Friday, The Washington Post’s editorial board accused Harris of “blaming big business” and “not being candid” with voters about why prices remain high even as inflation slows.
“Harris says she will target companies that are making ‘excessive’ profits, whatever that means,” the editorial board scoffed. “Thankfully, Harris’ ploy drew an almost immediate skeptical response, with many critics pointing to President Richard M. Nixon’s failed price controls in the 1970s. It remains to be seen whether Harris’ proposal will gain voter support, but if sound economic analysis remains important, it won’t.”
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The Washington Post editorial board accused Vice President Kamala Harris of trading a “serious” economic plan for “populist ploys.” (Alison Joyce/AFP via Getty Images)
The editorial board was relatively tolerant of Harris’ housing plan, saying it was “on fairly solid footing” and called the tax incentives “sensible,” but strongly criticized her proposal to offer $25,000 homes to new homebuyers, saying it “risks putting upward pressure on prices.”
“These measures might make sense if Harris paid for them by eliminating the mortgage interest deduction and other demand-side housing subsidies that drain federal revenue to the tune of roughly $30 billion a year and benefit many wealthy Americans, but she won’t do that,” the paper wrote.
Liberal Washington Post columnist points out that Harris’ price control proposal could be labeled “communist.”
The Washington Post editorial board called Harris’ economic speech a “disappointment.” (Andrew Harnick/Getty Images)
The article argued that Harris’ “firmest position” was her proposal to increase the child tax credit from $2,000 to $3,600 per child, along with other tax breaks.
“Her ideas would be costly, but she insisted in her speech that she would stick to President Joe Biden’s pledge not to raise taxes on households making less than $400,000 a year, which excludes 80% of taxable income and doesn’t take into account the recent surge in households making more than $400,000 a year,” the skeptical editorial board wrote. “Harris’s team says it plans to raise revenue to cover these costs, but has not offered a specific offset in its rollout of the economic plan. Without one, Harris’ full plan would increase the federal deficit by $1.7 trillion over 10 years, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan budget watchdog group.”
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The editorial board continued, “To be sure, every campaign makes big-ticket promises that never come to fruition, especially in a divided Congress — remember when Biden pledged to make community college free? But even by the economic pandering standards of campaigns, Harris’ speech on Friday was a disappointment.”
The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Vice President Kamala Harris’ price control proposal has been widely panned by critics. (Image direct from Fox News Digital)
The Harris campaign unveiled the first-ever federal price-fixing plan for businesses as part of a comprehensive effort aimed at reducing grocery prices and other everyday expenses.
“There is a big difference between fair pricing in a competitive marketplace and exorbitant pricing that has no relation to the costs of doing business,” Harris’ campaign said in a statement. “Americans can see the difference when they look at the price of their groceries.”
This proposal is Federal Trade Commission State attorneys general can impose stiff penalties if companies charge excessively high prices.
However, some economists and financial experts Casting doubt on Harris’ planThey argue that corporations have not played a significant role in raising food prices.
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Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell criticized the plan, writing, “It’s hard to overstate how bad this policy is.”
“If your opponent claims you’re a ‘communist,’ maybe they shouldn’t start with the economic policy that can (accurately) be called federal price controls,” Rampell wrote Thursday.
Fox News’ Jeffrey Clark and Megan Henney contributed to this report.
