NBC News host Kristen Welker questioned Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D) about Vice President Harris’ price control plan, bluntly asking whether the policy proposal was anything more than a “gimmick.”
Welker cited criticism from former Obama administration economic adviser Jason Furman and questioned whether Gov. Whitmer believes that’s the best way to lower prices in Michigan.
“I think people are reading too much into what’s being put out there, and we know Kamala Harris is going to be focused on building more affordable housing,” Whitmer said. “I think this opportunity economy that Vice President Harris has talked about and outlined shows that we really do understand, that she understands all Americans, she understands what people are struggling with, and she wants to help keep more money in your pockets,” Whitmer responded.
Harris’ campaign announced Wednesday that if she becomes president, she would institute a federal corporate price-fixing program to stop “big corporations” from taking unfair advantage of consumers.
NBC’s Kristen Welker questioned Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Sunday about Vice President Harris’ price-fixing scheme. (Screenshot/NBC/MeetThePress)
Dave Ramsey explains why Kamala Harris’ price control plan won’t control inflation: ‘It’s not sustainable’
“Governor, you say you’re reading too much into this, but that’s exactly what the vice president is proposing,” Welker said. “Former President Trump called this policy communist. The Washington Post editorial board called it a ploy. Governor, is this plan to stop price gouging more than a ploy?”
“I think this speaks to Kamala Harris’ values. She wants consumers to keep more money in their pockets. She wants to ensure hardworking Americans can get ahead,” Whitmer responded. “She wants to ensure corporate responsibility. We know that business has to grow in this country.”
Welcker was asked again if he thought that was “smart policy.”
“Any effort that we make to keep more money in the pockets of the American people, I think it’s worth walking that path, having that conversation, figuring out how to make this economy work for everybody,” Gov. Whitmer responded.
Democratic U.S. presidential candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris speaks about her policy platform, which includes improving the cost of living for Americans and lowering the cost of living for middle-class families, at the Hendrick Center for Automotive Excellence in Raleigh, North Carolina, on August 16, 2024. (Peter Zai/Anadolu via Getty Images)
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Furman told The New York Times on Friday that the plan is not smart policy.
“This is not a smart policy, and I think the best hope is that we end up with a policy that’s all rhetoric and no substance,” Furman said. “There’s no good in it, and there’s some bad.”
Harris’ campaign announced Wednesday that if she becomes president, she would institute a federal corporate price-fixing program to stop “big corporations” from taking unfair advantage of consumers.
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Liberal Washington Post columnist Katherine Rampell also sharply criticized Harris’ plan, writing on Friday that “it’s hard to overstate how bad this policy is.”
“This would be sweeping government price controls in all but name, not just to the food industry but to all industries. Supply and demand would no longer dictate prices and profit levels. They would be determined by far-flung bureaucrats in Washington. The FTC would get to tell, say, Kroger in Ohio, what a fair price it could charge for milk,” Rampell wrote.
