Source: Wall Street See
Harris proposed comprehensive subsidies and tax incentives for the poor and middle class, such as raising the child tax credit to $3,000 and $6,000 for newborns; providing a $25,000 new home down payment subsidy for first-time homebuyers; capping the annual self-pay limit for prescription drugs at $2,000 for all citizens; building 3 million new affordable homes and rental housing for the middle class; and issuing the federal government's first ban on food price gouging. She accused Trump of imposing tariffs on other countries, which is equivalent to imposing consumption taxes on basic necessities across the United States, leading to an increase in annual expenses of $3,900 for ordinary American families.
Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate and Trump's "rival", revealed for the first time her new dream for the American economy for future governance: to focus on reducing the cost of living, tax reductions for the middle class and the poor, and to give everyone the opportunity to succeed.
On Friday, August 16th, Eastern Time, at a rally in North Carolina, current Vice President of the United States Harris gave a speech, talking in depth about her plan for the "opportunity economy". Harris said that the economic system she would build would allow "everyone to compete and have a real opportunity to succeed, regardless of who they are and where they start, to create wealth for themselves and their children."
Harris said: "As president, I will work wholeheartedly to create opportunities for the middle class, to make their economy safer, more stable, and more dignified." She pledged: "Reducing costs and increasing economic security for all Americans will be a top priority."
The media pointed out that Harris's economic blueprint sought to resolve a major problem attacking her: voters' dissatisfaction with the post-epidemic price hikes. She admitted in this speech that many voters did not benefit from Biden administration policies: "Many Americans still feel improvements in their daily lives. The cost is still too high. At a deeper level, many people feel that no matter how hard they work, they feel difficult to succeed."
Harris said that if she were elected president, she would strive to reduce costs. She planned to reduce the cost of salaried employees and the middle class in the United States to increase their opportunities. She proposed to provide comprehensive subsidies and tax concessions for the poor and middle class, measures include:
Reduce taxes for tens of millions of Americans, increase the child tax credit from $2,000 to $3,600 per dependent child, and provide a $6,000 tax credit for newborns in their first year. Expand earned income tax credits (EITC);
Provide a one-time subsidy of up to $0.025 million for first-time home buyers to purchase new homes to help them with their down payments;
Seek legislation to set a limit of $2,000 per year on out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for all Americans, not just prescription drugs for the elderly, and strive to set the out-of-pocket limit for insulin at $35 per month;
Increase federal government health insurance marketplace subsidies and reduce the cost of purchasing health insurance on such platforms;
Collaborate with the real estate industry to build houses, and by the end of her first presidential term, she will build 3 million new affordable homes and rental units for the middle class to solve America's housing shortage problem;
Direct government agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate and punish large corporations that violate regulations, and find ways to resolve anti-competitive practices such as price manipulation in the food and daily necessities industries, increase punishment for price increases, especially for daily necessities, gasoline, etc. Harris plans to issue a federal ban on price gouging for food and daily necessities, which will be the first federal ban on price gouging for food in history.
Harris contrasted her economic plan with Trump's, saying that Trump vowed to impose tariffs on other countries, which is equivalent to a "national sales tax" on daily necessities and basic necessities, will "destroy Americans." "Trump wants to tax gasoline, clothing, over-the-counter drugs," she said. Economists estimate that Trump's plan will increase the average American household's annual expenses by $3,900.
The media said that Harris's proposal for subsidies to homebuyers is actually a more aggressive version of Biden's proposal, which proposes a subsidy of $0.01 million for first-time homebuyers. Harris's other proposals also heavily relied on Biden's policies and proposals, including providing billions of dollars to state and local governments to subsidize the construction of affordable housing and increasing the Medicare program's bargaining power with pharmaceutical companies to lower drug prices.
Some economists have raised objections to Harris's some of her proposals, warning that setting price caps may be inefficient and costly. Democrats believe that the expansion of corporate profits has pushed inflation to a high level, while these critics believe that federal stimulus measures are the driving force behind price hikes. Additionally, Harris's proposals also have cost issues. She proposes some minor tax increases, including reducing tax breaks for some real estate investors, but did not elaborate on tax reform measures, including increasing taxes on businesses. She also promised to continue Biden's policies and oppose tax increases on Americans earning less than $400,000 per year.
After analyzing Harris's proposals, the non-partisan American non-profit organization Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimated that her plan would lead to a net increase of $1.7 trillion in US government debt over the next ten years.
Editor / jayden