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Short on details, Harris’ economic plan appeals to voters

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Short on details, Harris’ economic plan appeals to voters

Vice President Kamala Harris’s economic plans sound like fixing an apartment to plug holes in an economy that desperately needs major repairs and a full tank of gas.

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If the Democrats are the party of the working class, they sure have a strange way of showing it.

During his speech to the Economic Club of Pittsburgh on Wednesday, Vice President Kamala Harris made a pitch to the middle class. Her speech comes as consumer confidence has fallen to the lowest level since August 2021, thanks to a slowing labor market and higher costs for food, housing and other essentials.

If this election is about one issue, it won’t be abortion or immigration. It will be the economy.

Yet Harris’s economic proposals are more about pandering than solutions. Her plan to hand out $25,000 to first-time homebuyers, for example, is aimed at attracting younger voters. But how much would this giveaway add to the already rising budget deficit? How would this affect inflation? What would this mean for housing affordability in the longer term? Harris’s guesses are as good as mine.

What Harris wants voters to forget

During her speech, Harris criticized former President Donald Trump’s personal wealth and portrayed herself as an advocate for the middle class.

“For Donald Trump, our economy works best when it works for those who own the big skyscrapers. Not the ones who actually built them. Not the ones who wire them. Not the ones who mop the floors,” Harris said.

The Democratic presidential candidate also pushed for a plan to boost manufacturing while breaking Trump’s economic record: “All told, nearly 200,000 manufacturing jobs were lost during his presidency, starting before the pandemic hit, making Trump one of has become the biggest losers in production ever.”

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Harris, of course, wants voters to forget more recent history — when inflation hit a 40-year high with Joe Biden in the White House. She also wants to ignore polls showing that voters trust Trump’s handling of the economy more than her own.

The vice president’s speech is taken from her new 81-page policy book, “A New Way Forward for the Middle Class.” In Pittsburgh, she said her plan would lower costs and help America become a global leader in “industries of the future.” Harris promised “common sense solutions to help Americans buy a home, start a business and build wealth.”

But if its production plan is common sense, why hasn’t the Biden-Harris administration followed it for the past four years?

Harris’ economic plans will not have a ‘positive impact’

I’m not the only one who thinks Harris’ economic plans stink.

“We found no positive impact on the economy from her plan in any future year. The Trump plan increases GDP for a few years, but drops by the end of the 10-year budget period,” said a spokesperson for the University of Pennsylvania. Penn Wharton Budget Model told Newsweek.

The US economy is a mixed bag right now. Stocks have recently hit record highs and unemployment remains low (but rising).

Yet tens of millions of Americans say they are now struggling to pay their bills more often than in years past. A big reason why so many are feeling so much economic pain is that grocery prices have risen nearly 26% since Election Day 2020.

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The vice president has had four years to tackle rising food prices and skyrocketing rent costs. She didn’t do it.

Harris’ economic plans sound like repairing an apartment to plug the holes in an economy that desperately needs major repairs and a full tank of gas.

Trump’s economy wasn’t perfect, but it worked better for many Americans — and voters know it.

Even middle class people.

Nicole Russell is an opinion columnist at USA TODAY. She lives in Texas with her four children. Sign up for her newsletter, The Right Track, and get it in your inbox.

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