After unveiling her economic agenda last week, Vice President Kamala Harris has received substantial backlash toward her rhetoric against grocery stores. Harris proposed a policy advocating price controls on groceries as she criticized “price gouging” and “excessive corporate” profits. Subsequently, Harris has been blasted by numerous critics, including Jason Fruman, a former economist for former President Barrack Obama.
The economist noted how horrible Harris’ proposed agenda is. Furman told the New York Times last week, “This is not sensible policy, and I think the biggest hope is that it ends up being a lot of rhetoric and no reality.” He emphasized how bad her policies would be in practice, “There’s no upside here, and there is some downside.”
The economy has been one of the biggest pain points with American voters over the past several years. Many have blamed the Biden-Harris administration’s policies for exacerbating the historically high levels of inflation that have decimated budgets. Moreover, some believe Harris’ rhetoric, which has attacked corporations and pharmaceutical companies for being greedy, is a deflection of responsibility away from the current administration.
Catherine Rampell, an opinion writer for the Washington Post recently published a scathing piece about Harris’ policies. “It’s hard to exaggerate how bad this policy is. It is, in all but name, a sweeping set of government-enforced price controls across every industry, not only food. Supply and demand would no longer determine prices or profit levels. Far-off Washington bureaucrats would. The FTC would be able to tell, say, a Kroger in Ohio the acceptable price it can charge for milk,” she wrote.
Harris has been slammed by numerous Republicans as well. Sen. Ted Cruz said, “Queen Kamala, the federal government czar, is going to set prices, well, not on anything that matters, just food, just groceries, just what you feed your children and your family. That the federal government is now going to be in the business that the Soviet Union, their government, was in for a long time, deciding the prices of goods the people need and want. The only problem is history has shown that is absolutely disastrous.”
The Texas senator added, “So instead, what is their solution? The government will magically decree prices will be lower,” he said. “Her solution is an absolute train wreck. It is a disaster. It would hurt the American people badly. But understand she doesn’t know this. Far too few Democrats in Washington even have a basic understanding of economics.”
Former President Donald Trump also sounded off on Harris, “Now Kamala is reportedly proposing communist price controls, she wants price controls,” Trump said. “And if they worked, I’d go along with it, too, but they don’t work. They exactly have the exact opposite impact and effect and it leads to food shortages, rationing, hunger, dramatically more inflation.”
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He continued, “She’s running on the Maduro plan. we call it the Maduro plan, like something straight out of Venezuela or the Soviet Union. This announcement is an admission that her economic policies have totally failed, and caused really a catastrophe for our country and beyond that, a catastrophe in the world.” Watch Trump below: