Here’s a look at Harris’ positions on the economy.
Taxes
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As a presidential candidate, Harris proposed replacing Trump’s 2017 tax cuts with a monthly refundable tax credit worth up to $US500 ($750) for people earning less than $US100,000. The policy, known as the LIFT the Middle Class Act, was unveiled in 2018 and aimed at addressing the rising cost of living by providing middle-class and working families with money to help pay for everyday expenses. She framed it as a way to close the wealth gap in the United States.
In 2019, Harris proposed increasing estate taxes on the wealthy to pay for a $US300 billion plan to raise teacher salaries. In what was billed as the “largest federal investment in teacher pay in US history,” the plan would have given the average teacher in America a $US13,500 pay increase.
Biden and Harris did have some differences when vying for the Democratic nomination. Notably, Harris wanted to raise the corporate tax rate to 35 per cent from 21 per cent, higher than the 28 per cent that Biden had proposed.
Housing
Last week, the Biden administration proposed a plan to compel corporate landlords to cap rent increases at 5 per cent and called on Congress to back investments in more affordable housing units.
Harris made affordable housing a priority during her tenure in the Senate and her presidential campaign but took a different approach. She proposed the Rent Relief Act, which would have provided refundable tax credits allowing renters who earn less than $US100,000 to recoup housing costs in excess of 30 per cent of their incomes.
To help the poorest, Harris also called for providing emergency-relief funding for the homeless and for spending $US100 billion in communities where people have traditionally been unable to get home loans because of discrimination.
Harris, who served as California’s attorney-general from 2011 to 2017, has focused heavily on consumer protection.Credit: Bloomberg
Trade
During a Democratic primary debate in late 2019, Harris called Trump “erratic” on trade policy and said his tariff wars had hurt soybean farmers in Iowa, who faced foreign retaliation. Harris said she would be focused on bolstering American exports and declared, “I am not a protectionist Democrat.”
When it came to China, Harris said Beijing needed to be held accountable for stealing intellectual property and dumping heavily subsidised exports into foreign markets.
Last week, Harris echoed her earlier criticism of Trump when discussing his plan to impose 10 per cent tariffs on all imports into the United States. She said such a policy would inflate the cost of gas, groceries and clothing.
“His tariffs would increase the cost of everyday expenses for families,” Harris said at an event in North Carolina.
Regulation
Harris, who served as California’s attorney-general from 2011 to 2017, has also focused heavily on consumer protection. In 2016, she threatened Uber with legal action if the company did not remove driverless cars from the state’s roads.
After the 2008 financial crisis, she pulled California out of a national settlement with big banks, leveraging her power to wrest more money from major mortgage lenders. She later announced that California home owners would receive $US12 billion in mortgage relief under the settlement.
However, Harris has faced criticism for failing to prosecute OneWest Bank or its chief executive at the time, Steven T. Mnuchin, after California’s Justice Department found that it had committed “widespread misconduct” in its foreclosure practices. Mnuchin went on to become Trump’s Treasury secretary.
Source Agencies
