Vice President Kamala Harris unveiled one of her first major policy proposals earlier this month, but Democrats are not expecting it to pass through Congress even if she wins the White House in November.
Harris unveiled a proposal to ban so-called price gouging, specifically with regard to grocery stores and similar establishments. The proposal garnered significant criticism, with some equating her idea to price controls — which have failed to curb inflation and cost issues in various countries. Congressional Democrats have privately assured those concerned with the plan that it is messaging, rather than a proper proposal that could pass through Congress, according to a report from Politico.
The outlet reports that many Democrats in Congress have said it is aimed at shifting blame for inflation and higher prices from the government and to companies. One anonymous Democratic lawmaker told the outlet that, “it’s clear to me these are very general, very lofty goals.”
The report also states that even if Democrats were to win both chambers of Congress and the White House in November, it would have no chance of passing. Control of both chambers is widely considered a toss, but the Senate seats up in November do tend to favor a GOP majority after the election.
The messaging appears to be a part of how Harris is seeking to somewhat separate herself from President Joe Biden’s unpopular aspects, while also running on her stature as the second in-command for the current administration.
Prior to dropping out last month, Biden’s campaign had at one point attempted to spin his economic record as positive, by using the branding of “Bidenomics.” Even as Harris has taken leads over former President Donald Trump in multiple polls, she still is behind him in key issues, including the economy and inflation.
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Allies to Harris’s campaign have publicly defended her proposed ban on price gouging, with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) that the proposal “speaks to Kamala Harris’s values” and cautioned that “people are reading too much into what has been put out there,” while on NBC News’s Meet the Press last week.
On Sunday, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) argued on CNN’s State of the Union that Harri’s proposal would put the federal government in line with several states’ price gouging laws and claimed that she has “spoken really to the heart of issues that Americans are concerned about, about their kitchen table economics.”
