Left-wing Critics Slam Harris’s Plan to Tackle Price Gouging amidst Rising Inflation

Inflation protest illustration concept

Left-wing Washington Post Criticizes Harris’ Plan to Crack Down on Price Gouging

The Washington Post, renowned as a left-leaning broadsheet and owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, recently published a scathing editorial criticizing Vice President Kamala Harris’s solution to price gouging contributing to inflation. The newspaper referred to Harris’ proposals as nothing more than “populist gimmicks”.

Food prices have seen a surge of more than 20% nationwide during the Biden-Harris administration. In response to this alarming increase, Harris revealed some economic policies during a North Carolina rally, which she plans to enforce within her first 100 days as president. These policies predominantly involve implementing government price controls on groceries.

Washington Post’s standpoint on Harris’s approach

The Washington Post editorial board has not held back its criticism of Harris’s plan to impose a ban on grocery store “price gouging”. The board believes that Harris has not been entirely forthright with the voters, blaming big businesses instead of addressing the root cause. According to the board, the inflation spike the country witnessed in 2021 was mainly due to pandemic-related disruptions in supply chains, and the Federal Reserve’s policies supported by the Biden-Harris administration are attempting to slow it down.

The billionaire owner of the newspaper, Jeff Bezos, who also owns Amazon and the Whole Food Market chain, could witness the impact of Harris’s policy ideas on his businesses. This may include enforcement by the Federal Trade Commission of a federal ban on price gouging, complete with heavy penalties for companies setting unjustifiably high prices.

The editorial board did not mince words, stating “Ms. Harris says she’ll target companies that make ‘excessive’ profits, whatever that means…”. The critique continued with a scrutiny of Harris’s idea to provide a whopping $25,000 to assist first-time homeowners with their down payments, labeling the proposition as a probable cause for an increase in prices.

Reaction to Harris’s Proposals

Harris’s proposal has been met with immediate skepticism, drawing comparisons from critics to Richard M. Nixon’s failed price controls from the 1970s. The success of her plan with voters remains to be seen.

Harris’ Housing Plan and Child Tax Credit Proposal

Despite this criticism, the editorial board viewed Harris’s housing plan as being somewhat more sound. The proposed tax incentives were even considered “clever.” However, the board expressed disappointment at the absence of proposed eliminations of other demand-side housing subsidies: for instance, the mortgage interest deduction, which results in a roughly $30 billion annual drain on federal revenue and benefits many wealthier Americans.

The paper commended Harris for her proposal to increase the child tax credit from $2,000 per child to $3,600, among other tax breaks. This was referred to as Harris’s “firmest ground”.

The Harris campaign has yet to respond to these criticisms.