August 14 :
In a move that might unsettle major corporations and their leaders, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will target price gouging in her first policy-centered address as a Democratic presidential contender on August 9. To present her platform "to lower costs for middle-class families and take on corporate price-gouging," Harris's team announced on August 13 that she would be visiting Raleigh, North Carolina, a state that Democrats are hoping to gain this election.
Last week, Tropical Storm Debby forced Harris to cancel an appearance in North Carolina. Her campaign has rekindled Democrats' hopes of reclaiming a state they have only managed to win twice in the last fifty years by focusing their first major policy speech on the economy and situating it in North Carolina.
Harris, who faces off against Republican Donald Trump on November 5th, has seen polls shift in her favor in several states and has attracted fresh supporters and financial backing following President Joe Biden's withdrawal. The race is less than three months away.
States like Pennsylvania are considered must-wins by her campaign, while North Carolina is considered more of a stretch. Before stepping aside on July 21, Biden's prospects in the state were bleak; he lost to Trump by 1.3 percent, or 74,000 votes.
Many will be watching Harris's speech with bated breath to see how she contrasts with Joe Biden, whose economic plans were panned by voters furious about rising prices for necessities like housing, medicine, groceries, and gas. Like Trump, Harris declared her support for a tax-free tip economy on August 10. Harris and Biden are scheduled to host a White House luncheon on Thursday, with the topic of healthcare prices likely to take center stage.
Still, prices are high, according to Biden, who says corporations are greedy and have reduced portion sizes to increase profits without passing the savings on to customers. Food costs will increase by 25% between 2019 and 2023, and major consumer products corporations have already raised prices in the past several quarters.
According to a campaign spokesperson, while Harris was the attorney general of California from 2011 to 2016, she spearheaded efforts to curb "corporate greed and price gouging" by taking on corporations in the pharmaceutical, oil, electronics, and cosmetics industries. The official who spoke about the event earlier noted that Harris "knows costs are too high and will make tackling inflation a 'Day One' priority." No name was given.
Trump has maintained that reducing restrictions on sectors ranging from energy to finance will increase growth and decrease costs; this strategy stands in stark contrast to his claims. Ipsos released a national poll on Thursday showing Harris with a five-point lead over Trump, 42% to 37%; this increase extends her lead from a Reuters/Ipsos survey conducted on July 22–23.
