Kamala Harris announced a sweeping set of economic proposals on Friday meant to cut taxes and lower the cost of groceries, housing and other essentials for many Americans.
«Look, the bills add up,» she declared, trying to address the financial concerns that are at the top of voters' minds and that Republican Donald Trump is attempting to blame on her.
During a speech in the battleground state of North Carolina, Harris said that «building up the middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency» as she promoted her plan for a federal ban on price gouging by food producers and grocers. She also proposed $25,000 in down payment assistance for certain first-time homebuyers and tax incentives for builders of starter homes.
«Every day across our nation, families talk about their plans for the future, their ambitions, their aspirations for themselves, for their children. And they talk about how they're going to be able to actually achieve them financially, because, look, the bills add up,» Harris said. «Food, rent, gas, back to school clothes, prescription medications. After all that, for many families, there's not much left at the end of the month.»
She stressed tax breaks for families, as well as middle- and lower-income people, promising to expand the child tax credit to up to $3,600 — and $6,000 for children in their first year of life. The vice president also wants to enlarge the earned income tax credit to cover people in lower-income jobs without children — which the campaign estimates would cut their