Kamala Devi Harris is the 49th Vice-President of the United States, currently serving under the Biden administration. Born on 20 October 1964 in Oakland, California, to immigrant parents from India and Jamaica, she made history by becoming the first woman, the first African-American and the first person of South Asian origin to hold this position. Before being elected Vice President, Harris served as United States Senator for California (2017-2021). Today, she is the Democratic Party's candidate for the 2024 presidential election.

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Kamala Harris's tax policy aims to support low- and middle-income households. Her plan is part of a wider effort to reduce income inequality and distribute the tax burden more fairly. The program of support for modest incomes families and households will be financed by an increase in taxes on large companies and wealthy individuals. In keeping with Joe Biden's administration, Harris has pledged not to raise taxes on those earning less than $400,000 a year. She also proposes to abolish federal taxes on tips, in order to reduce the tax burden on service sector workers.

The Democratic candidate also promises to reinstate and expand the tax credit for households with children, which was introduced by the Biden administration in 2021 but expired the following year.

Access to housing is one of the most pressing issues of this presidential election. According to Zillow, the US has a housing deficit of 4.5 million homes, and Bloomberg reports that home ownership is now more difficult for middle-income earners than at any time in the past 17 years. Harris' plan tackles both sides of this crisis: supply and demand.

On the demand side, the Harris plan proposes up to $25,000 in down payment assistance for first-time buyers, with additional support for first-generation buyers. It also includes a $10,000 tax credit for first-time buyers.

On the supply side, Harris aims to improve access to housing by increasing supply and reducing rental costs.

Price gouging refers to the practice of excessively increasing the prices of essential goods, often in times of crisis or shortage. Kamala Harris has been compared to President Nixon, when he imposed price controls in 1971 in an attempt to curb inflation. However, Harris' approach is quite different. Rather than imposing across-the-board controls on all sectors, Harris is focusing specifically on combating abusive price rises in the food sector, where the big chains continue to maintain high prices despite stable production costs.

Her plan calls for a federal ban on price gouging in the food industry, giving the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and state attorneys general the power to investigate and punish companies that gouge consumers by inflating prices. It also intends to tackle corporate concentration in the food industry. Her program includes measures to combat certain mergers and acquisitions, while supporting small businesses, farmers and independent grocery shops to ensure a fairer market for consumers.

Although the measures against excessive price increases are often described as populist political gestures, they are already being applied in 37 of the 50 US states. In Texas, for example, businesses are banned from ‘charging an exorbitant or excessive price’ for essential goods such as food and fuel during crises.

 

Kamala Harris' healthcare policy focuses on reducing the cost of prescription drugs and easing the financial burden of medical care. One of her proposals is to extend the $35 monthly cap on insulin, as well as the $2,000 annual limit on out-of-pocket drug expenses, to include all Americans, not just those on Medicare.

In addition, Harris wants to speed up Medicare's negotiations on drug prices to bring down the cost of treatment more quickly.

Kamala Harris supports the bipartisan Border Security Act, which aims to improve border management by increasing staffing levels, while tackling critical issues such as fentanyl trafficking.

Her priorities include comprehensive immigration reform, including ‘earned citizenship’ for undocumented immigrants who have lived in the United States for many years and are active contributors to American society and the economy

The need to confront China's aggressive mercantilism is one of the rare points of agreement between Democrats and Republicans. Under the Biden administration, with Kamala Harris as Vice President, several measures were taken to restrict US technology exports to China, while increasing tariffs on strategic Chinese imports, such as semi-conductors, electric vehicles, steel and medical products.

In the first, and potentially last, presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, issues such as immigration and geopolitics were discussed. However, one fundamental subject was omitted: the budget deficit. The programs of both candidates are expected to lead to a significant increase in the US debt, which currently exceeds 35,000 billion dollars, or 120% of GDP.

Donald Trump's promises, in particular the extension of the 2017 tax cuts and the lowering of the corporate tax rate to 15%, are estimated by the Penn Wharton Budget Model to increase the deficit by $5.8 trillion over the next ten years. Trump argues that these tax cuts will stimulate economic growth and plans to offset the loss of tax revenue with tariffs on imports.

On her side, Kamala Harris is proposing to raise taxes on large corporations and high earners to fund the expansion of her social programs. However, even with these tax increases, the deficit would continue to grow. According to Penn Wharton estimates, Harris's program would add about $1.2 trillion to the deficit over the next decade.