‘We need to grow our middle class’: Kamala Harris lays out her economic vision in Pittsburgh

Vice President Kamala Harris vowed during a campaign event in Pittsburgh on Sept. 25 to strengthen the middle class and bring down costs for families struggling to make ends meet.

In a wide-ranging speech outlining the Democratic presidential nominee’s economic plans, Harris pledged her administration would boost the number of jobs in traditional and emerging industries; ban corporate price gouging; expand support for entrepreneurs; provide more tax benefits for parents; and offer new financial assistance to first-time home buyers,.

“I believe we need to grow our middle class and make sure our economy works for everyone,” Harris said in prepared remarks at the Economic Club of Pittsburgh.

The vice president’s visit to the commonwealth comes as her poll numbers continue to rise in the swing state, which is poised to play a critical role in the Nov. 5 election. During the event, Harris frequently contrasted her middle-class background and economic policies with those of her wealthy opponent, former President Donald Trump, whose policies favor the country’s richest residents.

Trump’s economic plans include imposing trillions of dollars in new tariffs on imported goods as well as corporate tax cuts that analysts say would add trillions to the national debt and harm working families.

“The American people face a choice between two fundamentally different paths for our economy,” Harris said. “I want to chart a new way forward and grow America’s middle class. Donald Trump intends to take America backward. To the failed policies of the past. He has no intention of growing our middle class.”

“He’s only interested in making life better for himself and people like himself — the wealthiest of Americans,” the vice president continued.

Investing in industry 

Building on President Joe Biden’s support for growing industrial jobs in the U.S, including investments that are predicted to create thousands of energy jobs in Pennsylvania, Harris said her administration would invest in biomanufacturing and aerospace engineering and expand support for clean energy and manufacturing.

She added that the federal government would also back more traditional industries, including Pennsylvania’s famed steel industry. To do so, she proposed tax credits for employers who expand “good union jobs in steel, iron and manufacturing communities.”

To further support industry employers and workers, Harris aims to double the number of registered apprenticeships within a year of her election and eliminate unnecessary degree requirements for half a million federal jobs.

“From our earliest days, America’s economic strength has been tied to our industrial strength,” Harris said. “The same is true today. So, I will recommit the nation to global leadership in the sectors that will define the next century.”

Tax deductions for entrepreneurs 

Harris pledged to dramatically boost federal support for new businesses and proposed to increase the tax deduction for startup businesses from $5,000 to $50,000.

She also vowed there would be an expansion of federal low- and no-interest loans for small businesses that want to expand.

“As I travel the country, what I hear time and again from those who own small businesses, and those who aspire to start them, is that too often an entrepreneur has a great idea and the willingness to take the risk, but they don’t have access to the capital to make it real,” Harris said. “Well, we can make it easier for them to access capital.”

Financial support for families

As Americans struggle to buy homes and afford the costs of raising children, Harris said her administration would work to provide financial assistance to families.

She proposed $25,000 in down payment assistance for first-time home buyers, a $6,000 tax credit for parents with newborns, lowered costs of child care and elder care, and access to paid leave for all working people.

“I have personal experience with caregiving,” Harris said. “I remember being there for my mother when she was diagnosed with cancer, cooking meals for her, taking her to her appointments, trying to make her comfortable, and telling her stories. I know caregiving is about dignity.

“And when we lower the costs and ease the burdens people face, we not only make it easier for them to meet their obligations as caregivers, we also make it more possible for them to go to work and pursue their economic aspirations,” she said.

Banning corporate price gouging

While inflation has started to cool and food prices are dropping, Americans remain concerned about the cost of consumer goods. Harris said increases in costs are coming in part from corporations excessively raising prices.

“We will take on bad actors who exploit emergencies to drive up grocery prices by enacting the first-ever federal ban on corporate price gouging and take on Big Pharma to cap the cost of prescription drugs for all Americans, just like we did for seniors,” Harris said. 

U.S. Sens. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts are among a number of Democratic lawmakers who have advocated for a ban on corporate price gouging. Casey and Warren earlier this year introduced the Price Gouging Prevention Act, which would create a federal ban on what its text calls “grossly excessive” price increases and authorize the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general to enforce the ban.