“Opportunity Economy”: Kamala Harris Promotes Expanded Child Tax Credit, Regulating Price Gouging

AMY GOODMAN: We’re going to turn now to the economy. During the nearly half-hour CNN interview, Vice President Harris was asked about her top priorities if elected president of the United States. She’s interviewed by CNN’s Dana Bash.

DANA BASH: The voters are really eager to hear what your plans are. If you are elected, what would you do on day one in the White House?

VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: Well, there are a number of things. I will tell you, first and foremost, one of my highest priorities is to do what we can to support and strengthen the middle class. …

DANA BASH: So, what would you do day one?

VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: Day one, it’s going to be about, one, implementing my plan for what I call an opportunity economy. I’ve already laid out a number of proposals in that regard, which include what we’re going to do to bring down the cost of everyday goods, what we’re going to do to invest in America’s small businesses, what we’re going to do to invest in families — for example, extending the child tax credit to $6,000 for families for the first year of their child’s life to help them buy a car seat, to help them buy baby clothes, a crib. There’s the work that we’re going to do that is about investing in the American family around affordable housing, a big issue in our country right now. So, there are a number of things on day one.

DANA BASH: What about you?

GOV. TIM WALZ: Well, I’m excited about this agenda, too. As I said, the idea of inspiring America to what can be. And I think many of these things that the vice president is proposing are things that we share in values. And the child tax credit is one we know that reduces childhood poverty by a third. We did it in Minnesota. To have a federal partner in this, unbelievable, I think, in the impact that we can make.

DANA BASH: You maintain Bidenomics is a success.

VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: I maintain that when we do the work of bringing down prescription medication for the American people, including capping the cost of the annual cost of prescription medication for seniors at $2,000; when we do what we did in the first year of being in office to extend the child tax credit so that we cut child poverty in America by over 50%; when we do what we have done to invest in the American people and bringing manufacturing back to the United States so that we created over 800,000 new manufacturing jobs, bringing business back to America; what we have done to improve the supply chain so we’re not relying on foreign governments to supply American families with their basic needs, I’ll say that that’s good work. There’s more to do, but that’s good work.

AMY GOODMAN: That’s the Democratic ticket, Kamala Harris for president and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz at her side, in this interview as they sat in Savannah, Georgia.

We’re also joined by Nikhil Goyal, a sociologist, educator, author of the book Live to See the Day: Coming of Age in American Poverty.

Nikhil, thanks so much for joining us. Can you respond to what Vice President Harris calls the “opportunity economy” that she’ll be pushing on day one?

NIKHIL GOYAL: Sure. Thanks for having me.

Kamala Harris laid out a very bold economic agenda for working families in this country. She will restore the expanded child tax credit by putting $6,000 in the pockets of every newborn child, up to $3,600 per child annually until the age of 18. We know how important that first year of a child’s life is for that person’s development and how it sets the course for years to come. This measure will ultimately reduce child poverty and economic insecurity, will reduce food insecurity, will put money in people’s pockets. It will make it easier for families to afford child care, housing, healthcare and basic essentials. And, you know, we saw how transformative the expanded child tax credit was when it was implemented in 2021 in bringing child poverty down to the lowest level in recorded history. And now is an opportunity to resurrect it with a Democratic-controlled House and Senate and pass an economic agenda that will uplift the dignity of every working person in this country.

AMY GOODMAN: And how that compares to President Trump and JD Vance?

NIKHIL GOYAL: Oh, the contrast could not be more clear. When we passed the child tax credit in 2021, not a single Republican supported that measure. And if you put the agenda that President Harris is putting forward to the Republican Party, I expect not a single member of the Republican Party to support that. Donald Trump has shown that he will cut the social safety net. He will erode union protections and other workers’ rights. He will not support Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. You know, he fights for the billionaire class. And Kamala Harris, with this vision, with this agenda, shows that she is on the side of working people, of public schools, of educators, of ordinary Americans of all stripes.