Harris takes up Biden’s crusade against corporate ‘price gouging’ and hidden fees

Vice
President

Kamala
Harris
pledged
to
lower
costs
for
consumers
by
cracking
down
on
high

consumer
prices
and
hidden
fees,
taking
up
the
crusade
against

“junk
fees”
that
has
animated

President
Joe
Biden‘s
economic
platform
in
recent
years.

“On
day
one
I
will
take
on
price
gouging
and
bring
down
costs,”
Harris
announced
to
a
crowd
of
more
than
10,000
supporters
in

Atlanta
on
Tuesday
evening.
“We
will
ban
more
of
those
hidden
fees
and
surprise
late
charges
that
banks
and
other
companies
use
to
pad
their
profits.”

With
just
98
days
until
the

election,
the

Harris
campaign
is
on
a
turbo
charged
timeline
to
develop
its
own
policy
proposals.

On
Tuesday,
however,
Harris’
economic
pitch
closely
echoed
Biden’s,

blaming
big
corporations
for
the
stubbornly
high
cost
of
living
that
has
darkened
voters’

economic
outlooks
for
the
past
two
years.

“We
will
take
on
corporate
landlords
and
cap
unfair
rent
increases,”
Harris
said
to
the
roaring
Atlanta
crowd.
“We
will
take
on
big
pharma
to
cap
prescription
drug
costs
for
all
Americans.”

On
a
more
granular
level,
it
is
still
unclear
what
Harris’
economic
policy
agenda
would
look
like
if
she
won
the
presidency.

Some
business
leaders
believe
Harris
would
pursue
a
softer
regulatory
approach.
Her
rhetoric
Tuesday
evening
did
not
hint
in
that
direction,
however.

Harris
also
appeared
to
have
fun
goading
her
opponent,
Republican
former
President

Donald
Trump,
for
backing
out
of
a
Sept.
10
debate
that
he
had
agreed
to,
back
when
Biden
was
the
Democratic
frontrunner.

“Donald,
I
do
hope
you’ll
reconsider,
to
meet
me
on
the
debate
stage.
Because,
as
the
saying
goes,
if
you’ve
got
something
to
say,
say
it
to
my
face.”
Harris
said
with
a
smile.

The
vice
president’s
speech
followed
an
earlier
performance
by
rapper

Megan
Thee
Stallion.

Ever
since

Biden
dropped
out
of
the
race,
Harris
has
enjoyed
a
surge
of
grassroots
momentum
and
high-dollar
donations.

Harris’
campaign
has
raised
more
than
$200
million,
two-thirds
of
which
came
from
new
donors,
according
to
the
campaign.
Its
volunteer
force
has
been
boosted
with
360,000
new
sign-ups.

The
wave
of
support
puts
swing
states
like
Georgia
back
in
play
for
Democrats.

A
new

Bloomberg/Morning
Consult
poll
of
battleground
states
released
Tuesday
found
a
statistical
dead-heat,
with
support
for
Harris
at
48%
and
Trump
47%,
in
the
seven
swing
states
likely
to
determine
who
wins
the
Electoral
College
in
November.

The
poll
found
Harris
leading
Trump
in
four
of
the
seven,
though
all
but
one
state
fell
within
the
survey’s
margin
of
error.
In
Michigan,
the
vice
president
was
ahead
of
Trump
by
11
points,
a
stunning
turnaround
for
a
state
where
support
for
Biden
had
been
fraying.

In
Georgia,
Harris
and
Trump
are
tied,
underscoring
that
even
buoyed
by
a
new
groundswell
of
Democratic
enthusiasm,
Harris
is
just
neck-and-neck
with
Trump.
The
poll
surveyed
4,973
registered
voters
across
the
battlegrounds
from
July
24
to
July
28.