Vice President Kamala Harris declared that one of her top priorities would be building up the middle class if she wins the presidential election in November.
Disgraced former President Donald Trump also promised to help the middle class, which he hurt by causing inflation with tax cuts for the wealthy, instigating a trade war with China and allowing a steep rise in prices after he flooded the economy with about $6 trillion in coronavirus expenditures.
Trump added $8 trillion to the national debt during his one term in the White House, in recent years.
Harris has put forward a series of proposals aimed at strengthening America’s middle class. These proposals are designed to address economic inequality and provide relief to working families. Key components of her plan include expanded tax credits, affordable housing initiatives, and increased funding for education and healthcare.
Harris proposes increasing the Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit, which aim to provide direct financial support to low- and middle-income families, potentially lifting millions of children out of poverty.
The Democrat also advocates for increased funding for affordable housing projects and rental assistance programs to help alleviate the burden of rising housing costs on middle-class families.
Harris’s plan includes significant investments in public education and healthcare, aiming to reduce out-of-pocket expenses for families and improve access to quality services.
In contrast, Trump implemented several policies that were promised to benefit the middle class but resulted in mixed economic outcomes.
One of his most significant actions was the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which significantly reduced corporate tax rates and provided substantial benefits to high-income earners. Critics argue that these tax cuts disproportionately favored the wealthy and contributed to increasing income inequality.
The Trump administration’s trade war with China led to increased tariffs on numerous goods. This action aimed to protect American industries but resulted in higher costs for consumers and disruptions in global supply chains, affecting the prices of everyday products.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Trump signed into law approximately $6 trillion in emergency expenditures, including stimulus payments, enhanced unemployment benefits, and support for businesses. While these measures provided short-term relief, they also significantly increased the national debt.
Harris’s proposals are focused on long-term structural changes to support the middle class. By expanding tax credits and investing in housing, education, and healthcare, her plan aims to provide sustainable economic benefits and reduce financial burdens on working families. However, the effectiveness of these measures will depend on their implementation and the ability to balance fiscal responsibility.
On the other hand, Trump’s policies had immediate economic impacts but also led to unintended consequences. The tax cuts for the wealthy contributed to a significant rise in the national debt, while the trade war with China caused price increases for consumers. The pandemic-related expenditures were necessary for emergency relief but added to the national debt, which now stands at a historically high level.
The Democratic Vice President’s approach seeks to address systemic issues affecting the middle class through targeted investments and support programs.
In contrast, the Republican’s actions, while providing a short-term influx of cash, resulted in long-term problems such as increased national debt and inflation.
The comparison highlights the importance of evaluating both the immediate and long-term impacts of each candidate’s economic policies on the middle class.
At least 140 former Trump administration officials contributed to Project 2025, which the Republican nominee has publicly disavowed even though he carried out roughly two-thirds of the Heritage Foundation’s 2015 recommendations within a year of taking office the first time.
Adding another layer to the policy landscape, the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 outlines a vision that could also shape the economic trajectory of the middle class.
The Republican initiative emphasizes deregulation, reduced government spending, and tax reforms akin to the trickle-down policies that have failed to stimulate broad economic growth.
The likely economic consequences of a second Trump presidency would include short-term gains in business investment and job growth that impose long-term costs on the working class, less equitable access to resources, and reduced public services critical to the middle class.
Trump’s actions resulted in long-term challenges such as increased national debt and economic instability. His focus on deregulation and reduced government intervention may lead to growth but also increased inequality, undermining the stability of the middle class.
For those who are struggling in today’s economic environment, things would get even harder under Trump.
Critical federal programs supporting people experiencing economic hardship and children living in poverty, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which serves an average of 41 million people per month, would be significantly overhauled or eliminated under the GOP plan.
Project 2025 proposes making it more difficult to qualify for SNAP and rolling back Biden administration changes to increase benefits to keep up with rising food costs, echoing a move the Trump administration had pursued during his first term.
Trump wants to end Head Start, which offers free early childhood education, health, and nutrition services to children from low-income families, eliminating services for roughly 800,000 children (two-thirds of whom are Black, Hispanic, or Latino).
Trump will also seek to cut federal funding for public schools and limit the number of children who can qualify for free school meal programs while calling for Republicans to block any effort to implement universal free school meal programs at the state level.
Trump would cap federal funding for Medicaid, ensuring the program does not keep pace with expected enrollment and healthcare cost increases. GOP proposals include setting time limits on Medicaid coverage, imposing lifetime caps on benefits, allowing states to adopt work requirements for beneficiaries, and enforcing tougher eligibility standards for coverage.
White women — who have backed Trump in the last two elections — are abandoning the former president because the Republican is responsible for the Supreme Court’s elimination of abortion rights.
Trump — who has bragged about appointing the Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe v. Wade — is speaking to anti-abortion extremists who call terminating unwanted pregnancy ‘child sacrifice’ and want to ‘eradicate’ abortion ‘entirely.’ His most loyal supporters include extreme anti-choice groups that oppose IVF and contraception and want to ban abortion at conception.
The notion that Harris would be the first woman elected president hasn’t been lost on Americans nationwide, many of whom are just beginning to tune into the election.
“White women voting for Republicans, even when it appears to be against their best interests, is a complex phenomenon influenced by privilege, systemic racism and sexism, religious affiliations and, of course, the patriarchy,” said Shannon Watts, a gun-control activist and founder of Moms Demand Action. “But we’re not a monolithic group; our voting patterns are typically divided along lines of religion, education and marital status, and that division makes us not only a crucial voting bloc, but an unpredictable one.”
Harris’ first week as presidential candidate led to an explosion of organic organizing and voter enthusiasm that had been noticeably absent, as the Trump vs. Biden rematch was widely viewed with disdain.
Trump urged Christians attending Turning Point Action’s Believers Summit in West Palm Beach to vote, adding they “won’t have to vote anymore” if he reclaims the White House in November.
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