GOP is freaking out over Harris’s plan to crackdown on greedflation since it will hurt their wealthy donors

Harris fights for us, Trump fights for the wealthy

“Communist!” “Marxist!” “Comrade Kamala!”

Those are the words Donald Trump and his GOP allies have hysterically been screaming over the past few days to describe Vice President Kamala Harris. Why? Simple, she wants to stop big corporations that fund the GOP’s campaigns from continuing to screw over working class Americans. In other words, Harris is siding with the people over the GOP’s wealthy donors.

This freak out began on Friday when Harris laid out a bold plan to address inflation that has plagued us since the pandemic ended.  Harris rightly declared, "We all know that prices went up during the pandemic when the supply chains shut down and failed. But our supply chains have now improved and prices are still too high.”

As a result, the Vice President added, “Food, rent, gas, back to school clothes, prescription medication — after all that, for many families, there's not much left at the end of the month."  That is why Harris offered a multi-faceted blueprint that seeks to make housing more affordable, ease health care costs, expand the child tax credit and crack down on corporations that are unfairly milking consumers.

Let’s put politics aside for a moment—if that’s even possible! We all feel the pain of inflation.  Obviously, that pain is worse for those with acute economic challenges.  And truthfully, the causes of inflation—as well as their remedies-- are more  nuanced than can fit in a typical cable news segment so they are barley discussed.

But a few things are crystal clear. One is that the inflation spike has resulted in corporations reaping record profits on the backs of consumers. As one thinktank detailed earlier this year, corporate profits were the reason for 53% of inflation during last year’s second and third quarters. As the study notes, that’s a huge jump from the four decades prior to the pandemic when profits drove just 11% of price growth. (A 2022 study showed similar results.)

For example, the report detailed that Procter & Gamble recently boasted an $800 million profit increase, “thanks to falling commodity costs that it would not pass on to consumers.” In other words, despite costs going down, P&G kept prices high to increase profits. Other companies actually raised prices while the costs of goods were dropping. The study concluded that if were not for this corporate greed, inflation now would be at or below 2% a year.

This is the very definition of “greedflation.”  

You don’t have to be an economist to get that. Nor do you need a PhD in economics to know that higher profits means higher stock prices and in turn higher bonuses for the people in the big corner offices. This is beyond normal capitalism—this is an unfair business practice.

This is explains why a February poll found nearly 60% of voters said corporate greed was a “major cause” of inflation--including 72% of Democrats, 62% of independents and even 45% of Republicans.  VP Harris didn’t create the notion that corporations were screwing us over, she is simply addressing what we all are seeing.

Trump and the GOP’s response to Harris’s proposals to reduce inflation in part by cracking down on greedflation is understandable. They fear the idea since it will impact the bottom line of their wealthy donors who fuel their super PACs and campaigns. Please understand these wealthy people are not “donors” as we typically understand the word. No, they are investors.

And they expect—strike that, demand—that in return for these massive investments, they be rewarded with lower taxes and less regulations so they can make even more profits. When that happens, these rich people can then make bigger donations to the GOP.

It’s why on Fox News, the GOP supporting economists have called Harris’s plan "Marxist" and even "lunatic behavior."  Trump at his rally Saturday—after first claiming he was a “better looking person than” Harris (I’m serious) – laid out the same line of attack saying “Kamala went full communist” and calling her “Comrade Kamala.”

These Republicans are simply doing what they are paid to do and that is protect their wealthy donors. It’s exactly what the infamous “Powell memo” drafted in 1971 by then lawyer Lewis Powell to the Chamber of Commerce envisioned: A corporate blueprint to dominate democracy.  For decades, the GOP has been the biggest pro-big business, anti-consumer lobbying firm in America. Their opposition to Harris’s plan is part of the GOP’s bargain with their big money donors.

It's also important to address another Trump/GOP claim in opposition to Harris’s proposal to reduce inflation.  We heard this in Trump’s rambling “press conference” on Wednesday when he stated, "Harris has just declared that tackling inflation will be a day one priority for her. But day one for Kamala was 3-1/2 years ago,” adding, “Where has she been?"

I’m sure you will hear other Republicans say this line—in fact, a pro-Trump caller to my radio show on Friday made that exact point.

The reason the Biden administration could not address inflation more robustly is because Republicans in the House and Senate blocked every effort to do just that. In fact, President Biden in May 2022 penned an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal making that very point, titled, “My Plan for Fighting Inflation.”

While Biden noted that “the Federal Reserve has a primary responsibility to control inflation,” he had numerous legislative proposals that would have a significant impact on reducing prices for consumers. Examples included legislation that would reduce energy bills for families, address housing costs and more. Biden also called for higher taxes on the wealthy to “end the outrageous unfairness in the tax code that allows a billionaire to pay lower rates than a teacher or firefighter.” (Higher taxes can reduce inflation per economists.)

In addition, Biden’s “Build Back Better” legislation—per experts—would have lowered inflation by reducing costs in a wide area of sectors such as child care, healthcare and more.

But the GOP opposed Build Back Better and every single inflation reducing proposal Biden offered because they wanted to run on the issue. That is why in June 2022, Biden delivered a fiery speech on inflation declaring point blank, “Republicans in Congress are doing everything they can to stop my plans to bring down costs on ordinary families.”

This is same tactic the GOP took with the bipartisan border security legislation earlier this year.  Despite Republican Senators helping draft the bill, Trump directed them to tank it since he wanted to run on this issue. Like inflation, the GOP blocked efforts to address the problem because they saw political gain in keeping it going.

Harris made a key point Friday in her speech that sums up so well the contrast between her and Trump/GOP. That is when she declared,  “If you want to know who someone cares about, look who they fight for.  Donald Trump fights for billionaires and large corporations.” She then added powerfully, “I will fight to give money back to working-and middle-class Americans.” 

We are seeing that play out right before our eyes as Trump and the GOP fight to protect their wealthy benefactors while Harris is fighting for us.

---