There’s cynicism, and then there’s this kind of gourmet, artisan, handcrafted premium cynicism, offered by the Democratic Party at this moment.
Under pressure to defend Kamala Harris’ grocery price gouging plan, some Democratic lawmakers are delivering a quiet message to anxious allies: Don’t worry about the details. It’s never going to pass Congress.
The Harris campaign’s proposal, unveiled as part of her first big economic policy speech, has become a focal point for her presidential rival, Donald Trump, and fellow Republicans, who claim she’s pushing “communist price controls.” It has also alarmed food industry officials and even some left-of-center economists, who’ve warned such policies can hurt more than they help.
While much in Harris’ price gouging plan remains vague, a central piece is simply a call for Congress to pass the first-ever federal ban on price gouging in the food and grocery sectors, which largely mirrors legislation reintroduced by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) earlier this year.
But such a bill has no chance of passing Congress anytime soon, even if Democrats win the White House and Congress this November, according to six Democratic lawmakers and five Democratic aides who were granted anonymity to discuss the matter candidly. These people said Democrats in Congress have privately been telling critics that this part of the Harris plan is not viable.
Got that? Publicly, the Democratic message is that price controls are a central part of the Democratic agenda under a President Harris; as she said in that Raleigh speech, “So, believe me, as president, I will go after the bad actors. And I will work to pass the first-ever federal ban on prou- — price gauging [gouging] on food. My plan will include new penalties for opportunistic companies that exploit crises and break the rules.”
But privately, the Democratic message is, don’t worry, we’ll never do this. Like I said — that’s not ordinary cynicism; that’s gourmet cynicism.
Now it’s easy to see why correspondents like Jonathan Martin shrugged, “She would be largely constrained/shaped by a GOP-controlled Senate, expect compromise or gridlock.” Will there be a GOP Senate starting in January 2025? Probably? Maybe?
How certain can, or should, any voter be that Kamala Harris won’t be able to enact far-left policies like this? Sure, the House and Senate are closely divided right now. But we don’t really know what the makeup of those chambers will be next year . . .