Following Vice President Kamala Harris’s long-anticipated policy release, critics, especially from the Republican Party, were quick to jump in. Senator JD Vance, among others, took to social media to tear apart Harris’s platform. The conversation quickly sparked a debate: Are Harris’s claims about helping the middle class all for show, or do they hold any water?
It has been 50 days since Kamala Harris became the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party.
In the dead of night yesterday, she finally released her campaign policy page. Here's what I think of it 🧵
— JD Vance (@JDVance) September 9, 2024
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Kamala Harris’s Middle-Class Tax Cut—Is It What It Seems?
One of the big-ticket items Harris is pushing is her so-called middle-class tax cut. But JD Vance wasted no time pointing out the glaring contradictions. As Vice President, Harris cast the deciding vote to hire 87,000 new IRS agents. The problem? These agents seem to have their sights set on Americans earning less than $200,000 a year. According to the latest stats, a whopping 63% of the new audits target people in that income range. So, how can Harris claim to be cutting taxes for the middle class when more of them will be hit with audits? It begs the question: Will these cuts even benefit the middle class, or will they be swallowed up by increased scrutiny?
1) Kamala Harris claims she wants to cut taxes for middle class families, but here's what's in her plan:
IRS Audits for working families: Getting audited is a horrendous experience, even if you’ve done nothing wrong. Harris cast the tie-breaking vote to hire 87,000 IRS… pic.twitter.com/NJaM9ARIYI
— JD Vance (@JDVance) September 9, 2024
The 1099-K Form Seems Like A Bigger Headache for Small Businesses Than Anything Else
JD Vance also took aim at the Biden-Harris administration’s decision to lower the threshold for 1099-K forms. For years, only transactions over $20,000 on platforms like PayPal or Venmo had to be reported. Now, that threshold has been slashed to just $600. This means that small business owners, freelancers, and even people using these platforms for personal reasons could get caught in a web of complicated tax reporting. So much for middle-class relief!
3) Vice President Harris claims she'll "take on the everyday obstacles and red tape that can make it harder to grow a small business."
However, under her administration, the SEC has promulgated at least 47 rulemakings, the majority of which have not been mandated by Congress,… pic.twitter.com/y0gzo7BHLD
— JD Vance (@JDVance) September 9, 2024
A $5 Trillion Tax Increase?
Vance didn’t stop there. He slammed Harris’s tax plan, claiming it would lead to a $5 trillion tax increase. Combine that with the administration’s lavish climate spending, and he argues it’s a recipe for economic disaster. Sure, some economists might argue that investing in climate initiatives will pay off in the long run, but the immediate hit to the economy is hard to ignore. Vance’s message is clear: Harris’s policies aren’t just wrong—they’re dangerous.
Climate Spending and Its Impact on the Economy
Republicans have long been critical of the Biden-Harris administration’s spending spree on climate initiatives. Their argument? All this spending is contributing to inflation and putting additional pressure on an already strained economy. If Harris stays the course, her proposals could push the national debt even higher, all while delivering very little in the way of tangible benefits to regular, working Americans.
Homeownership and Border Security: An Odd Combo?
Another one of Harris’s big promises is making homeownership more attainable. Sounds great, right? Well, Vance and others have pointed out that her stance on immigration is working against that goal. The surge of migrants at the southern border has led to increased competition for housing, driving up prices and making homeownership less affordable for many Americans. If Harris really wants to tackle housing issues, critics argue, she needs to get serious about border security first.
2) Kamala claims she wants to make rent more affordable and home ownership more attainable, but that's not what her plan would do at all.
Kamala wants to give every first time homebuyer a $25,000 check toward downpayment assistance. What she fails to leave out is that this would… pic.twitter.com/iy2j70Pfyv
— JD Vance (@JDVance) September 9, 2024
Progressive Claims, Republican Counters
Harris’s supporters, like Brian Krassenstein, argue that she’s trying to help everyday Americans and move away from corporate favoritism. But critics like Charles Gasparino aren’t buying it. He pointed out that Harris’s proposals lack details. For example, she’s yet to clearly define what she even means by “middle class” in her tax plan. Without that clarity, it’s hard to see how these policies can deliver on her promises.
For all the "Kamala Harris has policies" people.
These are merely a set of talking points that someone w half a brain who served a year on the local city council can rattle off the top of her head. Proposals have details like explaining the income cut-off of her "middle class"… https://t.co/zUTUxhodQM
— Charles Gasparino (@CGasparino) September 9, 2024
Is This Really a “New” Direction?
Monica Paige from One America News Network took aim at Harris for essentially sticking to Biden’s policies over the last three and a half years. If Harris is just repackaging old ideas that didn’t work before, can we really expect different results this time? Paige’s critique is one we’ve heard echoed from many on the right: Harris’s platform lacks innovation and is more of the same.
Paige tweeted, “DID YOU CATCH THIS? Kamala Harris finally appears to have uploaded her “policies” on her campaign website under the “Issues” tab just days before the debate. She titles her initiatives, “A New Way Forward,” even though she stood by Biden and his policies the last 3.5 years.”
As you might expect, the backlash didn’t stop with politicians. Social media users had a field day with Harris’s policy release. Some, like Michael Leary, mocked her platform by comparing it to a middle-class president’s campaign—complete with unrealistic promises, like turning water fountains into chocolate milk dispensers. Others were puzzled by her mention of “Trump’s Project 2025 Agenda,” especially since Trump himself has distanced himself from that plan.
"Make the school cafeteria serve pizza every day. Make the school turn a water fountain into a free chocolate milk dispenser." Kamala Harris must be running for Middle School Class President. This aren't plans or policies, these are vague talking points released in desperation. pic.twitter.com/qpy1ot0kjt
— Michael Leary (@bluzrocker) September 9, 2024
The New Republic, not exactly a right of center publication, trashed Kamala’s policies update with an article titled, “Embarrassing Copy-Paste Plagues Harris’s Launch of Policy Platform,” and a subtitle saying, “Kamala Harris seems to have borrowed her policies entirely from Joe Biden.”
From TNR:
Shortly after Kamala Harris released her policy agenda on Sunday evening, users on X spotted something in the metadata: Much of the language appears to have been lifted from Joe Biden’s campaign website.
On Sunday night, X user Corinne Green pointed out that the issues section of Harris’s website contained metadata with language urging voters to reelect Joe Biden. This language was visible when links to the campaign site were shared, and in the website’s description on Google searches.
they copied and pasted the policy page code from biden's website and couldn't be assed to change it. "join our campaign to re-elect joe biden today!" pic.twitter.com/cDlL8xn01Q
— Corinne Green (@gaynarcan) September 9, 2024
And here are the receipts. The code in the screenshot below proves that Team Kamala just regurgitated Team Biden’s lousy policies. Nothing to show Kamala is different from Joe. How do you claim A New Way Forward with the same old policies that nearly brought the United States to its knees?
A NEW WAY FORWARD and it's literally just biden's exact shit you cannot make this up lol pic.twitter.com/s4Ixb7u6wj
— Corinne Green (@gaynarcan) September 9, 2024
Wow, oh, just wow. They couldn’t even steal from Joe Biden’s page, right. This is how much Team Kamala cared about getting a list of policies out to the American people. They lifted them from Dementia Joe. What kind of shortcuts would she take if elected president?
As Kamala Harris’s campaign rolls forward, her policies will be under the microscope. Sure, she has supporters, but the criticisms—especially from Republicans like JD Vance—raise some tough questions. Whether it’s her tax plan’s contradictions, the potential economic fallout from climate spending, or her lack of clarity, Harris has some serious hurdles to overcome if she wants to broaden her support and fend off these attacks.
#kamalaharrispolicies #middleclasstaxdebate #irsoverreach
