Liberal media outlet inadvertently explains benefits of Trump's economic plan

Harris has opted for policies designed to assuage voters harmed by the Biden/Harris economy

Andy Puzder responds to Kamala's economic plan: Price fixing reduces availability of goods

Former CKE Restaurants CEO Andy Puzder explains why Vice President Kamala Harris is in a 'tough spot' on 'The Ingraham Angle.'

Leave it to MSNBC to ferret out "The biggest difference between Trump's and Harris' economic pitches." According to a recent MSNBC opinion piece with that title, "Trump is obsessed with the macroeconomics, big-picture, 10,000-foot view of the economy" while Harris offers a "microeconomic pitch," with specific polices to improve Americans’ economic circumstances. 

Respectfully, the piece does not make the point its author thought he was making. 

Particularly in this election year, no one should criticize a presidential candidate as "obsessed" with addressing macroeconomic issues such as inflation, wages, interest rates, economic growth and the deficit. 

Donald Trump wearing hard hat

Former President rump was welcomed onstage by Pennsylvania steelworkers, who gave him a commemorative hard hat. (Pool)

The Biden/Harris administration’s failure to effectively address these very issues resulted in massive inflation, declining real wages, stifling interest rates, a surging federal deficit, and an almost incomprehensibly large national debt. 

KAMALA HARRIS WANTS AMERICA TO HAVE THE WORLD'S HIGHEST DEATH TAX

American voters will likely insist that the next president have a better plan to address those issues. 

And there’s the rub – Harris doesn’t have one. She has unabashedly praised the current plan, a failed big government hodgepodge of massive spending and increased regulatory pressure called Bidenomics

In fact, when asked in a recent interview how she would govern differently from Biden, she conceded that "nothing comes to mind." So much for being the change candidate.

Lacking an effective macroeconomic plan, Harris has opted for targeted policies designed to assuage voter groups Biden/Harris economic policies have harmed – that’s the so-called "microeconomic pitch." 

KAMALA HARRIS CLAIMS SHE SUPPORTS SMALL BUSINESS. SHE DOESN'T AND I HAVE THE RECEIPTS

Feel like grocery prices are too high with inflation up over 20%? Harris will attack nonexistent price gouging to show she cares.

Can’t afford that new home with interest rates triple what they were when she took office? Harris will give you $25,000 to ease the pain.

Are you trying to support yourself and your parents in the inflation-ridden Biden/Harris economy? Harris will expand Medicare to reduce that pain. 

Harris’ latest concern is that she’s losing the votes of Black men, many of whom are supporting Trump with his proven record of providing jobs and opportunity and increasing real wages. That is, policies that empower them to improve their lives. 

KAMALA HARRIS, YOU CAN'T RUN FROM AMERICA'S COST-OF-LIVING CRISIS. AND YOUR PRICE-GOUGING CLAIMS EQUAL NO SALE

So, Harris is offering what she calls an "Opportunity Agenda for Black Men," including "fully forgivable" loans of "up to $20,000" for "Black entrepreneurs," and the legalization of "recreational marijuana" to create "opportunities for Black Americans" in this "new industry." 

Seriously, free money and legal marijuana. You couldn’t credibly make this up.

Even Left-leaning economists, media outlets and campaign surrogates have criticized many of these policies as political pandering, gimmicks, unrealistic or simply bad economics – and they are. 

But the real problem is not with a particular policy’s merits or demerits. The problem is that Harris has no consistent economy wide (that is macroeconomic) plan. 

Rather, like the little Dutch boy, Harris’ approach is to put her fingers in the economic dam to assuage specific suffering voter groups – hoping that the macroeconomic dam doesn’t break, at least not before the election.

BIDENOMICS ARCHITECT IS KAMALA’S ECONOMIC WHISPERER

MSNBC did get one thing right – Trump is obsessed with macroeconomic issues. His plan is to spur economic growth by cutting taxes, slashing growth killing regulations, and incentivizing domestic energy production, including fossil fuels.

It’s a plan that will improve the overall economy, benefiting all Americans regardless of their income, race or sex as it did in his first term. To paraphrase President Kennedy, a rising economic tide lifts all boats. Trump has a rising tide economic plan. Harris does not.

To blunt Trump’s macroeconomic advantage, the MSNBC piece criticizes Trump’s "bid to end taxes on overtime pay" as "pandering."  But tax cuts are an important part of Trump’s macroeconomic plan. 

Trump wants to cut taxes for everyone – particularly people who work hard (no tax on overtime), provide superior service (no tax on tips), or have worked hard all their lives (no tax on Social Security benefits). 

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These tax cuts target no race or sex and have the advantage of being good both economically and politically. In fact, Harris has already adopted Trump’s no tax on tips proposal as her own. Something the MSNBC piece ignores.  

Finally, the MSNBC piece claims that Trump’s "absolutely favorite" economic solution "is to slap crippling tariffs on imports to the U.S." But if tariffs are so crippling, why did the Biden/Harris administration keep in place Trump’s tariffs from his first term and then dramatically increase them in September to 100% on electric vehicles, 50% on solar cells and 25% on electrical vehicle batteries, critical minerals, steel, aluminum, face masks and ship-to-shore cranes. Not to mention increased tariffs on other products, including semiconductor chips, over the next two years. 

Well, here’s why – according to Biden/Harris administration Trade Representative Katherine Tai, these stiff tariff increases are a "legitimate and constructive" tool for re-invigorating U.S. businesses. 

Who knew?

We’ve had nearly four years of economic frustration and pain due to the Biden/Harris administration’s failed economic policies. As the MSNBC piece inadvertently points out, Trump has a macroeconomic plan for that, Harris does not.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM ANDY PUZDER

Andy Puzder was chief executive officer of CKE Restaurants for more than 16 years, following a career as an attorney. He is currently a senior fellow at both the America First Policy Institute and the Pepperdine University School of Public Policy. His next book, "A Tyranny for the Good of its Victims – The Ugly Truth About Stakeholder Capitalism" will come out  early next year.

Authored by Andy Puzder via FoxNews October 19th 2024