Kamala Harris v. rising food prices
At last, a presidential candidate interested in food.
The Harris-Walz agenda aims to lower costs for Americans, food costs among them.
Vice President Harris and Governor Walz will work to enact a plan in their first 100 days to go after bad actors to bring down Americans’ grocery costs and keep inflation in check. They will work with Congress to:
- Advance the first-ever federal ban on price gouging on food and groceries;
- Set clear rules of the road to make clear that big corporations can’t unfairly exploit consumers to run up excessive profits on food and groceries.
- Secure new authority for the FTC and state attorneys general to investigate and impose strict new penalties on companies that break the rules.
Furthermore,
Vice President Harris will also direct her Administration to crack down on unfair mergers and acquisitions that give big food corporations the power to jack up food and grocery prices and undermine the competition that allows all businesses to thrive while keeping prices low for consumers.
And her plan will support smaller businesses, like grocery stores, meat processors, farmers, and ranchers, so those industries can become more competitive….More competition means lower prices for you and your families.
Unfair mergers? Mars had just proposed to buy Kellanova, and I discussed the Kroger-Albertson’s proposed merger yesterday.
At a campaign event in North Carolina, Vice President Kamala Harris again discussed food prices.
A loaf of bread costs 50 percent more today than it did before the pandemic. Ground beef is up almost 50 percent. Many of the big food companies are seeing their highest profits in two decades. And while many grocery chains pass along these savings, others still aren’t.
…My plan will include new penalties for opportunistic companies that exploit crises and break the rules, and we will support smaller food businesses that are trying to play by the rules and get ahead.
…We will help the food industry become more competitive, because I believe competition is the lifeblood of our economy. More competition means lower prices for you and your families.
Good, but these are campaign promises that necessarily depend on Congressional support.
…it’s unlikely Democrats will have the votes to pass price-gouging legislation in Congress. Her proposal essentially mirrors a bill from Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) that has stalled amid GOP opposition.
And Harris’ pitch, which includes giving the FTC more resources to investigate major acquisition deals in the food sector, would need GOP buy-in so Democrats can swing extra FTC resources via spending fights in Congress.
The food industry, of course, protests.
The Food Industry Association blames higher prices on inflation.
The National Grocers Association says its profit margins are already too thin.
I have no idea how any of this will play out, but it’s terrific to see food issues on the agenda.
