Well, here we go again with another political twist in the ongoing tug-of-war over economic policies.
Kevin Hassett, former senior adviser to President Donald Trump and chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, has just pointed out an eyebrow-raising move by Vice President Kamala Harris. According to Hassett, Harris is borrowing a page directly from the Republican playbook, specifically from Trump’s economic proposals, which she previously opposed.
Let’s break this down. During an interview on PBS’ Firing Line with Margaret Hoover, Hassett claimed that Harris’s recently announced plan for a $50,000 small business tax credit was something she once opposed. Back in 2018, Trump and the Republican Party were pushing to expand the small business deduction from $5,000 to $20,000, which ended up passing in the House with little Democratic support. Republicans, it seems, were already advocating for a bigger tax deduction for small business startups, yet Democrats, including Harris, were not on board at the time.
“Expanding the deduction for startup business is a good idea. And it’s something that Republicans tried to do in 2018, but the Democrats were opposed to it,” Hassett said. “And so, it’s something that she was opposed to before she was for it. And so you could say, well, is she really for it now? Or, you know, could she explain why she changed her mind?”
Hassett’s take is that Harris has now “reached into Donald Trump’s playbook” by supporting a similar policy she was once against. That’s a bit of political gymnastics, isn’t it? It’s one thing to shift positions, but doing so without any explanation raises questions. Hassett was quick to point out that Harris opposed this very idea back when it came from Trump, so what’s changed? And perhaps more importantly, why the sudden turnaround?
He further noted that this isn’t the only concerning element of her economic stance. According to Hassett, much of what Harris has proposed could be considered “very extreme.” He didn’t dive into specifics here, but he hinted that her broader economic agenda is less than clear.
So what’s the deal? Is this a strategic pivot to attract more support from the business community? Or is it simply politics as usual, where good ideas are recycled without credit where it’s due? Hassett seems to think it’s the latter, and he’s not the first to accuse politicians of conveniently switching sides when it suits their agenda.
It’ll be interesting to see if Harris clarifies her change of heart or if this is just another instance of political one-upmanship.
