Vice President Kamala Harris's past policy positions, if enacted, would crush the U.S. economy and reduce individual liberty in unprecedented ways. Her support for the Green New Deal and Medicare for All plans would impose a reckless transition to costly, less reliable forms of energy, skyrocket taxes and inflation, limit consumer choices, and destroy entire fossil-fuel-related industries.
Vice President Kamala Harris has moved into the top spot on the Democrat ticket, and her socialist policies are even scarier. Harris has been one of the most vocal supporters of the Green New Deal, one of the most far-reaching, costly proposals offered in American history. The Green New Deal, which was spearheaded by self-described socialist New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, included a long list of collectivist and economically destructive policies, including ending the use of gasoline-powered cars, oil, natural gas, and other reliable energy sources — all in just 10 years.
The Green New Deal also called for a massive new infrastructure plan, including a nationwide network of high-speed rail, "basic income" programs, a government jobs guarantee, "upgrading all existing buildings in the United States," the creation of a system of public banks, rebuilding the electric grid, trillions in wind and solar development, and the transformation of U.S. agriculture, including an end to much of the cattle industry.
Kamala Harris's Socialist Policies Would Destroy America
Harris was one of the Green New Deal's biggest supporters and one of only 14 senators to co-sponsor the plan when it was introduced in the Senate in 2019, along with other socialist-leaning politicians like Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Democrat Elizabeth Warren. Harris was such a fan of the Green New Deal that she even suggested changing Senate rules to make it easier to ram it through the legislative process.
The GND would shove the country toward socialism, and in so doing, set it up for a full-blown economic catastrophe. The energy provisions of the plan are particularly worrisome. America's economy depends on affordable, dependable energy sources like natural gas. Imposing a reckless transition to costly, less reliable forms of energy like wind and solar, especially over a short period, would be disastrous for America's economic development.
Kamala Harris's Socialist Policies Would Destroy America
Not only that, but the GND's estimated cost range tops out at $94 trillion, according to the American Action Forum, a price tag that would require substantially more money-printing, taxes, and debt. If Harris has it her way and the Green New Deal becomes law, it would cause taxes and inflation to skyrocket well beyond what most families can afford. It would also limit consumer choices and destroy entire fossil-fuel-related industries, along with the many jobs that they provide.
Biden has been staunchly opposed to Medicare for All plans like those supported by Bernie Sanders, but when Harris ran for the Democrat presidential nomination in 2019, she made the socialist policy one of the key parts of her policy agenda. Under the Harris Medicare for All proposal, newborns and uninsured would automatically be enrolled in a government-run health care plan, and those with employer-sponsored insurance would be phased into the plan over 10 years. Eventually, almost everyone would be stuck with government health coverage.
Kamala Harris's Socialist Policies Would Destroy America
Harris would allow for a narrow range of private health insurance, but those plans would be supplemental to Medicare for All, tightly regulated, and would be required to "adhere to strict Medicare requirements on costs and benefits." Medicare for All plans like Harris's would effectively force everyone with quality coverage into an inferior, government-run program. And because Medicare reimbursement rates are much lower than private health insurance, healthcare providers would need to slash the quality of services provided just to break even.
Sooner or later, providers or the government will likely turn to rationing care to manage costs, as they do now in many European nations that have government-run health care systems. That means longer wait times and reduced access to care for most Americans. Medicare for All would also be extremely expensive, costing tens of trillions of dollars in new government spending. A study by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University found that Bernie Sanders' Medicare for All plan, which is very similar but not identical to Harris's version, would cost taxpayers $32 trillion over 10 years. (Most of the major provisions are identical.)
Kamala Harris's Socialist Policies Would Destroy America
Even worse, for millions of taxpayers, the benefits provided would not outweigh the cost of the additional taxes that would likely need to be imposed to pay for the plan. America simply cannot afford Harris's radical vision for the country. And even if it could, putting the dysfunctional, inefficient, corrupt federal government in charge of virtually every part of our lives, from health care to the kinds of cars we can drive, should be avoided at all costs.
