Harris Will Back Federal Ban on Price Gouging, Campaign Says. Do you consider this a good thing or a bad thing?

[SolitarySolace]

Harris Will Back Federal Ban on Price Gouging, Campaign Says
The vice president is leaning into an effort to partly blame big companies for inflation, as progressives have pushed her to embrace that argument - www.nytimes.com/.../...rice-gouging-inflation.html

Good thing

Bad thing

[SugarSugarplum]

Let's put it this way: if the government taxed everything you and your suppliers did, then inflated the currency, then told you that you had to lower prices, you'd shut your doors first.

Let's say you made a thing for $10 your cost. You'd probably sell it for $15 to make a little profit.
Then the government added tax to every raw material, driving the cost up to $12.
Then they forced you to pay for family leave and other non-productive employee expenses, driving your cost up to $20.
Then they inflate the currency, driving the cost up to $40. You set your price at $42, because at $45, you'd lose all your sales.
Then these commies come and say you have to just lower your price back to $20.
Are they lowering the taxes?
Are they striking capital gains tax?
Are they eliminating inventory tax?
No, they want their slice for doing NOTHING, but you aren't allowed to charge what it costs to make it.
Your options: Close the doors or move manufacturing overseas, or refuse to sell into the US market.

[CupcakeTheDestroyer]

I understand some monopolies like comcast won’t be thrilled about a price cap, but since they can’t force the company to disband (or at the very least it’s not a priority) creating a ban on price gouging is the least they can do.

[Surely]

I wonder who will be the “Price Gouging Czars!” How will they determine when the price of goods is too high? Will the “Pay their fair share taxes” placed on corporations be considered in causing the excessive higher prices!
If large corporations don’t pay dividends to their shareholders. They won’t be able to conduct business in the United States without them.
I believe that trying to control price of goods made in this country is a bad idea. Better to control the competition of the imports.
As for the pharmaceutical industry. The government gives massive tax payer monies to them for drug development. Then they sell the newly developed drugs to other countries for bargain prices. That is what should be worked on!

[Surely]

@SolitarySolace. Thank you for the MHO!

[MisterWack]

Inflation is at an all time low back to 2021 levels so, these shrinkflation & shady price gouging proceeders should absolutely be discouraged and punished!

On the other side of the aisle we have proposals to put high tariffs on imports, since most of American goods bought by consumers comes from overseas… It means price gouges to the point where you pay more for less imported good.

[MisterWack]

Trump wants tariffs (which come with a historic downside for local consumers throughout history) and Harris wants to punish shady greedy business practices which comes with inflation goes down so do the prices instead of corporations taking advantage of inflation lies / public distrust.

[buzzword]

It's illegal for the federal government to meddle in local trade. The commerce clause of the constitution prevents them from doing so. It's the states responsibility to manage trade within their own sovereign borders. The federal government can only regulate interstate trade. So what Harris is promising, is to use the constitution as toilet paper and to violate all Americans rights.

[Lliam]

I wouldn't believe Harris if she said water was wet.

Politicians look at polls and say whatever the people want to hear in order to get elected. But they don't do what they promise.

I believed Mr. Hope and Change when he first ran. Boy did he fool me. What a total liar. But he was the best salesman of all time. He could sell refrigerators to Eskimos.

[FunkyMonkee]

That worthless cunt hasn't done shit in the past 3.5 years, so far! She's STILL in office!! WHY isn't she doing that shit NOW?
Right now, she's just lying her WHITE Jamaican ass off making ALL KINDS of "promises" that she has NO INTENTION of keeping IF she wins!! She PROMISED to take care of the border!! Nearly 4 years later and she STILL hasn't even BEEN to the border!! If you're STUPID enough to believe her lies, and she DOES win, you deserve what you get!!

[exitseven]

this has been tried before. it always did the opposite. The Biden/Harris administration created the runaway inflation by causing the price of gas to more than double and by printing trillions of dollars and now they want to deflect the blame to store owners and accuse them all of price gouging. They should implement this immediately if it is such a good plan. Why don't they implement this now instead of waiting until after the election?

[Dongie]

There are laws already in place against price gouging. She won't change jack shit. She's a stupid parrot like biden. If they get enough votes to get her sorry ass in then the powers that be will feel they can institute the next phase in the total destruction of America.

[normalice]

You complain for four years about inflation and when someone steps forward with a way to fix it you just shit diarrhea all over your keyboard? You never actually cared about inflation, did you 😅

[Dongie]

I wouldn't vote for a fuckin Democrat if my very life depended on it. Now go away and play with your pussy. I don't like your drab acting ass.

[DrPepper12]

Neither. Her ability to influence prices close to nill. The Fed has more power than her. As far as corporate profits, that's congress's job too further tax windfall profits via legislation. That only leaves the corporations to regulate themselves and we know how well that's going to come. The Kansas City fed said that 70% of inflation was due to corporations raising prices and shrinkflation during the pandemic.

[hahahmm]

Oh... so thoughtful of government that puts tax on top of tax to pretend to be concerned about me.

[Yabbut]

So that's 2 things she's gonna make illegal that are already illegal. Her job will be easy!

[normalice]

It isn't illegal to price gouge if you can come up with any excuse no matter how lame.

[Yabbut]

@normalice so how can she make it any more illegal? If it can't be proven, it can't be punished.

[normalice]

Are you asking because you want to know or are you asing because you want to cling to the belief that it is impossible?

[Yabbut]

@normalice I am genuinely curious.

[normalice]

The legal process by which we evaluate things on a case by case basis requires both robust laws that close such loopholes and a funded department of justice to prove it in court. Kamala is speaking a bit above her station here as both of these are controlled by congress, not the president. However, if a president disagrees they can just veto it so it is important they are on board with the idea and have a congress that will close the loopholes in a thoughtful and systematic way.

For example, they might write a law that requires those excuses to be proven. So, when a company raises prices by 30% and says it's due to strained supply chains, they have to show the difference in price reflected in their shipping costs. And if it's not they are fined the difference plus an extra penalty for the trouble they caused. So long as the justice department continues to have reliable funding, companies would know its not worth it to price gouge in the first place, and that's really the whole point. But it is ultimately us that it relies on. If companies think they can just get republicans elected to dial back enforcement of those laws, they will.

[Yabbut]

@normalice the problem there is, if it will be prosecuted as a criminal offense, the burden of proof is on the prosecution.

[normalice]

That is the case for civil offenses, too. The standards are just higher for criminal cases.

But it's fine as a civil offense. The point is to deter and, failing that, to get our money back. Writing repeat offenses as a criminal offense but one or two offenses as civil is still going to function as a deterrent because the whole reason companies price gouge is to make more money. Fining them removes that incentive.

[Yabbut]

@normalice so would the company's lack of proof that they needed to increase prices be considered proof of gouging?

[normalice]

In a civil court, yes.

[Yabbut]

@normalice I honestly don't know enough to know if that'll hold up or not

[normalice]

Anything can be passed into law as long as therenisnt a constitutional amendment against it. It's a matter of making it cost more for companies to reverse the law than it would for them to just not price gouge.

[Yabbut]

@normalice fair enough

[Fireguy17]

that worked out so well a few decades ago when the feds tried that.
Price controls etc made it even worse.

[Ladsin2]

Price controls have been tried hundreds of times in hundreds of countries for hundreds of years since at least the middle of the Roman empire ~200AD. Not once have they worked.

[jamesgoldman]

Something already illegal

Wait until the 110% tax comes along

[noohair]

If you look at the history of price controls, it fails to fix anything. If it worked we woulf have price controls an everything.

[msc545]

This is a good thing. It's about time large companies were held responsible for price gouging.

[NOTHINGEVERHAPPENS]

Isn’t price gouging already a crime?

[normalice]

Obviously not. Blatant examples, sure, but there are countless ways to be subtle about it.

[NOTHINGEVERHAPPENS]

One day, campaign promises are legally binding.

[Sharkstealth]

Definitely a good thing in my opinion.

[gorydetails]

Price controls are always a bad thing.

[Pterodon]

There is no price gouging

[ManInChains]

Probably wants people to believe there still is to give them a pointless policy position other than full term abortion

[Pterodon]

@ManInChains they won’t blame inflation on their own policies so they attack corporations

[ManInChains]

Communism