NBC News host presses Gov. Whitmer on Harris' price control plan: Is it 'any more than a gimmick?'

NBC News host Kristen Welker questioned Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, D-Mich., on Vice President Harris' price control plan and asked bluntly if the policy proposal was anything more than a "gimmick."

Citing criticism from Jason Furman, a former economic advisor in President Obama's administration, Welker questioned whether Whitmer believed it was the best way to bring down prices in Michigan. 

"I think people are reading too much into what has been put out there. We know that Kamala Harris is going to be focused on building up more affordable housing," Whitmer said. "I think this opportunity economy that Vice President Harris is talking about and laying the broad strokes for, I think it shows we really do, she sees every American, she understands what people are struggling with and wants to help you keep more money in your pocket," Whitmer responded. 

The Harris campaign announced on Wednesday she would institute a federal price-fixing plan for corporations, as president, to stop "big corporations" from taking advantage of consumers.

NBC's Kristen Welker pressed Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Sunday about VP Harris' price-fixing plan. (Screenshot/NBC/MeetThePress)

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"Governor, I hear you say folks are reading too much into it and yet it is what the vice president is proposing," Welker said. "You have former President Trump calling the policies communist. The Washington Post editorial board called it a gimmick. Is this plan to ban price gouging any more than a gimmick, governor?"

"I think it speaks to Kamala Harris’ values, that she wants consumers to keep more money in their pockets. She wants hard-working Americans to be able to get ahead," Whitmer responded. "She wants to make sure there is corporate responsibility. We know we’ve got to have business growth in this country."

Welker asked again if she believed it was "smart policy."

"I think that any effort we make to keep more money in Americans’ pockets is worth walking the path and having the conversations, and figuring out how do we make this economy work for everybody," Whitmer responded.

Democratic U.S. presidential candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris speaks on her policy platform, including improving the cost of living for all Americans and to lower costs for middle-class families at the Hendrick Center For Automotive Excellence in Raleigh, North Carolina on August 16, 2024. (Peter Zay/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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Furman told The New York Times on Friday that the plan was not smart policy.

"This is not sensible policy, and I think the biggest hope is that it ends up being a lot of rhetoric and no reality," Furman said. "There’s no upside here, and there is some downside."

The Harris campaign announced on Wednesday she would institute a federal price-fixing plan for corporations, as president, to stop "big corporations" from taking advantage of consumers.

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Liberal Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell also hammered Harris' plan, writing on Friday, "It’s hard to exaggerate how bad this policy is."

"It is, in all but name, a sweeping set of government-enforced price controls across every industry, not only food. Supply and demand would no longer determine prices or profit levels. Far-off Washington bureaucrats would. The FTC would be able to tell, say, a Kroger in Ohio the acceptable price it can charge for milk," Rampell wrote.