Here is the reality. Kamala Harris is proposing the same exact price gouging laws currently in place in many red states. If the GOP believes price gouging laws are communism then they need to get rid of these laws in all of their states. Otherwise they should shut their traps. Trump blasts Harris plan to ban price gouging as communism. But GOP states already block some price hikes. Some 37 states have laws to address price gouging, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. https://www.politico.com/news/2024/08/24/trump-harris-price-gouging-groceries-00176247 Former President Donald Trump is attacking Vice President Kamala Harris’ plan for a federal ban on price gouging by grocery stores and food suppliers as “Soviet-style” controls. But Republican state officials across the country have embraced the idea of capping excessive prices for years. GOP state attorneys general, as well as many of their Democratic counterparts, have moved to stop companies from charging what they view as exorbitant increases in the cost of some goods in certain circumstances. In Texas, Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, sued a large egg supplier for raising prices by about 300 percent at the height of the pandemic lockdowns in 2020. Kris Kobach, the Republican attorney general of Kansas, is suing a large natural gas supplier over allegations that it gouged consumers in the aftermath of a 2021 winter storm. And in storm-prone Florida, state officials widely publicize a law that prohibits sharp price increases in essential items during emergencies. “Nobody likes to be gouged when they’ve lost their roof,” said Trish Conners, a former chief deputy attorney general of Florida now in private practice at the firm Stearns Weaver Miller. The state laws address the “fundamental public safety role that state AGs have, and it’s largely bipartisan. You don’t see too much difference between AGs in that regard.” The state laws underscore some of the benefits and challenges that Harris may face in selling her plan. It is broadly popular for politicians to shield consumers from excessive prices — even if many economists disagree with the approach. But at the same time, most states have limited their intervention in the market to a far narrower set of circumstances, and Harris’ plan for a national approach would likely represent a major expansion of the role of government in prices. Some 37 states have laws to address price gouging, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Most of the laws have specific triggers — such as a state of emergency or disaster — and prohibit sellers of certain essential goods from jacking up prices beyond a certain threshold. Some states have a numerical threshold of, say, 15 or 25 percent, while others have vaguer prohibitions on “excessive” or “unconscionable” increases. Florida Republican Attorney General Ashley Moody vowed to vigorously enforce the price gouging law as hurricane season began earlier this year. Her office has a dedicated hotline, app and website for consumers to report instances of gouging during emergencies. (More at above url)