Which issue will most influence voters' choice in November? New poll reveals answer

null - With less than a month before the November general election, a new Gallup poll shows the economy ranks as the most important issue for registered voters, claiming the topic will influence their choice for president. 

According to the poll, the economy was the only issue on which a majority of voters, 52%, say the candidates’ positions on it are "extremely important."

Thirty-eight percent of voters ranked the economy as "very important," meaning the issue could be a significant factor to nine in 10 voters.

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Most participants said they think former president Donald Trump will handle the economy better than Vice President Kamala Harris. They also give Trump an edge on handling immigration and foreign affairs while giving Harris an edge on climate change, abortion, and healthcare. 

The candidates have clashing ideas about how best to straighten out the economy, giving voters a stark choice that might hint at how partisan identity increasingly informs views of the economy and policy.

How Trump plans to handle the economy

The former president wants a dramatic expansion of tariffs on nearly all imported foreign goods. Trump suggested tariffs as high as 100% on Chinese goods. He treats these taxes as a way to fund other tax cuts, lower the deficit and possibly fund child care — though the tariffs could raise prices for consumers without generating the revenues, the AP noted.

To address the nation’s housing issue, Trump has shared ideas for lowering housing costs — including his suggestion in a June speech in Wisconsin that stopping illegal immigration would reduce demand for housing and bring down prices.

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Trump has called for cutting taxes and regulations in hopes of lowering inflation and has encouraged increasing oil production in order to lower energy prices, Forbes noted. He has also called for ending taxes on Social Security benefits and touted cutting energy and electricity costs in the U.S. by increasing the production of fossil fuels.

Trump also proposed to extend the 2017 tax cuts that he signed into law, when he was president, which will expire at the end of 2025. That package slashed the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% and doubled the standard deduction and child tax credit, the Associated Press reported.

These parts will remain until a new law is implemented, but other tax cuts in the former president’s package will end without action by Congress. Trump told the AP that he wants to trim the corporate tax rate to 15% and cancel any tax hikes that happened under President Joe Biden.

Trump has urged Congress to pass legislation giving the president authority to impose a reciprocal tariff on any country that imposes one on the U.S. 

How Harris plans to handle the economy 

Harris announced a set of economic proposals that includes building homes, cutting taxes, and lowering the cost of groceries, and other basic needs for people.

With the issue of housing costs affecting the nation, the vice president debuted a new ad amplifying her plan to build 3 million new homes over four years to manage inflationary pressures. 

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Harris is also proposing the government provide $25,000 in assistance to first-time homebuyers.

According to the Associated Press, the vice president’s plan would establish tax breaks for homebuilders focused on first-time buyers and expand existing incentives for companies that construct rental housing. 

The vice president also promoted a plan calling for a federal ban on price gouging by food producers and grocery stores, as part of her overall economic policy, to ease inflation and lower the cost of living during a North Carolina rally on August 16.

Harris' grocery pricing proposal would instruct the Federal Trade Commission to penalize "big corporations" involved in price spikes, and it singles out a lack of competition in the meat-packing industry for driving up meat prices.

Harris called for raising the minimum wage in a Las Vegas speech in early August, but her campaign has not specified how high she believes it should be raised.

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The vice president promised to work to eliminate taxes on tips paid to restaurant and other service industry employees, similar to Trump. 

Harris is pledging tax cuts for more than 100 million working and middle class households.  She will do this by restoring two tax cuts designed to help middle class and working Americans: the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit, per Harris' campaign website.

The vice president wants to make permanent a tax credit of as much as $3,600 per child and offer a special $6,000 tax credit for new parents. Harris says her administration would expand tax credits for first-time homebuyers and push to build 3 million new housing units in four years, while wiping out taxes on tips and endorsing tax breaks for entrepreneurs.

What economists are saying 

No one is likely to be happy with the projected higher deficits laid out in a new analysis of Kamala Harris’ and Donald Trump’s economic plans.

The analysis released Monday by the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget suggests a Harris presidency could increase the national debt over 10 years by $3.5 trillion. That’s even though the vice president’s campaign insists her proposed investments in the middle class and housing would be fully offset by higher taxes on corporations and the wealthy. Her campaign policy guide states that Harris is "committed to fiscal responsibility — making investments that will support our economy, while paying for them and reducing the deficit at the same time."

The same analysis says former President Trump’s ideas could heap another $7.5 trillion onto the debt and possibly as much as $15.2 trillion. That’s even though he suggests growth would be so strong under his watch that no one would need to worry about deficits.