Kamala Harris brazenly avoids answering when asked how she'll pay for some of the few policies she's unveiled

Kamala Harris claims her economic policy will 'pay for itself'... eventually - if you take a long view of the 'return on investment'.

The vice president gave the rambling response when asked how she would pay for the agenda outlined in North Carolina on Friday.

Harris announced $6,000 payments for newborns and expanded Child Tax Credits, $25,000 down payments for some first-time homebuyers, relief from medical debt, and other measures for her first 100 days in office. 

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget claimed the new policies would blow out the budget deficit by $1.7 trillion.

The Harris campaign said any additional costs above the 2025 Biden-Harris budget would be offset by increased taxes on corporations and high earners.

But when asked, Harris went on for a full minute about the future tax income that would hypothetically be generated by a healthier and better-educated population.

'The return on investment in terms of what that will do and what it will pay for will be tremendous,' she said at a press top in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, on Sunday.

'We've seen it when we did it in the first year of our administration, we reduced child poverty by over 50 per cent, so that's a lot of the work.'

Harris said the expanded tax credits would also produce a 'great return on investment', without explaining how, then took an even longer view.

'When we increase home ownership in America, what that means in terms of increasing the property tax base, what that does to fund schools, again return on investment,' she continued.

Harris appeared to argue it was a 'mistake' to only think about short-term expenditure, and not the long-term effects, but wasn't clear in her answer.

'I think it's a mistake for any person who talks about public policy to not critically evaluate how you measure the return on investment,' she said.

The VP argued strengthening the economies of communities and 'and investing in a broad based economy' would reap long-term rewards.

'Everybody benefits and it pays for itself,' she concluded.

The press only had about three minutes to speak to Harris after she got off the campaign bus alongside her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, and moved on to a question about the latest polls.

Harris and her entourage then moved inside Primanti Bros Restaurant and Bar to meet voters, hear their concerns, and ask for their support.

The press has been given very little time to question the VP about her plans and vision for the country since she took over from President Joe Biden as the Democratic candidate on July 21.

Harris claimed during her speech on Friday that her proposals would provide relief for millions of families while reducing the federal deficit, but did not get into specific details on how it would be paid for.

'Think what that means, that is a vital, vital year of critical development of a child,' Harris said of the new tax credit for children in their first year. 

On housing, the vice president called for three million new units over her first four years in office, one million more than were called for under President Biden. 

She also wants to provide incentives for companies to build starter homes and is urging Congress to pass laws preventing large companies from buying up and jacking up the price of rentals.

Harris also called for $25,000 down payments for some first-time homebuyers, an expansion of a proposal under the Biden administration for assistance to first-generations homebuyers.

When it comes to prescription drug prices, the vice president called for expanding the cap on out-of-pocket costs for prescription drug pricing at $2,000 not just for seniors but everyone.

She also called for accelerating the speed of Medicare prescription drug price negotiations and for further transparency in the industry.

Earlier this week, the vice president’s campaign unveiled Harris’ plan for a federal ban on price-gouging. 

It’s a controversial policy that has received pushback from some economists who warned such policies would not bring food costs down.

Economist Jason Furman who served in the Obama administration told the Washington Post it could mean 'bigger shortages, less supply and ultimately risk higher prices and worse outcomes for consumers' if enforced in a real way.

During her remarks, Harris said food prices remain too high. She argued as president she would 'go after the bad actors' and claimed competition is the 'life blood of our economy.' 

Friday’s address was the first time the vice president outlined her own administration priorities and setting herself apart from the president since Biden's exit from the presidential race