It hasn’t been a great week for Kamala Harris. Donald Trump is gaining ground in battleground state polling, and her indifference to the victims of Hurricane Helene received criticism from both sides of the aisle. On top of that, her running mate Tim Walz flopped in his debate with JD Vance, and there is the freshly broken story about her husband Doug Emhoff physically assaulting a woman back in 2012. None of these stories bode well for her, but something else may end up tanking her bid for the presidency.
On Tuesday, port workers launched their first strike since 1977, affecting operations at U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico ports. The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) have effectively shut down these critical hubs, disrupting a key part of the nation’s supply chain.
The economic impact of the is expected to be severe, potentially costing billions daily and worsening inflation. This is terrible timing for Harris, just weeks before the presidential election — especially since Joe Biden chose not to intervene despite having the authority to halt the strike under the Taft-Hartley Act.
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White House spokesperson Robyn Patterson said that Biden supports collective bargaining and encourages both sides of the dockworkers’ strike to negotiate without disruption, but the administration has no plans to invoke the Taft-Hartley Act to stop the strike.
On Wednesday, Harris also took sides with the unions.
“This strike is about fairness. Foreign-owned shipping companies have made record profits and executive compensation has grown. The Longshoremen, who play a vital role transporting essential goods across America, deserve a fair share of these record profits,” she said in a statement.
Here’s the real problem with siding with the strikers: she’s now tied to all the economic fallout. Soaring prices, empty store shelves, layoffs due to supply chain chaos — she just took full ownership of it. She’s chosen her side, and while she thinks that this shores up her pro-union bona fides after losing the Teamsters endorsement, it’s a real kick in the pants to the millions of Americans who will have to pay even more at the grocery store and potentially at the gas pump in the coming weeks.
"While you can say there might not be an ‘immediate’ impact, there is still the consideration of the overall economic hit the U.S. will take across all industries, including the oil and gas industry," oil and gas expert Adam Ferrari, CEO of Phoenix Capital Group, told Fox Business.
Ferrari highlighted that East and Gulf Coast ports handle nearly half of U.S. container imports, and an escalation of the strike could severely impact the supply chain. The oil and gas industry, which relies on these ports, could face major shipment delays and product shortages. He warned that disruptions in loading and unloading natural gas could lead to shortages and price hikes, particularly for consumers.
There's almost nothing that the Biden-Harris administration can do to alleviate this problem. Remember, Biden has already depleted the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. So if this isn't resolved before November, consumers may experience rising prices in the critical final weeks before the election. And Harris just owned it.
