Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) discussed “greedflation” and economic policy at a Sept. 20 campaign event in Montgomery County.
State Sen. Maria Collett (D-Montgomery/Bucks) moderated Casey — who is running for re-election ahead of his term ending in January 2025 — and Warren's conversation at Temple University's Ambler Campus. During the event, Casey cited a Wharton School Budget Model brief in opposition to economic policy under a Republican-controlled United States Senate.
Casey said that, if former President and 1968 Wharton graduate Donald Trump wins the 2024 presidential election and the Republican Party gains control of the U.S. Senate, the Penn Wharton Budget Model predicts that the national deficit would increase. The Senate currently has 51 Democrats and 49 Republicans.
“The economists at Wharton said if the Republicans … institute the same rigged tax bill, that will jack up the debt by $5.8 trillion,” Casey said. “That is fiscally reckless and it's going to screw the middle class and it's going prevent a lot of families from being able to make ends meet.”
The Pennsylvania senator also discussed Vice President Kamala Harris' mention of the PWBM in the presidential debate earlier this month, saying that he believes Harris mentioned Wharton because Trump is an alumnus of the school.
The PWBM wrote in an August brief that Trump's campaign proposals "would increase primary deficits by $5.8 trillion over the next 10 years." A similar brief on Harris' campaign wrote that her proposals "would increase primary deficits by $1.2 trillion over the next 10 years."
"We did not find a positive impact on the economy from her plan in any future year," a spokesperson for the PWBM told Newsweek. "The Trump plan does increase GDP for a few years but lowers by the end of the 10-year budget window."
Warren, a former University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School professor, and Casey spent 30 minutes of the conversation defining and advocating against “greedflation,” urging voters to maintain a Democratic-controlled Senate by voting for Casey against his Republican opponent, former hedge fund CEO Dave McCormick.
“What this fight is all about, is that you can elect a hedge fund guy to go to Washington to watch out for … China, watch out for the other hedge fund guys, to watch out for big investors, to watch out for private equity,” Warren told the audience. “Or you can elect somebody … like Bob Casey, who is in this fight for you.”
Casey defined greedflation as "when greed governs the decisions of major corporations," seeking to portray the idea as one supported by McCormick.
"We're talking about the biggest conglomerates in the world that are jacking up prices with impunity, and we're not going to take it anymore,” Casey said.
He said that corporate profits went up 75% from July 2020 to July 2022, while inflation rose by 14%, prompting him to work with Warren to pass price gouging legislation.
Pennsylvania is a key swing state in the 2024 election. With the almost-even split between Republicans and Democrats in the Senate, both Casey and McCormick are emphasizing the importance of the Pennsylvania Senate race. McCormick has fallen behind Casey in recent polling of the race, with Casey ahead by approximately 6% as of Sept. 20.
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