Style isn’t everything … sometimes content matters

Throughout Joe Biden's term, Republicans have hammered away on inflation, blaming it on the President and Democrats in Congress. Before the 2022 midterms, for example, Senate Republican Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) accused Biden of “turning a blind eye and deaf ear to what the American people are experiencing.” He and his GOP friends focused on what they called "sky-high prices" for essentials like gas and groceries -- expenses that every family in America had to cope with once the pandemic hit, creating shipping and supply-chain backups.

Another Republican talking point was that inflation was the result of runaway spending by Democrats. But recent research by the Groundworks Collaborative has revealed that persistent high prices have nothing to do with Biden Administration policies or priorities. Rather, it's the result of corporate greed and price-gouging.[1]

So what was that spending spree that Republicans like to talk about? Analysis shows it was simply the inflationary impact of all the help that Congress delivered to each of us -– especially those most in need -– to help us thrive during and after the shutdown caused by the pandemic.

In the early days of the pandemic, Republicans and Democrats joined together to help out the American people. Under the CARES Act, passed nearly unanimously by both houses of Congress, every American tax filer with an adjusted gross income of no more than $150,000 received two rounds of stimulus support totaling $1800 per adult and $1100 per child. After losing to Joe Biden in the 2020 election however, Trump initially refused to support an extension of the CARES Act. And after that, helping the American people became partisan.

The American Rescue Plan (2021) was passed by Democrats in Congress and strongly supported by President Biden. It provided every American family with a third round of stimulus payment of $1400 per tax filer. Families that qualified for the child tax credit also received up to $300 per month for every child under six, or $250 a month for each child 6-17 to help pay for food and rent.

In addition, more than 200,000 North Carolina families that couldn’t work during the pandemic received emergency rental assistance through the end of 2022 to help pay rent and utilities. And over a million North Carolinians benefitted from expanded Medicaid and subsidized health insurance premiums.

A lot was done with immense benefits for the country. Those benefits might have contributed to inflation. But what would we have done without the help of government?

You see, President Biden was prepared to take a risk: he decided that it was his responsibility to make sure that everyone could weather the pandemic safely, despite the likelihood of higher costs.

Needless to say, no one wanted expenses to go up at the gas station and at the supermarket. But Joe Biden knew the phenomenon would be temporary. And he was right.

Inflation has abated and America did better than every other country in surviving the pandemic.

So think twice before you buy into the Republican lies. Think about what Biden did to help Americans pay the rent, get healthcare and keep their kids’ childcare centers open. And don’t forget the investments the Biden administration is still making -– in manufacturing, roads, airports, and sustainable energy -- to assure that we have a better future in this country with superior jobs and cleaner air and water for all.

Overall, don’t buy the Republican lie that cutting taxes is the way to make America great. That may benefit the wealthy, but investments by the government are what make life better for the rest of us.

Vote Democratic for a future that works for you and me.

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[1] Groundworks found that "While labor and nonlabor input costs have played a role in price increases, corporate profits drove 53 percent of inflation during the second and third quarters of 2023 and more than one-third since the start of the pandemic. Comparatively, over the 40 years prior to the pandemic, they drove just 11 percent of price growth."