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FACT CHECK: Democrats Ignore Biden Policies that Harm People of Color, Minority-Owned Small Businesses

Bidenflation, high taxes undo historic wage and job gains made under GOP tax reform
April 8, 2022 — Blog    — Press Releases    — Select Revenue Measures    — Work and Welfare   

During a full committee hearing, Democrats doubled down on Biden policies that stoke inflation, undermine historic job and wage gains that benefited people of color and minority-owned small businesses, and threaten higher taxes on these vulnerable groups. Here are the facts:

Democrats claimed that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act’s (TCJA) support for small businesses is a “one-size-fits-all approach that doesn’t even address the much larger group of wage workers.”

The Facts: It’s clear that TCJA’s small business tax deduction helped more than President Biden’s policies, given that wages for minorities grew at a faster pace after GOP-led tax reform.

  • Compared to the second term of the Obama-Biden Administration, wages grew…
  • 24 percent faster for Hispanic Americans
  • 79 percent faster for African Americans
  • 95 percent faster for Asian Americans.
  • Meanwhile, the law led to a jobs boom for minority workers, individuals without a high school degreeAmericans with disabilities, and women of color.
  • As Job Creators Network’s Alfredo Ortiz testified: “Under President Biden, minority small business owners worry about inflation, the worker shortage, and supply chains.”

Democrats claimed wages are improving. But the reality is Bidenflation is undercutting those gains, especially for people of color.

The Facts: Bidenflation is costing American families an average of $5,200 a year.

  • Because of inflation, real wages dropped over 2.5 percent over the last 13 months.
  • The Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank predicts inflation will get even worse.

Democrats claimed inflation is just a “diversion” from issues facing people of color – when in fact they are disproportionately worse off with Bidenflation.

The Facts: 35 percent of African-American, Hispanic, Asian-American, and other non-white Americans reporting that inflation is causing “major financial strain” according to a recent Wall Street Journal poll. (Read: POLL: Minority Americans Suffer the Most Under Bidenflation)

  • Republican Leader Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX): “More than half of all African-American households describe themselves as energy insecure, struggling to pay energy bills or sustaining adequate heating and cooling in their home. This is another casualty of Pres Biden’s war on affordable Made-in-America energy.”
  • Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ), House Republican Leader of the Joint Economic Committee: “In the past 14 months of unified government control by Democrats, the poor have gotten poorer and the income inequality gap has grown larger. Legislating based on rhetoric and feelings might score political points, but it’s awful economics and it’s causing widespread misery.”

Democrats attacked the TCJA’s innovative approach to helping disadvantaged communities, called Opportunity Zones.

The Facts: This anti-poverty initiative has already made a big difference and promises even more.

  • A 2021 study from the left-leaning Brookings Institution found Opportunity Zone designations increased employment growth and created new jobs across many different industries and education levels in metropolitan areas.
  • While Democrats criticized one project in particular because it included a self-storage facility, they neglected to mention that the development, Brooks Air Force Base, also includes 400 single family rental homes, space for small businesses, a light industrial facility, and will bring 2,500 additional jobs. (Source: The Hill, “How investment and zoning can transform America’s underserved communities.”)
  • Democrats were once supportive of Opportunity Zones.

Democrats claimed that they improved the health care minorities depend on, while Republicans worked to sabotage it.

The Facts: Democrats’ broken health care law increased costs and left American families behind.

  • Since passage of the Democrats’ signature health law, the average price paid for health insurance jumped by 143 percent between 2013 and 2019, deductibles increased by an average of 35 percent and it got harder to access local doctors.
  • Republicans want to invest in cures, modernize our safety net programs, put downward pressure on ever-increasing health care costs and provide targeted help to those in need to buy coverage that works for them. 

Democrats claimed that they address health disparities, while Republicans neglected them.

The Facts: Republicans achieved bipartisan victories for all Americans, while Democrats’ policies disproportionately harm people of color.

  • The Biden Budget undercuts a Trump rule that significantly reformed our nation’s organ procurement system—including kidneys—and threatens the lives of thousands of people of color.
  • Republicans worked to provide coverage to help kidney transplant recipients, many of whom are minority populations, and African Americans in particular.
  • Republicans took action to allow home dialysis (which helped minority populations) through telehealth during the height of the pandemic.
  • Democrats must come to the table to make broader telehealth access permanent.