With the abrupt transition at the top of the Democratic ticket from President Joe Biden to Vice President Kamala Harris, many Democrats would like Americans to forget about the economic mess this administration created. Others, including former congresswoman Carolyn Bourdeaux (“The Trump economy would not be good for Georgia,” AJC, Aug. 15), are trying to tell an alternate reality that undercuts the booming economy Americans enjoyed under President Donald Trump. I’d like to take a moment to correct that record and let Georgians know exactly what is on the line this November.
First, take taxes. Trump fought for and won a major tax cut for American households and businesses. His 2017 reform cut business and personal taxes at all levels of income and made tax filings simpler for most American families by doubling the standard tax deductions for individuals and married couples. The benefits of these reforms are now under threat by the destructive Harris-Walz plan that would allow many tax cuts to expire next year and would implement the largest capital gains taxes in our nation’s history.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Trump also did more than any president in memory to secure America’s energy resources and ensure that our country is not dependent on Middle Eastern or Russian oil. Energy costs drive everything — the cost of goods, logistics and labor — and that is why Trump’s policies centered on energy independence. Approving new pipeline capacity, cutting red tape and expediting permitting were only some of the ways his administration helped maintain America energy independence. This independence drove down the cost of everything, including gas, groceries and other goods, which are now costing Americans more and more at historic levels.
Trump was also among the first to realize that those who believe China to be our ally are hopelessly naive. Trump sought to counter Chinese efforts to undermine American industry by expressing skepticism about the types of trade deals and tariff regimes that have shuttered American manufacturing and sent American jobs overseas. That clear-eyed view of China was long overdue.
Keeping his first campaign promise, Trump also delivered for the American people on immigration. To put it mildly, the Biden administration’s immigration policies — led by border czar Harris — have been a complete disaster. The Trump administration took decisive action to halt illegal crossings at our southern border, a policy that has been completely abandoned by the Biden/Harris administration. When Harris became vice president, we had a stable Southern border. In a few short years, Biden/Harris turned it into an economic disaster and a national security crisis. All they had to do was maintain the policies they inherited. They didn’t. Harris wouldn’t. If we want a secure and safe America, we need Trump back in office.
The contrast with the record of the Biden-Harris administration could not be clearer. In three and a half years, every American has been hammered with record inflation because of runaway spending in Washington, much of which has been directed toward well-connected industries friendly to the White House and its allies. Biden’s regulatory agenda adds new regulations and paperwork on small businesses at every turn, with more surely to come if Harris becomes president.
In Georgia, we follow Trump’s business-friendly policies by continuing to cut red tape and regulations on businesses. These policies are the reason businesses are flocking to Georgia. This has nothing to do with the failed Biden-Harris administration but everything to do with Georgia being a right-to-work state with less regulation and a better grasp on what a free market truly means. There is no doubt that Democrats and Harris would like to take credit for a thriving state such as Georgia, but we cannot let that happen.
With all due respect to the Democrats across this country hoping that a fresh face at the top of the ticket will erase the memories of American voters who have suffered through the economic disaster of the past four years, Americans will not forget. They remember the cost of gas, goods and groceries under Trump, they know they can’t afford them under Biden, and they know it would only get worse under a President Harris. The United States needs a new direction, not just a new face for the same failed policies.
Burt Jones, a Republican, is the lieutenant governor of Georgia.
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