As Americans attempt to find their financial footing after over a year of Democrat-led economic shutdowns, the Biden Administration continues its massive spending. Whether it is a $2 trillion “infrastructure” package that would invest just 7% in roads, bridges or highways, or “enhanced” unemployment benefits that incentivize people not to work, Biden’s economic failures are bad for American workers. Now, North Carolinians are faced with the daunting reality Democrats have created: prices keep rising.
In June, the consumer price index rose by 0.9%, amounting to the largest one-month increase in over a decade. In the last year, gas prices jumped 45.1%, plane tickets rose by 24.6%, and used car prices increased by 45.2%. Even household commodities, like milk and fruit, have gotten substantially more expensive. Biden’s solution? More spending.
Biden’s spending proposals amount to trillions of dollars, and American taxpayers are writing the checks despite trying to economically recover from COVID-19. Now more than ever, North Carolina families deserve to see the return of their own hard-earned money through lower taxes and less government spending. Instead, Democrats are charging taxpayers into oblivion to fund policies that further hurt our economy. The threat of even worse Democrat-induced inflation reminds us why it is critical for Republicans to win back the majority in the U.S. Senate in 2022, and that begins with North Carolina electing another Republican Senator.
North Carolina deserves policymakers who will curb Biden’s disastrous agenda and deliver economic relief, not proponents of high taxes, big spending, and inflation. A recent American Action Network poll found that 86% of Americans are concerned about rising prices, 53% blame Biden’s policies, and 75% are worried that his next $3.5 trillion wish list will only make the problem worse. But despite these very real concerns, North Carolina’s Democrat candidates for U.S. Senate continue to race to the far left.
Last month, Democrat Senate candidate and state Sen. Jeff Jackson voted against Republicans’ “Put North Carolina Back to Work Act,” which would have ended our state’s dependence on federal handouts, returned people to work, and helped working families with childcare costs. Instead of voting for this common-sense legislative solution, Jackson chose loyalty to the failing Democrat agenda, as job creators struggle to hire and parents struggle to go back to work.
Meanwhile, Democratic Senate candidate Cheri Beasley has a destructive economic agenda of her own. She actively campaigns alongside self-proclaimed Democratic-Socialists who believe taxpayers should foot the bill for the Green New Deal, free college, and Medicare for All. As North Carolina experiences a lurch in living costs, the last thing taxpayers want to fund is the progressive wish list of Washington Democrats.
But Beasley and Jackson face some stiff competition in their race to the far left. Senate candidate Erica Smith advocates for basic universal income—as Biden’s handouts deplete our work force as we speak. She believes the best way to revitalize the economy is through federal “climate action” spending efforts. What American workers need are better employment opportunities and lower prices, and expensive proposals like the Green New Deal would eliminate millions of jobs.
As the Biden Administration floods state economies with federal dollars, North Carolinians cannot rely on Gov. Cooper to protect our economy from Democrat-driven inflation. He has vetoed more Republican legislation than any other governor in North Carolina’s history, resulting in sweeping shutdowns, mass closures of small businesses, and the infiltration of Biden’s disastrous economy.
It’s simple: North Carolinians need economic relief quickly. But Democrats seem to think that the solution to inflation is more inflation. As the 2022 election cycle approaches, the need for a Republican majority in the U.S. Senate has never been more urgent. Here in North Carolina, voters understand we must defend our Republican Senate seat to revive an economy that works for us, not Washington Democrats.
Livy Polen is the Press Secretary of the North Carolina Republican Party
