With mail-in ballots soon hitting mailboxes in some states, Americans are contemplating their choices this election. A top concern among voters is, as always, the economy. The question voters should consider here is: Which party’s vision creates the conditions for real prosperity and for pursuing the American dream? This midterm election cycle will determine control of both the U.S. House and the Senate, and the economic stakes couldn’t be higher.
As Americans weigh their options, it is helpful to remember the Democrats’ recent record. During the Biden years, Democrats ushered in an economic crisis that overwhelmed most Americans. That failed record was defined by the highest inflation in four decades. Voters should recall their fear as grocery prices were soaring with no end in sight.
Beginning in 2021, Democrats’ misguided policies, including the inflationary $1.9 trillion spending bill, sent consumer prices through the roof. The annualized Consumer Price Index escalated from 1.7% in early 2021 to a peak of 9.1% in June 2022. This inflationary surge outpaced nominal wage gains for much of Biden’s term in office, eroding real household purchasing power and driving up everyday costs for housing, groceries, and fuel. The result of Democrats’ policies was persistently high unemployment coupled with high inflation, making life unaffordable for many Americans.
In contrast to the Democrats’ slow-growth economy, the cornerstone of the Republican economic model is opportunity. By enacting the 2025 tax reconciliation legislation, Republicans prevented what would have been a staggering, automatic tax hike on millions of middle-class families. Without this action, essential provisions of the landmark 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act were set to expire at the end of 2025. By permanently extending lower individual income tax rates and maintaining the expanded standard deduction, the GOP ensured that working families would not see their hard-earned income siphoned away by federal rate hikes.
Beyond preserving those tax cuts, however, the Republicans have spent the past few years implementing an agenda that rewards hard work. The Democrats’ repeated calls for more taxes will result in the predictable effect of fewer hours worked and less incentive to go to work. Our economy, when healthy, depends on the American work ethic and incentives for more innovation and more investments in job growth.
Further proof that the GOP-led economy is working comes from the Agriculture Department. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps, has seen a sharp drop in enrollment, from 42.3 million to 36.6 million over the past year. Republicans insisted on two policies that have led to this decline. First, those who can work should do so. Subsidizing non-work, as the Democrats routinely do, is a surefire way to reduce workforce participation. Second, Republicans in Congress, working with the Trump administration, have relentlessly pursued waste, fraud, and abuse in these social programs, ensuring the integrity of this assistance. Food stamp enrollment naturally falls when more people are in the workforce.
If Americans want a growing economy, though, we need more than strong household consumption and greater workforce participation. We also need robust, long-term business investment. Here, Republicans in Washington are again the clear winner. The GOP has created tangible incentives for expansion and innovation for job-creators. The permanent restoration of full expensing allows companies to deduct capital investments immediately, while restoring immediate deductions for domestic research and development expenditures. By encouraging businesses to purchase machinery, build facilities, and conduct R&D within American borders, these provisions reduce the effective marginal tax rate on new investments. The Congressional Budget Office confirms that these policy mechanisms definitively increase the long-term productive capacity of the entire economy.
Our nation’s gross domestic product also benefits from GOP policies. The CBO projects that the 2025 tax legislation will meaningfully expand real GDP above baseline trends, with the growth boost reaching 0.9% in 2026. CBO attributes this growth to higher disposable income, heightened consumer demand, expanded labor capacity, and strong incentives for business capital formation. All of these factors are due to a Republican Party that pursues policies aimed at growth.
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Americans have a stark choice in November between the Democratic Party, which remains singularly focused on expanding government and paying for it with tax hikes on all Americans, and the Republican Party, which rewards hard work and encourages growth in the economy. The Republican record demonstrates that lower rates, investment incentives, and targeted tax relief create an environment where workers thrive and businesses invest.
For a growing economy with greater opportunities, the GOP remains the clear choice for voters on Election Day.
Jenny Beth Martin is chairman of Tea Party Patriots Action.