With just over six months to go until the midterm elections, Democrats have made “affordability” their top talking point, hammering Republicans on persistent cost-of-living concerns and rising gas prices. Early polling suggests those attacks are having their intended effect – but the GOP can flip the script by pointing out that Democrats have consistently voted against affordability measures and have made life more unaffordable everywhere they are in power.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt laid the blueprint for what the GOP response to Democrats’ affordability talk should be during a media briefing last week on Tax Day. Thanks to the Working Families Tax Cuts that congressional Republicans passed and President Donald Trump signed into law last year, Americans saw one of the biggest refund seasons ever, with especially large returns for seniors, tipped workers, and those who earned overtime pay.
The statistics on how much this new tax law saved working families are astonishing. The average refund for tax year 2025 is more than $3,400, up more than 10 percent from 2024. More than 53 million filers have claimed one of the new exemptions in Trump’s tax law. More than 34 million families have claimed the enhanced Child Tax Credit.
But as Leavitt astutely pointed out, “What the American people must not forget is that every single Democrat in Congress voted against these tax cuts.”
“If the Democrats in Congress had gotten their way and blocked President Trump’s legislation, Americans would have faced the largest tax hike in history – nearly $4 trillion,” she continued. “The average taxpayer would have seen a 22 percent tax increase. Democrats in Congress have proven over and over again that they are affordability frauds who believe the government should keep more of the American people’s hard-earned money.”
The phrase “affordability frauds” should immediately become a go-to in the Republican lexicon between now and Election Day. If Democrats are allowed to win on that issue, they win the House and quite possibly the Senate. If Republicans can expose Democrats’ dishonesty and drive home for voters how the GOP is working – if imperfectly – to deliver on affordability, they have a fighting chance of retaining control of Congress.
The GOP’s affordability messaging should start with educating voters on the Working Families Tax Cuts, particularly as refunds start rolling in. Americans must understand as a matter of political philosophy that Republicans want workers to keep more of their money, while Democrats believe that money is best spent by the government rather than individuals and families. While they’d never admit it in such plain terms, Democrats believe that Washington can spend your money better than you can – and on this they are deeply out of touch with most Americans.
Republicans should also remind voters that it was Democrat policies which created the affordability crisis in the first place. On party-line votes, congressional Democrats passed and Joe Biden signed trillions of dollars in spending that sent inflation soaring above nine percent. From 2021 to 2024, cumulative inflation topped 20 percent.
Trump brought inflation back down under three percent almost immediately after taking office. Real wages have climbed more than $1,000 since January 2025, offsetting about a third of the $3,000 decline in real wages during Biden’s tenure.
It’s true that gas prices are currently too high as a result of hostilities in the Middle East. The national average for a gallon of regular unleaded is still above $4.00. But voters shouldn’t forget that with Biden in office, gas was more than $5.00 per gallon almost entirely because of Biden’s policies restricting domestic oil and gas production. A year ago under Trump, gas was close to $3.00 per gallon, and prices will likely fall quickly once the Strait of Hormuz is fully reopened.
Additionally, Republicans should point to the situation in liberal locales as proof that Democrats are either liars or don’t have a clue what they’re talking about when it comes to affordability. According to the 2026 cost-of-living index, the top five most unaffordable jurisdictions in the country are Hawaii, California, Massachusetts, the District of Columbia, and New York – all liberal strongholds. In fact, of the top 10 most unaffordable states, nine have a Democrat governor.
California and New York in particular are test cases that Republicans should point to. Democrats have virtually no obstacles to enacting whatever policies they want in these states. So why are residents fleeing in droves for Republican-led states that are far more affordable if Democrats supposedly have all the answers on affordability? Eight of the top ten most affordable states are Republican-led.
Democrats can talk all they want and make all the policy promises they want, but at the end of the day they have nothing to point to as proof of concept. Their policy record is abysmal. Any economist worth his salt is warning that their ideas won’t work. And they fundamentally believe that the government is a better steward of your money than you are.
The more Republicans can drive home these facts – the more they can expose Democrats as affordability frauds – the better chance they have of winning the midterms.
Shane Harris is the Editor-in-Chief of AMAC Newsline. You can follow him on X @shaneharris513.
