During a roundtable discussion about how to reopen the economy with community members in Philadelphia on Thursday, Joe Biden complained that the $2 trillion in tax cuts provided by the Republican-supported Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 would have come in handy now “to focus on the things that can build a new economy, invest in everything from teleconference, into providing for the kind of health.” He went on to claim of the act that “even places like the Heritage Foundation said that didn’t grow the economy.”
At the time of the Act’s passing, the Heritage Foundation published articles in favor of the bill, with one Heritage tax expert saying it would “provide significant tax relief for many American families—it is pro-worker and will lead to greater economic growth,” though he went on to say that the bill did not go far enough in some areas. Heritage has also published favorable commentary on and analysis of the tax cuts since that time, along with a policy agenda in 2019 that encouraged members of Congress to further address reforms that the Act provided only on a temporary basis.
The Dispatch Fact Check could not find evidence to support Biden’s claim. The Biden campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Jessica Anderson, executive director of Heritage Action, the lobbying sister organization to the Heritage Foundation, echoed support for the act in a statement to The Dispatch Fact Check.
“Both The Heritage Foundation and Heritage Action have supported the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act since day one,” said Anderson. “It is strange that Vice President Biden would repeat his false claim after being called out for it just last year.”
Anderson was referring to Biden making this same claim in August 2019 during a town hall in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Heritage denied the assertion then as well.
Photograph by Mark Wilson/Getty Images.
While Heritage didn't, as you point out, say that the Tax Cuts didn't grow the economy, they also didn't offer any evidence that they did and it is arguably true that 'the economy' isn't defined by the Dow Jones average or the S&P 500 which seems to be the administration standard. It is also potentially the case that, when the bill for the $5 trillion in new deficit spending comes due the cuts will have done damage to the real economy. Not a fan of Modern Monetary Theory.
No tax cut is going to have an immediate effect for the many Americans struggling to put food on the table, pay for insurance or pay rent or medical bills. In the long run, it MIGHT make those things less expensive, but only if the CEO's decide not to award the tax break to themselves as a bonus. In addition, the tiny amount that might get to small independent businesses would never offset the huge bundle awarded to the giant corporate competitors of that business, allowing said corporation an unfair advantage.