Washington, D.C. — Today, President Donald Trump will visit Monaca, Pennsylvania, to tour the Shell Pennsylvania Chemicals plant amid increasing worry that his erratic trade-war-by-tweet policies are putting Pennsylvania factories at risk. President Trump promised Pennsylvania families that he would reinvigorate the manufacturing economy by opening more factories and increasing wages for workers. In reality, his administration has failed to deliver on these promises—instead siding with corporations to roll back overtime pay and other worker protections, while signing a major tax bill that rewarded companies with massive windfalls for moving jobs overseas. His crusade to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), continuing in court even now, would strip coverage from more than 850,000 Pennsylvanians and remove protections for the 5.3 million Pennsylvanians with pre-existing conditions.
Click here to learn more about President Trump’s top broken promises to Pennsylvania families.
4 facts on the Trump administration’s policy record in Pennsylvania
Manufacturing
Promise:
President Trump promised Pennsylvania families: “We will be opening brand-new factories across this state.”
Reality:
- Experts predict Trump’s erratic steel and aluminum trade policies will result in job losses of close to 180,000 nationally, including close to 14,000 jobs in Pennsylvania, many of which are in the manufacturing sector.
- Three Pennsylvania manufacturing hubs—Pittsburgh, Scranton, and Harrisburg—are in the top 50 communities in the country hit hardest by Trump’s erratic trade policies.
- Pittsburgh steelmaker Ampco-Pittsburgh Corp. lost $7 million due to Trump’s trade policies in one quarter last year.
Profits and wages
Promise:
President Trump promised Pennsylvania families: “I will be the greatest jobs President that God ever created … our poorer citizens will get new jobs and higher pay and new hope for their life.”
Reality:
The Trump administration has taken away safeguards that ensure workers are paid overtime, protect retirees from exploitative financial advisers, and ensure that people pay less at the gas pump:
Health care
Promise:
President Trump promised Pennsylvania families: “We will create quality, reliable, affordable health care in a free market where parents can make the health care decisions that they really want to make for their families. It will be a much better health care at a much less expensive cost.”
Reality:
The Trump administration launched an all-out attack on health care by sabotaging and attempting to repeal the Affordable Care Act:
- 5.3 million Pennsylvanians with pre-existing conditions will lose protections under ACA repeal
- 858,000 Pennsylvanians will lose their health coverage under ACA repeal
- $3,650: Annual premium increase for the average Pennsylvania family
Taxes
Promise:
President Trump promised Pennsylvania families: “The largest tax reductions are for the middle class.”
Reality:
Most of President Trump’s $2 trillion tax cut goes to corporations and the rich. Many Pennsylvania families are getting stuck with the bill:
- 375,990 Pennsylvania families paid more in taxes last year due to the Trump administration’s tax scam
- Average tax cut for the wealthiest 1 percent: $53,580
- Average tax cut for the bottom 80 percent: $644
For more information on this topic or to talk to an expert, please contact Freedom Alexander Murphy at [email protected] or 202.796.9712.