Center for American Progress Action

CAP Action Memo: Trump’s Broken Promises to Louisiana Working Families
Press Release

CAP Action Memo: Trump’s Broken Promises to Louisiana Working Families

Washington, D.C. — On Wednesday, President Donald Trump will travel to Monroe, Louisiana, to attend an event alongside Eddie Rispone at Monroe Civic Center.

In previous trips to Louisiana, Trump promised to lower drug prices and give Louisianians great health care that would protect people with preexisting conditions; increase wages for workers; and negotiate trade policies to help small farm owners. In reality, the Trump administration has failed to deliver on these promises, instead backing a lawsuit to take away health care from people with preexisting conditions; blocking minimum-wage increases; and even rolling back protections for family farms, causing the highest spike in bankruptcies in nearly a decade.  

Learn more about President Trump’s top broken promises to Louisiana families here.

Health care

Promise: “We’re going to repeal and replace Obamacare with something so much better, so much less expensive for you and for the country.” – Donald Trump in New Orleans, March 4, 2016

Reality: The Trump administration is trying to sabotage Americans’ health care by repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or toppling the law in the courts. If the administration is successful:

Farming  

Promise: “On every front, we are fighting for our great farmers, our ranchers, our growers.” – Donald Trump in New Orleans, January 14, 2019

Reality: Due to the Trump administration’s erratic trade policies, Louisiana lost 83 percent of its agricultural exports to China from 2017 to 2018.

  • Farm debt has increased by nearly one-third since 2013, reaching levels last seen during the U.S. farm crisis of the 1980s.
  • Net farm income has fallen by nearly 50 percent since 2013, as the Trump administration’s erratic trade policies continue to exacerbate farmers’ economic pain.
  • The Trump administration’s tariff relief aid for farmers is enriching multinational corporations such as JBS, a Brazilian company that received more than $62 million in government contracts and payments and raked in $273 million in profits in the first quarter of 2019.

Profits and wages

Promise: “[W]e’re going to do amazing things for our country … to create millions of really good paying jobs.” – Donald Trump in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, December 9, 2016

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. As a result of the Trump administration’s policies, Louisianians have seen:

Taxes

Promise: “We’re gonna undertake one of the great tax reforms … At the center of our plan is massive tax relief for the American middle class.” – Donald Trump in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, December 9, 2016

Reality: Most of the Trump administration’s $2 trillion tax cut goes to corporations and the rich. Many Louisiana families are getting stuck with the bill.

  • 161,300 Louisiana families paid more in taxes this year due to the Trump tax bill. 
  • The average tax cut for the wealthiest 1 percent of Louisianians was $54,230, while the bottom 80 percent of Louisianians saw just a fraction of that.

For more information on this topic or to speak with an expert, please contact Freedom Alexander Murphy at [email protected] or 202-796-9712.