Dems Not About To Let Folks Forget Where That Extra Child Tax Credit Money Came From

And keep reminding everyone who was against it, too.

With the monthly payments from the expanded Child Tax Credit starting to go out as of yesterday, the Democratic Party wants to remind Americans that Joe Biden is delivering a middle-class tax cut. The party's House and Senate campaign organizations have launched a digital ad campaign aimed at some of the key states in next year's midterm election, to tout the tax cut and to make clear that not a single Republican voted for it as part of Biden's American Rescue Plan.

The first of the ads presents a simple but effective message: Joe Biden promised to help Americans get through this economic mess caused by the pandemic, and help is here:

It's probably a smart strategy to brand it as a "family tax cut," since "child tax credit" may remind too many people of filling out their 1040 and who wants to be reminded of that? Also, did you notice the no-big-deal shot of the two dads? It's becoming such a nice familiar trope that it makes me feel a bit old to still be delighted by that.

We also liked the not terribly subtle switch from muted color to greyscale when the spot mentions that no Republicans voted for it, with Mitch McConnell's grim turtle face:

As Biden emphasized in his announcement of the payments yesterday, this really is a tax cut that goes to middle class families, with 90 percent of families with kids getting the benefit. That's a big change from 2017, when the Republicans also called their big fat tax cut for rich fuckwads a "middle class" tax cut, although most of the benefits went to the very rich and to corporations.

The ad buy will run in states with key Senate and House races next year, as Bloomberg News 'splains:

Democrats say they'll use the child tax credit as an argument for why voters should defeat GOP incumbents and re-elect Democratic senators, including Mark Kelly (Ariz.), Raphael Warnock (Ga.), Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.), and Maggie Hassan (N.H.). The issue will also be emphasized in open-seat Senate races in North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

The ads will also run in Florida, where Rep. Val Demings is the leading primary candidate in the race to take on Marco Rubio, and in Wisconsin, where Dumbest Republican Senator Ron Johnson may or may not run for a third term. And since they'll be running statewide in those eight states, the ads should help a lot of House candidates, too.

In a statement, Jaime Harrison, chair of the Democratic National Committee, said the ad campaign is just a little reminder of the difference between Democrats and the other guys:

We are making sure Americans know this contrast is clear. While Republicans continue to play games and block efforts to improve the lives of working people, Democrats are delivering for you."

Congressional Dems are also including an extension of the tax credit and its monthly payments in their big reconciliation bill, so that's likely to keep the issue front of mind for voters in 2022.

The ads emphasize that the benefits will go to about 90 percent of families with kids, with an average tax cut of $4,380. It's also fully refundable, meaning that it will go to folks who didn't earn enough to pay taxes in 2020; that's why the tax credit will help reduce the number of kids in poverty by nearly half.

Mind you, Republicans are seizing on that fact to portray the benefits as going to lazy people whose children apparently deserve to be in poverty to teach those slackers a lesson.

"Over the next six months, some American households with no working adults will receive over $6,000 in cash payments from the federal government," Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said in a statement Wednesday, on the eve of the first payments. "The way President Biden tells it, the handout is part of his administration's 'pro-family' plan. In reality, he has transformed the pro-worker, pro-family Child Tax Credit into an anti-work welfare check."

Gee, we wonder if Val Demings will be able to make any ads about how Marco Rubio, the guy who sends out Bible verse tweets all the time, is in favor of kids being stuck in poverty. We bet she just might.

[ Bloomberg Government / DNC ]

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