American Journal News: Rick Jackson Boasts that Trump’s Cost-Raising Tariffs and Health Care Cuts are “Boosting His Wealth”

American Journal News: Rick Jackson Boasts that Trump’s Cost-Raising Tariffs and Health Care Cuts are “Boosting His Wealth”

Jackson bragged that Trump’s devastating budget law has helped him pay 40% less in taxes

New reporting from American Journal News reveals how Rick Jackson is bragging about making money off the Trump tariffs and tax law that are raising costs for Georgia workers and businesses and making it harder to afford health care.

At an event earlier this month, Jackson bragged about how “good” Trump’s budget law was for him and how he would “be paying 40% more in taxes” if the law hadn’t been passed. That law has been devastating for Georgia – closing a maternal health care unit in Lavonia and pushing the cost of health care out of reach, with 190,000 fewer Georgians signing up for the ACA.

At the same event, Jackson also bragged about making “an 80% return in four weeks” after Trump’s tariff announcement caused the stock market to plummet. Trump’s tariffs “have driven up the cost of food, clothes, cars, and other essentials,” hurt Georgia farmers and slowed business out of the Port of Savannah — but Rick Jackson remains proud to promote his support for Trump’s agenda.

Check out more from the American Journal News’s reporting here or read more below:American Journal News: Rick Jackson brags that tariffs and tax cuts are boosting his wealth

KEY EXCERPTS:

• Rick Jackson, a Republican candidate for Georgia governor, celebrated how tariffs and tax cuts are growing his wealth, even as those same policies push working people into poverty.
• He made the remarks during a March 6 meet-and-greet in Thomasville when a voter asked for his opinion of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB), a GOP-backed law that will cut $1 trillion from Medicaid, primarily to fund tax breaks for wealthy people and big corporations.
• “We extended the tax deductions, which are good,” Jackson said. “If [Trump] hadn’t passed it—I’ll be honest with you—I’d be paying 40% more in taxes right now.”
• An estimated 150,000 Georgians on Medicaid are expected to lose health insurance because of OBBB. Hospitals and health care providers that depend on Medicaid reimbursements will likely be jeopardized as well. Last year, a rural hospital in Lavonia was forced to cease its labor and delivery services because of the law.
• “Over a period of the last five to 10 years, we’ve closed somewhere in the vicinity of 14 baby delivery systems,” HomeTown Health CEO Jimmy Lewis told the Georgia Recorder when the unit closed. “It puts the community in an extremely adverse situation, both from a health care standpoint and from an economic development standpoint.”
• Jackson boasted at the same March 6 event about the positive effect President Donald Trump’s tariff policy had on his stock portfolio. “The stock market went down last April when Trump announced [tariffs],” Jackson said. “I went and bought options on the day that happened because I knew that was crazy and made an 80% return in four weeks.”
• Trump’s tariffs, which are essentially a tax on imported goods, have driven up the cost of food, clothes, cars, and other essentials. These rising costs have been exacerbated by inflation. A recent analysis by the Joint Economic Committee found that the cost of living in Georgia has increased by nearly $1,200 a year.
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