If Joe Biden was trying to lose the 2024 election, what exactly would he do differently? Besides driving up costs for everything that makes up our everyday lives? Granted, that may be enough to hand Donald Trump back the keys to the Oval Office in November, but the Biden administration still has six more months to keep screwing up.
Advertisement
Inflation is a hidden tax on every aspect of our economy, and it’s a regressive tax at that, hitting hardest those least able to afford it. Democrats are supposed to care about that, right? Grocery prices alone are hitting every American household.
Housing costs are also driving up expenses for American families.
Inflation pressures are expected to come from a wide variety of sources. However, expected increases in housing prices are particularly troublesome for policymakers who expected shelter costs to ease this year.
The problem in the short term is this: The most effective way (see 1981-1984) to deal with inflation is to keep interest rates higher. That’s a fix that has worked before, but it comes at a cost, particularly where housing and big-ticket item purchases are concerned. But that’s the situation we are in now — and it’s one the Biden administration seems unable or at least unwilling to even attempt to address.
While they dither, the costs of everything are going up — groceries, fuel, housing, whether it be buying or renting, electricity — everything.
Advertisement
See Related: BREAKING: Inflation Higher Than Expected As Consumer Price Index Rises 3.5 Percent in March
Meanwhile, Joe Biden continues to lie about where things stood, inflation-wise, when he took office in 2021. His repeated lying about this is baffling; he’s been called on it several times, and his staff has to be freaking out every time he repeats the lie, and yet he just keeps repeating it. CNN even fact-checked him:
Facts First: Biden’s claim that the inflation rate was 9% when he became president is not close to true. The year-over-year inflation rate in January 2021, the month of his inauguration, was about 1.4%. The Biden-era inflation rate did peak at about 9.1% – but that peak occurred in June 2022, after Biden had been president for more than 16 months. The March 2024 inflation rate, the most recent available rate at the time Biden made these comments, was about 3.5%, up from about 3.2% the month prior.
If Donald Trump’s campaign is on the ball, they would be well advised to resurrect part of Ronald Reagan’s 1984 campaign: “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?” The answer from most Americans will be a resounding “No.” This tactic certainly worked for Reagan in 1984, as the answer then was a resounding “Yes,” and the Gipper won re-election in a historic 49-state landslide. I doubt there is any way such a landslide will develop in our current political environment, but a win by one Electoral College vote is just as much a win as another 49-state landslide.
Advertisement
Every economic indicator since Joe Biden took office has worsened. There’s no way anyone can defend this administration’s record on economic issues, and the polls are reflecting that. This is the kind of thing that could lead to an electoral (metaphorical, not actual) bloodbath in November.