On Wednesday, President Joe Biden delivered a speech in Chicago centered on the economy, in which he plugged “Bidenomics” as the “future” and “just another way of saying: Restore the American dream.” But polls show that a substantial majority of the American public does not share the president’s enthusiasm about the economy amid persistent inflation and foreboding economic forecasts.
A new Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey has revealed that just 34% of Americans approve of Biden’s handling of the economy. The president’s overall approval rating wasn’t much better at 41%, a number that has remained consistent for the past year and a half.
Top among the public’s concerns are inflated costs of goods. Inflation began surging shortly after Biden took office when he pushed through the massive $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan spending bill and signed it into law in March 2021. At the time, even Democrat-aligned economists like Lawrence H. Summers and Steve Rattner warned that colossal government spending would trigger inflation.
Sure enough, reported Fox Business, “[c]onsumer prices began to surge in mid-2021 when high spending levels combined with supply chain woes and [sic] sent inflation soaring from 1.7% in February to 7% in December. Inflation would later peak at 9.1% in June 2022.” Even though inflation has lowered since last June, it remains “double the Federal Reserve’s target rate” and “more than double the pre-pandemic average.”
“Americans have had a lot of opportunity to wonder whether we’re living in the same universe as President Biden,” remarked Rep. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.) on “Washington Watch” Wednesday. “I mean, every time I go to the grocery store [or] go out to a meal, inflation continues.”
Soaring food prices are a particular sore point for consumers, as “food prices were up 6.7% in May compared to a year ago.” In addition, rent prices have risen 8% over the past year, and used car and truck prices have climbed 4.4% over the month.
“[T]his is cumulative,” Bishop pointed out. “People … suffered through 8% inflation, plus now we’re at [about] 5% inflation per year, and it’s continuing to mount. And it means your dollar doesn’t go as far. People are suffering setbacks economically and they are accumulative across the Biden administration. How he can tout that as a record of success is a mystery to me.”
The congressman continued, “[T]he thing about the continuing inflation is the shock keeps recurring. … [E]very month or so you’re back in the grocery store and you say, ‘Well, how did that item get to be that price, and how do I make ends meet?’ Americans are going to persistently experience that until we go back to what we had solved for 40 years in this country. We had nominal inflation, very low controlled inflation for 40 years. And that’s what Biden’s policies have destroyed.”
Biden’s spending habits appear to be contributing to an ominous economic forecast. According to a new Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report, “The U.S. debt is expected to soar to historic levels over the next 30 years, eventually reaching 181 percent of the country’s total economic output.” The report raises “the prospect that the bleak outlook could create a future drag on the U.S. economy.”
Bishop concurred, pointing to Biden and his party’s economic policies as largely responsible for current conditions. “[Biden’s] economic outlook and his policies — it’s been just massive spending at all points in time. Remember, before the midterm elections, Congress [was] under the control of the Democrats, and they spent $6 trillion basically over the course of 10 years on single party votes, and that generated the inflation that everyone’s living with. And it continues to be the predominant feature of our present economy, and it’s just damaging [to] Americans.”
Dan Hart is senior editor at The Washington Stand.
