Americans are fed up.
With President Joe Biden’s approval rating hitting new lows, consumer confidence is plummeting along with it. Optimism is as scarce as cheap gas.
According to the Rasmussen Reports economic index, U.S. economic confidence hovers around 88 points, the lowest mark in eight years. Under former President Donald Trump and before the coronavirus pandemic (in January 2020), the same index clocked in at nearly 148 points. In other words, Americans were nearly twice as optimistic about the Trump economy as they are today.
It’s no secret: America’s endless problems — especially inflation — suggest Republicans will make historic gains in November. But problems can’t just be mentioned; they need to be solved.
American voters want measurable results from Washington, D.C., not meaningless rhetoric. Leading up to the 2022 midterms, it is incumbent on Republicans to hear out the frustrations of struggling families and propose policies that address them. Those politicians who continue delivering empty slogans instead of actual solutions will be back in the private sector come November.
I’ve been in the private sector my entire life. As a business owner, I can’t ignore my customers or dodge their requests with non-answers. If I dismiss them, I will go out of business. It’s a zero-sum game — you either satisfy your customers and succeed, or your ignorance and dismissal lead to failure.
Over the decades, Washington, D.C., has lacked the same level of accountability. A politician can play the role of endless campaigner, hopping from slogan to slogan every two or four years, then rinsing and repeating.
Biden himself has been involved in national politics for five decades. He first became the junior U.S. senator from Delaware in 1972. Yet even his most ardent supporters would be hard-pressed to name five ways that Biden has solved any of America’s problems over the last 50 years.
Will the economy improve if Republicans take control of Congress?
Career politicians like Biden lament “the system” being broken, yet they’ve shaped the entire system since the New York Knicks won their last NBA championship. In 1972, then-President Richard Nixon had just begun the “War on Drugs.” Think about that.
While Trump was in office, his salty style and harsh rhetoric often distracted Americans from the results of his administration. So when voters switched to Biden in 2020, they took those results for granted in favor of a more mild and supposedly unifying president. But they got what Biden has delivered for five decades: incompetence and ineffectiveness.
Americans elected the most doddering and delusional president in modern times, and he is wrecking the country far faster than even most conservative pundits predicted. Gas prices and supply chain shortages serve as daily reminders of failed leadership in the nation’s capital. Every $100 trip to the gas station reaffirms the lack of accountability in the Beltway.
Republicans are certainly poised to win control of the House and the Senate, but they had better be listening as well. The red wave is only the first step. Let the 50-year Joe Biden experience serve as a warning for 2022 midterm hopefuls.
In 2022, the economy is the first, second and third priority, and I’m not just saying so as a business owner. Most Americans consider rising prices their top concern.
On the other hand, primetime Jan. 6 hearings amount to cheap political theater, as Americans have largely moved on. They would rather see congressional hearings on runaway inflation, high gas prices and mounting food costs. Americans moved on from the Capitol riot many months ago as the focus rightly shifted to pocketbook issues. Focusing on a protest from a year and a half ago is a mistake when people are hurting on a daily basis.
Politicians should make the pocketbook their only focus. A bear market is looming. The stock market is a rollercoaster unlike any other.
When one of America’s most liberal cities recalls its district attorney for being too liberal, you know that America is reaching a tipping point. Accountability may finally be coming to Washington, D.C.
But the red wave means nothing without concrete action. Just like in the private sector, Republicans must be ready to act on behalf of everyday Americans rather than celebrating victory and resting on their laurels. The economic situation is too dire for politics as usual.
Conservative ideas and policies need to become solutions to America’s problems. Anything less is a failure, just like Biden has failed us until now.
The views expressed in this opinion article are those of their author and are not necessarily either shared or endorsed by the owners of this website. If you are interested in contributing an Op-Ed to The Western Journal, you can learn about our submission guidelines and process here.
